Graham. Your enthusiasm and expertise on your Stuart restoration fills me with pride because it is very rare of someone your age to be interested in not only Australia’s conflict against the Japanese but to restore a tank that we used and tell it’s story is bloody awesome. My father was a prisoner of the Japanese on the Burma Thai railway and my uncle was in Borneo also fighting the Japanese . And in that time it was a very real threat to Australia. Again mate I absolutely love your work
Hi Graham, I have to agree with Paul regarding your effort with the Tank. I realise you not only enjoy cars but have repair skills many of us could only dream of! She is starting to look like a Tank now, well done! It will be YOUR passion, research, motivation and workmanship that will see YOUR Tank come to life, for YOUR enjoyment and any of us who come along for the ride. So we thank you for the opportunity you give us viewers to share in YOUR journey with the project. As for those who say, incorrect armour? Get real! Nobody is going to be firing live rounds at you, it's a rare, old military vehicle and you are not a museum, with unlimited resources. The old Stuart may not be the best armoured Tank built, but she is a veritable Pillbox when compared to a Falcon Hardtop! I look forward to the day we see it up and running, Cleveland or Radial, with you hanging out of the turret, wearing a " Sheetmetal is for Sissys" Tee shirt!😉 Keep up the outstanding work mate!
Hey Graham. I highly recommend Mount Barker radiators (if you're up for a drive in the hills). That bloke really knows his stuff and won't lead you up the garden path.
My father was in the 475thFG at Buna after the Japs had been wiped out. I have a Jap helmet still in the cut down ration box that it was sent home in. He told me that he had to roll a skull out of it before taking it off the battlefield.
Awesome job on the Stuart Graham, I don't think you'll have many 'hater's' about the V8 mate, it's clearly a temporary thing, but in my eye's a cool alternative too.... keep the vid's coming bro .....
You are doing a GREAT JOB ! Tell the critics to kiss off . Your tank , your money . Once you get her done you can always up grade . This is the type of project that will NEVER be done , its a labor of love . Its not like you are going to fight her . Enjoy the process . And remember , DUDE YOU HAVE YOUR OWN STUART TANK !
The main thing with your radial is make sure your oil lines are cleaned out they have a pumped oil system and all main bearings have oil pumped to them , I know of a sherman the engine was lost from one pluged up oil line they rust inside win they sit to long, turn it over with sparkplugs removed often, remove all oil feedlines and blow them out with air before starting.
Graham some time ago I met a bloke at a tractor pull who lives on the Fleurieu peninsula and during the normal course of a conversation two country blokes would have he mentioned he could manufacture just about any kind of gear you might imagine up to and including the scale of steam traction engines. What I have learned about him from other locals since has reinforced my belief in his abilities so I wonder if he could be of some assistance with regard to crusty cogs and so forth in the future?
Graham, you father can help you with ease!. One less cylinder than the V8. The best part you can work on each cylinder individually. The only special tool is make/buy a ring spanner to pull a jug (Cylinders) if necessary. 1. Does it rotate? 2. Starter motor- does it work? 3. Inspect Carby? 4. Inspect magnetos (I sent an overhaul book for that as well) 5. Spark Plugs (Replace/test). Please give it a go. Imagine the smile when it starts, they are super simple...and your not flying the damned thing...
Nice job. I'm really impressed with the bolts you've made to look like rivets, and the filled cap screws. It sounds like you prefer old stuff to be pretty original too, but where you've got to compromise you've come up with some great ways to do so. Cheers, keep it up.
good to see a young bloke having a go, i look forward to seeing the tank restored and saved for future generations, can you shoot blow up shit when its done, if not at least run over some old AU fords , i,m a Holden man cheers mate
351 clevo in an M3 Stuart, great getaway vehicle if you encounter cops on bicycles after your robbery!😅 agree with the replacement part theory, its the things you don’t have that always break first, that Murphy’s law! If you need any odd bits forged, contact me! More than happy to help you realise your dream!
Really enjoyed the overview of the tank - such a difficult and unusual restoration project to take on. To have photos of it in action at the time is incredible. And the EJ engine bay is looking brand new - an amazing sight.
