found churchills and m10 bulldog

[Nige H]

Also Eddy this may be of interest

M4A4 restoration - HMVF - Historic Military Vehicles Forum

This is one of the M4A4's I was on about, this was recovered from Salisbury Plain in 1991 and has now been fully restored, and shows what can be done.

Nige.

[eddy8men]

thanks nige that's a great link,that guy is something else.what an amazing restoration.well beyond my ability.thanks eddy

[tankbarrell]

That's my M4A4 in the HMVF link. At the time I got my tank, it was possible to get targets fairly easily but that is no longer the case.

Most ranges have seen a huge intensification in use in the last ten years and many are run by a civilian organisation who are usually not interested in helping an enthusiast. Permitted access is very hard to obtain and sneaking on runs the risk of forfeiture of vehicle and possible arrest.

To restore a tank from a wreck requires either a lot of ability and a huge amount of time or an enormous pile of money. I was fortunate in that I had the former, never having had the latter!
I spent over 4000 hours and that's with all the kit at my disposal. The actual monetary input was fairly small and that was mainly tracks, tyres and engine parts.

It is a different world now however, all old tank parts are eagerly
sought by some very wealthy collectors and I for one cannot compete, not that I'm trying to.....

With Churchill specifically, several projects are being undertaken at the moment, three by one chap alone and he is spending an awful lot of money and chasing many leads for parts.

I would say go for it but don't be surprised to find it a very steep uphill task with not much help in the way of parts availability.

Good luck!

[eddy8men]

hi adrian thanks for the advice it's most welcome coming from a guy like you as you've been there and done it,although i'm not sure i should trust you as your obviously a lunatic!!! taking on the rebiuld of that multi bank engine can only be the work of a madman or a genius.i hope it brings a smile to your face every time it fires up. you earned it.All the best eddy

[tankbarrell]

Thanks Eddy, we must have met as you seem to know me quite well! Perhaps we'll settle for mad genius......

I drove the Sherman out of her shed today to get some stuff out and needed lots of choke as it was freezing here today but she fired right up.

Cheers,

Adrian

[Johnny-D]

Thanks Eddy, we must have met as you seem to know me quite well! Perhaps we'll settle for mad genius......

I drove the Sherman out of her shed today to get some stuff out and needed lots of choke as it was freezing here today but she fired right up.

Cheers,

Adrian

Your a lucky guy mate! My great uncle Joe was a gunner in the Shermans! He's told me a few stories about his days in 'the tommy cooker'! Including driving one into a ditch in Normandy, and sliding across black ice and straight into an unsuspecting pensioners livingroom in Holland!!

He's 86 now, and still loves his Sherman Tanks!

[Nige H]

Hi Adrian,
and welcome to the forum. Unfortunately you can blame me for the link to your restoration of your M4A4. I must say hats off to you, one for restoring a range wreck and two having the guts to even try to restore an M4A4 and use the original type of engine, as I know you said in your restoration thread you had a radial on stand by, however me be the purest I am, I must that fact you went for the hard option of restoring a A 57 multi bank engine has put you in my good books as I'm sure this must have been a nightmare to work on, as know myself rebuilding one engine sometimes has its problems let alone five in one hit, and then having to time them all up to run as one.

Nige.

[eddy8men]

hi adrian
i'm sure you find many excuses to move her i know i would,as for me and any restoration i take on,don't worry mate i'm fairly savvy.I honestly don't know if it will come off but i've always thought that" you've got to be in the race to stand any chance of winning in it".All the best eddy

[eddy8men]

I'VE FOUND ONE (with a little bit of help from another tank nutter) and not too shabby either,will get the paper work together and if/when it comes off i'll post the pics sorry but can't post them now as some people watching this forum may be tempted to beat me to it.(the race has started).all the best eddy

[Nige H]

Best of luck M8, and yes tell us all about PLEASE but only once its in your safe hands, someone posted about a willys jeep on here which they had found, and latter on it was stolen by a third party. So best to keep mum for now

Nige.