The correct way to start a Chieftain or Challenger is to start the GUE first and put it on charge, then start main engine. In terminology it is not an isolator switch it is the Main Battery switch. I was a B3 driver for 4 years and a Driver Mech for 8 years on both the Chieftain and Challenger. Under certain revs the main engine generator does not function too well, it is usually only used on long marches. The button in the Infantry Tank Telephone is to get the attention of the crew inside. Good luck with the search light, it is rather dangerous as it will burn out your retina if you look directly into it when in operation. You have no Clansman radios ,only the harness. More importantly you do not seem to have a boiling vessel. You do not seem to have the laser range finder nor the traverse control. You do have the gun elevator. There is a shield on the left side of the gun that slides forward and back. In the forward position the gun can not fire ergo no recoil, safety feature, also by the loaders hatch, on the roof, if memory serves me right, you should find a large switch, this is the safety switch and should be on safe unless you want to fire the gun LOL Good luck with her, I am soooooo jealous. Oh, just a quick one , at the very back of the vehicle there are 2 stowage bins, just inboard of each bin you will see a large bolt head, this is rather important as you undo it to drain water out of the fuel tanks. PS if or when, you change the GUE fuel filter, be very careful as the retaining bolt is prone to shearing if done up too tight. Health to enjoy.
The correct procedure is the Gue first. The the main engine. You can’t run the gun kit on Chieftain with just the main engine on idle, on Challenger you can. I crewed both and cvr t.
I used to be a B3 crewman on Chieftains back in the late 70s early 80s (driver, gunner loader/radio operator) . We used to disconnect the auto changer to give smoother changes despite it being something you were not supposed to do. I seem to remember we started the generator first but it was a long time ago. There were also levers for the turret engine air breathing. The headrest was almost always broken and driving often involved holding the back of your head with a hand. In one camp I was in which was a training camp, a breech block went missing it was eventually found doubling as a seat!
Nice to see that this old girl is going to be renovated and did not end up down range as a hard target or smelted for razor blades!👍 The video brought back a lot of fond memories, l started on them as a gunner back in 1975. Then moved down to the drivers cab for a few years. In 1980 l moved back up into the turret to become a loader/radio operator, then in 1982 l did my crew commander’s course. I got to command a few for the next few years, crewed Mk2XYs through to Mk9s!
First start of the day for the L60 would be done using the GUE firing up to get the main genny on line. In winter the hydraulic starter is preferred (when working). On the ME panel the middle switch would be left up for the first 30 seconds when cranking to raise the oil pressure to the exhaust crank. Middle switch controls the solenoid for the fuel injection pump. Seen a few failures with bits coming through the top casing. REME A mech with 9 years experience on the dirty, oily beasts. Loved them.
Only ever had to use the dog clutch and hydraulic starter handle a couple of times after I joined my unit. It was rarer than hens teeth to find one that actually worked properly most of the time, thank god as it was knackering to get going sometimes!
@@peteturner3928 we used to wind the infantry up in co location by having a driver in the cab, a vm hidden on the gue with a spanner on the swash plate lever and a guy on the telephone. Every time the phone cable was pulled the vm would start the L60 and the driver would flick the middle switch up and down to simulate a rough start. Infantry stared at the guy on the pull start in wonder.
