Turrets and Tracks
Vehicle Restortion
Military Vehicle Restoration
Turrets and Tracks Vehicle Restoration
Turrets and Tracks carries out as much "in house" restoration as possible. Maintenance and servicing of the vehicles within the collection is also carried out on site, building up a large amount of knowledge in this field. The aim of Turrets and Tracks, is to restore back to a running condition, all the vehicles in the collection and to maintain them in a working condition for as long as possible. Where possible, the vehicles are kept in the same condition and build, as they were when they first entered service. This means that we do not remove anything to make working on the vehicles easier.
Centurion AVRE stripped ready for painting
Restored Saladin engine bay ready to refit engine
We have invested hours of research into how these vehicles would have looked in service and have acquired many military manuals on individual vehicles. We want people to see exactly how the vehicle looked, performed, sounded when they were in service. The picture, above right, shows the Centurion AVRE stripped of all track guards and storage bins. It has been "needle gunned" back to bare steel awaiting painting. The picture, left, shows the Saladin's engine bay restored and awaiting an engine refit, note the coloured fuel and hydraulic pipes for easy reconnision when serviceing.
To this day, Turrets and Tracks has restored many vehicles, including a Saladin Armoured Scout Car, Ferret Scout Car, CVRT Sultan and Sabre variants, Centurion AVRE (Assault Vehicle Royal Engineers). We are currently over half-way through restoration of a second Centurion Main Battle Tank. A third Centurion ARV (Armoured Vehicle Recovery) and a Chieftain Main Battle Tank Mk 2/3 are waiting in the back ground to be restored. We have gained vast knowledge in engine changes, clutch and gearbox replacements, "Track bashing” (splitting and removal of the old worn out track, and replacement with new track and drive sprockets), the manufacture of tin wear, extensive vehicle wiring loom repairs and replacements, overhaul and repairs to vehicle braking systems.
Rolls Royce V12 Meteor engine
Centurion engine bay showing main engine and G U engine
All vehicles are "needle gunned" back to bare steel before painting. Only parts that can be removed are sand blasted, due to the risk of high pressure sand entering bearings and moving parts, causing unnecessary and excessive wear and tear. The picture, Above right, shows a reconditioned Rolls Royce V12 27 litre Centurion Meteor engine, just after being removed from its storage crate, waiting to be fitted into the Turrets and Tracks' Centurion MBT. The picture, left, shows the Centurion engine bay with the new Meteor engine fitted. Along side this is the Morris "donkey" engine providing power to the turret and a way of charging the batteries.
Restored Saladin Turret Commanders side
Restored Saladin Turret gunners side