Biggest Ford I've ever worked on...

[IlovemybroncII]

some one posted not to long ago about a german take they pulled out of a river and was almost in mint condition anyone see it or remember who posted it

 

[chittybangbang]

some one posted not to long ago about a german take they pulled out of a river and was almost in mint condition anyone see it or remember who posted it

I posted it a while back.not sure where it went but could have been on the old site.

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=111443
or\
the t34 with the German markings
http://www.mil.hiiumaa.ee/2000_09_14_kurtna_T-34-36/
this is a neat site
War relics forum
http://warrelics.eu/forum/germany-ww1-ww2-armour-artillery-vehicles/

 

[mn_smokeater]

can i take all of the above?

 

[Mac]

Actually a captured Russian tank?
Dave

 

[mn_smokeater]

it makes sense could have been better then what the crew had before? playing tricks on the ruskys? although id think the marking would give that up.

 

[74duster318]

Only got a few hours to play with the project today. Unbolted the drive shaft, both cooling fan drive shafts, and one engine mount.

Looking down from the commander's hatch into the turret compartment and turret basket floor.

Turret basket floor plate removed to access driveshaft.

Looking at the firewall and the turret rear with radio in turret bustle, and both commander seats. You can see the small access hole in the firewall where the front carburetor is, as well as throttle linkage. The angled inlets above the access hole are for the original air cleaners for the engine, which were mounted in the brackes to the left and right of the inlets.

 

[74duster318]

Another 15 hours + 1 knowledgable sherman tank mechanic (myself) + a 10,000 lb military lull + two helping hands in the removal process (lull driver, and another guy on working the chains) = An empty engine compartment...finally.

 

['95 ranger]

good god, get a couple gallons of degreaser and go to town lol

 

[74duster318]

good god, get a couple gallons of degreaser and go to town lol

That's the next step. That and aquiring another oil pan. That's almost 70 years worth of grease, oil, and dirt.

 

[74duster318]

Update. Got more work done today.

Just to recap, last time I worked on it it looked like this...

Today I removed Just about all of the remaining engine compartment components.

I removed the cooling fan gear boxes, exhaust pipes, and a few other things. Then did a quick degreasing and a pressure wash. It looks a little cleaner than before. It isn't the last cleaning either.

Removed the modified deuce and a half airfilter from sponson where one of the four gas tanks were originally. It's going to get a restoration, so an original sherman oilbath airfilter will be replacing it and mounted in it's original position in the fighting compartment.

Removed the throttle linkage and mounts from the firewall.

Removed the other modified airfilter housing (which was actually a coverplate for one of the original vertical gas tanks) along with the other original oilbath airfilter. Also removed the gas tank cover plate for the sponson mounted gas tank, and unbolted the gas tank straps. After removing the filler neck, cap, and seals, out came the 75 gallon sponson mounted gas tank. One of the four gas tanks in the sherman, but the only one currently in the tank.

Removed the electrical junction box and electrical wire housing conduit for the tail lights from both sides of engine compartment.

How it looks at the end of today...

Once I remove the gas tank straps, and possbly a few other things it's ready for the next step. This coming weekend it gets another degreasing, and then it's getting prepped for paint. I'll post more pictures then.

 

[mn_smokeater]

can you get a pic of you in the engine compartment for scale?

 

[74duster318]

There's a engine compartment floor access cover that has been removed so I'm standing on the ground, not the compartment floor. I'm a little shorter than the top of the engine compartment at the very rear of the tank.

 

[mn_smokeater]

dude thats a big space

 

[MountainMike]

That is the single coolest project Ford I have ever seen.

 

[Danger FX4 Ranger]

Any recent updates or pics?