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Two best friends have just six months to rebuild the most terrifying tank of the Cold War and drive it at the world's biggest armor show.
Two friends restore the FV4005, a Cold War British tank with the largest gun ever, aiming to showcase it at Tankfest in six months.
Ask about this video. Answers come from its transcript only — with the timestamp, so you can check them.
Generated from the transcript and can be wrong — check the timestamp.
Key Takeaways
- Restoring historic military vehicles requires extreme attention to detail and historical accuracy.
- Sourcing original parts or exact replacements is critical to meet restoration deadlines.
- Collaborations with museums can provide access to rare components and expertise.
- Mechanical and structural challenges can threaten tight restoration timelines.
- Passion and expertise enable enthusiasts to revive nearly lost pieces of history.
What the video covers
- Joe and Jack, two friends and military armor restorers, take on the challenge to rebuild the FV4005, a Cold War British tank with the biggest gun in history.
- The FV4005 turret and gun were found at the Tank Museum, but mounted on the wrong chassis; they sourced an authentic Centurion Mark III chassis for restoration.
- The project has a tight six-month deadline to present the tank at Tankfest, the world’s largest historic tank show.
- The chassis was severely rusted and damaged, requiring complete mechanical and structural restoration including engine replacement.
- The original engine was beyond repair, so Joe used a rare spare 600-horsepower engine stored in his living room.
- Rusted tracks and welded experimental mounts had to be removed to restore the chassis to factory specifications.
- The hull was stripped to bare metal, primed, and painted with authentic 1950s British military green paint.
- The restoration required extreme historical accuracy to ensure the turret and chassis fit perfectly together.
- The turret and gun were restored simultaneously by the Tank Museum to match the chassis restoration.
- After months of hard work, the restored tank’s engine roars and the gun turns, bringing the mythical FV4005 back to life.
Chapters
- 00:00Project Introduction and Challenge
- 02:00Finding the Correct Chassis
- 04:10Assessing Damage and Mechanical Issues
- 06:09Removing Rusted Tracks and Components
- 09:56Stripping and Preparing the Chassis
- 12:15Engine Replacement and Logistical Challenges
- 14:09Painting and Protecting the Hull
- 20:13Final Assembly and Restoration Progress
- 29:53Testing and Operational Restoration
- 34:35Project Completion and Tank Ready for Tankfest
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
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The project itself is insane. Master order. And it won't be easy. Are we on fire?
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No. This was the tank built to carry the biggest gun ever in history. A Cold War British monster designed to destroy the feared Soviet IS-3.
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But today, not a single FV4005 exists in the world. For decades, this tank was almost completely unknown until the video game World of Tanks turned it into a cult icon.
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That is how Joe, a mechanic and lifelong tank enthusiast, first discovered it. And that is when he had a bold idea.
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And now we're going to start it. What if they could bring this lost machine back to life?
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Together with his best friend Jack, he decided to make it happen. They contacted the Tank Museum in England and discovered the only surviving FV4005 turret and gun were still there.
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Abandoned outside for decades and mounted on the wrong chassis, so Joe and Jack made the museum a proposal. Let them take the turret, mount it on the correct chassis, and restore the vehicle with the highest level of historical accuracy.
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But their plan was even more ambitious than that. They wanted to complete the restoration in less than six months and present the fully functioning machine at Tankfest, the world's biggest display of moving historic tanks.
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Against all odds, the museum agreed. The turret had been secured. Now, they just needed the correct chassis.
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And they managed to track one down. An authentic Centurion Mark III chassis. Joe and Jack actually make their living restoring military armor for private clients and their online audience. So, they knew they needed this exact model.
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It was the original hull for the FV4005. That's rather weighty. Inside, they just find water and rot, but also some hidden treasures.
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Oh, yeah. Bullets. Ammunition. Yeah, they're blanks for sure. Were you might not think how thick is that?
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That's a good eight inches. It's not eight inches. This is Adam, a good friend and an experienced tank driver who will be helping them throughout the project. But first, they need to find out if this rusted engine will actually start.
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With the electrical systems completely dead, this engine isn't going to fire up on its own.
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The only option is to hook it to a recovery truck and force a tow start to mechanically force the engine to crank.
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If the engine is completely seized, their six-month timeline to Tankfest is in trouble before it even begins.
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The momentum works and the engine actually catches, but it's short-lived. Thick smoke is pouring out.
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Right. Are we on fire? Or is it just burning oil? Nah. This side's cool.
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But that side's burning serious oil. And a smoking engine is actually the least of their worries.
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Clutch is steering is gears? Gears are any positives at all on this? From the engine to the gears, the internals are in terrible shape.
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To fully assess the damage, they need to get it to the workshop. But first, there's a five-ton piece of the upper chassis that needs to be unbolted and lifted out of the way.
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Wow. Wow. Wow. Oh God, I got it. I've got it. Will that pull out?
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Will it pull out with your finger? Oh ho ho. That's the first one out.
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Now I've got nine million more to go. Removing it requires a heavy-duty crane, extreme caution, and a perfectly steady hand.
