Ah those good old days pre 3D printing.
James, is it possible to send me some measurements of what you made in mm (easier in CAD program to use metric)? Length, width, height and what size Evergreen sticks, etc.?
I’ll try, but no guarantee at all mine is dimensionally correct, it was all eyeballed when I built it
1 Like
I the tradition of “Close Enough for Government Work”… 
2 Likes
Looks close enough to me. Eyeballing was what I planned to do anyway due to the lack of technical manual data or something like it. 
Let me break out my daughter’s Algebra book on ratio problems and see what I can figure out.
As I see it, the constant is the length and diameter of a 55 gallon drum. It’s a ratio problem, and
there’s probably an app for it.
BUT, if you 3D print it, I’ll buy a few.
3 Likes
I’d be perfectly happy with just the rack and the shield. I have plenty of Tamiya 55 gallon drums…
2 Likes
I’ll get measurements next week, got family visiting right now, and I live in Las Vegas, so it’s all the damn touristy stuff for a few days 
3 Likes
Im definitely down for a few sets of those! I think a lot of people would be. Awesome.
1 Like
I assume there must be some sort of TM/TB and SNL 9- for the installation, maintenance, and replacement of parts for the fuel rack?
1 Like
That makes sense. The -10 manual would likely have that sort of info. Have to look online for one of those…
1 Like
Google Books came to the rescue! In a book of Military Publications dated May 1965 it included:
TB 9-7012-8 03 Oct 57 “90-mm gun full tracked combat tank, M48A1 (SNL G-254): installation and operation of jettisonable fuel tanks.”
3 Likes
Hi Jim,
Any update on the measurements?
1 Like
I’ve seen it. No drawings and no useful measurements as I recall. The rack itself came finished and the installation was along the lines of “Position the rack on the vehicle centerline and level with the hull; mark the locations of the connections and weld two lugs 7035678 . . .”, plus a lot on hooking up the fuel lines.
KL
1 Like
Was the TB also used for the M103? The installation should be virtually identical except for the lower hull brackets were a little different, they had a bend in them to better clear the differentials.
Would there be an MWO ORD that preceded the TB?
There is an M48A1 in Milan Indiana that has the brackets. The first time I went there to take pictures I didn’t have a tape measure or paper to take measurements so one of these days I need to head back down there.
1 Like
Did the TB also include an SNL for the parts? I could not find anything for the SNL for the M48 and I don’t think they would issue a separate parts list for so few parts, just include it with the TB like they do for Bulldozer mounts etc.
1 Like
A. I don’t recall, however that would have been mentioned in the title listed in the index. (Look at listings for truck publications, as an example.) By 1965 the Army had given up on the M103 and most of the publications had been cancelled… The 1963 index still has the M103/M103A1 publications but nothing on fuel tanks.
B. Almost certainly not. This was a add-on kit, not a modification to existing vehicles.
C. There are survivors around with the brackets or remnants, and those without.
D. I always carry those in my car. If not for measuring tanks, for measuring the windshield wipers to buy the right length, storage boxes at Walmart, shelves at Home Depot, . . .
KL
2 Likes
Yea I got a little tape measure I keep in my car now too!
1 Like
Is that TB too big to scan? I would still like to take a look at it.
1 Like
The tank set up was a kit, if you are familiar with that supply nomenclature, and would not have any parts list outside of that. I don’t recall if the TB had a list of all the parts; if it did it was just names and P/Ns, no illustrations.
KL
1 Like
I don’t have it, I saw it, 10 or 15 years ago. The reason I don’t have anything from it is because I didn’t think there was anything from a modeling perspective worth 20 cents a page to photocopy.
KL
2 Likes