New V-100

[Pawnshop]

This weekend IS coming very quickly, Lockhart will have to do... I want to get some photos of it in front of Kreuz Market!

 

[reloader64]

You know, Rory, it's going to be hard to keep this a secret from the club, with pictures of it posted here.

Scott

 

[M813rc]

That's true Scott, but I bet there will still be a few dropped jaws!

I'm going to share a few detail bits here. The skills of individual SS members when it comes to this stuff just amazes me, as does their generosity when it comes to helping out. Once the V is finished, I am going to do a "This restoration is dedicated to.." post and name some names, for now I am just going to show some pictures of stuff.

While some of you are able to do this, I can't, so I am impressed when I see it done. The chap (who shall remain anonymous for the time being) who made these bits thinks it was easy, I think it is wonderful.
We are both rebuilding V's. Some of the needed parts I have, so I send him measured drawings and a few photos, he makes excellent reproductions. I had the radio operators seat, but not the front co-driver seat, which is the same except for the support leg length, he had neither for his V. Now both have what we need!

I have around one million and three photographs of the V and its sundry parts, if there is a particular item you want to see, for example the engine bay fire suppressor expansion nozzle, let me know

Cheers

The green ones are original parts, repros are unfinished.
1 & 2- Radio op/co-driver seat
3 & 4- Gunners seat
5 - FireEx nozzle
6 & 7- Spent round box

 

[M813rc]

Some more pictures of the underneath. The ventral armour is quite pitted, this V sat for a while either with its wheels sunk into the ground, or on its belly. The plate is a 1/2" thick so some pitting won't effect its structural strength, but I still wouldn't care to take on any mines.

As you can see, the driveline is well protected. The entire belly acts as a skid plate to keep things from hanging up underneath or snagging an axle.

Bloody spiders seem to love it under there, they build their webs everywhere. It will all get a good cleaning in the near future before it goes into the paint booth.

1 & 2- Front driveline
3 - Rear. At lower left you can see one of the five drain plugs mounted in the hull.
4 - Mood lighting inside, shows the tidied up drivers area.

Cheers

.

 

[EZFEED]

Was the hull sitting on the ground at some point?

 

[vj]

thanks rory, that just like the one i got, but the arm that moves is on the other side, but the might be movieble to the other also. like the m2 50cal eather side. look like you all are working your butt off, on this project. its sure look good . i got ww2 m.v. halftracks. and 5 ton. tractor. i like all od things. i was a tanker in the 80ee, we had m60 then m1 , you work you ass off on them thing, the i went to heuy and blackhawks in the 90ee. keep up the good work. wendell in tn.

 

[Jones]

Top notch work Rory. My hat's off to you.

 

[M813rc]

Mr Jones, if I can get your distinguished hat off, then I take that as high praise indeed! When I think of folks who can make things that impress me....

EZ, yes, I bet it did. This V, along with two or three others, was a hard target on a range evil:) before being picked up as scrap. It had several shell holes in the hull (as in cannon shells). The fine specimen that Derrick has returned to the living was sister to mine, they were similarly trashed, though mine not quite as bad. Almost all evidence of the gunshot damage is invisible now, though I left what looks like a .50cal hole in the engine bay frame and the outline of a patched hole in one wheel well as part of its history.
I am trying to get some "before" pics from the previous owner since all that repair work was done before I bought the V as an in-progress project that had stalled for several years.
Your Tatra looks great by the way, very cool vehicle.

Wendell, I don't know a huge amount about those sights, but they were adaptable to multiple installations.

Cheers

Edit- added another picture of bullet damage. If you look at the spring mount in pic 2 you can see the gouge from a bullet. Pic 3 is a close up of that. The bullet damage that does not detract from the overall restoration stays as part of the vehicle's history.

.

 

[V-100 Commando]

Rory, - You have redeemed me in my wife's eyes. I can now point to somebody else that's as crazy or worse then me. The work you are doing on the V is not only incredible but sets the bar very high in any restoration project. Keep up the great work and post a picture of the bed in the garage where you sleep next to the V
Glad to see you are staying with the 361- it's a good engine and should be problem free.
Jeff

 

[M813rc]

Me crazy?? Mwoo-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha... ha-ha... ha..

