Aligning Centurion engine to gearbox

[MikeV]

Malcolm
And His guys are doing a great job I am Lucky to be a member of the same museum. Can't wait to see this tank roll out of the MVCC.

[45jim]

We found it easier to move the engine forward to replace the clutch. We marked the location of the engine on the mounts and cut some wood for positive reference between the engine and gearbox. It was a bear to lift out and replace the clutch but once installed it proved relatively easy to re-align the engine to transmission. The wood was used as a rough check as we were moving things into place and final alignment came from the reference marks we made during disassembly. We did have the element of experience as we had two old RCEME Cent guys assisting. I believe that while the suggested tolerances exist, the design is far more forgiving and while adhering to the suggested tolerances provides the maximum clutch and seal life a slight error will not affect its life as a parade vehicle.

As a side note, when a Centurion had sat for a period of time it is important to preserve the clutch during initial start up. Centurions stored outside often suffered from seized track pins, stuck brake shoes and there is always the possibility of a stuck clutch disc. We were told to warm the engine with the transmission in neutral clutch engaged. Once warm, a couple of light applications of steering tiller (while still in neutral) is applied to each side, not enough to effect a turn but to put some stress on the track and clutch. Once this was done and the brakes were known to be free only then was it moved forward or back to free everything up. Wonky track link got a smart smack with a sledge.

The Strathcona's stored their Centurions in Wainwright Alberta and they sat for up to 9 months a year (several months below -30C) with only a skeleton maintenance crew. All the training was done in a 3 month window from spring to early summer so every time the unit went up to train there was caution in how the tanks were brought out hibernation.

[Malcolm Towrie]

45jim, I need to talk to you about this! I'll send a PM.
We've tried to drop the clutch in from the gearbox side (with the gearbox installed) but no go.

We are going to try rotating the engine 45 degrees in the hull to see if there is enough room to get the clutch in from the engine side, but it seems a faint hope. Now you are saying it can be done. I'll be in touch.

Thanks for the info on the risks of long term storage. Right now we have very frozen tracks from being a gate guard for decades, so I am certainly concerned about the first movement under power.

Malcolm

[jdmcm]

We suffered a frozen clutch in our Centurion this year, and it was a real bugger to break free, finally followed Rick from the UK's advice and gave it a good shot with the steam cleaner as it was running, clutch depressed, worked like a charm. This winter she is coming inside!

[Malcolm Towrie]

Do you mean ice frozen or rusted frozen, John?

Malcolm

[Malcolm Towrie]

An update: I finally have the clutch installed in the Centurion, or at least in place.

We were held up tracking down a lip seal for the clutch, the one that seals to the crankshaft. It's installed in a crankcase cover that's part of the clutch assembly. You can see it in the first photo. The original seal was 4 15/16" outside diameter. Despite Garlock and Timken making a large selection of inch-size seals (and probably others), they are a bit limited on the 1/16" increments, especially in the larger sizes. So we bought a 5" OD seal and bored the cover out to suit.

With the clutch finally assembled, I then struggled to get it installed with the engine and the transmission in place, the engine loosely, but the transmission fully installed.

What did the trick was supporting the engine in the hull with the gantry crane at a 45 degree angle to the centreline, and unbolting the left-hand fan so it could be pushed back towards the transmission. I then dropped the clutch in beside the engine and finagled it into place.

That was the last major hurdle to getting the tank moving (I hope).

Malcolm

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[MikeV]

So I have a question for Malcom Do we know the history of Our centurion Tank? Since the B.C. Tanks is a little out on their history?