T16 T101331 restoration

[eddy8men]

hi fella's
i finally got round to starting the restoration on my t16, i bought it a while back from a dealer in staffordshire with the understanding that i could store it at his yard until i was ready to tell the wife i'd bought another carrier but my little lad grassed me up a week later anyway it just took me this long to get round to starting it.
i got a mate to drop it off at my workshop a week ago on monday, the first couple of days were spent cleaning out all the crud and cutting out the rusted plate i then measured up and ordered the cutting list from the profilers. next we'll get welding the patches up.

[eddy8men]

few more pics

[Billruston]

Is that the one that was in a field Rick?
Good luck mate
Bill.

[eddy8men]

that's the one mate, been sitting there for some time before i got round to it but at least i'm on with the restoration now. i was wondering just how many hands this carrier passed thru before someone actually did anything to it, the centaur was the same, it had been recovered in 1992 but i was the first to do anything with it and that was nearly 20 years later, although to be fair i just pulled the turret off for my cromwell and it is kevin who will really put it back into shape and the best of luck to him.

rick

[Billruston]

Ok Rick looks good! Is it missing a lot of parts?
Looking forward for more photos mate.
Bill.

[eddy8men]

hi bill you can probably see what's there and what's not but i have been collecting parts for quite some time and all i really need to get the basics up and running is two wheels for the front idlers.

the tub was a little out of shape due to the sides being cut and the generally poor condition of the floorpan and sponsons not to mention the engine and chassis rails because of this i've had to pay attention to the lines before welding the plates back in, not really difficult but it does slow the job down.


in the pics i needed to pull the rear armour plate before i could weld the rear sponson, so i welded a bracket to the back plate (it's actually a churchill track idler tension shim) and used a hoist to pull it before tacking it.

[horsa]

Do you only need the front wheels or do you also need the brackets that support the front wheels?

[eddy8men]

hi david
i only need the wheels as i managed to scrounge a idler bracket from shaun (cheers mate) and i'm having another fabricated.

[horsa]

OK, just checking since I have a set of left and right brackets in with my strategic spare parts. Wasn't really looking to get rid of them but if it helped get another carrier on the road, we probably could have worked something out. Glad you don't need them as shipping costs would be a killer from Texas to the UK.

As for wheels, we'd wondered about two options to your problem since idler wheels are tougher to source in good condition. One is to put a road wheel on a lathe and turn it down an inch. The other was mounting a road wheel as is since they are identical in every way other than outside rubber thickness. Not sure if it would push the track to close to the fender or not. Would sure help with worn track though as you wouldn't have to remove as many links due to age.

[eddy8men]

hi david
thanks for the offer of the brackets but like you said i'm glad i don't need them as i'm sure the shipping would have made my eyes water.

i didn't know that t16 idler wheels were 19" i had assumed that the americans would use their production prowess and fit 20" to keep things standardised, by the way does anyone know why the idler is 19" and not 20" ?

for what it's worth unless i can find 2x19" i'll fit normal road wheels, if i hit any probs i'll let you all know

[Lynn Eades]

Its just that the rubber is thinner,(the wheel is the same as the 20" ones) and basically its about keeping the track on. Under side load the thicker rubber would allow the track to tip over more, making the track more likely to fall off. I haven't read this anywhere. It's just my reasoning.
The manuals won't tell you why. Just that it is.
You could have the rubber turned down in a lathe, to make a slightly damaged 20" into a good 19" wheel.

[horsa]

Turning down damaged road wheels to make good iders was my thinking as well since they are harder to source.

The road wheel tyres are marked 20 x 3 and the idlers are marked 19 x 3 for both Firestone and Goodyear. There are also unbranded tyres so at least one other company made them during the war.

[eddy8men]

managed to pick up a nice suspension unit from a chap who replied to a message on another forum. we got chatting and it turned out he used to own my centaur that i sold on to kevin. it's a small world !

[kevin powles]

Rick, David visited here also, very nice chap, my five year old son Sasha got on well with him and invited him to his birthday party. I think these tankie people are all alike

kev.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by eddy8men

managed to pick up a nice suspension unit from a chap who replied to a message on another forum. we got chatting and it turned out he used to own my centaur that i sold on to kevin. it's a small world !