Actually, I am good for a lot of marriages. When their wives get bent out of shape with them, most of my friends point at me. They don't have to say anything, just point, maybe raise an eyebrow. The wives get kinda quiet, they know things could be a lot worse for them.

Sleep next to the V, maybe in it...

I like the 361, and the engine I have is a good one. I intend for the V to be as stock/original as possible, but if I do have issues with the carburetor, B3.3T suggested a good replacement for that.

Cheers

 

[M813rc]

In response to a request for some details from Shane, who is building/detailing a 1/35th scale V100 model (nice work so far) -

The batteries mount in two simple racks just inside and below the engine access door. They are held down by a bracket on top with two J-hooks that latch into loops on the rack sides. There is a heat shield between the batteries and the engine, it mounts on the tabs visible on the back of the wheel well and the fan shroud mounting box (just below/beside the exhaust port). Heat shield comes up level with the top of the upper battery. The air filter hangs from the roof above all this, if I can find a picture of another V with that installed, I'll attach it.

Radiator mounts each have a couple of rubber grommet vibration dampers.
The blue hose across the transmission doesn't belong there, it is the forward bilge pump vent line and goes between the radiator corner and the wheel well, it is just loose to give clearance while putting the radiator in.
I included one showing how the hoses go through the fire extinguisher nook and vent overboard through a shrouded exit point in the hull. The fire suppression hose mounts to the fixture visible in the firewall below the bilge hoses.
Since we are talking about the bilge pumps, I included a shot that shows where the one under the engine mounts to the hull floor, the other one is a bit forward under the transmission. There are little doors in the driveshaft tunnels that can be opened to let water get from other sections of the hull bottom to the bilge pumps.

Hopefully all the details mentioned can be seen in the enclosed pictures, but the quality gets reduced way down when they get posted. If there is something you can't make out, let me know, I may be able to either crop that bit and post it higher res, or take a closeup. Or I can email the full size pics to you.

Nothing like good closeups to show the defects in one's paintwork, eh? I can see several spots of primer where I missed with topcoat green . You can also see where the exhaust joint leaked and spewed all that great black stuff you get when you fire up a rebuilt engine for the first time, gotta tighten that one up. Once the restoration is done, I will wash the interior out, it is full of shop dust and dirt now.

Cheers

 

[EZFEED]

Damn Rory that is some sweet work! Wish I could afford one or any U.S. armor for that matter! LOL! Definitley some good American iron there!!!! I bet it would scream with a 600 Road Demon up top. Are you running the original carb?

How thick is the armor on the V-100? Is it all 1/4 armor plate?

 

[M813rc]

Thanks EZ. The upper frontal armour and turret front is 3/8", the rest is 1/4". Belly is either 3/8" or 1/2" depending on the reference source, my V100 manual says 3/8". All is 500 hardness, which makes it very strong for its weight/thickness, but also prone to stess cracking. Supposed to be able to resist up to 7.62 AP rounds at 90*, and .50 cal at 45*. I don't plan on testing that.

I will stick with the stock carb setup unless it gives me trouble, then I will look into B3.3T's suggestion, he has quite a bit of experience with these.

I didn't think I could afford a V either, but I ran into the right deal at the right time. Musta been clean living... Yeah, right..

Cheers

 

[EZFEED]

Cool deal!!!!!! Thats some strong stuff on the bottom too! I'm sure its good for all 7.62 rounds but I would not try .50 on it though! I've got 10mm on the sides and 15mm up front, compressed chrome moly armor plate and I want to say .50 will still cleave through the 15mm like a hot knife through butter. I say that after looking at some pics of .50 impacts on the glacis of some tanks. 12.7mm of any nationality makes some decent craters!

Cheers on your resto bud! Your work is remarkable!!!!!

