Turret Basket Removed

I have now removed the Turret basket and most of the bracketry etc from the lower part of the fighting compartment.

The Basket rollers are badly corroded and will need replacing.  The plugs on the end of the cables to the rotary connector unit crumbled away ... I guess several years of being under water has taken its toll !

The Rotary Connector base unit hopefully is ok (not had chance to look yet).

The turret interior paintwork is pretty good.... will not all need stripping back to bare metal... as I had to do with the Striker.  Any flaking / corroded areas will be treated and repainted... I will then paint the exterior of the turret before refitting all of the interior items after each has been checked / cleaned repainted etc.  I can then start on the engine bay !

The Turret "Basket"..  with the Rotary Electrical Connector in the centre.
The Basket rotates with the turret... and has the Commander & Gunners seats attached to it along with a pair of hefty batteries etc.

The elliptical panel is an access cover for the fuel tank. 

NBC Pack and Rack for 30mm Rarden Shells removed.

Over the weekend I removed the NBC Pack and Rack for 30mm Rarden Shells.

These exit via the hinged (& armoured) rear access panel.  I understand that the larger items inside the turret can also be extracted via this route !!

The largest item that needs to come out is the circular "basket" which rotates, along with the turret, on small rollers fixed to the floor of the fighting compartment.  The Commanders & Gunners seats are attached to this ring along with two batteries and another rack of Rarden shells etc.

NBC (Nuclear Biological Chemical filter unit) Pack half out

NBC Pack

Rack for over 70 30mm Rarden Canon Shells

View through rear access panel into Turret area

Turret Interior

Fuel Filler Tube (Left)   & Blower unit for NBC System

Turret Interior

A few "reference" photos of the turret interior before I start removing parts. Always useful ... in 4 months time I doubt I will remember where everything should go !!

30mm Rarden Shell rack underneath the NBC unit

Gun Elevation Mechanism

The floor area !!