My Dad was on these back in the day as a commander. They used to wind up the infantry on exercise by storing beer in a few of the bag charge bins as they are water jacketed and kept the beer cold :)
Great video, started my career with BAOR in 85 on Chieftain as gunner… worked my way up to crew commander before moving onto Challenger 1. As many have mentioned lots of reliability issues with D&M side, the gun was bloody accurate and we trained to fight from pre-planned defensive positions anyway! (If the huge plums of white smoke from the cylinder liners on the L60 being shite didn’t give our road moves away) 😂😂 Good memories, every time we stopped there was a race to get the gearbox decks open and all of us sitting getting warmed up while the Op got the brews on from the BV “The most important part of the beast” oh and a CVR/T bivvi if you could pilfer one.!! Good luck with this project 👍🏻
Great vid, really impressed that something made by British Leyland starts on the bottom😎. Sequential box is a surprise but absolutely makes sense as driver’s previous vehicle was probably a moped
British Leyland was a miss matched group of companies forced together buy goverment, Leyland trucks were called king of the road from the 1930's on wards , the WW2 army Leyland Hippos were still being used by road construction companies in the 80's , my grandad was in the R.A driver during the war and all his manuals were hand written and drawn during his training l'm not sure if that was because of the method of teaching or just a lack of printed manuals? but they were cool to look at and everyone seemed to have excellent hand writing skills the diagrams were very well drawn as well. But back to the point never confuse poor old British Leyland with the original and much older LEYLAND TRUCKS 🙂
great commentary as usual i remember most tankies have no front teeth from incidents such as headbutting the bulkhead when stopping and as you suggested hatches slamming ya bonce etc - i have to admit, when i get into these things, i am always very wary of what teeth i have left in my head, my age doesn't help me either, and being shorter can help but when your legs don't seem to bend like flamingos can also hinder - like you my legs don't bend that way but my knees are shot, so there is a bit of swearing to get my legs to function the way they used to i like your mention of Smith instruments, most of which were probably made on a Friday afternoon, i have even seen them fitted to Russian recovery equipment (and they bloody worked, SHOCKED i was) dead right on the brakes and the handbrake, never used them either, we were always told these can stick when not in use, drivers start up, try to pull away and wreck the brakes which then means you have to wake that nice chap with the large spanner (SPANNER!) who would give you a very hard red faced stare, like a baboons backside - the only reason 60+ tons of tank might move would be if the Earth stopped spinning, i am reliably told this might never happen, i never argued with my sergeant since he was way ugliar than me looking forward to seeing this monster back in its Urban camo
Good vid..like everyone else says in the distant past I recall we always used to start with the genny first.As the driver the first thing that was drummed in was ..check the turret safety switch first, then jump in check master switch...no mention of ready round bins housing the crews booze....but brought back lots of memories cheers
always start the gene first looks lik eturret gun indicator is off the mark, its showing 10 o'clock but the barrel is 12 o'clock, great video and brings back so many memories. thank you
one of my brothers (ex 9th/12th Lancers) was a gunner driver on chieftans and scimitars /scorpian for 9 years . followed my dad who was in the 7th hussars as a gunner driver on cromwells and comets
@4:54 - the rubber switch in the phone box sets off a light by the right-hand side of the TC's cupola, alerting him to the fact that somebody outside needs to talk to him. It MIGHT be marked ET [external phone] or just a red/orange light. Red is for night-safe, BTW, but you probably knew that already. The Mk X had the enhanced frontal turret armour, code-named Stillbrew.
So I was watching the last video and I was very tempted to even write that how do you even drive a tank but I never did clearly I didn't need to as you are now doing it amazing thx you great video .👍
I started and drove one in Barker Barracks Paderborn around 1980, when I was stationed there. I think it was with 3RTR. I remember starting the slave engine and then the main engine. The engine felt so far behind. I wasn’t a tankie, and it was soooooo much fun.
The normal way of starting is to start the ''genny'' or aux gen and put the generator online. Then start the main engine (without depressing the accelerator. Doing it this way is easier on the batteries. The main engine should idle @300 to 320 rpm. The centrifugal clutch (an Achilles heel of these Chieftains, always have a spare) then starts to engage as soon as you rev the engine in gear, it's fully engaged by about 840 rpm. When driving you cannot change down a gear unless the rpm is below 1200 rpm (there is a governor on the gearbox). The max rpm used to be set at 2,100 rpm which would give you about 27 mph. Having driven more than 4,000 miles on these I'll happily answer any questions you have. 🙂
@@hillbilly8621 That is connected to the transmission by Bowden cable in case of electrical failurer, or a problem with the gear selector. It engages low reverse or 1st gear.
Since when is the “normal” way of starting using the gu. I think that is probably a unit thing that someone came up with. The gu’s primary task is to provide charging power for the turret when the main is not running. Using it to start was just a backup to the electrical starter.
