T16 restoration starts in earnest

andrew honychurch · #1 21-08-11, 08:59

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 · #2 21-08-11, 18:20

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 · #3 21-08-11, 18:42

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 · #4 21-08-11, 23:22

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 · #5 22-08-11, 01:07

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.

andrew honychurch · #6 22-08-11, 09:12

HI Lynn, indeed the track jack SHOULD be fitted in the middle of the track or else it pulls one side in more than the other. The reason is that I guessed where the join would be by placing the track on the floor in a position and then pulled the rest over the top and rear drive sprocket. However the join was too close to the drive teeth and I could not get the jack in securely to tried it on the edge and hey presto it worked, thereby saving me from more heavy pulling! Well spotted though.

andrew honychurch · #7 30-08-11, 18:07

A few more photos to update the thread. Have just made all new control rods which I am quite pleased about. They are 3/8 UNF but I could not get any turnbuckles in UNF. However, I did find metric ones in M10 which is exactly the correct size for threading 3/8 bar. So I have 3/8 UNF ends to each rod with NF clevis fork ends, and then left and right hand thread metric M10 in the middle for the turnbuckles. If you follow that you are doing better than me! Anyway, all coming back together ok, no real problems but something that has been in the back of my mind and I have been avoiding is now coming to the fore. I have to make some new oil cooler pipes for both the engine and diff coolers. These are 1/2 in steel and have double flared ends. The curves are intricate and sharp. I cannot see that I can bend 1/2 in copper nickel and even if I do I have not got a man enough flaring tool for 1/2 in. I priced up the latest Sykes Pickavant tool but its over £250 just to make up some pipes as a one off. Ummmh. Anyone know whether trucks use steel air piping at this size? My thought being that if they do, some friendly fitter may be able to make my pipes for me? Anyway, hope you enjoy the photos.

the light green patch is where I was standing when i was spraying!

Richard Farrant · #8 30-08-11, 20:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by andrew honychurch

. I have to make some new oil cooler pipes for both the engine and diff coolers. These are 1/2 in steel and have double flared ends. The curves are intricate and sharp. I cannot see that I can bend 1/2 in copper nickel and even if I do I have not got a man enough flaring tool for 1/2 in. I priced up the latest Sykes Pickavant tool but its over £250 just to make up some pipes as a one off. Ummmh. Anyone know whether trucks use steel air piping at this size? My thought being that if they do, some friendly fitter may be able to make my pipes for me? Anyway, hope you enjoy the photos.

Hi Andrew,

You could try Pirtek, near Ashford Market, they are hydraulic pipe specialists, not just hoses.

I have a Sykes flare set, but not sure if it goes to 1/2", will check tomorrow.

regards, Richard