 

[Malyutkaman]

This V, along with two or three others, was a hard target on a range evil:) before being picked up as scrap. It had several shell holes in the hull (as in cannon shells). The fine specimen that Derrick has returned to the living was sister to mine, they were similarly trashed, though mine not quite as bad. I am trying to get some "before" pics from the previous owner since all that repair work was done before I bought the V as an in-progress project that had stalled for several years.

.

Did this V come from Larry in Puyallup, WA.? If so then I might have some before pix. I remember looking at it years ago but couldn't afford it. Then later bought the one Derrick is restoring. Of course after buying it I found out how expensive parts were and never did anything with it except trying to weld up some of the range damage (I quit that in a hurry when my torch lit off an unseen 20mm projectile still in the hull. Scared the S--- out of me) I'll look for the photos this weekend and let you know what I find.
Rich

 

[B3.3T]

Safe to say, a .50 will chew up anything pre-2000 on wheels. Without added armor, even a tracked Bradley and Warrior would have serious problems.

 

[M813rc]

Agreed, the .50 and its 12.7mm cousin are very dangerous guns. I have a pic somewhere (can't find it, still looking) of a Philippine V150 that took a .50 round near the front right side vision block, knocked a chunk out of the hull. I guess it wasn't at 45*!
Fortunately for those inside the V when it was introduced, weapons of .50cal were reasonably rare in the field due to weight. At 84#, the M2HB is not exactly an infantry weapon. Just the tripod is something like 47# (numbers from memory, subject to verification, all restrictions apply, 10% restocking fee). I would have to look up the commie equivalent, I imagine it is just as heavy. The V armour is effective against infantry calibre weapons. RPGs took their toll, but they take a toll on pretty much any vehicle they hit.

I used the .50 as a doorgun on CH-53s many years ago, loved it.

EZ, since I don't equate well to metric measurements, I checked on a ruler, 15mm is very close to 5/8" and 10mm is approx. 3/8". That is some thick stuff! Do you know the hardness? The Cadaloy on the V is 500 on the Brinell scale.

Cheers

ps Sarge has my weapons encyclopedia; does anyone know what a DShK weighs?

 

[M813rc]

Rich, I'm not sure how many Vs Larry had, but mine is not the one he has/had in the recent past. He could have had it some time back though; mine, Derrick's and one or two others did all come off a range together (unknown where/when). I would love to see your pictures, I might be able to identify mine from where the damage is. The previous owner of mine had it for many years and had started the restoration work before the project stalled. I basically inherited a jigsaw puzzle with a few pieces missing.

Cheers

 

[B3.3T]

I would love to see that photo, Rory, if you can locate. I saw an M-113 in Israel that was destroyed by a .50 in PLO hands during the Lebanon campaign. Swiss cheese....

 

[EZFEED]

Yep they will eat up armor plate in a hurry. API rounds make some magnificent holes through 1/2" plate but I can see where angling the plates like on the V will throw them off. The projectile must hit within a certain angle range to actually compromise the armor or else it will just glance off (but still leave quite a welp on the plate). I'm sure being fired from an automatic at least one of them will make the mark. Like you said though, you wont encounter that heavy a caliber in the field unless mounted on another vehicle and in that case the odds are even then. I dont know if they still hump the M2 with the tripod anymore???

Too cool Rory! You got any pics of you manning MA?

No I dont know what the hardness is, I'm sure its in some book in CZ somewhere but I havent found it yet. It sure is heavy though, makes for terrible steering. I tip the scales at 11.5 tons with weapons and its only a little bigger than a F-350 crewcab. Your V has allot more stuff in it too than my truck, you have NBC systems, all kinds of weapons storage and equipment, etc, plus it floats!

Now thats my flavor of .50 cal! I like the M-2 but I love the DShK 38/46! I have several that I rebuilt from parts kits to semi auto and rechambered to 12.7X99mm (U.S. .50BMG). The original 12.7X109mm rounds are way too expensive but I sleeve the chambers to the smaller U.S. round and away we go Here are some pics
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v425/EZFEED/My blasters/EZDSHK1.jpg
And you can see 12.7X99 fits just fine in the links and feedtray
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v425/EZFEED/My blasters/EZDSHK14.jpg

Is the rear armor on your V as thick as the front armor Rory?