T17E1 Staghound Restoration project - Page 2

Frank L. · #31 20-10-07, 18:47

Ammo stowage bins beside the bow gunner

Frank L. · #32 20-10-07, 18:47

Some stowage bins between driver and bow gunner.

I'm thinking that these were used for stowing extra episcopes.

Frank L. · #33 20-10-07, 18:48

Another view of the driver's panel.

Frank L. · #34 20-10-07, 18:57

So far the assessment is after 3 hours of mucking about:

- the turret is able to move and there are no hidden welds.

- traverse mech is very hard to turn and will need to be pulled off and re worked. The good thing is the hydraulic tank is still in there and in very good shape as are the lines.

- the mantlet has been welded. Angle grinder will take care of that.

- breech is welded as well.

- Turret floor is rotted out. Enough of it remains that we'll be able to make a template of it and get it scratch built.

- Same goes for the driver and bow gunner's chairs....more templates.

- Front tires will be replaced.

- The fire extinguishers are gone, but the mounts are still there, as are the handles for popping the bottles in the driver's hole.

- the view ports in the front are tack welded shut.

- all exterior lights are long gone as are the AMU and .50 cal mount. There are no episcopes at all. The sighting system is long gone as well....which will be extreemly hard to get.

The big part of the rebuild is to pull the turret off and strip everything out and rework everything.

As soon as that's done and it's up and running, a few shake out runs to work out the kinks. Once that's done, one final tear down and then primer and paint the interior properly.

As the project gets worked on I'll be posting pictures here for all to see.

Regards

Hanno Spoelstra · #35 20-10-07, 20:04

Quote:

Originally posted by Frank L.
Not too sure what this thing is for....anyone have an idea?

It is spring loaded and has no locked position. It can only be turned clockwise 90 degrees and no more.

It's position is under the gun near the commander's side.

Looks like the turret lock.

Great to see such a complete Staghound. I'm sure the restoration will require much more effort than anticipated at the moment, but it will be well worth the effort. Thanks for keeping us up to date and sharing pictures.

Regards,
Hanno

Frank L. · #36 20-10-07, 20:28

Quote:

Originally posted by Hanno Spoelstra
Looks like the turret lock.

I thought so as well, but it doesn't lock into any position at all. As soon as you let go it springs back into the original position.

Most turret locks I've seen are rather robust and operating is rather obvious.

It could very well be a magnetic switch that when powered up will lock into a position.

Any ideas?

Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP) · #37 20-10-07, 20:40

It's the self-destruct activation control. Thank God the explosives have obviously been removed from their secret compartment!

Ian Pullen · #38 21-10-07, 03:44

Frank,
I rec'd your message. There will be a package on it's way shortly that I hope you will like.
Give me a bit more time and a second package will be inbound also.
Prices haven't changed since my previous message. Cheap at half the price.

Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP) · #39 21-10-07, 05:23

Quote:

Originally posted by Ian Pullen
Cheap at half the price.

Wait a minute, now....

Frank L. · #40 21-10-07, 21:26

Quote:

Originally posted by Ian Pullen
There will be a package on it's way shortly that I hope you will like.
Give me a bit more time and a second package will be inbound also.
Prices haven't changed since my previous message. Cheap at half the price.

Roger that Ian. I look forward to studying everything and sorting out what is what.

As for time, take as much as required.

Regards

Ian Pullen · #41 22-10-07, 12:47

Frank,
would a PDF file do? If so I can e-mail shortly.

Frank L. · #42 22-10-07, 17:45

Anything will do over what we have currently.

By all means, fire away on my civi email addy!

Regards

Frank L. · #43 22-10-07, 17:58

So I've been in contact with someone from the LDSH and he was a member of their Restoration Troop. He mentioned someone by the name of Reg Hodgson in Edmonton.

Apparently he has his own museum and has a Stag as well.

Anyone know how I might be able to get in touch with this fella?

