Richie's Mk1 Restoration

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by RichardT10829

i have read the thread on posting pics, i cant seem to get my imgaes like a film strip which most you guys do, i used the add image on the reply box, but it still brings them up as i have been doing.

Richard,

What you do is adding links to pictures hosted elsewehere, they then show up in a large size.

What most others do is attaching pictures to their posting, the software this forum uses then shows them as small thumbnails, which only show up in a large size when you click on them.

Whatever suits you best, as long as you keep up the good work on that carrier!

Hanno

[kevin powles]

hi rich, nice fenders, word of warning, the mounting holes for those fenders are not the same for either side, dont measure one side and mark it out for the opposite side. mark the mounting holes from your old fenders you have removed then check them on the hull before drilling.

dont drill your side skirt holes in the fenders until you have the fenders mounted on the carrier and bolted in position. that way everything will line up spot on.

those three holes in the front can be drilled now with them off the carrier.

not teaching you to suck eggs, but nothing worse than holes which dont line up.

see you saturday.

kevin.

[RichardT10829]

cheers for that. all advice is always welcomed.... have not drilled any holes as you can see, i wanted to use my previous ones. they did not have the holes drilled in the front, i was wondering if the fenders you got were from a T16 ? if not they have been drilled for the extra guards on the front.

struggling like hell with the brake drum i had a puller on it tonight, placed the nut back onto the drive tube wound it on flush then made a spreader to go across the tube. the puller fitted perfect. had some serious presure on it, but she still wont let go, i have sprayed tonnes of penetrating oil in the hub. think i will pull the whole drive assembly and get it pressed off somewhere.

need to get a hoist from a hire firm or somewhere so i can pull the lump out too. at the minute she looks in a right mess, i am desperate to get her as an empty tub so i can blast and etch prime her, but these things take time and i dont want to lose or snap anything in the strip down. still need some acurate patterns for the armour so i can get them cut / machined

so much to do but its all great ! i spend more time just staring at the damned thing i should get my finger out hahahaha

Rich

[horsa]

The T-16 fenders aren't as deep where the center curve is at. Side wall is only about two inches all along the edge where the skirt would bolt on at the outer edge.

I'm working on the side skirts this weekend on my carrier and having fun getting the bent fender to play along. Will post photos for comparison on my restoration thread tonight sometime.

Good to see you making fast progress on your project. Keep at it.

[RichardT10829]

Cheers David, just hope she is half as nice as yours turned out !

[RichardT10829]

Eureeka. got the hub off it appears that it had been a combination of the brake shoes sticking onto the drum and the asbestos seal that runs between the backplate and the hub. My old man came and brought a large slide hammer which did the trick no problems at all, and more importantly without damaging anything.

plenty to press on with will eventually post pictures up but as there are only subtle differences at the moment, i will wait until there is a vast change before posting up.

[RichardT10829]

thought i would pop a few pictures on, front plate is now removed, the pedal array looks ok all be it seized up, iam not looking forward to trying to remove them as the bolts are pretty badly corroded. The linkages on the whole are not too bad, but some are well past safe use.. at least i have something to copy.

center bulkhead and lump to come out along with cross tube and cam plate (which is toasted) then i can get it blasted and primed. lots and lots to do but with baby steps i will get there in the end.




the rear bogey wheels are toast too, big chunks missing from the cast plus rubber gone, i am going to have the gaps welded and made good (my pal can wled cast no probs) then get a local firm to re rubber the wheels


and finally the drivers side drum is now off

[Lynn Eades]

Your carrier is in good condition. It will come up really well. How about asking the moderator to add a '*' to the thread title, as your carrier, being a Canadian built carrier is MarkI*. Just seeing the steering wheel, and pedals, reminded me what it is.
I wouldn't worry too much about your wheels yet. You have plenty to do, and better ones may turn up, as you go along.
I enjoy the thread, with your regular photographic additions. Thanks.

[RichardT10829]

thanks for the nice comments. i am dreading the removal of the center bulkhead, i am toying with the idea of keeping it in but it would look terrible welded up, perhaps a compromise, keep the lower portion in and add a skillet to the passenger side, but the angle bar accross the middle which would perhaps hide some of the sins.

[RichardT10829]

Right guys its crunch time, the center bulkhead.......does it stay or does it go ?

i want to keep as much of the original carrier in place but it will look like a patchwork quilt when welded up and the job may prove somewhat difficult (to do well) whats your thoughts on this guys ?

i have decided to keep the original glacis plate and add a skillet of steel back in at the top, the join will be hidden by the angle bar so its dooable ! and the various holes i might even leave in situ rather than fill.