I saw the cut down hulk of one of these tanks at an disused sawmill near Gayndah Queensland about thirty years ago The fella who showed me also took me to the site of another one that he said was the same type also near Gayndah but when we got there that one had been removed The same bloke has a radial engine from a WWII Oxford that I believe runs now, he may have a small museum at Goomeri Queensland and a mechanical workshop at Gayndah
Those photo's , brilliant Graham. Both those radiator cores will need a clean out.. the cores get blocked with sediment from the engine block. Electrolysis! Of all my years experience running repair shops it is the most common cause of over heating with older cars. Radiator gets taken apart and the core cleaned with wire rod, reassembled and checked for leaks and its as good as new, even if the core fins are a little thin in parts they still maintain running temperature! My radiator shop charges me $80 to $100 NZD for this so its pretty cheap for the result. Your EJ Rad looks like it will come out good anyway! Cheers
Hey Greame, I wish the haters could just appreciate, the awesome work you are doing on all of these projects. You are saving/building fantastic historic vehicles, with the best parts you can find, and what you can’t find you are getting manufactured or are making yourself! IMO you are doing a fantastic job. I’ve found that so many people live in their own perfect world, they are building the perfect project (“better than factory”) car…. In their heads! Then after you get talking to them you find the car, that they are talking about is their mates stepbrothers uncle’s car that they have never actually seen! Keep up the great content 👍
Awesome vid mate keep up the great work! Just use a workshop vac with a rag in the oil fill hole and you won’t lose one drop of oil. Done it plenty of times. And no it won’t suck up oil.👍
Really looking forward to seeing that radial come back to life. My understanding is the starting procedure is quite a bit more complex than the turn key we have had on cars since crank handles and manual advance and retard setting were made obsolete and not doing it right will cause major damage or destroy the engine. Some time back I saw it done on a DC3. I hope you find someone with the knowledge of these to help you get it running soon.
Use a vacuum cleaner on the oil filler hole in the rocker cover with the engine oil still in the sump. As you undo the oil drain plug it will want to suck air in through it and not let the oil drain. Search you tube, there is a couple of videos around showing how to do it.
@@xacoupeguy If you come up with another sump plug you wouldn't lose too much oil swapping it if you were quick You still might buy new ones at Repco or somewhere Or just drain the oil into a clean container and pour it back in once you've replaced the plug
Graham, loving the tank restoration so far.... just curious how are you going to handle re-ruberising the road wheels? Have you shot a note to oz armor to see if they have a source for the rubber and could help put them on since they have done it with their stuart?
really starting to look like something! i know its got a long way to go, but it looks the part now. im glad youre using as much original stuff as you can get on it as im kind of a bit of a purist myself. yeah its sad youve got to use some repro stuff, but you cant use what doesnt exist anymore. for instance, id imagine most of the turrets were straightaway scrapped when these were converted for farm use. its a shame, but thats how it is. i like your can do attitude! thats certainly fitting for this tank as that attitude is what allowed the usa to become "the arsenal of democracy"! bravo! cant wait to see it finished!
exactly if i get original parts i'll fit them immediately. but i also dont want it to sit in a shed for years, while i wait for these mysterious parts to show up.
Did you weld over the machine gun sponsons, or was that done before you got it? It doesn't seem recent, but depending on what you intend to do with it i figure it may have been you blocking off "useless" holes.
I believe the only bloke who does those honeycombe re-cored radiators is/was in NZ. Be prepared to pay over $1,000 for one. I've got some of the GMH original style hose clamps. What size do you need?
@@xacoupeguy I haven't got a grey motor here anymore to size them up & I've got early red motor clamps among them too. You'd need to vernier caliper the outside diameter of the hose.
The Xatankguy!!!! Sub channel mate. double up the revenue!!! Good on you man, not 100% my thing, I love the cars but you need to change it up..... but you have me interested in them now!!!
Graham. Your enthusiasm and expertise on your Stuart restoration fills me with pride because it is very rare of someone your age to be interested in not only Australia’s conflict against the Japanese but to restore a tank that we used and tell it’s story is bloody awesome. My father was a prisoner of the Japanese on the Burma Thai railway and my uncle was in Borneo also fighting the Japanese . And in that time it was a very real threat to Australia. Again mate I absolutely love your work
Hi Graham,
I have to agree with Paul regarding your effort with the Tank.
I realise you not only enjoy cars but have repair skills many of us
could only dream of!
She is starting to look like a Tank now, well done!
It will be YOUR passion, research, motivation and workmanship
that will see YOUR Tank come to life, for YOUR enjoyment and
any of us who come along for the ride.
So we thank you for the opportunity you give us viewers to
share in YOUR journey with the project.
As for those who say, incorrect armour?
Get real!
Nobody is going to be firing live rounds at you, it's a rare,
old military vehicle and you are not a museum, with unlimited resources.
The old Stuart may not be the best armoured Tank built, but she is a
veritable Pillbox when compared to a Falcon Hardtop!
I look forward to the day we see it up and running, Cleveland or Radial, with you
hanging out of the turret, wearing a " Sheetmetal is for Sissys" Tee shirt!😉
Keep up the outstanding work mate!
Holden Hill Radiators do great work on old school radiators for classic and vintage cars.
