Another 810 to 251 conversion.

[Toploader]

Getting the upper armor inplace and will be working on the rear doors,front fenders and side box's next. All the front metal work was allready done as was the lower side armor, so we are just going to get the rest of it together. Forklifts sure come in handy.

The hull:


Font view:


Added some tube to keep it in place for tacking:


Built a simple jig to hold the correct angle to match the front:

 

[Toploader]

Looks like I have to rotate some pics around first. I'll post up some more shots later.
to you all.

 

[lacoda56]

Wow, beautiful job! Especially the fitting of the front end plates. Is that all 1/2" steel? Keep sending pics.

 

[No.2Diesel]

Uhh...Awesome. 20 questions:

Are you replicating the actual thickness of the original plating? Do all German halftracks have Tatras? I wonder what the offroad performance and steering cabability is not having a front drive axle like the American halftracks? What kind of tranny (speeds) is in there? Is it tosion bar susp. for the bogies? Did they have overheating problems? What model MIG welding machine do you use? Does this vehicle have a known history? Who is the manufacturer? Who made the front tires? Can detailed dwgs be found? Too cool.

 

[Toploader]

Thanks lacoda56, all steel is 3/8's plate so far.

No.2Diesel, You werent kidding about 20 questions!

The armor is pretty close on the actual thickness. Armor on these were 6-12.5 mm.
So for us here in the states, 1/4 to 1/2 inch will work.

Tatra and Praga are the Czech version. Hannomag and Bussing-NAG made the german half tracks.

Off road they do well, havent had a chance to try one against the other. They do tend to "push" while turning on pavement, and in the soft terrain you need to kind of feel during turning and using the steering brakes so the the tires dont take too much abuse.
Hard to explain, but you can feel when the track is turning smoothly.

The tranny is a 4 speed with 1 reverse and a hi-lo. And suspension is torsion bar. Never really had a problem overheating as long as the fan works.
The welder is a miller 220v unit burning .045 wire on the bottle. Not sure the model, but its big.
Not sure on the history, but maybe could find out, I'll ask the owner when I see him.

I'll see if I can get the brand off the tires for you and report back.
Did you mean detailed drawings for the track? If so search online, we found a couple, allthough you will probly have to convert them over from metric(no big deal).

Thanks guys,

Mark

 

[steelsoldiers]

Wow Mark, nice work. Do you have a 251 there that you are taking all of your measurements off of or are you going from blue-prints?

 

[rmgill]

I think the german designs were more 3/4 tracked and because of the extra track area they dispensed with the drive for the front axle. They did have to make it more complex so as to handle steering in soft terrain, hence the track steering capability too.

 

[Toploader]

Thanks Chris, we found a couple of drawings on-line that helped. For the more detailed measurments we needed, I ended up going to Littlefields and took the rest of the measurements of his. Very nice of him to do so. Im in the process of drawing up some detailed drawings now with measurements just incase.
Be ok with you if I added my sig to say "If its got tracks, tires, or tits, it will give you trouble?

Ryan, I agree, and by any chance do you know if this is why one track is longer on one side than the other on the 251's?? They have an extra track link on one side.

Thanks for the kind words guys, I'll get some more pics of this one up when I can. Im heading to Roberts in the am and will snap some pics of the other 251 we did. I think it came out real nice.


Good weekend to all!
Mark

 

[rmgill]

I've read that tracks tended to be a touch longer for two reasons.

Counteracting road crown and of course track stretch, one was slightly more worn than the other and needed an extra link taken out.

Now, bear in mind it could ALSO be because of the torsion bar arrangement on the 250/251/810 halftracks. The torsion bars in the hull have to be slightly staggered so if you measure positions of roadwheels on either side they don't exactly line up side to side. This could make the overall outside diameter of the tracks different depending on which side you look at.

I can't say which it would be due to. Check for wear patterns and limits on those tracks though. Beyond a certain point, they're too worn and can come off. Though thinking about it, those aren't dry pin type tracks are they? There has to be a 251/810 owners group out there.

 

[Toploader]

Thank you Ryan, I will look into it some more on line and see if I can find a site. I just saw that one side was longer on a spec page and got curious. I think your right with your answers. The torsion bar layout makes complete sense. I didnt even think of that.
The pins are a dry type, the tracks are in fairly good shape. Im going to see about getting some pin retainers made, as the pins themselves seem easy enough to fabricate.
The hardest part is the lock ring. A sort of round snap ring on steroids if you will. Allmost like a rounded version of a 5/8 lock washer, but they are flat not twisted.

Thanks for the info, I appreciate it.

Mark

BTW I got a couple pics of the first one at Roberts today. Going to be behind the wheel next weekend.


Interior shot, just need to get the new covers on the drivers seat back on and go.