Richie's Little Tank

[Richie]

Thought I would post up some of my efforts on the carrier from last week... Being around BBHQ has done some irreparable damage to my brain... And restoration ethos !

Long story short, my carrier was purchased with its entire top half cut off, in essence what arrived as my project was a tub with a pair of tracks. Behind the driver is a bulkhead and behind that are some armoured air intake ducts which in a crude way are designed to push air towards the fan and radiator core. My air ducts were cut to bits with a gas axe !

I did some research and a pal in Suffolk informed me of a field which was known for cutting up carriers at the end of the war (and turning them back into pots and pans no doubt) so a few years back, armed with a metal detector and a shovel we went and did some digging... And I located of all things a pair of ducts !!!!!!!!!!

They have been sat under my carrier awaiting attention since then.


Here is the gunners side duct as removed from the ground... It has been given some light cleaning and nothing more. Note the rotted section of steel, this is 5mm mild stuff where as the other sides are a high carbon ballistic grade steel, perhaps why the other stuff has survived and this hasn't Bill will no doubt know.

Here is the remains of the same side duct that came from my carrier.


So I went to work with a wire wheel on the grinder, and after a soak in molasses and brushed, the bits were ready to be mok'd up.

Here is the drivers side duct which I had stripped down to make patterns for other people.


Now here is the conundrum.... Do I replace the rotted section with a total new piece of steel along with new frame rails ? Or go the difficult route and graft in a patch ? Thanks to BBP I took the latter choice

I bolted my original duct remains, to the remains of the dug up duct to see what I had to play with, I then offered up the frame rail from the dug up duct to see where I need to make the cut.

Once I was happy where I needed to make the graft fit, I set about tidying the melted edges of the lower pannel of my original remains (that came with my carrier)


Once that was done, it was bolted back to the armour plate and the frame rail was cut to match


After that I added in the other plates to check my clearances and see how much new material I need to graft in





Which amounts to a small rectangle ! The rest other than the rivets will be original 1942 !!!

Here is what it should look like (drivers side)


And my carrier when I bought it


Happy days. Just need to weld in the bit and rivet it up........... Just thought I would share (it's all on facepants but some of you folk aren't on there)

[rob565uk]

Richie - fascinating stuff - I think folks would be interested in following the progress of your carrier. It deserves it's own thread I think !

[Richie]

I didn't think folk would be that interested, plus it's kinda way off topic.... I am happy to bore the crap out of folk about the carrier project if there is interest

[Renegadenemo]

I didn't think folk would be that interested, plus it's kinda way off topic.... I am happy to bore the crap out of folk about the carrier project if there is interest

I think it's a fascinating little vehicle and it'll be even more fascinating when Rich gets around to telling you why he wants one in the first place.
The BBP team is yet to make a piece for it but I'm sure our time will come though we did develop the rivet snaps so that it's put together just as it should be.
I don't do Facebolleaux so I'll be glad to follow progress in here instead.

[Richie]

I think it's a fascinating little vehicle and it'll be even more fascinating when Rich gets around to telling you why he wants one in the first place.
The BBP team is yet to make a piece for it but I'm sure our time will come though we did develop the rivet snaps so that it's put together just as it should be.
I don't do Facebolleaux so I'll be glad to follow progress in here instead.

That would be like a diary update hahahahahaha top and bottom of the project is not unlike the K7, inspired by a great man, however this man was my hero

[Richie]

Every child has a hero, batman ? Spider-Man ? Superman ? Wonder Woman ? Some overpaid yob nugget footballer ? Donald Campbell ?

Mine was a chap called Fusilier Kenneth Joseph Harrison, also known as "Grandad".


He was one of those larger than life types, he was always "the champion" at this or that... What an amazing bloke.

April 1st 1989 I walked downstairs in my pyjamas where my father stood looking at me, he was quite quick with delivery "I have some bad news son........" I responded with "haha April fools", it was only when I noticed there was no joviality in response to my reply that I realised my hero was gone for ever, I was nine years old.

