Richie's Mk1 Restoration - Page 10

chris vickery · #**271** 07-02-12, 23:29

Richard, I understand your pain. I was once in the backroom of my local scuba drive shop while the comp was spooling up to replentish the holding storage tanks. One of the PRDs let go (pressure relief device) on one tank...
Can you say cleanup in aisle 5.... I think I almost s**t my pants!
BTW, great work on the carrier. I must have driven past that one a dozen or so times in Fergus over the years.

RichardT10829 · #**272** 08-02-12, 13:30

Chris i would love to know a bit about my carriers history.. all i know is that Rob bought it from an elderly chap for spares... it then sat outside his house for seven years until i got it.

I know it was in use by the forrestry firm as a log skidder.

Marc.

The rivetting is not that hard however you need to be crucial with Setting allowances and heat... i bought my rivets from Sapphire products and they worked out my setting allowances based on material thickness (armour)

when you come to set you need the snap square on and then fire... i then finished off by rotating the snap around the edge of the rivet which pollishes it off.

if you find the head of the rivet sheers (sets off to one side of the hole) your setting allowance is too long

if you find the head of the rivet is a small ball.... your setting allowance is too short (see my pics)

heat the rivet until it is just about to sparkle but not beyond that otherwise the rivet will fail.

RichardT10829 · #**273** 29-02-12, 22:15

well finally got the compressor up and running....Mark came around and was the block man.. we managed to get one side of the carrier buttoned up in a few hours.

as promised i took a video of us setting a rivet for you to laugh at.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKBXa...UbW9bax7fk3uPL

a quick question... the drivers side armour... the longer rifle rest, are the two middle holes riveted or bolted ? i have rivetted the outer ones but left the middle... can anyone advise ?

well more riveting to come as and when a block man is available

roy206 · #**274** 29-02-12, 22:40

just had the rifle rest in my hands today and almost for sure it is complete rivetted.
i take a better look at it tommorow.

RichardT10829 · #**275** 29-02-12, 22:42

the reason i ask is i think there is a bracket which holds the actuator cable for the smoke discharger which runs under the angle.

roy206 · #**276** 01-03-12, 18:13

looked today for you and it is for sure complete rivetted.
when there is a bracket for the cable i think it is mounted with the same bolt who keeps the wood in place.

RichardT10829 · #**277** 01-03-12, 22:27

Ahh lovely thanks for looking for me

kevin powles · #**278** 02-03-12, 09:14

Richard, no middle rivits on this original mk1.

kevin.

RichardT10829 · #**279** 02-03-12, 10:04

oosh.. that was close nearly banged a couple of rivets in... was just firing up the burner and logged on... thanks Kevin... the outside of the bolts are they just standard jobbies or are they the usual countersunk dome head slot drive affair ?

roy206 · #**280** 02-03-12, 21:11

strange,our mk1 was rivetted with 4.
when we turn the hull upside down it fall down 30 cm from the forklift,normaly not a big problem,but the wood was not removed,the wood was higher than the edge off the hull and all the 4 rivets were cut off.

RichardT10829 · #**281** 02-03-12, 22:03

Perhaps your carrier was not fitted with a smoke discharger ?

roy206 · #**282** 02-03-12, 23:52

in the past it was,someone take it off,he only left the holes

RichardT10829 · #**283** 22-03-12, 17:23

Well rivetting is all but done, i have been cleaning parts up to go back onto the hull so things are moving along at a nice pace now... i made a mollasses bath for some of the larger items which has been excelent, a large portion of my track was rusted solid and seized so i plonked some into the bath a few weeks ago and below is the results.

There is lots of conflicting info on the web about molasses having to be sulphated....this is not the case, i used Lincoln pure cane (animal grade) molasses...the key is that you need to leave the molasses in the water for two weeks to ferment in order for the chillation process to work when the rusty junk is added. i mixed a batch roughly 10:1 using a wheelie bin as my container so 20ltrs of molasses and then fill the rest with water.

this section was a rusted block when it went into the solution two weeks ago, the photo here all i have done is remove the section from the bath and jet wash it...no elbow grease required ! the section is totally free and clean now.

believe it or not the track is clean bare metal however it looks dull in the picture as its still wet

here is a comparrison with an untreated seized section all be it the condition is still better than the first bit was initially

here we have some trunking, another best bit about molasses is its penetrating abilities, anything siezed if you can get a spanner/screw driver on it when it has just been rinsed out of the bath, and is still wet, will come loose with little effort, note all the screws in the trunking are clean and working now

just thought i would post it up....the electrolysis bath was working great but my electricity bills were not clever so opted this route... £30ish quid for the molasses delivered and it lasts up to six months, its non toxic and non invasive for the metal, any rusted bolts are great for this... it free's them up a treat ! the longer you leave it in the better the results.

