Armortek

My Jagdpanther has been up and running for over 2 weeks now , although there is still a long way to go with painting and weathering.
It has performed well, and i am extreamly pleased with it.
I had thought that there would be quite a few "bugs" to iron out , but that is not the case.
There is only one "bug" and that is a tendancy for the trackpin split pins to break, losing the washer and then the pin starts to work its way out .
The split pins are very soft and maleable .
Knowing that panther owners have the same set up , i wondered if any of them have experienced the same problem , and what, if any , was the solution.

Up and running already! Wow, I still can't get my pannier to come anywhere near my rear deck. Since my post a few weeks ago I have torn it down 5 more times and it just won't line up. Any hints? Bill

Hello William . I dont have a panther or Jagdpanther , My friend Rick does and he has the same problem with his rear plate having a 3mm gap each side where the hull plates sit up aganist it . After looking at it at the Newcastle show for hours. We have checked to make sure that the rear deck and hull roof fit properly also make sure that everthing is square and the hull side plates are straight . We are going to shime and pin with 3mm alloy and refile to the correct angle so as to fill the gap . The strenght is in the hull plate sitting up hard against each other instead of filling with car filler . Then after you are happy with the job you can then add fake welds over it . Dale

David,

It is strange that the track pins are being pulled out with such a force as to shear the split pins. Is this happening on both tracks or just one?? Are the track pins tight in the links, if so it maybe worth easing them a little. This would be fairly simple to do, get a drill that is the same diameter as the track pin, put the links together with the track pin in place then push the drill through pushing the pin out. I would only use a hand drill to do this just to make sure that any tight spots were removed. The other thing to try is fitting panel pin nails as I have done, as they are harder than split pins. Tap the pin in place with a pin punch then clip the end of the nail off with a side cutters at the same time as twisting a little just to bend the pin to stop it backing out.

Hi David
I got my split pins from RS comps for my Panther. I do not have the part number today but I could get it for you later tonight my track pin holes were 1.2mm dia.
These split pins are tough.
But I drilled them.
I know now that Mark does them so I am not sure what size they are.

Hope it helps
Derek

Hello Allan.
no the track pins are not pulling out. they are a loose fit in the links .What is happening is as the track pin works back and for in the link , the pressure of the washer on the split pin , breaks the split pin where it passes through the hole , thus allowing the washer to drop off, and the pin to work its way inward , as it comes out of the link . Are you still with me??
The problem is deffinatly the hardness of the split pin, or lack of it realy.

Hello Derek,
i would be most gratefull for the part no of the split pins your friend used , though i will have a look at the RS site and see if i can find them

Hello Bill,
You have the same problem that i had . One thing you could do , is to attache the sides, to the front, and rear fighting compartment plate , together with the pannier floors , but without bolting the pannier floors to the lower hull. This should show up where the problem is .
Have you placed the panneir floors back to back ?
This will show any difference between the 2

It is possible that the taper in the length of the floors is different between one and the other.

David,
I used 1mm bright veneer/panel pins from RS components stock number 3850410, They are about £6.50 for a 500g bag which would do about 10 sets of tracks. Just pop the pin in the hole and bend around the track pin stub then snip off the excess.
Mine have been fitted for about 12 months now and i have not lost any yet .
Steve.

Unfortunatly the panel pin from RS is now discontinued

Should be available somewhere else though.

Dave,

I got my panel pins from the local hardware store. There were two types and one was definately a better quality than the other. Take a track pin along with you to check the fit of the pin. I got a few hundred of them for a couple of quid.

Hi David
The split cotter pins I have used are from RS comps and the part number is 270-108 they are 1.2mm x 25.4mm carbon steel at 2.20 a bag of 100.
I drilled the track pin 1.3mm through and after the pin was through the track I used a plain m3 washer between the track link and the split pin.

Hope this helps

Derek

Hello Derek
. I got some of those cotter pins/split pins from RS componants and they fit the plated track pins without haveing to drill them out .
many thanks