Tuning up the Little Red Hen, An M5A1 Stuart tank!

[98taco3]

Figured id post up some photos of our project that has been on going for a month or so now. Had some issues with the engines running very rich and some suspected fuel leaks. We decided to pull the armor and radiators to investigate and really found out what ethanol does to the old gasket materials! Even having NOS carbs required rebuilding them to make sure they can handle ethanol. We rebuilt 2 NOS carbs and installed em. Also replaced the plug wires and cleaned out the fuel pumps while we were in there. Also bent new fuel lines from the pumps to the carbs, the ones in there were made of copper and were not run properly. Both engines run much better now and no fuel leaks!

The Little Red Hen:




In the engine compartment:






What the carburetors looked like when pulled:




Comparison of what we pulled out and a brand new carburetor pulled out of a box after 60+ years:



shiny new carburetor and plug wires on the engine:








Was LOTS of work but was also alot of fun!

[Cal_Gary]

Those pictures are awesome! Thanks for sharing!
Gary

[T. Highway]

Great pictures.

How close do you have to match the RPMs between the two engines for it to work properly? Or are they independantly controlled?

[98taco3]

the engines have to be matched within 100 rpm if i remember the tm correctly. both engines are controlled by one throttle pedal.

[rixm37]

Nice photos of the engines and carb swap. They are a tight fit. I hope you took it out for a fun test ride after !!