Regards

daninnm · #44 23-10-07, 02:49

We will have a turret (with no major damage or holes in it for sale) along with many many kits and NOS parts for the T17E1 beginning about Jan 15 or so. The large container will arrive in the USA from OZ in about 60 days and be sorted and cataloged for sale shortly after that. There are literally 30+ pallets of NOS parts including instrument panels, NOS gauges, wire, motor repair kits, generators, starters, and numerous engine accessories. Get your list in to me and we will endeavor to mark off items for various intersted parties.
No pricing yet - we need to see the totals before we price stuff so we can get are very substantial investment in cost of parts and shipping back. To get a stag here from OZ costs in excess of $US11,000 so the container will be in that range too! But we wil have a list going.
We really would like to find a home for that turret!!!!
reply to Dan in NM
505-269-2056 fax: 505-888-7509 addy 5801 Osuna NE Ste 106, Albuq., NM 87109
Two T17E1s will be underway in a few months in the States - first one will be the one bought from the Melbourne Tank Museum. Engines for that machine are going to the shop for a complete rebuild next month.......$US1300 each, roughly - if no major problems are encountered. BTW - really, really, need someone to have a set of radiators made that are correct enough to work in the Stag. Anyone doing that? We do not have spare radiators in the partrs trove and the Melbourne machine was without them. If anyone can help - please make contact
Dan in NM

T17E1 · #45 23-10-07, 23:38

Hi Guys, I am new here but welcome to you all. I am rebuilding two Stags at the moment, an early and a late E1. Your Stag appears to be a mid/late mod and looks very complete. I guess you have all the manuals now but do read the Chev product notes for the machine which lists all the mods and the reason that they were brought in. I have a spare paper copy or can scan and PDF it for you. If I can be any help at all, please let me know.

All the best
Tobin Jones

T17E1 · #46 23-10-07, 23:39

PS Check out

www.staghounds.org.uk

Tobin

Frank L. · #47 24-10-07, 02:54

Thanks for the link Tobin, interesting read.

One thing that I have noticed and seems to be a silly question but I have to ask.....how do the bow gunner and driver mount up?

Do they go through the turret and squirm their way in or are the hatches up top supposed to be open? The welds around them seem to be original and the hatches seem rather small for anyone bigger than a 10 year old to get through.

Another thing, the view ports for both the driver and bow gunner...are they supposed to be spring loaded to keep them open? I've seen this on the Ferret. It works well for the weight on those hatches.

Now trying to track down a sight.....that should be a job and a half!

Regards

T17E1 · #48 24-10-07, 10:47

Hi Frank, I was lucky enough to spend some time in Rex Cadmans T17 at Beltring last year and the year before. I am 6'4" and 200lbs so not your average Tanker! You can climb in the turret but it is a wriggle through the turret basket. The proper way is through the side doors and past the basket. The first time I did it I twisted the wrong way and ended up hanging by my aching finger tips, poised over the knife like lower armour, unable to go in or out. It was not helped by a fit of the giggles. Seriously though, if you twist the right way it is not too difficult and if it was on fire you could get out very quickly. Once inside the Stag is quite spacious and very quiet. The driver and gunner don't need an intercom and you can chat without raising your voice. The largest nosise comes from the transfer box. The front hatches are not spring loaded but there is an internal lever that pushes them up. The early models had a prop but not the later ones. On the road it is remarkable sprightly and will do 50, 55 mph comfortably although it is a bit wide for English country lanes in comfort. Marco H has been operating his for some years and he is more qualified than me to talk about operating them. Great vehicles!
Tobin

Frank L. · #49 24-10-07, 17:10

So I take it that you mount up head first and twist your way through the hatches, which (I'm reasoning) the gunner or commander has opened from the inside.