You put a smile on my old face...EB71was frequently put on a heavy ferry to cross the Havel from a point near the Yacht Club and then participate in some bloody stupid excercise designed simulate delaying the 46 Warsaw Pact divisions that would sweep through Berlin and on to the Fulder Gap...I was eager to please the RSM cos I was almost permenently in his bad book...It was night, almost zero visibility but I valiantly leaped ashore in order to impress him...sprinted ever so tactictly for 25 meters - and met 01EB71 which was sitting innocently in front of me...I ran stright into the port side and saw many, many, stars...my nose came off worse than the tank but I was nevertheless told by the TC to ""get your filthy blood off my tank!!!"" Hap[py days....pleased to see it survived and has a good home - and you can't the phone back.
Woaha, a mighty chieftain,my favorite Tank.They blasted our fields of,in hildesheim area.i was amazed about this pretty tank.i was 12 years old.And,yes,i miss the B.A.O.R.
Enjoyed my time at hildesheim. I still think of it now an again and often wonder about the people I knew. Daves bar was legendary and Germany was a beautiful country from what I remember. Unsure what it is like now because I have never been back since I left in 93. One day I hope to go back and to see how things have changed from what I remember of my early years in 1rtr
Oh the memories... Took my track test in a Chieftain, this was the second vehicle I ever drove on the roads, the first being a small car I passed my test in a couple weeks prior.
Hi guys, that was a excellent video, makes one want to go out and buy one and drive it to work and back ( I work for a prison) but I would like to put my hand up to apply for the job of apprentice driver or tank polisher, best regards from a Kiwi living in Australia.
Awesome stuff, now I just need to find a chieftain just laying around. That bit not so easy.😮😢, but I do wonder if I did see one of your beautiful beasts in real life growing up in bordon /whitehill used to see them driving around and apc carriers a lot. There Was the REME recovery and fitting school there, growing up my house backed on to one of there training grounds, if I didn’t see them you definitely heard them lol, brings back great memories, even remember seeing a apc embedded in a house next to whitehill post office one Sunday morning as a boy, the owners where luckily sleeping upstairs and a learner driver lost control or a track can’t remember and the apc ended up in there front living room, just with its rear and orange flashing lights showing lol, good job they have rear doors, at least they could get out lol, was a happy ending though all people fine just the owners of the house with a tank stuck in there living room for a couple of weeks until they secured building and removed apc, cheers guys will tell u more soon
I always forget how old these vehicles are, even the "new" tanks are really from the 70's and 80's. Reminds me of starting up an old John Deere Model B.
Be great to see her back up to tip top shape. Hopefully you can find sights and periscopes and make the turret work! They really look the best on the move when the gun is stabilised!
I remember seeing them at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin for the Queen’s birthday. The “training village” was called Doughboy City. Good to see this one again!
If I remember right that button is meant to sound a bell/buzzer inside the tank to let the commander know someone is requesting communication on the phone
And if the handset was buggered or missing you whacked your signaller on and used Morse code to tell the radio operator what to do,. I was a sig and we also hadn't a cheat card of simple signals to use if nobody in the tank knew Morse, lol Dot dash= Go Left/Target left (stationary) Dash dash= Go Right/Target right (Stationary). Dash dash dash= Stop. Long time ago though and never had to use it, so can't prove it's workable.
Being an infantryman in the 80s i exercised on many occasions with these beauties thay had a very distinct sound and sitting on the engine deck when it was cold was awesome although you did tend to fall asleep, i never realised the crew compartement was so small anyway had the cold war turned hot we would have been very glad these beasts were backing us up, love to all 80s squaddies we were ready but thank god the call never came.
So the button you pressed in the phone box on the back would give an alert to the crew via their intercom, a bit like a quiet horn type sound 😂 that’s so that the commander doesn’t think about reversing before the infantryman at the back has managed to unreel the phone and get a message over to the crew inside
Also to add, it cuts all of the intercom when using those phones, or at least it does on challenger 2 so that part of the reason as well, so the commander doesn’t think his comms have gone
@@michaeljones-qm4wq I’m waiting for an old boy to take the bait on this comment and say something like “Ah bunch a puffs nowadays I mind back in ma day we had pints of AL-39 fe breakfast”
I stumbled on this channel a couple weeks ago and it's absolutely fascinating. This is such interesting and genuine content, I can see the comradery between you all, but also really genuinely talented and mechanically knowledgeable. I'm looking forward to seeing the restoration of this tank.
