M4 Sherman being delivered on Monday!

[wb1895]

I want something with tracks...

 

[o1951]

Came with a variety of engines- Chryslers were radials. NOT something I would want to work on. Ford was an 8 cyl, Cat even made a few multifuels for them.

Chrysler version: Five 251 cubic inch, flathead Dodge six cylinder truck engines [total 1253 cid]. The biggest thing was the design and development of the casting, that married everything, it must be huge, probably heavier than… but in a tank I guess, you care, at least not a whole lot. (30 cylinders!) There’s an awful lot of hand work on that, all the welded manifolding and stuff, and you’ll see that it has five, independent carburetors. It has five distributors. It has five vibration dampers on the front end of each crank shaft, and on the back, it has a big set of spur gears, each pinion having an overrunning clutch, so if you loose an engine, you don’t hold back the other four. [This particular engine was actually discovered in Argentina and restored by Chrysler.]

 

[bigbird1]

Hopefully it wasn't like the one close to me at the American legion that got sold, my friend works at the towing company who got the job to remove it , only to be told by uncle Sam that it wasn't allowed to be sold and had to come back.

 

[Greywolf54]

Can't wait for pics, had to watch the movie "Tank".

 

[DoctorCheney223]

The crane company confirmed that they will be onsite tomorrow and I have a film crew capturing the delivery. It's going to be a LONG night.

 

[KenaAuto]

The crane company confirmed that they will be onsite tomorrow and I have a film crew capturing the delivery. It's going to be a LONG night.

I personally cannot wait !

 

[Buzz]

waiting for pics.
subscribed

 

[wreckerman893]

I have an itch for armor.......but I don't have the scratch.

 

[DoctorCheney223]

It's not the looker that I was hoping for but she's going to have to do (like I stated in the original post.. I got this CHEAP). The history on this vehicle is that the right side was used for rocket launcher practice for exactly one day. The next day the while on the firing range, one of the shooters put a rifle round over the range berm and injured somebody down range. That forced the range to shut down and three of them sat for years and years until the previous owner acquired them and received government titles for two of them with a cover letter providing names, dates and permission for sale of government property.

I already have an estimate from a sandblaster to get the whole thing blasted here on property. They will come out and build a blasting "tent" for containment and do all the clean up. They quoted me $2,600 for the entire job.

I have to get back on the range but here are few pictures for now and hopefully I will have the video uploaded of the crane moving it a second time that was pretty **** cool.

V/R
Ron M Cheney

 

[Tinwoodsman]

Sure looks good to me.

 

[Cleptomaniac]

Sweet!!

 

[silverstate55]

I guess Bill got the parts off of her that he needed for his other one, eh?

Did you check with soda blasters? No containment tent needed, they can wash it away...very popular in industrial parks.

 

[Another Ahab]

Kudos to you for undertaking the restoration. The remarkable U.S. war effort produced them once by the 10's of thousands to defeat a terrible tyranny , and only so very few now remain. You're a good man. I got to thank you for adopting this orphan and giving her a good home! Keep us posted of the progress, please.

 

[Another Ahab]

An easy eight is the version I love the most

Just curious; what's the story on the "easy eight"?

 

[100acre]

OTE=wreckerman893;1433943]I have an itch for armor.......but I don't have the scratch.[/

always am I itching for armor , but here in Ga I'm itching from skeeters, anyone bringing a flame thrower?

 

[sigo]

Just curious; what's the story on the "easy eight"?

The M4A3E8 or "Easy eight" had a Ford GAA V8 engine instead of the Continental radial, greatly improved HVSS suspension, wider tracks, and a 76mm gun. In a nutshell, the E8 incorporated multiple improvements that had been applied over several models into one tank.

 

[NDT]

Wow, those kinds of finds are almost unheard of these days. Word of advice, be very careful around the penetrations, the shards can and will cut you severely, ask me how I know. Grind/burn them off as soon as you can, meanwhile keep the spectators away.

 

[steelypip]

Looks like lots of the expensive, heavy stuff is still there. Much, much better than a lot of range-rescued Shermans I've seen. I'm guessing it's one of the M4A3s that got remanufactured after the war? If it is an M4A3, you're lucky in your choice of prime mover - the Ford GAA looks both easier to work with and commoner than most of the other options. It's probably more fuel economical than anything other than an A2 and peppier, too.

And what NDT said about the sharp edges from the penetrations - I've been cut a few times from range scrap myself. I'd suit up in the best head-to-toe barrier clothing I could find and go after every last splash inside and out with an angle grinder before I did anything else.

 

[o1951]

Good for you!
IMHO. you got the best powertrain of the bunch. Ford GAA 8.
Hope there is enough left for you to get it running again.

 

[m1010plowboy]

They quoted me $2,600 for the entire job.

I'll give you a Canadian $20 if I can touch it.

That is a labor of love price, cheap. When the company you hire wants it as bad as you do things go well. I had that same support when I found Eco Friendly Soda Blasting and a retired Canadian soldier that owned it. He gave me his thoughts on what he would do then we wrote up a detailed 'scope of work' so nothing was missed verbally. He used 3 types of media and spent 5 hours on a box off deuce blast. The tank might take 5 or 10 minutes more.

Congratulations on a new guard for the compound and now all we're missing is a MK3 Provost jet!!