VICKERS MK6B's resto

[Russ Gregg]

I am quite capable with a welder, mill and lathe, but I am still impressed as hell by this. I would have thought distortion while welding would have given you a fair bit of grief and you would have maybe been better machining a finished weldment but you have obviously planned your assembly and managed heat very well. Again, fantastic project.

[colin jones]

Hi Lynn, yes as a matter of fact, my band had a Pub gig last night.
Hi Russ, I had little to no distortion. I tacked everything in place first and kept my bearing plugs and rods in place the entire time. I also tack welded it down to a heavy plate to keep the top flat at the bottom ( the top of the trans was at the bottom and that is what I tacked) I used a series of clamps and did small sequence runs like tightening a head and let them cool naturally. I kept checking measurement as I went and also welded flat bar spacers where I thought it might warp and to my surprise it came out very good. The sump won't be a problem as it has now got some independent strength. The only part I need to be careful of now is welding the bearing housing in the centre as there will be a fair amount of heat go into it but I will have to again do short bursts. It's annoying doing that as I'm a bit impatient when I want to get something finished. After the sump is done I only have the side wing parts bolt holes and stud holes. All going to plan.

[Alex van de Wetering]

Colin......awesome work! I am enjoying this thread just as much as the threads on HMVF where the guys are restoring WW1 trucks.....making stuff from scratch, turning, milling, bending, brazing, welding....

Alex

[colin jones]

Thankyou Alex, I too am finding it very interesting and a great challenge.
The sump has almost been completed.

[colin jones]

I thought this part was going to be a lot harder than it was.

[colin jones]

I won't weld this part in place until I do the sump plug and weld and grind the inside as well.

[David Dunlop]

It's fascinating, Colin, watching this housing come back to life. The steady progression from 'What the hell IS all this stuff?' to 'OK…NOW I see what it's all about!' is incredible.

What puzzles me, is the original design decision to go with an alloy housing in the first place, rather than something cast/machined out of a mild steel. Weight saving jumps to mind straight away, but I wonder just how dramatic a saving there would have been?

It would be interesting to compare your finished case in weight to a best guestimate of what the original case would have weighted just to see what the difference is. It is not uncommon for armour power plants to be referenced with a BHP to Total Vehicle Weight ratio as an indicator of how well they can handle the job. I cannot imagine a weight saving from an alloy case making that much of a difference to engine performance in this instance. Maybe a change in center of gravity of the vehicle was being considered to better the distribution of weight on the suspension system.

In any event, it is great fun watching your progress!

Cheers,


David