I remember having to replace the emergency gear cable and having to remove the power pack, gearbox, turret charge bins and floor. All the fun of the fair!
Sprockets and vibration- we always used Hylomar blue paste on the bolts but even that had little effect- they shake themselves lose after a days motoring especially on roads.
Great video. I've never driven a tank but would love to have a go! I used to live near Bordon army camp and they had a huge common where they used to leave tanks, trucks armoured cars and many other decommissioned vehicles so they could practice recovering techniques. Climbing in and on all stuff was great fun, but when the army came out to play we had to scarper fast!
i used to take what we called a 'special trip' to visit a friend 'in a pub, figure that one out' he used to prep vehicles for all kinds of events, some of them for the Army, the madness, can't say much on that side as it was hush hush - but we invariably got to play with all kinds of silly things, our friend got the chance to rescue some items from that sand pit where there was once a war or conflict or something silly, some interesting Russian recovery gear
Was gonna be a smart arse and say most of your subs know how to start and operate a tank until I actually watched it and realised I knew phuck all, never knew that the gears was like a motorbike.., Matt paypal'd me a fiver to sound interested in this video.
I can remember the early chiefies from when I was in. I wanted Tanks, but was shoved in Signals- bearing in mind I'm 6'2 or was then perhaps this was no bad thing.
Me and my claustrophobia wouldn’t be driving one of those things. My dad who was 6 feet tall served in tanks in WW2 , 79th Armoured Division, in flail tanks . I can’t imagine that there would have been any more room in those things, especially in combat. Interesting video.
That was truly enlightening for a Joe Public person. Great video and gives you the true reality of what these vehicles are really like. (Which to me is remarkably pretty primitive mixed with very efficient mechanics and systems) but this was a treat .
I sure hope you get that old rhino lining off of the tank and make it beautiful again with a nice beautiful paint job and a beautiful sandblasting manicure
Your knowledge is awesome on this stuff I was wondering what your back ground is were you a tank mechanic in the military or what it’s awesome to watch you work it would be great to watch a video of how you learned what you know and how you get all those tanks thank you Dave US army veteran
Interesting Video, this tank is in good condition, especially if you compare it to Russia's confirmed reserve tank stocks as to which the condition of those make this look brand new.
How about getting a Tank with an Inertial Starter, complete physical ball ache to start them up, but the sound of an Inertia Starter is immense. Don't know if any of the British stuff had Inertia Starters, suspect it was a German thing. Great Vid, love the channel 👍
If I remember rightly first you start the GUE, leave it to idle for a few mins then rev it up to 2000 rpm, flip it to charge ( you hear a change in tone as it does and a change in the smoke behind if you're outside of the tank ) , then you start the main engine. You can usually get away with starting the main engine on it's own but not a great idea to do that especially when it's very cold as you may end up with exploding batteries with resultant destroyed clothing and a trip to the quartermasters to exchange stuff as they are either side of you in the drivers cab ( your prod racks aren't in as you haven't been on ranges for a bit and on normal schemes it's a handy place to put your webbing, beer and mars bars ) and then you'll have to rob the ones out of the turret to finish your road march after being crashed out to the gold run. Don't ask me how I know that.
Mr Hewes, if the electronics gear is no longer available, but you have known good units or better service documentation, have you considered getting in touch with local universities / colleges about making a drop in replacement? I only ask as I recall various industries and services donating engineering equipment to faculties, and then the tasks and jobs of making stuff work, figuring it out and so on. the learning value is priceless and real-world. everyone wins . basically.
