Waterproofing the Early Tiger.

[Adrian Harris]

I've been looking at Vince's old gallery pictures of the mods he made to waterproof his Tiger.

It looks to me as though the O-ring sits in a recess in the hull wall and the bearing block has been modified with a couple of extra bolts, presumably to add extra security to ensure the o-ring stays compressed in the recess.

On the idler it looks like a slot has been cut inside the boss for the o-ring, which is a neat trick

Can anyone who made these mods confirm if I'm on the right track

Adrian.

[leesellars]

Hello Adrian

Its a Tiger you are building not Das Boot.Unless you are thinking of driveing it through a lake i wouldnt worry.Ive been going trough large puddles and there is no problem. unless you want to stop in one up to the deck.Also the snorkel was only fitted to some Tigers but never used in anger

Lee

[Roland Mann]

Hi Adrian,

you are right in what you discovered on Vince's Tiger. I made similar
modifications with O-rings to protect the brass bearings and steel bolts
(shafts) based in there. Apart from Lee's comment I do not intend to use my Tiger as a boat. However moisture is the enemy of steel shaft in bearings without a pressurerised oil system as in our Tigers. Moisture will be in the lawn or leaves if you are running your Tiger in spring or autumn.
Just my little comment to help you.

Best regards Roland

[Adrian Harris]

> Unless you are thinking of driving it through a lake

Like this one



(Apologies to the owner of this particular Tiger - at least his is waterproof )

Roland - did you machine the hull sides in the same way as Vince and if so how did you accomplish it ?

Adrian

[leesellars]

Hello Adrian

Hes a braver man than you think.Just my luck it will conk out just there.
For the hull sides the best thing is to put a rebait in for a O ring.Like it is for the Panther Late Tiger and future tanks.

Lee

[Allan Richards]

Adrian,

I've seen the O ring fitted in two ways, one to machine a small counterbore in the hull side and the other to machine a counterbore in the bearing block. I think the latter is the easiest. Vince also fitted two small screws through the hull sides and drilled and tapped the end of the bearing blocks to screw them to the hull sides. I think this is a good mod as it strenghtens the mounting of the bearing blocks. He also fitted csk screws through the hull floor. I have fitted csk screws throught he hull floor but didn't do the extra screws and some of the blocks have moved or loosened which has not been easy to fix. I recommend the additional screws if you can do it.

Unless you intend to do serious wading I don't think that the O ring mod is necessary for watertightness, but obviously it will help. I have just put a generous amount of grease on the shaft and its stayed.

[Roland Mann]

Hi Adrian,

my O-rings are fitted in the brass bearing blocks. This is easier and more accurate. I used a stepped drill ( two diameters ). The bigger diameter of the drill cut the outer O-ring diameter in the block and the smaller drill diameter fits exacly the bore in the block. This way you will receive a proper alignment of the axle with the later installed O-ring. Very important for a proper seat of the O-ring around the axle. If you drill the walls to fit the O-rings, you never meet the alignment, because the bearing block bores, the hull pan and the wall bores are seperately machined and any 0,1 mm misalignment will squeze the later fitted O-ring to one side. In other words you will receive not equal surface pressure of the O-ring around the axle. My O-rings are just 0,15 mm smaller in inner Ø than the axle Ø. This way I have no problems with "sticking" or "staying" axles in the air after a
field trial on bumpy ground.

The two additional bolts for fixing the block on to the wall is a very good idea of Vince. So I copied it.

Hope you can understand my complicated English explanation.

Regards Roland