AKA Cambridge carrier

[Jon Bradshaw]

The researcher has replied to me that she has found quite a bunch of info on the carrier FV 401/ armoured OP FV 402 and wants to know what I would like her to send me....
The list of stuff is long but it is excerpts from different books and some manuals she found. Without seeing what she has I am stuck, I guess I will just order it all and sort out whats good when it arrives.

The list of the items she found are-

Outline and Transport Diagrams, Plate Thickness, Suspension and Engine and Transmission (6 pages)

Carrier, Armoured, O.P., No. 4, FV 402 (photograph and basic description)(1 page)

Provisional User Handbook (for troop trials) for Carrier, Universal No.4 (FV401) and Carrier, A.O.P, No. 4 (FV402), WO Code 17767
(basic description of contents: General Description, User Servicing and Adjustments, Fault Finding Charts, Appendix and List of Illustrations: 34 figures) (88 pages)

Ministry of Supply, Fighting Vehicles Proving Establishment, Report No. F.T.2007, Cambridge Carrier Development Trials (20 pages of text, 2 pages of graphs, 6 pages of photographs)

Ministry of Supply, Fighting Vehicles Proving Establishment, Report No. F.T.1908, Development Trials: F.V.402 Prototype No. 1. (First 1000 Miles), 10th Nov 1950 (20 pages of text, 3 pages of graphs, 2 pages of photographs

Universal Carriers, Volume 2’ by Nigel Watson (Choir Press, 2006)
(This chapter covers the FV402 and FV401. There is a brief description, stowage sketches, interiors, wading device information, dimensions. Photos throughout. (19 pages- pp.234-252)


I have been looking for the book Universal Carriers, Volume 2’ by Nigel Watson. Amazon and Ebay and a bunch of other sites are all out of stock. Does anyone have this book and are you willing to part with it? If not then I will buy the pages particular to this carrier from the museum.....

[Robin Craig]

I looked on Abe books and only Volumes one and three came up. Sounds like it is worth buying at whatever price you can find it, maybe.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Jon Bradshaw

Universal Carriers, Volume 2’ by Nigel Watson (Choir Press, 2006)
(This chapter covers the FV402 and FV401. There is a brief description, stowage sketches, interiors, wading device information, dimensions. Photos throughout. (19 pages- pp.234-252)

I have been looking for the book Universal Carriers, Volume 2’ by Nigel Watson. Amazon and Ebay and a bunch of other sites are all out of stock. Does anyone have this book and are you willing to part with it? If not then I will buy the pages particular to this carrier from the museum.....

Jon,

It seems the museum has pretty comprehensive source material. If I were you I would send an email to Nigel Watson and ask him if he included more information in his book, than covered by the source material listed above.

HTH,
Hanno

[Jon Bradshaw]

Robin, I am not surprised you couldn't find the book either. I would buy it if someone had a copy.

Hanno, I will contact Nigel and see if he still has any info that he can send me. He may even have a copy of the book to send me.

[Jon Bradshaw]

So the package arrived and as promised it has about 150 pages of assorted copies from a few obscure manuals and the engineer reports for the vehicle trials.
I am slowly reading through them and there are also some useful scaled drawings. Not blueprints but still useful to show the angle and thickness of various parts of the outer steel.
The layout of the inside is the real picture I was hoping for, haven't found it yet...
If I find any really god pics or have questions I will post them for the rest of you to help me with.
Still no response from Nigel about his book.

[Jon Bradshaw]

So I received the electronic pictures from the museum today. There are some very good photos of the machine when it was new and complete.
The interior shot is an FV401 and the roofed one is the FV402.
It looks like the ferret generation of radio gear and some other electronics on the interior wall, does anyone have suggestions as to what else they were using? The antennae mounts are normal ferret style except for the big one on the crew comd's hatch side.
You can also see the cutout in the side wall to accommodate the radios, mine has evidence of this so this tells me that it was most likely a 402 not a 401.
The stowage bins on the side are easy to build but the ones on the back will take some work.

[rob love]

My guess is the radios are pre-clansmen, so still of the 19set generation/family. The antenna mounts and the control boxes visible in the one photos give credence to that.

[Ed Storey]

Here is an image of a Cambridge Carrier driving out of a wading tank in 1955.

Cambridge Carrier Seen Coming Out of the Wading Tank - 1955.jpg

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Tank Chats # 123 | Oxford and Cambridge Carriers | The Tank Museum

https://youtu.be/X_6SY16y-OE

[Peter Duggan]

Guys,

I had the opportunity to visit Jonathan Bradshaw and get an update on his work on his Cambridge carrier. Certainly looks a lot better than when it was dragged home. Running gear and suspension freed up, cleaned, painted and ready to roll. Literally tons of sandblasting and paint have brought the hull back to life. The original engine and drive train were beyond recovery, however the original radiator and final drives have been cleaned, painted and are incorporated in the rebuild. Engine pictures to follow on another thread.

Peter

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[Peter Duggan]

Guys,

With the original drive train in such bad condition, Jonathan has decided to use the drive train from a Canadian Forces MLVW 2.5 ton truck. This consists of a non turbo charged V8 diesel, coupled to an Allison automatic transmission. Jonathan was able to recover and use the original radiator and the original final drives.

The engine/radiator combination has been successfully run up on an engine stand, with goal of installing the power pack into the Cambridge before next summer. I'm looking forward to see this Cambridge drive once again, Peter


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