Penguin Mkll

[David Dunlop]

Ed.

I was taking another look at that photo you posted of Rob's Penguin in service and realized the chap on the stretcher was being loaded into the vehicle via what appears to be the right front window.

Rob's photos clearly show a rear entrance, as well as one on each side, so now I am curious as to how the interior of these ambulance Penguins were set up. Was it just for two stretcher casualties one per sponson with crew access in the middle, or could a third stretcher be loaded via the back, over top of the engine area behind the driver?

The only other thing I can think of is the racoons wouldn't let the MO load the poor chap in the back door.

David

[derk derin]

Well,I just got back from Gimli and spotted quite a few Bombardiers and pulled into one yard,introduced myself and told him about your search for spare rims and he showed me the bombardier machines he had in the yard and let me take pictures of the bogie wheels and track systems.The wheel rims are a one piece disk type rim where I think your rims are a two piece bolt together rim.They also have a single row of wheels where your Penguin has two rows?Anyway,a nice day to go for a drive and look at vehicles.
Derk.

[derk derin]

Another one,also a couple of pictures of one of the wheels he had in the shop to show the size of the shaft for the bearings.

[derk derin]

This one is the one he is fixing up for himself.

[derk derin]

The other models were 1950's era where this one is a newer model (1960's).The last picture is of the size of tire on the spare wheel & rim he had in the shop.4.50x16.
Derk

[rob love]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

Ed.

I was taking another look at that photo you posted of Rob's Penguin in service and realized the chap on the stretcher was being loaded into the vehicle via what appears to be the right front window.

Rob's photos clearly show a rear entrance, as well as one on each side, so now I am curious as to how the interior of these ambulance Penguins were set up. Was it just for two stretcher casualties one per sponson with crew access in the middle, or could a third stretcher be loaded via the back, over top of the engine area behind the driver?

The only other thing I can think of is the racoons wouldn't let the MO load the poor chap in the back door.

David

David
Both front windows open to allow stretchers to be put in. At this time I believe it holds four stretchers....2 on each side one atop the other.

That back door is actually the engine bay. The cover, oil cooler and radiator are loose in the cab at present. I don't think you would be doing a casualty any favors loading him into that location.

It looks like they are actually loading one of the 200 pound toboggans with the casualty on it. I believe the racks are meant for the normal stretchers, but will confirm it once I get the hull cleaned up and some of the brackets back in their positions.

[rob love]

Derk
Thanks for taking the time to check things out up there in fisherman country. The rims do appear to be the type that could be used with the Penguin, except as you noted the penguin rims are the bolt together type. This may have been to allow for the insert of the run flats. The tire size you show is correct for the Penguin as well: 4.50X16. One forum was suggesting that 16" hide-a-spares from the wrecking yards could be used. I may experiment with this, since those can be had very cheaply. If I can get them off the car rims, they may fit onto the bolt together rims. We'll see.

Tracks were dropped off today. Since we are heading out to the MVPA convention for the week, they will have to wait for installation.

[BCA]

A quick check of the parts book for the Penguin Mark 3, titled CV-1, published Dec.1949 shows a lot of engine parts with G103/Stuart M5A1 part numbers and interestingly the differential is G166/T16. Many of the transmission parts are G122/Staghound or G103/M5A1 Stuart so even some G749 Hydramatic parts will interchange.
There is no mention of earlier models or other manuals for the earlier models of the Penguin. ........ Brian

[motto]

The Cadillac V8 side valve engines were also available as twin pack and quad pack close coupled units for industrial and marine applications. I was unaware of this until not so long back on one of the forums somebody posted a wartime advertisement extolling the virtues of these engines and the useful part they were playing in the defeat of the Axis.
Many years ago the airline I worked for had V8 Caddi's powering ground equipment. They were said to come from landing craft. I always loved to hear them burst into life.
According to Wikipedia, Ward's listed the V8 L head Cadillac as being one of the ten best engines of the 20th century. I can well believe it.
Good luck with your restoration Rob, anything powered by these engines has got to be a joy.

David

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Rob,

Great to hear this vehicle has found a new home! I really like this type of vehicle, that's why a wrote a web page on the Canadian Armoured Snowmobile back in 2002. The website is gone, luckily a copy was captured by the Internet Archive - see http://web.archive.org/web/200910261...nowmobile.html

But you're not going to try to buy a V8 Caddilac engine in the UK, are you? I'd look around in Canada or south of the border, once you start your search I am sure you will find them quite easily on your side of the pond.

See http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/showthread.php?t=15 for some more background on this vehicle or search the forum for "Penguin"

Hanno

[David Herbert]

Hanno,

Thank you for posting those links. Like you I have always liked the Canadian Armoured Snowmobile but as there seemed to be none left there was little point aspiring to one so I never studied them. I have just spent a couple of hours reading through your links and the links in them and have a much better picture.

I presume that "Penguin no8" is a "Snowmobile Penguin Mk1", Rob's is definately a Mk2, but I can not find a photo of a Mk3 other than the ones that are actually Mk2s wrongly described. Has anyone got a photo of a Mk3 that is definately a Mk3 ?

David

[jdmcm]

Hey Rob, I have a Cadillac flathead motor, in pieces, very nice shape, real tank block, lots of spares, heads, cranks etc. that I picked up as a spare for my Stuart. When I bought the Stuart the seller assured me the crated engines were perfect and ready to go...guess what....don't always believe what you hear. After complete rebuilds on the crated engines, I have enough spares to keep me going. Anyway you are welcome to the spare motor and parts if you can make it work for your project.

John