Hey Graham. I highly recommend Mount Barker radiators (if you're up for a drive in the hills). That bloke really knows his stuff and won't lead you up the garden path.
cheers i shall add it to my list. as i dont want to recore the original radiator
My father was in the 475thFG at Buna after the Japs had been wiped out. I have a Jap helmet still in the cut down ration box that it was sent home in. He told me that he had to roll a skull out of it before taking it off the battlefield.
Awesome job on the Stuart Graham, I don't think you'll have many 'hater's' about the V8 mate, it's clearly a temporary thing, but in my eye's a cool alternative too.... keep the vid's coming bro .....
Just joined your channel. I’ll have to go back to watch the tank videos. I enjoyed watching this one. Cheers from Canada
You are doing a GREAT JOB ! Tell the critics to kiss off . Your tank , your money . Once you get her done you can always up grade . This is the type of project that will NEVER be done , its a labor of love . Its not like you are going to fight her . Enjoy the process . And remember , DUDE YOU HAVE YOUR OWN STUART TANK !
Hi Graham hats off to you buddy bloody beautiful work done 👍
You are a very resourceful man. My sincerest compliments!👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
The main thing with your radial is make sure your oil lines are cleaned out they have a pumped oil system and all main bearings have oil pumped to them , I know of a sherman the engine was lost from one pluged up oil line they rust inside win they sit to long, turn it over with sparkplugs removed often, remove all oil feedlines and blow them out with air before starting.
Lost me with the Clevo, got me back with the EJ ! Great work!
Yeah I do have a few different interests
outstanding effort!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Great video. And you are so right, it's your tank, do it up as you wish. I was lucky enough to own that it, I'd go out and find a nice small diesel.
Great video Graham, I really enjoyed it. I have been in the Stuart with the 351 and it was not too shabby at all.
Graham some time ago I met a bloke at a tractor pull who lives on the Fleurieu peninsula and during the normal course of a conversation two country blokes would have he mentioned he could manufacture just about any kind of gear you might imagine up to and including the scale of steam traction engines.
What I have learned about him from other locals since has reinforced my belief in his abilities so I wonder if he could be of some assistance with regard to crusty cogs and so forth in the future?
Graham, you father can help you with ease!. One less cylinder than the V8. The best part you can work on each cylinder individually. The only special tool is make/buy a ring spanner to pull a jug (Cylinders) if necessary.
1. Does it rotate? 2. Starter motor- does it work? 3. Inspect Carby? 4. Inspect magnetos (I sent an overhaul book for that as well) 5. Spark Plugs (Replace/test). Please give it a go. Imagine the smile when it starts, they are super simple...and your not flying the damned thing...
The oil system is the bit that concerns me the most
@@xacoupeguy It is not as scary as it appears. If you like, ring me, I gave you my no.
Any chance your Dad has any involvement with the engine?
Nice job. I'm really impressed with the bolts you've made to look like rivets, and the filled cap screws. It sounds like you prefer old stuff to be pretty original too, but where you've got to compromise you've come up with some great ways to do so. Cheers, keep it up.
I have to say graham you are doing an absolute cracking job building the tank back up
It looks so good from we’re it first was 👍👍👍👍
good to see a young bloke having a go, i look forward to seeing the tank restored and saved for future generations, can you shoot blow up shit when its done, if not at least run over some old AU fords , i,m a Holden man cheers mate
351 clevo in an M3 Stuart, great getaway vehicle if you encounter cops on bicycles after your robbery!😅 agree with the replacement part theory, its the things you don’t have that always break first, that Murphy’s law! If you need any odd bits forged, contact me! More than happy to help you realise your dream!
Really enjoyed the overview of the tank - such a difficult and unusual restoration project to take on. To have photos of it in action at the time is incredible.
And the EJ engine bay is looking brand new - an amazing sight.
I saw the cut down hulk of one of these tanks at an disused sawmill near Gayndah Queensland about thirty years ago
The fella who showed me also took me to the site of another one that he said was the same type also near Gayndah but when we got there that one had been removed
The same bloke has a radial engine from a WWII Oxford that I believe runs now, he may have a small museum at Goomeri Queensland and a mechanical workshop at Gayndah
Those photo's , brilliant Graham. Both those radiator cores will need a clean out.. the cores get blocked with sediment from the engine block. Electrolysis! Of all my years experience running repair shops it is the most common cause of over heating with older cars. Radiator gets taken apart and the core cleaned with wire rod, reassembled and checked for leaks and its as good as new, even if the core fins are a little thin in parts they still maintain running temperature! My radiator shop charges me $80 to $100 NZD for this so its pretty cheap for the result. Your EJ Rad looks like it will come out good anyway! Cheers
I wish I lived close to you. I would definitely help.
