Metadyne compartment cover

[Mark Heaps]

Spotted this photo from Charles A Stewart in the IR-Detetector thread.

Trip hazard 1a.jpg (64.54 KiB) Viewed 892 times

The item I have arrowed is the cover to the Metadyne compartment.
That is not somewhere the crews ever needed to access and also not somewhere REME personnel, like I was, needed regular access to as part of any scheduled checks or maintenance.
We only ever needed to lift that plate if one of the metadynes or metadyne starting units had failed, which did not happen often.
Hence on any vehicle that had been in service for a while, the bolt heads were covered in multiple coats of paint from crews touching up the vehicles after exercises.
The only time I ever had to get this cover off, I first had to chip the paint off the boltheads before I could get a socket or spanner onto them.

[Charles A Stewart]

Hi Mark.

I am sure all Chieftain builders will find your observation constructive.

Please note the bare metal around the IR thingy, the bare metal bolt heads on the methadone wotsit cover, believe me I have no intention of going anywhere near that cover again (I dumped the one from the kit) save for painting it eventually.

You have stated, if the panel was rarely lifted, therefore some MR Surfacer around the bolts prior to painting should convey that element of neglect.

Can I ask after your Chieftain build?

As to mine , I await the spring and warmer weather.

Take care.

Charles

[Mark Heaps]

Hi Charles,
I cannot comment on how the paint surface around the IR-detector mount should look. Up till today I was not aware that Chieftain had one. It was not something I was trained to fix in 1985/1986, when I was trained to fix all other Chieftain turret electrical systems plus various ones in the hull aswell. I also never saw or worked on a Chieftain which had this mount or the associated electrical box in the turret.
MR Surfacer and a good roughly applied paint on the boltheads securing the cover would give a to me realistic effect comparable to my experience. I never saw it as a sign of neglect from the crews. Unless they had a metadyne or MSU fail, they would never have had to assist in lifting that cover or even know what was underneath it.
My AT Chieftain on hold untill real-life circumstances allow progress.
Mark

[Steve Norris]

Hi Mark.
Thanks for the info on the metadyne cover and the compartments contents, always good to hear from someone with first hand knowledge of such things.
Out of further interest do you know what was under the hinged cover on the left of the metadyne compartment.
Regards
Steve

[Charles A Stewart]

Strangely I do, batteries.
Will forward a copy of said.

Charles

[Mark Heaps]

And also the filler tube for the drinking water tank. The crews needed some source of drinking water for filling the BV when closed down.

[Mark Heaps]

The batteries in that left compartment were 2 12V 100AH wired in series. The Turret Battery Master Cut-Off Switch was also in the compartment.