Ripping and Tearing

Well I started today fully expecting to have the steering and drive system of the tank in working order. Silly me. First thing first I pulled the cover off the gearbox, expecting to find sludge, rust, and metal shavings. Much to my surprise, all we found were some little worn gears, an intact chain, and no metal splinters whatsoever.

There were about 5 ounces of water and three ounces of oil/sludge in the very bottom of the gearbox, but that was easily turkey-bastered out.

We put two full tubes of 00 grease, some 90 weight oil, and a full can of silicone grease inside, smeared it all around, and then I sealed it up with silicone gasket.

Then the brains of the operation, Steve realized that by pulling eight bolts and undoing the chains from the drive sprockets, we could pull the entire drive system out of the PPT, which left us with an empty PPT shell. This made cleaning out the inside of the PPT, and the inside of the drive much easier.

Then I could resist the temptation no longer. I took the seat that will soon be my driver's seat, put it inside, and tried it on for size. Something tells me I might have to shorten that seat up, or find a new one! My dad is insistent that we will not be able to make this a two man tank, but I am convinced we can make it happen!

I put the drive on my lift, and began freeing up the three brakes (one main brake, and one on either track for steering) and continued to clean the never engine crud out of every crevice. Steve and I then brought in my engine and gas tank donor, a 20 year old Simplicity commercial mower with a 20hp Kohler opposed twin cylinder engine with hopes of getting it running. A little carb cleaner, a battery boost, and a few carburetor adjustments later and we were in business. At this point it was 5 o'clock, and we retired for the evening, and some blueberry pancakes and sausage. More will surely ensue tomorrow.