there goes the cab

...have I mentioned how much I love a gantry crane !

last six bolts and the battery cable, up she goes !

..Pasta anyone??

....Cab lift almost ready, 6 bolts to go, so we take a pause to do final wire and harness disconnects

wow...thank god for getting pics ...I cant imagine getting back into the right spots later !

Armour Test Strip

Just found this !

Its a test patch for Armour Hardness on the M3. It was on the inside of the co-drivers foot well, a long strip that makes up the lower door sill. You can see the Hardness testers strikes, as what remains of the batch lot and QA testers number

Friday Art Shot

No....its not Snowing....its 30 Deg C right now with now end in sight...so, after a colder and wetter than normal Canadian Summer...the end of Sept is the new July !

so, it could be cooler :-)

Our CVRT an Bv 206 doing a stock movie footage pose , Feb '17

....I know, I know...we will have snow soon enough !

...one more layer in !

well, drivers side of the cab off! We decided that instead of striping the cab, and repainting, that we will reduce it to a pile of flat plate, prep, paint and assemble, then do a final paint. it adds scads of time to the job, but its, in our opinion, the right thing to do

and....what is this little brass fitting ? its pushed through the plate, and peened on

by the numbers .....

here is a shot of the elusive frame stamping of the Ord Number , notice that its not been over stamped, or crossed out, something that would indicate a revision level change . Its an important find, as it matches the Data Plate on the Dash

there is great discussion on where this number appears on Half Tracks, and in this case, its above the front axle, outside of the frame rail. You can just see the top of the Generator behind .

Clearly, this was hand stamped in the factory!

here as well are some detail shots of part plate stampings , if you want to know how Autocar stamped during assembly

out of the box, back in the box!

Every month, the fleet of the museum is cycled through a full start up and movement to check systems and to keep the seals in good condition, an the tires round !

its pretty much a full day, and always includes at least one "snag" to add to the ever present list of "fixems"

here is a few shots of some of the fleet out and about and a shot of how we "repack" !

Ottawa Army Run 2017

We had the best weather of the summer, and managed to get the Ferret parked between a Leopard 2, a Recce Coyote, a LAV and the brand new TAPV...how new, 85 km on the clock and a new car smell. We had terrific crowd appeal, being the little tough kid in amongst its older, bigger brothers !

We had fun with the Leopard crew, as they would fire up its HUGE MTU MB 873 Ka-501 diesel once an hour to make the ground shake....we would then fire up the Ferret while they revved up....and not being able to hear us, merrily showed off....until they shut down....and all the crowd could here was our Roll Royce "Sewing Machine " singing its heart out...hey ! getting laughs is as good as "Shock and Awe "!

 A great day, and we wish to express our thanks to the Army Run Team, the 12th RBC from CFB  Valcartier for the Leopard Demo, and to all the Veterans from the Royal Canadian Dragoons who noticed their Flag on the Ferret Radio Mast, and took the time to slide down in for some pics !

Friday Art (Hero) Shot

Well, here's a couple of our '63 Daimler Ferret Mk 2/3, 18 EA 40. We have just finished our pre roll checks and have come back from the test drive . We pre-check everything before it goes out the door for a show, in very much an "aviation" manner, being that the Crew Chief , Nick, is a former aviator

Our Driver tomorrow is our Crew Chief, Nick Tilgner, with Vehicle Commander duties being handled by the distinguished,  Terry Warner

We are pleased to be supporting the Ottawa Army Run, and are looking forward to our run through downtown Ottawa under escort of a well armed WW 2 MB !

more space to work in

as we move to the cab pull, its getting easier and easier the more plate is removed! here you can see in detail the brake booster and some of the frame detail as the side of the cab comes off. There was a change in fasteners too, with the small accessories held on my round head slot screws with a coarse thread , as opposed to the Countersunk Slot with a fine thread holding the plates on

its the details that count .....

.... We are building a skid of material to be painted, with many thanks to one of our sponsors, Star Motors Mercedes Benz, Ottawa,  and we needed to capture the markings in detail, such as size, distance from edges etc., so when she's in final assembly in 2019....well, we know exactly what the markings looked like

we have decided to bring her back to the level when, she had her blue North African Air Recognition Marking just painted.

so, for all of you for whom details matter...here's some hood and side marking details

Sharp eyes will see the star is not 100% centred , one inch difference between L and R

The sides of the cowling , and Battery Box Cover. I suspect the "WARNING DRY BATTERY" marking was an item that was painted on when she went into post war storage

We have many more shots if anyone needs the reference !

Bakalite and Copper ! now this should be a Steampunk thing !

We were nervous to what state the Volt Regulator might be in by the faded weather-beaten outer case and the hold down hardware being firmly stuck...never a good sign....EVER !

But wow, were we happy when we got the cover off, exposing the electrics , and have them looking like they were just manufactured !

just look at the shape this is in !

even has the inspection stamps clearly visible still ! 

On the road again! Ottawa Army Run 2017

Fall means a wind down in Show operations for us, but, we have been invited to participate in the Ottawa Army Run this year, and will have our 1963 Mk 2/3 Ferret out and about !

Look for us cruising the roads of downtown and on display at Ottawa City Hall, Sat. the 16th of Sept.

we will be posting event pics a soon as we can !, but here is a business end shot of our Rolls Royce Powered , 4 ton ,  armoured sports car !

Friday Art Shot

As we are starting to pull things through the firewall....here is this weeks Art Shot !

simple, tough and fixable !

Here are a couple of pictures of the armoured radiator louver control. a simple plunger and rail lock, but see how its put together, and more importantly , how easy it would be to replace a damaged part . Keep in mind this control has to hold up the 4 1/4 inch steel louvers, while off road !
What do you think we would have today ? a computer controlled thermo sensor system ?

the altar of WD-40...

....have we mentioned how much we depend on this stuff !

Meccano was already a popular toy when the Half Track was designed in the 1930's , and seeing the inner construction , cant help but think that the same folks that made all those toy girders, plates and a million tiny bolts got swept in the defense industry! much of the armour plate here is held to each other by steel strips that bolt up and butt-join the hull plates....im really not sure how that would do under impact...like you know, an 8mm Mauser round from an MG 42 !

...so much for the curves...

....the only curves on the M3 , other than the tires, are the artful 1930's era front fenders, a nod to when these were on the drawing board .... well, after unbolting and finding yet more rod welding in hard to get places....they are off.

makes it easy to get at stuff...but I will miss her graceful lines until they go back on....

plus a couple of rad close ups. I wanted to take a picture of the mfg. tag on it...but the rotating fan long ago amputated that !

Friday Art Shot

and , as we are getting closer to the engine pull !, here is this weeks Art Shot . This is the engine, drivers side, towards the rear of the Block.

So, yes, its an Autocar built M3, but with the great AX 160 straight six Flathead White Mfg. engine

..The song shouldnt be "Climb Every Mountain"....it should be "Cut off every $%$#&* Bolt !

..as you can tell from todays post, it was an ordeal getting the winch clear, every bolt on the framework, and the cast gearbox guard was cut off, followed by a LARGE Ball Peen Hammer and punch to drift out the stub.

...I will have Popeye Arms before I know it !

anyway, its off, and the rad is out ! , you can see from the rad picture, the tunnel that the winch drive shaft passes through, as well as the sloped armour that it also goes through

Ive added a pic of the hard to find rad shroud, and will post more of the rad and parts as i pull it apart for pressure testing

happy Friday !