im 66 yrs old and spent 22yrs in the british army and can honestly say seeing and hearing that old girl brought a tear to my eye , bloody well done getting that turret working on the batterys , NOT a easy task after all them years
Can we just take a moment to understand how the MoD's suppliers worked in the '60s and '70s. they used relays that were fitted to an RAF STOVL jet, a Royal Navy helicopter and an Army MBT. But what a monumental task lads and lasses. I mean to a) diagnose it, b) find the parts and then c) fit it all up and it works right off. As we say in Sou' West: "Proper job boys. Proper job"
The way it worked was that the engineer in charge said "I need a relay like this". Then he either sent that paperwork to Purchasing, where they would go to the Engineering Catalog Library, and look for companies that made "relays" Or the engineer might have skipped a step and done the research himself, but the purchasing agent can almost always override the vendor specification if he thinks he has a cheaper alternative, or a company where they have a favored purchasing agreement. There would have been engineers for all three services, and for commodity parts like this, they would have had many of the same catalogs in each facility catalog library, so finding the same part is not a surprise. There weren't that many companies that made military spec relays in those days. Possibly the purchasing agents for the various services talked to each other and tried to centralize quantity buys, but most likely not, each service bought its own relays, and did a custom order where the vendor put the military part number on each relay before shipping. Most likely the same relay for all three services would have differed in the customer part number sprayed on the stock they bought.
I worked on Chieftain in the late seventies in West Germany during the Cold War. Iwas a soldier in The Blues and Royals. I saw a jacking strut (frog) fly out from a road wheel across the tank park and neatly punch a great hole in the shed wall. You have to make sure it's in the right way round Probably the most dangerous tool on The Tanks tool kit. Great videos they were pigs to work on but great when they were working.
Sound of child wailing while a parent scolds them..."I warned you not to leave your bicycle lying about in front of Uncle Joe's tank shed". I felt your joy when the turret finally turned on its own power. Well done!
The Chieftain is an awesome piece of kit, one of the finest MBT's of the Cold war era and one of the best looking too. Except for the ever troublesome L60 of course... something that got rectified with the Rolls-Royce/Perkins CV12 in the Shir Iran/Khalid.
Those relays are the sort of thing I would actually spend weeks fixing. Bloody waste of time, mind you, but as long as the coil works all the rest is just levers, springs and contacts. I have "transplanted" bronze contacts salvaged off microswitches in the past to fix a classic car's irreplaceable steering wheel control stalks.
I used to enjoy working on electric system's as a mechanic but that looked properly complicated and fiddley, you mentioned about the screwdriver not being magnetic but if you twist a length of wire around the shaft of the screwdriver then flash the wire across a battery it will make the screwdriver magnetic but you probably already know this. Love the videos.
It's likely the terminal screws are plated brass or similar for good electrical connectivity so magnetic tools don't help there. A good soak with spray-on switch cleaner overnight helps a lot when dismantling stuff like this. After putting it back together I'd have topped the terminals with silicone lube spray to prevent or at least slow down corrosion having its wicked way over time with the "new" relays. I don't know what the recommended maintenance docs say about stuff like that, it's possible silicone spray wasn't around back then. Wonderful stuff, though, the sparky's version of WD-40. Torching the wheel nuts to get the road wheel off looked a bit brutal, you might consider getting an induction heater tool to do that sort of thing in the future since rusty stuck nuts are a constant part of your workload. The induction heater does less damage to surrounding paintwork than a torch and it also won't detemper hardened metal around the nut or bolt.
7:05 There was a half round indent in the wheel stud. A round pin should be fitted in there, and that should libe up with another half round cut out in the hub. This stopped the wheel stud rotating in the hub.
Absolutely awesome! The entrance on the little bike made the video until I saw that turret move. Kudos from the US, please don't sell anymore tanks to whistling diesel, he is a petulant child period
@bobbyrayofthefamilysmith24 the bike was dangerously unsafe, and could have killed any child that used it. The best option was to put the bike out of action.
@@Rover200Power Science is a lie. Jesus cometh soon best repent whilst you have time. Otherwise prepare to kneel before the devil and be cast into sin forever.
We will love to see an maintenance video on this beauty! like oil change, fuel filter change... and working temperature of this bease. BTW LOVELY sound! This Chieftain is amazing!
The smile tells us all we need to know. Great job lads. It might be an idea to pop a little silicon grease on the terminal screw heads to keep the corrosion at bay.
Congratulations lads!! A real step forwards achievement, now you know where the parts are for the next one you need to repair. A great sound those engines make, yes even if they are not the best. I just wonder how many of these tanks are running nowadays.
This video is a time machine! Hearing that engine note and seeing all that white smoke takes me straight back to my apprenticeship making these things in the 70's at Barnbow. I've made hundreds, probably thousands, of those wheel studs - for Chieftain and Centurion. Well done to all for getting the old girl going again.
Worked at Vickers,Elswick and made various components for these as well as ARRVs and bridgelayers.We then moved the plant to Scotswwod down the road where we produced Challi 2s.The wheel studs were thread rolled(not screw cut) and made from a high tensile steel.Great job.Keep it up.
She's almost there! man that control box is a real nightmare! loving all the detail work! i didn't realise this was a comedy / tank channel! trike vs chieftain!😂
Well done guys been really looking forward to the turret electronic repair conclusion, but i knew you'd nail it 🎉 see Ted's still on the Havana's 3.25 , your sign writer did a great job on the details too , the chieftain will be a real showstopper at Catterick!!
Joe and gang , bloody brilliant work . So pleased you've fixed the turret . When I was in the 14/20 at Catterick these Chieftains were our toys. Love it great stuff . Thank you and more L60 roars please 👍👍
I remember seeing my first chieftain at the end of 1965 stopped outside the museum across from the Junior Leaders Regimental entrance. There were 3 blokes working on the engine. I think 11Hussars were due to be the first regiment to take possession of the Chieftain in 1966. The rest they say is history.. the vids are great entertainment and your expertise with a ‘Birmingham screwdriver’ is second to none 😂 keep em coming.
I've always wondered if all those ancient circuits boards could be replaced with something more modern and compact. It's always amazing watching someone work on them and bring them back to life.
Random point Joe. Search out a clinic that can give you a Kenalog injection, its a long term solution to bad hayfever suffering! You won't go back once you have one of them for the summer :)
