It's now official I have a carrier platoon.

[kevin powles]

Hi, Started stripping out the carrier. Noticed this early carrier has the cam dust/dirt cover still in place. Rear axle a little different on these early ones too.

Kevin.

[Lynn Eades]

Is this going to be one of those Canadian carriers assembled for the British, with the British supplied componentry? Do you have its ID plate? The spring pad axle is interesting. I havent seen that before on a riveted carrier.
The pedals look like brit ones to me.(there has been discussion on here before about the early canadian carriers having these pedals. Mine are marked "M&G limited". Any idea who the manufacturer is?

[RichardT10829]

is it possible it is not the factory built axle ? i know during military service they had a stock pile of axle units so they could change them out in a one'r so the brakes and diff etc could be changed in one fell swoop ?

it certainly does look like a truck axle or some sort of sprung system vehicle.

thing i love about carriers is they throw up so many questions and little hidden gems which you can miss but find months down the line !

Kevin clearly you have an eye for a good carrier project i remember saying myself "The Mk1 would be a good one" but never thought it would be as complete as it is.

[Lynn Eades]

The "normal" carrier axle is from the Torque tube drive (1938? Brit style truck axle) so the axle in your carrier has the two bolt lugs on each side (front and bottom) where the stays bolt on. The 1940 style axle like in the Australian carriers, has the spring pads. Is this a standard later type carrier axle from Ford of Canada?

[eddy8men]

my early mk1* has the same type of axle, it also has british style headlights, instruments and pedals. i understand that early on, the canadians did not have all their own components to assemble the carriers and relied on the british to supply certain parts until their production could catch up.

eddy

[Lynn Eades]

I think it was more that Britain could not meet its own needs, and came up with a deal, where they supplied the various components (mainly electrical), and Canada put those bits in hulls that Ford of Canada built.
If you dont own or havent seen Nigels books, I think you will find them facinating. I highly recommend them to anyone with an interest in carriers.

[kevin powles]

I thought that axle flat was there to accomodate a cold 1 pint glass of beer whilst working on the rear of the carrier, co's that's what i was using it for today and it works quite well!.

Lynn, I will check for numbers over the bank holiday weekend, the data plate holes for this one are on the front drivers wing.

Kevin.

[RichardT10829]

Originally Posted by kevin powles

I thought that axle flat was there to accomodate a cold 1 pint glass of beer whilst working on the rear of the carrier, co's that's what i was using it for today and it works quite well!.

Lynn, I will check for numbers over the bank holiday weekend, the data plate holes for this one are on the front drivers wing.

Kevin.

well yes that was its primary role but mainly for carriers destined for north africa holds carlsberg very well har har har !

[Lynn Eades]

I think as part of the Brit specifications, thats where they all were.
The early Canadian ones were also on the right front guard (wing) until they changed the location. (I think the Canadians worked out that the front guards took a hammering, and often needed to be replaced,so that having the I.D. plate mounted on an item with a short life , was a mistake)