RichardT10829 · #**284** 22-03-12, 17:27

should also add that i used a ratio of 10parts water to 1part molasses but some folk make is as strong as 4:1 obviously the stronger the mix the faster it works.

shaun · #**285** 23-03-12, 10:12

Looking good Richie - keep at it mate !

eddy8men · #**286** 27-03-12, 23:40

thanks for the molasses tip i'll definately try that one myself. cheers

RichardT10829 · #**287** 28-03-12, 00:06

no probs... dragged out the rest of my bits of track (short sections) today so just have two more lengths to do and they are done

RichardT10829 · #**288** 25-08-12, 19:08

well its been five months since i put any updates on this thread.... Marc gave me some gentle grief at W&P about it, so i have cobbled a few images from my FB account to give a glimmer of the progress.

as stated the riveting is all but done however i need to do the centre divider plate (i need measurements for where the rivets go.. i have original armour squares for the ends which are sorted its just the two right angle bars that run the width of the carrier that i need to plot the holes)

I am glad Shaun pursuaded me not to use the coach bolts as the job is much stronger now. I need to rebuild the armour intake boxes and somehow make the radio battery box, but we are getting there slowly... here are some pics

note my fopar in the first attempt at sand guards.... the second attempts will be correct !

the front armour was fun with a few querky angles chucked in to make riveting more tasking..

here the paint on the nearside corner needed rubbing back (which has since been done) the rivets in the armoured steering box are original many thanks to Kevin for the trade.

if you recall my center div plate had been hacked up in all manner of angles, I cut off anything above the track guards that remained and patched in using the original metal for the missing bits below the track guards.... the remains that i had after were kept for the glacis plate...here i have made one bit and tacked it on using an old mig... i ended up pulling it off then re doing it with the new gas mig that i had got. in total the top section has a plethora of patches put back in.. the welds deliberately left proud on the underside so folk can see what has been done.

you can see the two holes i welded up which had been where the upper seat bracket had been.

cutting a patch

by this point i was wondering what i had let myself in for...just for the sake of retaining as much original fabric as i could (inspired by the Bluebird K7 project i guess) i was ready to chop the whole top section off until Shaun gave me yet another pep talk to spur me on assuring me it would be worth it.

and he was right

paint still wet (and a few notches to fill)

the glacis has since been drilled and fitted

whilst all this has been going on, i have been pulling rusty chunks out of the molasses bath and restoring them such as linkages, seat mech's bits of gearstick etc etc

this little widget was totally rusted solid when it went in

RichardT10829 · #**289** 25-08-12, 19:33

making bushes and widgets for some repro shutters which i traded Martyn Tasker for a few years back have been coming along nicely, there is some modification required but on a whole they work a treat now.

whilst i mention lathework, i have been making shims for the wheels to convert from 40mm ID to 50mm ID bearings.. i had one shim made on CNC (one piece job with shoulders on) however after speaking with a chap who makes wheels etc for British AFV's was advised to go the route you see in the image.... what a laborious job but nevertheless i got there in the end.

base coat has been flying around the workshop and its always nice to get stuff painted up then stored away ready to bolt on

tool plate being mok'd up along with Ben's repro rubber tread plates

i have been working on the linkages now and was pleased to see that i have the bulk of them in tact (and safe to use) i am missing the cam linkage rods, a brake pedal rod (and park brake rod)

and i need both front to rear hull rods as the ones in there are beyond safe use (the ends are ok though)

tankbarrell · #**290** 25-08-12, 19:41

The danger in opening luminous gauges is not the radiation exposure, it's the particle inhalation.

RichardT10829 · #**291** 25-08-12, 19:56

content removed issues surrounding the gauges folk can email me if they are curious. however do NOT open them without researching the dangers first.

RichardT10829 · #**292** 25-08-12, 20:18

***k it............ edited the post

RichardT10829 · #**293** 25-08-12, 21:02

If anyone does have the plotting measurements for the rivet holes I mentioned, it would be of great help.

Lynn Eades · #**294** 25-08-12, 23:14

Can you post a photo of what you want and I'll try to help. i dont follow what you want.

RichardT10829 · #**295** 25-08-12, 23:36

Lynn I will get some pics but the bits I mean if you imagine the centre bulkhead has two long right angle bars riveted to it the lower one runs along the engine bay side of the plate and the wooden cover which blanks off the rad bolts to it.... The upper bar runs along the front side of the plate behind the drivers and gunners head level with the top if the plate level with the top of the side armour.... Hard to explain matey will get pics ASAP

Lynn Eades · #**296** 26-08-12, 09:42

Heres the stuff for the angle that the cover board mount to.

RichardT10829 · #**297** 26-08-12, 09:54

fantastic thanks Lynn I also need the measurements for the upper angle iron, runs parallel with the one you have provided measurements for... Unless they are the same ? Which would make sense

kevin powles · #**298** 26-08-12, 10:07

Hi Rich, In the next few months I will be making another battery box copied from a complete original I have, If you like I can get the plate cut for yours at the same time, I think shaun needs a set to.

kev.

RichardT10829 · #**299** 26-08-12, 10:20

Yes please Kevin, just email me the costs involved and I will see you right with the cash

easo · #**300** 26-08-12, 10:55

Well I have just learn something more about molasses. From Jack Daniels to Tracks.

Cheers easo