new carrier arrives home

[Bob Moseley (RIP)]

Hi there - i should put my glasses on. I mis-read the first post as I thought Lew was talking about 6pdrs and not 6pdr Carriers. I do not keep a record of Kiwi Carriers.

Bob

[Lew Skelton]

Progressing slowly,had to make a gantry for the garage roof, took out the old diesel a couple of weeks back, waiting now for the xmas holidays to get stuck in. Got my flathead running on a stand that I knocked up out of stuff in my garage. Also got some new old armour cut out to replace the gunners armour that has been cut off, have a video of the engine running but not sure how to load it up.

[shaun]

I love the cooling system, many years ago i did a REME BDR course (battle damage repair) which was basically how to do a temporay a repair to get you home. One of the tasks in the field was a land rover with a blown rad, we fitted 2 jerry cans on the bumper and linked them into the cooling system. There was enough water circulating to cool the engine.

Your V8 looks good, what distributor have you fitted ? keep going there is a light at the end of the tunnel !

[ajmac]

That's a 1942-45 Ford USA Flathead distributor, known as a 'crab style' dizzy, they look like the post war Dagenham Flathead dizzy but are about half as deep. When they came from the range my Loyd had a cast iron version of the crab dizzy, trying to find one now is difficult most are aluminium. I guess cast iron was a wartime effort to keep pace with production and leave the aluminium for the aeroplanes.

[Lew Skelton]

Your on the money AJ, cast iron dizzy housings are pretty common over here tho. I got the idea for the wheelie bin radiator off u tube, works a treat as I had it running for about 90min before it started really steaming, was surprised at how quiet the engine was, I had to take off the exhaust and really wind it up before my darling wife would come for a look

[Lew Skelton]

So I spent the last couple of days in the garage, started with a decent clean out of the engine compartment. Removed the steering cam assy bearings all good, plate a bit rusty but where it bolts to the floor plate was poked so out it came, made up a new one and then bugger it all, wouldnt fit in in one piece without removing the cross tube etc so had to cut and re weld it back together once it was in place. After that I gave the cam assy a decent clean up coated with red oxide then thought "what colour were the control rods etc painted" went with the thought of the same as everything else and coated with olive drab.
Next task, new engine mounts, got them whistled up and welded into place, couldn't stop there so bolted the gearbox to the engine and lifted them into the hull, fits like a glove. I will be taking them out again but may be tempted to fire it up just to say Iv'e had the engine running in the hull.
Just a couple of questions for you other carrier fanatics, My hull had a hole cut thru the floor for the diesel engine sump to stick thru, I went and cut a floor section out of a bitser hull Iv'e got to fill the gap, and the opening below the gearbox is a different size, were the floor plans altered later on in NZ? and what colour were the controls rods etc painted.
thats all from me, cheers Lew.

[Lew Skelton]

And some more photos,

[Andrew]

That is a great idea for holding water to run a engine out of vehicle! How did you plumb the lower lines into the container?

Andy

[Lew Skelton]

I used some plastic water tank fittings, normally used for farm irrigation.

[Lew Skelton]

pictures of the other end of my engine (from a distance), shows the fittings in the temporary radiator. I had the engine running for about an hour and a half all up, got the water steaming so shut it off, afterwards thought I should have had the hose running into the wheelie bin to keep it cool. only had it running up like this to check for leaks de rust the water jackets and to ensure reliability prior to fitting the engine.

[Seatyger]

I love how you guys think 'Outside the Box" and just get on with the pjoject!
Keep the info and photos coming!

Mine won't be coming home till mid March so until then I have been and will be scouring Threads like this.

Appreciate your effort in sharing.

[D Ellery]

Looks good Lew. Hows the armour plate holding up with the new welds? As long as you've got good penetration and you weld at a good pace it should be all ok. You are leaving the bullet splash marks eh ? Please keep the pics coming. Cheers David.

[Andrew]

Thanks! I know exactly what you used. Need to do something like this to fire the m2a1 halftrack engine before installing it!

Originally Posted by Lew Skelton

pictures of the other end of my engine (from a distance), shows the fittings in the temporary radiator.

[CsepelLaszlo]

vettes, You have a more more pictures on your halftrack build or is the thread over at CGN all you have currently. And here?

Thanks