[martyn]

Take it out do the job right or it will be in the back of your mind all the time and as your build gets on you wont want to remove it then, whats a few extra rivets...... if your worried about your hull twisting put a bit of 2x2 box across before you remove the bulkhead and tack it to the sides have fun mate

[RichardT10829]

well managed to secure a pair of CTL94's on ebay the tuther day luckily these are the 20" diameter wheels i need to replace my smashed rear bogey wheels, unfortunately some doofus has sawn through one of the rubbers which as it happens was the better of the two, i just need to get them off the axel they have been put on which may be some task. the wheels had been used on an ammo cart then later ended theyre life in Dobbies garden center at Ponteland (just around the corner from me !!!) work has started on the plate cutting, i have decided i will fit the armour then get the entire tub shot blasted in a bid to make all the metal appear the same. work has grounded to a slow pace as my funds are going onto my Italy trip with the old man, we are going to travel up Italy from Salerno Uncle beach all the way up to cassino (basically what my grandad did) hopefully no facists will fire at us with flak cannons when we arrive at Salerno bay..........

[George McKenzie]

I was cleaning out the dirt from my MK1 and it is very much like yours There must have been an instruction book on how to cut up a carrier .In doing the cleaning I found the feul tank gage stick .It can eaily be reproduced has CARRIER UNIVERSAL MARK 1 . FMCo 42 CTL 7345 .Can't see any more on it .Should there be any thing telling you how much is in the tank? George

[RichardT10829]

yes if its the bakolight one thre is usually some measuring marks etched in the stick.......good find that George as they are rare it would seem..... i beleive it slots into a bracket on the engine cover plate...... still cant believe you have tub only 3 carriers away from mine !!! they would have been on the assembly line together !

[malcolm erik bogaert]

Richard keep up the good work Im enjoying the thread,...we cant wait for the day you bring it to one of our northern shows...take care malcolm

[George McKenzie]

Thank's for the reply . Mine has a square hole behind the gunners seat about 6'' hx 8 '' wide ?? I will EM you some pictures as I havn't mastered putting them on this site yet .George My daughter in law is in UK for a holliday with her mother . Her mother was in London during the bombing working in the bomb shelters .

[RichardT10829]

I replied to your email George what an excelent colelction you have !! your carrier (10128) has been chopped up exactly the same as mine, wonder if yours had been owned by the same logging firm as mine had ? would be great to find the firm and perhaps get some answers.... fromwatching Ax men on TV they dont appear to take care of theyre kit so i have no doubt even if we found the firm they would even remember the machine.

[George McKenzie]

This is the divider plate in one of my MK1, What would the square hole be for ?behind the gunners seat .This is the parts one that I will use to restore 10128 .George No picture ??

[RichardT10829]

i noticed that it was slightly lager than a letter box, at a guess i would say perhaps this has been a wasp ? this would be no more than a guess, wither that or an owner has been trying to get better access to the cross tube and has cut an access window. George if you want me to host the pictures you sent me just let me know and i will start a thread for your carriers.


Rich

[George McKenzie]

Would you post the oicture for me .Thanks Richard . You will notice that it it well manufactured as it has rolled metal over the edges .It is just not cutout and there is a round hole above it .

[RichardT10829]

wel SMV team came back with results from my front armour, this is what they have come back with


Richie,

We had a go as you know regarding the armour plate for a number this is the result :

14508 however the with the 1 it was unsure if it was an N as it appeared that there was a line before with a diagonal next to it the 450 is guaranteed with the 8 being pretty sure but at times appeared to be a poss 3 or 2.

Hope this helps if not will try again at some point

Ian

anyone able to confirm if this is within a batch made 1942 by ford canada as i cant see in my lists ?

[RichardT10829]

well i am plodding along slowly, i have been off work with vertigo through an inner ear issue which has finally sortid itself out with the help from the Doc, it seems i was suffering BPPV (look it up if you like)

got the axel totally clear from the tub and also got the lump out properly, i borrowed a hoist from a pal, and after servicing it ( as it was spewing hydraulic fluid out) it did the job spot on ! one thing that did concern me about the diff, when tipping the oil out a large quantity of water emptied out first followed by the clumped 1940's oil I hope that there is not a nasty suprise waiting inside for me ! it was a nightmare clearing it from the hull as you can see i was caught off guard and a shed load of diff oil tipped out onto my garage floor....foolish i was thinking it would be a sealed unit....not so if the speedo drive is removed DOE !!!!!!!

I dont think i will rebuild the engine myself as space is not exactly permitting it.

I noticed that the remnants of the fuel straps indicate that they were the earlier type with the turn buckles wonder when they stopped fitting them to carriers ?

