T16 restoration starts in earnest

[andrew honychurch]

thanks for the advice on the track pin wear. I think they are pretty good to be honest. This T16 was part of a batch that apparently had done very little work, and I think the tracks reflect this. Anyway, got one of the tracks on today, pretty easy with the correct tool. Used the Pin punch to line up the holes and punched it back out with the track pin. Apart from it occurring to me that this is probably a two man job, I seem to have managed ok, except for a crooked neck. I am definitely getting too old for all this!

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

That is the finest kind of job you are doing on the carrier..The wee lassie will be able to use what you are teaching her for the rest of her life..
My two daughters did and still do do some of the maintenance on their own vehicles ..When they were in their last year of university I bought them each a used car..a Toyota and a Honda Civic..
They would do their own oil changes and my youngest daughter wanted to do EVERYTHING herself,DAD!!!
On her little '83 Honda Civic I wanted to repack the rear wheel bearings ..she wanted to help..we did the first side together and she let the jack down..jacked up the other side and did a fine job of repacking the bearing and putting it all back together..
by herself..thank you..
She is still like that today..
Last year I gave her a new cordless drill and a whack of attachments and this summer I went through my tool boxes and took her down a bunch of new tools that I have no long a use for(Retired Refrigeration mechanic/gas fitter)and my 4 year old grandson immediately latched on to the telescoping mechanics mirror I brought down..
It is his favourite toy..
So you can never start them too young..Keep up the great work dad...

[D Ellery]

Man that looks good with the tracks back on! well worth blasting the track prior to fitting.

[andrew honychurch]

Glad you like the tracks, I must say I am pleased with them too. The blaster was desperate to paint them, for two reasons it turned out. First he could not believe that they would look right in bare metal, and then he admitted to me that he had to do a lot more work if they were not going to be covered with black paint afterwards. My father was adamant that they were not painted when he was building them in the early 40s and they certainly look better like this in my opinion . Of course they will tarnish soon and turn back to rust but as long as I can get the old girl running under her own steam it will burnish them up again.

Good story Alex. My girls are taking it all in. They have not yet got to the stage of doing any manual work, but they sit and watch and help with tea and fetching spanners. My youngest did hold a spanner the other side of the hull whilst I tightened a bracket inside, so I suppose we are moving in the right direction. Gee whizz I am stiff today after manhandling that track over the rear drive hub! Since I have put the new seal around the rear drum it makes it very stiff to rotate, hence I had to manuallly lift the track one tooth at a time until I got it in roughly the right position to use the track jack. Now, shall I do the other track today, or can I think of a nice easy job, like cutting some stencils!

[kevin powles]

Andrew,
I must say I had no real iterest in T16 Carriers until reading your thread, You are doing a thourgh job there. The track looks good with very little wear on the pads. If the track is worn on the pins or pin holes what you will find is they will not sit square on the sprockets/front idlers and you will get wheel scrub on the inner side of the rear trailing wheel, The sprockets will burr over in time too, but from what I can see your track looks good. I was going to get some track shot blasted but thought it might suffer in getting grit trapped in the pins?. Keep posting the large scale pictures.

Kevin.

[RichardT10829]

must admit that was what stopped me doing mine... but suppose if you take the time to clear it all out of the lugs etc it should be ok.

Tis looking good though Andrew... i would not worry about the pitting on the lower hull......its honest...it is what it is (Original !)

[andrew honychurch]

interesting views on the sand in the tracks. I reconciled this with the simple view that they would see a lot more sand in the desert. There is no residual sand in the tracks and it is not a risk to the working of the track. Basically, I would not leave the tracks as they were as they were jammed up with rust and muck. sandblast every time.

[Lynn Eades]

It all looks good to me. The constructive comment from me, is that I think the track jack is fitted in the center of the track.
I have seen the front crank seal advertised. Let us know what you think about them.
I'm enjoying your posts and learning about how the T16 is different from other carriers.