A few months later I recall being sat in the front room of my grandfathers house as a street load of vultures descended to see if they could come help my dad empty the place (no doubt after some free shiney's) I was sat playing with my fathers Bayko set which was awesome, when I felt a hand on my shoulder I looked up and my dad had some army kit in his hand, it was my grandfathers field compass, binoculars, stable belt, and glen Garry hat. Along with his AB 64 army pay book, currency from all over the world, and letters from his father (great grandad) My dad handed the items to me explaining that my grandad would have loved me to have these.. I looked after these items and still have them all today.

Fast forward to 2008, I had decided to research my grandfathers time during the war, as he did not talk about it to anyone no one knew anything about it ! all my dad knew was that he was with the 8th army in the desert and was a bren gun carrier driver. I later learned that my grandfather formed part of 5th division with 2nd battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers, he had literally been around the globe !!! Madagascar, Karachi, Persia, Libya, North Africa, Sicily, and Italy. He had fought in many of the campaigns, his last being in Italy where he had been re assigned to a new regiment after a spell in hospital, he had been with that regiment a day before landing on the beaches of Salerno during the avalanche landings.

During the research I began to wonder what this bren thingy was that he drove, so having looked it up I asked the question "wonder what it would be like to own and drive one of these things"..... Two years of searching the globe I had found one and had imported it back to the UK.

And so the quest had begun, to restore the machine to full working order as a replica of my grandfathers carrier T10829. The carrier will be painted as per his time with the RSF during operation Husky (Sicily)

As a living memorium to my hero, and the many other hero's he served along side, the carrier will live on, and I hope it will inspire the younger generations of our society, that we owe so much to those who we all to often cast aside.




You can keep your footballers, and comic Lycra wearing weirdie's..... Gimme a Kenneth Harrison any day of the week.



My first time driving a carrier back in 09

[rob565uk]

That's a great and very moving story Richie. It puts a whole new light on your project to restore the carrier. I know precious little about it really - is there a short spec you could post on here? I am interested in the engine and transmission in particular.

[Renegadenemo]

I know the background but that's the first time I've seen a pic of Granddad - the family resemblance is there without a doubt.

My hero was my uncle Phil, not a real uncle, an adopted neighbour, but a survivor of two sinkings and every Arctic convoy except the disastrous PQ17, which he managed not to be on due to his allotted leave.
He was torpedoed aboard the fleet oiler Gray Ranger and was in the process of being rescued by the Bellingham when it too was hit.
Eventually he was rescued by the Rathlin - a shallow draft Clyde steamer that was immune to torpedoes because they couldn't be set to run close enough to the surface to hit her.
Uncle Phil found a warm spot next to the funnel where he could stand until the gallant little steamer landed them in Iceland and was to his dying day more concerned about the badly wounded below, some of whom died on the journey.
Some years before he died his daughter asked me if I could coax his wartime stories from him. He'd never talked of it even to his family and as she said, when he died it would die with him. He finally agreed and I spent many a happy hour filling notepad after notepad with his stories. He even got out his box of medals, one of which had only recently been awarded by the Russians, each with its own accompanying letter but all tucked away to rarely see the light of day.

"I was nothing brave," he made very clear. "I never had a gun or anything - I was only a cook."

Likely Granddad would have said something similar - he was only a driver. But compared to those boys we're all a little plain and ordinary nowadays... we owe them a huge debt.

[Richie]

Totally agree ! When my grandad landed on uncle- green beach at Salerno he was facing as I recall (without reading my notes) a division of the panzer grenadiers. They were firing flak from 88's at our boys on the beach ! Now the carrier is an open topped vehicle, needless to say it made a mess ! Brave brave men !!

[Richie]

Checkie, the engines were ford V8 flathead with a four speed crash box. The differential and drive axle was a standard ford truck axle, the final drive ratio was slightly lower than the truck variant, but other than that it was all the same.

The British variant carriers used the 60hp engines and the Canadians used the 85 and 100hp 24 stud engines. Mine is a 1939 "99T" lump generating 100hp !! Thus was the "big boy" of its day. As standard it is a 239 CI motor (think that equates to just under 4ltr) but don't quote me.

Mine is using 30 thou oversized rings. Many carrier engines were looted after the war for folk wanting to put them into their hot rods..... People like this chap. http://youtu.be/Qfqe7AkDdTU