Hey Greame, I wish the haters could just appreciate, the awesome work you are doing on all of these projects. You are saving/building fantastic historic vehicles, with the best parts you can find, and what you can’t find you are getting manufactured or are making yourself! IMO you are doing a fantastic job.
I’ve found that so many people live in their own perfect world, they are building the perfect project (“better than factory”) car…. In their heads! Then after you get talking to them you find the car, that they are talking about is their mates stepbrothers uncle’s car that they have never actually seen! Keep up the great content 👍
cheers bud!
Awesome vid mate keep up the great work! Just use a workshop vac with a rag in the oil fill hole and you won’t lose one drop of oil. Done it plenty of times. And no it won’t suck up oil.👍
Great work Graham, the tank is coming up well. Love the content
It looks awesome 😊
Really looking forward to seeing that radial come back to life. My understanding is the starting procedure is quite a bit more complex than the turn key we have had on cars since crank handles and manual advance and retard setting were made obsolete and not doing it right will cause major damage or destroy the engine. Some time back I saw it done on a DC3. I hope you find someone with the knowledge of these to help you get it running soon.
She's a real credit to you. Looking good.
Wow your doing a great job
best tank build on youtube
Tank and EJ looks fantastic. Get a second sump plug so you can quickly change the leakly one.
Use a vacuum cleaner on the oil filler hole in the rocker cover with the engine oil still in the sump. As you undo the oil drain plug it will want to suck air in through it and not let the oil drain. Search you tube, there is a couple of videos around showing how to do it.
They make vacuum tube system that u insert down the oil stick tube to suck out the oil. Might make that EJ sump plug fix less painful.
duely noted!! thanks bud
@@xacoupeguy
If you come up with another sump plug you wouldn't lose too much oil swapping it if you were quick
You still might buy new ones at Repco or somewhere
Or just drain the oil into a clean container and pour it back in once you've replaced the plug
You can get OEM parts from Napa Tank Parts or Tankzone.
Graham, loving the tank restoration so far.... just curious how are you going to handle re-ruberising the road wheels? Have you shot a note to oz armor to see if they have a source for the rubber and could help put them on since they have done it with their stuart?
really starting to look like something! i know its got a long way to go, but it looks the part now. im glad youre using as much original stuff as you can get on it as im kind of a bit of a purist myself. yeah its sad youve got to use some repro stuff, but you cant use what doesnt exist anymore. for instance, id imagine most of the turrets were straightaway scrapped when these were converted for farm use. its a shame, but thats how it is. i like your can do attitude! thats certainly fitting for this tank as that attitude is what allowed the usa to become "the arsenal of democracy"! bravo! cant wait to see it finished!
exactly if i get original parts i'll fit them immediately. but i also dont want it to sit in a shed for years, while i wait for these mysterious parts to show up.
great work mate. love it.
Great catch up .
That does look good - keep werking
Amazing history to this tank
Engines are pretty much all the same. Just arranged differently.
Thanks for sharing 👍
Those Banana/Coconut historians are the worst.
Stick a turbo or supercharger on that engine and you will probably get close to the same power.
nice job mate
What ever it takes to get the Stuart running. Do you know where it was built? Looking forward to seeing more. ✌❤
Did you weld over the machine gun sponsons, or was that done before you got it? It doesn't seem recent, but depending on what you intend to do with it i figure it may have been you blocking off "useless" holes.
they were blocked off in the factory, its very rare to see a stuart with machine gun ports not welded up
I believe the only bloke who does those honeycombe re-cored radiators is/was in NZ. Be prepared to pay over $1,000 for one. I've got some of the GMH original style hose clamps. What size do you need?
I dont know what size hose clamps I need are. Radiator hose sized? Haha
@@xacoupeguy I haven't got a grey motor here anymore to size them up & I've got early red motor clamps among them too. You'd need to vernier caliper the outside diameter of the hose.
@@dustyfarmer hoses outside diameter is 40mm
@@xacoupeguy I've only got 47mm I'D & heater hose size left. I've seen the reproduction ones on eBay.
love your work on the Stuart .Where did you get hold of the siren on it ?
Keep up the good work Cheers
Stuart, of course
why. do you need one?
i was extremely lucky to get it with the tank.
The Xatankguy!!!! Sub channel mate. double up the revenue!!! Good on you man, not 100% my thing, I love the cars but you need to change it up..... but you have me interested in them now!!!
Apm radiator's talk to Mark on sully road
Hey bud. Did you have an email I couple contact you on . Regarding an xb coupe ? Thanks.
possibly but best bet is to send a freash message to my grahams restorations facebook page
Is the running gear original? They look like the later VVS VS the HVS
yes the running gear is original
Good ole clevo
i did my appenticeship on tanks at puckapunyal