As a native Cold War West Berliner I agree. Btw., the training site was Ruhleben fihting village, right next to the Olympic Stadium (Which housed the British Berlin Brigade HQ). i have been there once during a training exercise with the German civil defence. It still exists, but is today being used by Berlin police (which have their HQ right next door). It is possible that I was once in this particular tank, when the british Berlin Brigade had their open door day at RAF Gatow back in the 1980s. They had an absolutely manky Chieftain, full of live ammunition there for display, full of bag charges, HESH rounds and magazines full of vent tubes, and the children climbing all over thie stuff. The squaddie on duty told me that they had cleaned and prepared another chieftain for the display, but unfortunately the night before the open door day it cauht fire, so they had to get a tank from their active reserve.
The gue was always used to start a tank ch or cr the cr would struggle off batteries and you had to prime the oil system too. The gue was always uesed when sat still to charge and run everything including the bv
A shame the control cubicle and GCE PSU are missing, and a pain to fit replacements but good luck with that and the commanders and gunners controllers. Have you checked to see if the metadynes and the gyro unit are still fitted? If so you might stand a chance of getting the gun kit working and in stab too.
Its common practice to start the Aux Geny first before starting the main engine, the Rubber Button in the Phone Container is for the Infantry to alert the commander they want to talk to him. I served on these babies as Gunner/ Driver. MKs 2. 3 & 3s. would love to visit.
That button in the phone box is probably a bell that rings inside the crew compartment, letting the crew know that the infantry outside want to talk to them.
You must check the emergency gear selector is in neutral before startup , as. It overrides all other gear selections. A soldier was killed at a North Yorkshire tank regiment detachment when a driver hadn’t done that check.
I witnessed this, Catterick RAC Training Regt (4RTR) 1974. The Soldier killed was REME, the driver was a D&M Instructor. Not thought about this 40 plus years. RIP.
@@MrHewes In this particular instance the vehicle was being used to shunt a "Dead" tank back into the hanger. Rather than get the solid steel bar, the REME lad held a large lump of wood, he got between the 2 tanks and as the driver crept forwards in Emerg forwards, the wood shattered, pinning the lad to the 2 Glacis plates. The driver, S/Sgt D&M instructor, selected elec reverse (or so he thought ) and floored it, obviously he forgot about Emerg F/wd and the lad was killed. A tragic event that should not have happened. RIP.
having watched "the tank museum" and "oz armour" i had the naive belief that all old tanks were both spotlessly clean and things to be looked at and talked about.... i now find out that some are covered in crap and cobwebs and used in the name of fun and awesomeness.. fuck yeah... big noisy metal monsters given life and love is boss.. regards and best wishes from a tankless manchester council house
I served on Chieftains from 1972 to 1987 up to 1978 in the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards, then transferred to REME in 78 Due to my experience of them got to command the Chieftain ARV sometimes. Not nice! Surprised none of those who previously crewed these things have mentioned the hydraulic start. This was always the recommended method for starting, Start the Gen engine, Set the revs, engage the hydraulic pump, pull the lever to the left of the seat on the floor, until the Main engine started. Don’t use the L60 engine too long it will expire in a cloud of white smoke as the cylinder liners move, (horrible horizontally opposed 2 stroke diesel). followed by silence and for the REME VM‘s 6+ hours work with your head down and arse up getting the engine out. Never offer to do the gearbox end, it’s filthy and afterwards your overalls stand up in their own. Spent 6 hours changing the engine once, sent the driver off to test run it before we replaced the engine deck T piece, good job as the new engine expired after they got about 100 metres. Ho hum trundle off in the 434 for a few hours and get another one followed by 6 hours more fun, who needed sleep eh?😢😢😢
I was "A" Sqdn Tiffy 4/7 Drgs 1972 in Tidworth. Left 4/7 when they moved to Germany. You are correct. The correct procedure was to start aux. engine and use hydraulic start for the main engine. Problem was the selector gear for the aux engine was a straight "spur" gear and often didn't mesh when the aux engine was running which meant stopping the aux engine, engaging gear and start all over again. Hell! just use the main engine start on batteries. Engine change was a pain especially the flywheel bolts accessed from a small cover below the belly of the tank. Crew had to crawl below the engine compartment, undo the ring of bolts and remove plate. Wipe all the oil which, had accumulated on the floor of the engine compartment, from you face and clothes, then undo the flywheel bolts.
