"Rough Night" M3a1 Restoration

[steve1973]

That is way cool!! Almost like an early Christmas.

Steve A.

[yd328]

That's a nice pile of parts, they should keep you busy for a while

Gary

[Outsider]

Did those all come from the guy you bought the HT from? He had quite a stash of parts at one time.

Steve

[big44maghunter]

Did those all come from the guy you bought the HT from? He had quite a stash of parts at one time.

Steve

Yes, they did.  I've been picking up as much as I can from him because he's so close.  Paying pretty much what it's worth but don't have to deal with shipping on a lot of heavy stuff.  He's getting pretty tapped out now, but has a few mor things.  I've been lucky to have a one stop shop so close!

Brad

[big44maghunter]

What does everyone do for break pads?  I could buy some NOS break pads, but wondering if that's a good idea.  Is there a modern replacement or material that would be better?
Thanks
Brad

[yd328]

Does he have any passenger upper doors laying around?  You can check with White Post restorations to reline your shoes. I had them do my wheel cylinders, but I had a local guy reline the shoes.

Gary

[Outsider]

There is a shop over here that will reline your old shoes. I have done it on a couple of projects and it has worked out quite well. I would call around over there on the east side as you should be able to find someone over there to do it as well.

Steve

[big44maghunter]

Thanks guys, I'll check local first.

I think he my have an upper door but it's a reproduction.

Brad

[big44maghunter]

Didn't plan on doing much this winter as my track is outside.  Sure didn't think we would be having 60deg days mid February in Michigan!   Pulled the cover off and was able to remove the rest of the battery box, steering column/gearbox and radiator.   That radiator was difficult, had to take the fan and water pump off.  Started working on the driver side track removal but no luck yet.  I removed the top roller, pulled up the boggies with chain binder and removed all the nuts on the rear idler.  Have not been able to get the track spring nut loosened yet, so outer half of the idler won't come off.  Any tricks for the spring nut?  I still need to use heat and got some new wrenches for it.

Brad

[steve1973]

There are two ways to compress the track tension spring if you are unable to loosen the nut. One is to use a cum along attached to inner rear idler and the bogie support casting or (if your idler stop is  free) use your idler stop and use a large deep impact socket between the end of the stop and the bottom of the idler and slowly compress the spring. This is how I removed mine. See this post http://g503.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=217204. You can also see all the tools I used to remove the tracks. Hope this helps. Good luck!

Steve A.

[big44maghunter]

There are two ways to compress the track tension spring if you are unable to loosen the nut. One is to use a cum along attached to inner rear idler and the bogie support casting or (if your idler stop is  free) use your idler stop and use a large deep impact socket between the end of the stop and the bottom of the idler and slowly compress the spring. This is how I removed mine. See this post http://www.g503.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=217204. You can also see all the tools I used to remove the tracks. Hope this helps. Good luck!

Steve A.

Thanks for the ideas Steve.  Couldn't get the link to work though!

Brad

[big44maghunter]

Worked great, got them both off in about an hour.

[steve1973]

There are two ways to compress the track tension spring if you are unable to loosen the nut. One is to use a cum along attached to inner rear idler and the bogie support casting or (if your idler stop is  free) use your idler stop and use a large deep impact socket between the end of the stop and the bottom of the idler and slowly compress the spring. This is how I removed mine. See this post http://www.g503.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=217204. You can also see all the tools I used to remove the tracks. Hope this helps. Good luck!

Steve A.

Thanks for the ideas Steve.  Couldn't get the link to work though!

Brad

I fixed the link on the original post. it should work now.

http://g503.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=217204

Steve A.

[big44maghunter]

Picked up this canvas top for it.  Haven't seen many of these for sale.  Also got a nice storage bag.  Bag was made for camouflage netting but works great for the top.

[spec4don]

Excellent find!

Don G