In my time in this hobby I have seen some sad vehicles but this Staghound
has got to be one of the worst. It was recovered from Queensland.
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In the picture below is the largest recognisable piece left of the vehicle. What you see is the rear of the vehicle on the LHS to about the 3/4 mark on the right. The cutout in the centre of the pic (above the partly burried square tube) is the recess for the front axle.
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This next pic is inside the hull looking to what was the rear, the remains of the bulkhead (not a firewall in a Stag, or most other WW2 US armour for that matter) can be clearly seen. The wheels are Bren Gun Carrier. The winch drum at the top rear appears to be made from 2 Bren Gun Carrier brake drums.
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There are actually 2 winches. The gearbox and bell housing are Ford V8, probably from a CMP (Blitz).
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The RHS motor from the Stag. Here you see the complete motor with auto gearbox and drop box. In the case of the auto gearbox it is surprising how well they survive. In my experience, as long as the dip stick is still in place, the oil hasn't leaked out and the box hasn't been immersed in water they can be cleaned up and used.
Likewise the drop boxes.
The engines, although standard GMCs, carried unique Staghound serial numbers, these also indicated whether the motor was for L or R use. They differed from the standard GMC in that they had a special (and HEAVY) sump and plumbing for external oil cooling, different water pumps, manifolds and other details.
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Here is the fate of the 2 differentials. The Stag diff was a very heavy object with a gear reduction input.
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There is a lot of misinformation around regarding the Stag steering. Folklore has it that the steering was electric and if the engines stalled then you lost control as there was no physical connection between the steering wheel and the steering unit. This is twadle.
Actually, what you can see in this pic is the steering box (on left, column shaped thing) with the power assist unit to it's right (dome shaped thing). The dome part actually sticks through a cut out in the instrument panel. What is missing is the plumbing (the set up was hydraulic) to the boost pump which was mounted onto a large 24V electric motor. This motor sat immediately to the right of the steering column against the glassis plate.
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Close up view of the motor which was essentially a standard GMC 6 cylinder. An adaptor kit was fitted (special water pump and sump etc). If you look under what is left of the starter motor you can see the 2 large flexible oil cooling pipes that went from the sump to the intercooler which mounted between the 2 motors, it was plumbed into cooling system.
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Track back along the water pump and you will see a plate with 2 bolts (vertical) this is the unique pump fitted to the Staghounds. The pump was symetrical and you fitted the blanking plate to whichever side was not needed.
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If you are really desperate for Stag parts, then the owner of what you see in this article is happy to discuss a price. He says that the parts mostly owe him the cost of getting them back to civilisation.
Contact Doug for further info.
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