Tank Hunter Carrier Progress

[RichardT10829]

excelent.. mine took a bit of trimming but only because my track guards are a wee bit dinged. The carrier looks fantastic....... i hope you can get a hold of a 2 pounder to go onto the top she will look a million bucks.

[kevin powles]

Finished the shell racks and engine & gearbox covers, need to make the fuel tank covers next and rear seats, these are different to a standard carrier with different inner engine rail brackets, I believe steel covers slide over the fuel tanks probably backed with wood, a seat cushion then sat forward on the covers. The fixing arrangement for the covers is still a mystery but listed in the parts manual are the same screws used for the engine covers (3 in total), odd but maybe they ment four?.

Any comments or details would help.

kevin.

[kevin powles]

Hi,
I took the carrier out at the weekend for a 10 mile run to bed in some resonable looking track, One side of the carrier has 165 links in, 100 of these are NOS the rest were links off the mortar carrier. The other side has 162 links with 150 of these off the mortar carrier with the rest NOS.

After 5 miles all the adjustment i had was used up but they still hung low, after 7 miles they were down to the rear springs, I took a link out either side and this restored them to there correct 'hang' but all the adjustment was used up, after another 3 miles to get home they still looked ok.

So if anyone is running in track that has been lying around for x amount of years make sure you take all the tools with you to do a link change and adjustment.

I have also discovered that if you mix in NOS track with old reasonable track, and space it out you can still have decent looking track that sits right, like i have on the left hand side of the carrier, I plan over the next few months to start dropping out sections of track on the right side and putting in NOS sections as they become available, i have 20 good links sitting in transmission fluid as we speak to free them up.

Another word of warning is make sure you take the hand brake off on a drive The carrier still pulls with it on and appears to steer better on grass with it applied

Any comments please, or if any one has short length of track available please let me know. Attached is a pic of the carrier before the run.

[kevin powles]

Hi, Took the tank hunter carrier to a local poppy launch. here's some pics.

[carrierbarry]

Kevin
The carrier looks Fantastic.
And congrats on H test.

What have you got planned for 2011?
I guess your in Suffol k but where abouts are you in the UK?
Whats the history of your carrier?

[kevin powles]

hi barry, I want to take the carrier to as many shows as i can but tansport is an issue. It was imported in from Ontario Canada in 2008 as a running carrier, sound hull but needed a complete cosmetic rebuild all the fixtures and fittings were missing including all the front armour which laid in the back of the carrier including the two pounder mount.

here's a couple of pics as arrived.

[RichardT10829]

Kevin i always thought running odd amounts of links causes issues with the diff etc ? not having tried this for myself how have you found it so far given that one side of the hull is possibly running faster than the other less links and all ? or is it a tension thing ? i can never get my head around these things

[kevin powles]

Hi, Took the carrier out for a spin to the seafront for the armed forces day. Lots of vets came to look.

This carrier needs a 2 pounder on it, anyone got one going spare, please, please!.

kev.

[eddy8men]

a real credit to your skills is that carrier. nice job.
sorry but i can't help with the 2 pdr but i'll keep my eyes and ears open for you.

all the best
rick

[carrierbarry]

Fantastic!! look's like you had a great day out.
Where were you?
Will you be at W & P?

Barry

[kevin powles]

Hi, Barry, Eddy. Thanks, Barry will be there with a set of exhausts for you if you like the look of them. Dont think i will bring the carrier as cant get transport at a cost effective rate.

looking forward to going this year with the nigels book launch, anyone got Nigels number as a friend with a carrier wants it?.

kev.

[RichardT10829]

I would PM Nigel Direct for his number matey.. not sure he would want it given out without asking him first.

[kevin powles]

Hi, I see the the 2 pdr carrier now has a place in 'world of tanks' gaming.

Looks a Formidable Opponent for any Mk1 tiger!.

http://youtu.be/lfxGnBLT0iU

[Ben]

I think you need the big pointy thing that's on top of the one in the game on top of yours.

[kevin powles]

Hi, Do any of you guys in Canada have details of the 2pdr mounting pintle used on the tank hunter carrier?, I’ve attached a pic of what I need.

Cheers Kevin

[Tom Millward]

Hello Kevin, do you know if the 2 Pdr mount is a specific Carrier item, or would it common with the standard gun? The 2 Pdr has a traverse mechanism. A group I am in have two 2 Pdr, one of which is res.tored and one in the process. You’d be welcome to come and measure what we have.

Regards,

Tom

[kevin powles]

Hi Tom, No that won’t help, it’s unique to the tank hunter carrier to take the saddle off a Mk4 6 pdr gun carriage.

[Ron Pier]

Hi Kevin. I can't help with any dimensions, but studying your pictures, there are five attachment studs and holes? It makes sense that there is a webbing piece between each hole! Otherwise it wouldn't be evenly supported. Ron

[RichardT10829]

Kevin, if you have the correct spigot for the male side of things, couldn't you just reverse engineer the female side of the job ? you have images, surely its a case of machining to fit the male portion then make it look correct ?

just a thought.

[Tom Millward]

Hi Kevin, if it’s a 6Pdr saddle that was used, we’re restoring two of those as well (an early and a late), so could get dimensions from the guns we have.

[kevin powles]

Originally Posted by RichardT10829

Kevin, if you have the correct spigot for the male side of things, couldn't you just reverse engineer the female side of the job ? you have images, surely its a case of machining to fit the male portion then make it look correct ?

just a thought.

Yes Richard, Ron, might have to do that but you know me I like to get things spot on if I can. Tom I’ve sent you a message.

I know the Canadian War Musuem in Ottawa has one, does anyone live near there who could take measurements?

Kevin

[kevin powles]

No one got one kicking about over in Canada? I got the saddle almost finished today ready to fit to the shield and drill attachment holes.

[Jordan Baker]

Looks great. Nice work.

[kevin powles]

Originally Posted by Jordan Baker

Looks great. Nice work.

Thanks Jordan, will you ever convert yours back to tank hunter configuration?

Kevin

[kevin powles]

A Friend sent me this from some archives, Tank hunter British evaluation, interesting read.

[kevin powles]

More picture :

[Bob Phillips]

I am pleased to see the carrier went to a good home, and got a much needed restoration. Here is what it looked like in 1988.

[kevin powles]

Hi Bob, Thanks for the pictures, when it arrived to me it had the front armour laying in the back and also the gun mount support structure, is this something you removed?

[Bob Phillips]

Kevin, the front armor was added to the carrier bits by the dealer you purchased it from. We had the curved engine cover and gun mount in the photo. I recall the gun mount appeared to have been cut back ( you can see it in the photo) for some strange reason. It was never installed while we owned it.
I seem to recall it had a later style (1950s) flathead. We had a lot of fun running around a local farm, but one of the photos I didnt include was having to try and put the track back on as we had driven along the side of a fairly steep hill, and shed it. It was winter and cold and overall a very educational experience!

[kevin powles]

Fitted the steel plates which protect the fuel tanks, these plates sit on angle iron same as a standard stowage mk1 but are longer (use 7 side bolt holes instead of 6) and without cuts outs as per standard carrier.