[George McKenzie]

I will send you some pictures of mine 10128 as it has most of the original stuff in it . .It has the old style tank straps and a tank with all the plumbing to the feul pump .I just got a jug of Releasall that is suppose to cut the rust .Will let you know how it works .Have you got the number off the motor yet .I think I will make mine into a Wasp 11c as I have a tank that would work for it . MY friend here is going to make the oil cooler .fins and all .He is repinning all his tracks with larger pins big job .I can't wait to get at mine as Your prodject is inspiring me to get to work on mine but first I have to paint my 42 WLC and paint the 1930 Ford modle A Ford Fordor so I can get some room to work . George

[RichardT10829]

The engine is not the original lump but it is a carrier engine no doubt changed at some point during its service. I have been trying to get in touch with Ford Motor Co Windsor to see if they have any archives for production during the war I would like to try and trace my carrier's tub and exact serial number. I only wish i lived in Canada as i would go up in person my emails seem to go unanswered. I am still after bits like parking brake assembly amongst a plethera of other bits, would not mind a borrow of a left hand fuel tank so i can copy it, i have the remains of the right tank to use as a pattern but not the left

Kevin i wish i had just copied yours i had it for long enough hahahahaha.

in the process of getting plates cut and ordering the rivets once i know the correct specification to use, i will put the new armor on first then get the whole thing shot blasted in a bid to make the whole unit appear the same.

[RichardT10829]

Originally Posted by malcolm erik bogaert

Richard keep up the good work Im enjoying the thread,...we cant wait for the day you bring it to one of our northern shows...take care malcolm

yes i cant wait myself ! i cannot recall Mal, is it you that lives Rothbury way with the windsor carrier / T16 ?

I believe you may even know my Boss Paul Gilroy.

[RichardT10829]

well utterly depressed i contacted the ford canada archavist in a bid to try and trace my hull and Georges (10128) but unfortunately he drew a blank i really wanted some concrete confirmation on the correct number for my carrier......i am really becoming bitter about it... every time i see a chopped down hull it brings a lump to my throat i only have the above possibility which does not correspond to any batch made by ford, can anyone else advise on a avenue of research i could take ? i have even tried to trace previous owners to no avail... Rob advises that he believes the chap he got the carrier from may be deceased now.

[Nigel Watson]

Originally Posted by RichardT10829

Rob, am i reading the lists wrong in Nigels book, the numbers on the lists only have four digits. i know what your saying though. It would be nice to find out what it was and if it was used by any particular regiment.

busy maing a gantry system that the hull can drop onto, it has four castor type wheels this will make moving the bare hull around much easier without making stuff to bolt onto the tub.

more pics to follow as the build/tear down progresses

Hi Richie, great thread. We should all do this, you learn so much.

I am presuming you are referring to the documents I reproduced showing carrier allocation to Canadian Regiments? These are only for 107 carriers and are from the first 300 made, so they have the three and four digit serial numbers.

If you assume the Lower Hull Nos. run consecutively, and using Robs example you would be hoping for some of the numbers around 11391 for its CT number. Quite a bit away from 14508. Until someone finds records showing the links between Serial, Lower and Upper Hull Numbers, and WD Numbers or collates everyones 'numbers' from their carriers and finds a pattern, then you go with your best assumption at the time and if something changes it in the future then you cross that bridge when you get to it. In case it's any consolation, I have the complete front armour and numbers of mine but apart from the date, manufacturer, proof stamp the Serial No. 2109 was all I had so I presumed the WD by working consecutively to come up with it. Maybe one day I'll find the ID plate that reads Serial No. 2109, Date of Manufacture July 1941, Manufacturer Ford...one day!

Nigel

[RichardT10829]

ITS FINNISHED !!!!



just kidding my pals bought me a model kit as a joke.....i am a joke you see 29 year old bloke not interested in fast cars but old buckets of rust (or so it would seem)

joke is on them as i used it to try out various cammo schemes in use during my grandfathers service, ended up with this one western desert into Tunissia 42-43

not too dissimilar to yours Nigel but the red will be replaced with brown....... should stand out a tad hehehehehe.

[RichardT10829]

just a quick and very brief update, rivets for those that require them are obtainable at www.sapphireproducts.co.uk

3/8th dome head 1 1/4 long (if using 5mm angle iron and 10mm armour) bag of 100 costs £32.00 + vat

and if using 8mm side armour use 1" 3/8th dome head @ £18 per 100. +vat they do have counter sunk variants amongst many others.

cheers

Richie

[George McKenzie]

Rivets in North America including Canada can be bought at "Fastenal" .About 30 cents apeice .They have stores in most majour cities ..They have button head solid rivets, Flat head solid rivets. and truss solid rivets . All sizes . page 3-283 in thier caralouge Fastenal .com George