Regards

T17E1 · #50 24-10-07, 18:33

Sorry mate, I was not being clear, you grip the armour above the side doors, swing your legs in and then wriggle in feet first past the basket. You mentioned the hatches up top, the commander gets in and out by pulling himself up through or down into the hatch and the side door latches are through the turret basket openings. He would go in first and open the doors.
Tobin

T17E1 · #51 24-10-07, 18:37

Hi Frank, forgot to mention. The 37mm is sighted through a standard M4 periscope. I have a spare if you need one.
Cheers
Tobin

Frank L. · #52 24-10-07, 20:09

I guess we're going to be doing a bit of grinding to open up the remaining hatches this weekend and take more pics.

Ian, recieved the info from Geoff and eagerly awaiting the delivery.

Regards

Bob Cohoon · #53 26-10-07, 19:11

The handle is most likely the turret traverse lock

Ian Pullen · #54 27-10-07, 00:15

Frank,
my boys and I spent a fair time scanning the manual into a PDF file to find out the quality of some of the scans are absolute crap. Mate, call it a sense of pride but we couldn't send it to you in that state.
We will be back in on Monday and should have it redone to the quality and standard that is expected.
Sorry about the delay. I will e-mail the guys on the Staghound site and see if they want a copy placed on their site afterwards.
Will also start on the parts manuals this week. Do you want a copy of the E2 model with the twin .50s as well?
No change to the price.......

JackM · #55 27-10-07, 02:25

Quote:

Originally posted by Frank L.
Not too sure what this thing is for....anyone have an idea?

It is spring loaded and has no locked position. It can only be turned clockwise 90 degrees and no more.

It's position is under the gun near the commander's side.

Frank,

I've included a pic from the Staghound TM 9-741 showing the Traversing System and the mystery object looks like the turret lock but does appear slightly different to the one in the diagram - later/earlier model perhaps ??

Jack

Frank L. · #56 27-10-07, 19:26

Yep....# 24 is the rig.

How does it operate? Pull and twist?

Like I was saying before, it only wants to move 90 degrees to the right and then springs back to the same position in both the photograph and the diagram.

Never tried to pull it out....didn't want to possibly break it.

Regards

marco · #57 27-10-07, 20:55

Hi Frank,

Unlock the turret as follows:

Turn the handle 90 degrees in a clockwise direction.
(You will feel a light resistance from a spring inside the lock.)

Then pull the handle back towards you as far as it will go and rotate it back to the original position.
It should now stay in the outward position leaving the turret unlocked.

About the difficulty in turning the traverse mechanism:

The traverse mech has a selector lever shown in the photo above as item No 1.
If you want to turn the turret manually please check that this lever is pulled downwards.
Leaving it in another position makes the mechanism difficult to turn by hand.
It should turn very easy.

If that doesn't help, the turret bearing will most likely have collected some debri after standing in the open for so many years.
The only solution for this is to take it apart and clean it.

Best regards and succes with your project,

Marco

Frank L. · #58 28-10-07, 23:20

I'll have to try that next weekend.....

I guess not, just remembered Leliefontein celebrations are next weekend.

Oh well.

Regards

Frank L. · #59 07-11-07, 22:47

Quote:

Originally posted by Ian Pullen
Frank,
my boys and I spent a fair time scanning the manual into a PDF file to find out the quality of some of the scans are absolute crap. Mate, call it a sense of pride but we couldn't send it to you in that state.
We will be back in on Monday and should have it redone to the quality and standard that is expected.
Sorry about the delay. I will e-mail the guys on the Staghound site and see if they want a copy placed on their site afterwards.
Will also start on the parts manuals this week. Do you want a copy of the E2 model with the twin .50s as well?
No change to the price.......

Ian,

So how are you making out? I gather that it's taking more than you anticipated.

Mind you I've been rather busy as well with Leliefontein celebrations and Remembrance Day coming soon, plus sorting out the panzer.

Regards

Ian Pullen · #60 08-11-07, 13:32

Frank. ready to go. PM me your e-mail address & it will be inbound. (sorry, I put it in a safe place, so safe it's still there!!)