The strip-down phase of the restoration of the oldest surviving King Tiger (KTV2), is making good progress.
Currently, we are working hard to remove and catalogue all KTV2’s parts to get the hull ready to be pressure washed. This stage is proving interesting given the number of parts (big and small) having to be removed, inspected and meticulously catalogued.
Following on from our previous update, now we have successfully removed the fuel tanks and fuel system. The next step is removing and inspecting the sprocket carriers, starting with all the washers and bolts. Due to KTV2 being over 80 years old, many of the bolts are seized, requiring considerable effort to remove them.
Before the final drive assemblies can be removed, the oil must be drained, and the brakes need to be removed and inspected. Fascinatingly, upon removing the backing plates, the team discovered the holes on the left-hand backing plate were different to the right-hand backing plate, making it more complex for the team to remove it. We believe this is once again owing to the vehicle being a prototype.
However, the challenge didn’t stop at the brakes! When removing the final drives, it became clear that the strong sealant around the outside still held firm, which is extremely impressive considering it is over 80 years old. As KTV2 was designed as a wading vehicle, the sealant would’ve been originally applied to stop water ingress.
After most of the sealant was eventually removed by hand, the team got to work on removing the final drives, but more on this in a later update… Don’t forget to follow the journey on The Tank Museum Workshop YouTube channel to see how the project progresses and see if they finally got the final drives off!
With KTV2 being our most ambitious restoration project ever due to its age, as well as being a prototype and limited amount of information available, we are having to very much learn on our feet.
We are so grateful to our donors, who are making this work possible to bring KTV2 back to life – thank you.
Scroll through the gallery below to see some of our latest restoration photos. If you missed part I of our restoration update, you can read it here.