It's a small world indeed - from your clues I deduct he's a good friend of mine (he's on MLU as well) and many years ago I was standing next to your bogie unit.

About time we meet in person too one day, Rick. Meanwhile: keep up the good work!

[eddy8men]

hanno your name also came up in that conversation, (in a good way of course )
i too look forward to meeting you one day, maybe even war and peace this year. if you are going it won't be hard to find me i'll be the guy with a big smile on his face driving a cromwell.

all the best

rick

[eddy8men]

managed to do a little bit more on the carrier last week. the under side is now de-rusted and painted and although it's no big achievement it's really nice to see a bit of green on it at long last. the 2 left hand suspension assemblies have been removed for blasting and painting, i was worried that i would be in for a fight trying to get them off but they slipped off as if they were fitted yesterday.
the axle will need to be stripped down and de-rusted for although it was a new assembly it wasn't filled with oil so there is surface corrosion from condensation but at least the pinion backlash will still be factory set so it's just a case of wire brush then fill with gear oil.
i had the controls professionally rebuilt and i'm pleased with the result, to be honest i doubt i could have set them up properly myself as the linkage is quite complicated and the tolerances don't allow for guestimating.
i hope to get it looking something like with the tracks on by the end of the month but then again i am a little over optimistic at times .

[eddy8men]

bit more progress

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by eddy8men

bit more progress

... and it's finished, ready to be sold!

Quick job you made of it, Rick, looks nicely done

1943 T16 Universal Carrier
T16 with original War Department number.
Has had ground up restoration. Fitted with good tracks and NOS axle. Brakes steering and clutch fitted and working, but engine will require rebuild. Good engine possibly available by separate negotiation. An easy project to get running in time for War and Peace Revival. Selling to fund a bigger project.
£15000 ono.
Rick Wedlock: 07970 828122

[eddy8men]

thanks hanno you saved me a job, I was just about to post up the pics i'd put on milweb last night, the good news is it had sold by 8 am this morning so I can now focus on getting the cromwell ready for war and peace, it too is beginning to look very nice indeed but that's another story.

rick

[Ben]

Well done Rick

Looking forward to seeing the Cromwell, fingers crossed its ready for W&P (does calling shotgun work with a tank )

You'll have to drop me an email if I can help with the gun.

Ben

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by eddy8men

thanks hanno you saved me a job, I was just about to post up the pics i'd put on milweb last night, the good news is it had sold by 8 am this morning so I can now focus on getting the cromwell ready for war and peace, it too is beginning to look very nice indeed but that's another story.

Rick,

My pleasure, I was following your thread on HMVF and wanted to share the results of your efforts on here, too
(next time make sure you don't forget your Carrier friends here on MLU )

Good to hear the Cromwell is coming along nicely, will surely make an effort to meet you at W&P
(and maybe ask you to take my 2 boys for a ride )

Cheers,

[shaun]

Rick, it's really pleasing to see a vehicle I have known for years finally well on the way to being back on the road. Well done mate.

[eddy8men]

thanks for the kind words fella's. the good news is I found a working engine for the carrier so the new owner will be able to get it up and running soon

rick

ps. anyone that goes to w&p is welcome to come and have a look around the Cromwell, maybe even go for a spin for those that bring a jerrycan.

[Billruston]

Got 5 Jerry cans readdy mate .

Bill.

[kevin powles]

Rick, how many laps of the arena does 20 litres get me?.

Kevin.

[eddy8men]

20 litres will get you "to" the arena

[Ben]

Now I know why you've sold the T16. Next vehicle for the Wedlock collection below?

[eddy8men]

here's a link to the first time I started up the Cromwell engine. it really is a thing of beauty, the noise of the exhaust is just great

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3Zzz3laxAA

enjoy

rick

[shaun]

Not wanting to go to far off the carrier topic - when I took the comet to the tanks in town event in Mons , we did 20 miles at 3/4 of a mile to a gallon - I have never spent money and had so much fun !!! 27 ltrs of pure fun and power and some open road instead of tiny arenas going around in circles - It was like sex on tracks . (To keep this in the carrier vein ) I get 10 miles to the gallon out of the carrier on the road .