M5 turret remove

[panzerwillie]

Well being working on removing the turretof the M5 for the lastfew weeks,
not only is being raining on weekends here but also had to cut all the heads od the blocks that clamp the turret down, today me and the crew remove , i cut the remaining 3 clamping bolts, i remove a lot stuff inside the turret to be able to cut all te heads off including removing amo bins ect, i also replace a hydralic hose that broke on the tow truck, it was great to see it come apart, a lot of work ahead but today was a great day enjoy the pictures

 

[L1A1]

Wow that's some project. Thanks for posting the images. Always thought tanks in general looked kind of cool w/o their turrets mounted. The British towards the end of WWII started doing that to the Stuarts in their fleet. They replaced the turret with an M49 ring mount and a machine gun. Turning them into a fast, low silloette recon vehicle.

Matt

 

[Recovry4x4]

Wow, that Stuart looks strangely familiar. Was that the one from the 391st Bomb Group Restaurant by PBIA?

 

[panzerwillie]

Not sure where it came from, its being in freds hands for many years, i know it came here from portugal, where it rested till he got it not sure.....

 

[sigo]

I've never been inside one of those, but in those pics the turret basket looks tiny! Looks decent on the outside, but the inside looks rough. I'm guessing your starting a full restoration? Awesome she's getting saved. I look forward to seeing the process and the final result.

 

[panzerwillie]

Yes is very small inside ,i had to remove what was left of the crew sits to be able to move around to cut the turret clamp bolts plus to remove all the bearing.adjusters yes the crew most have being under 5.9 i would think

 

[panzerwillie]

Well since removing the turret , we being slowly removing interior panels and amo storage cleaning up a little to get to the drive shafts to see if we can pull the power packs, even do it was light rain we made some pogress..

 

[NDT]

Wow those Portugal M5's were rusty inside when Southeastern brought them in back in the 80's; looks like 20 more years of rusting has not been kind to yours. Time to find a sheet metal fabricator!

 

[Recovry4x4]

There was one that sat beside a bar in SW Ohio for years (decades?). It looked eeirily similar inside.

 

[KsM715]

Any neat "finds" when pulling off the panels?

 

[panzerwillie]

It will take sometime to make it look good again, all we have found so far is empty budweiser bottles

 

[Bill W]

Wow, that Stuart looks strangely familiar. Was that the one from the 391st Bomb Group Restaurant by PBIA?

Yep thats the one
Fred got it and a couple of jeeps and WC at a package price ( a very very good package price )

 

[Recovry4x4]

Lots of unique stuff there but most of it at the edge of being restorable. Now I'm wondering, that Stuart showed up at the 391st in the same span of time that the one in OH dissappeared. Wondering if that is coincidence. Bill, does Fred have any history on this piece of armor past the 391st?

 

[Bill W]

Kenny
I Fred has a paper trail for this tank and I think SECO come's to mind as part of its past owners ( something like there was three bought from Portugal ) but I don't know/remember all of it

 

[NDT]

Don't forget there is an MVPA Army Motors article that lists all the ex-Portugal serial numbers. One way to be sure.