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Mate, that was factory fresh. To reach Tankfest, this chassis requires a complete mechanical rebuild.
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The steering, the clutch, and the gears are all severely damaged. They need to figure out what can be salvaged and what needs replacing.
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But the biggest threat to the deadline is the smoking engine. They could try to fix it, but a full rebuild would burn through hundreds of hours they just don't have.
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If it needs too much work, finding a rare replacement is their only option to save time.
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To make that call, the entire rear deck has to come apart. All of this, of course, is supervised by Ted, Joe's dog, and the project's de facto manager.
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You find any treasures? Uh, no, no treasures so far. This restoration is actually happening on two fronts.
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While the guys rebuild the chassis, the Tank Museum is restoring the original turret and gun.
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That means Joe and Jack don't just need a working tank, they need it to be exact.
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If they deviate from the original blueprints, those two massive halves are never going to fit together.
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With the hull completely stripped, the verdict on the old engine is final. Rebuilding it would blow right past their deadline.
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They will have to find a replacement. Luckily, Joe has a spare. When your full-time job is restoring armor for millions of viewers, private clients, and movie sets, you learn to buy rare parts whenever you find them.
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A year ago, Joe secured a spare 600-horsepower engine, which is perfect for this project.
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Since these engines are highly vulnerable to rust and damp workshop air, he stored it in the driest place on the property.
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Right in the middle of his living room. Getting it out, however, is going to be an absolute logistical nightmare.
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So, for the moment, they park the engine crisis and pivot to the next hurdle.
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The rusted tracks have to come off. First, they have to remove the track pins.
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These are the heavy steel rods that hold every individual link together. Right now, they are practically welded in place with rust.
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Removing them requires a heavy sledgehammer and patience. With the heavy tracks out of the way, the naked chassis is exposed, revealing exactly how much rust they are really dealing with.
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If this tank is going to look factory fresh for Tankfest, shortcuts aren't an option.
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You cannot just spray new paint over decades of rust. They must strip the hull down to bare steel.
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It's a grueling task that will take them three precious weeks. This chassis wasn't a standard front-line tank. It was an army test vehicle.
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That means for years, military engineers used it as a testing ground, constantly welding on experimental mounts, brackets, and equipment that were never part of the original design.
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They all need to be cut out, but there's one that isn't going anywhere without a fight.
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Adam, it's your turn. Yes. Yes. Almost. Wow. Go on, Jack. Go on. Go on. Yes!
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All right, just all the other bits to do now then. To the average person, leaving a few extra welds on the hull wouldn't matter.
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But for Joe and Jack, close enough isn't an option. Their obsession with historical accuracy means going to extreme lengths to ensure every millimeter of this chassis is identical to the day it was built.
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Now that the hull is completely stripped to bare metal, they have to act fast before the rust returns.
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All right, come on, Ted. We got to go. Going to get painting now. You mustn't be in there.
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They immediately seal the bare steel in red oxide primer. This does two crucial things. It completely waterproofs the metal to stop rust, and it creates a chemical grip for the final paint to adhere to. Applying the primer is fast, but it will
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need a full week to properly cure. With the shop heaters running 24/7, that means the chassis will be off-limits for seven days.
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Joe and Jack have officially run out of excuses. It is time to face the nightmare they've been avoiding, securing the replacement engine.
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But first, we need to get the thing out the house. Yeah. Their plan is to drag nearly a ton of engine down a narrow hallway and straight out the front door.
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It's exactly as easy as it sounds. Back foot that side of it. Look like it broke, didn't it?
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All right, let's just rearrange the door a bit. Ready? Yeah. No, I can't even lift that.
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Huh? I can't even get it a little bit. And unfortunately for the house, luck is not on their side.
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We've got Oh, no. That caster's failed. Yeah, yeah. That caster's gone, mate. Moral of the story is, don't.
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With two door frames hit, Joe decides to take matters into his own hands. Beautiful.
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Yeah. I don't think they're going to make Yes. Ready? Yeah. Yes. Three, two, one.
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Yeah. [groaning] Right, one more. Hold it. One key right now if we damage the house.
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Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Got it. Oh, yes. I definitely landed on that bit of wood.
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Oh, WE'RE AT THE NEXT DOOR FRAME. WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SO ROUGH IN YOUR HOUSE?
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WE SHOULD ALSO JUST STOP doing the tanks. So, we'll just do house removals. Ready?
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YEAH. OH, YEAH. GREAT. THAT WAS A GOOD NOISE. They've managed to drag it all the way to the final hurdle.
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But to get this massive block of iron out of the house, the front door has to go.
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They will need a forklift to finish the job. RIGHT. WOW. That went without a single hitch.
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With the engine finally secured, they head back to the workshop just in time. A week has passed. [music] The primer is cured, and it's time to lay down the authentic military green, the 1950s standard for British armor.
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This dark shade was chosen to camouflage the tanks in the dense forest of northern Europe against the Soviet threat during the Cold War.
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But historical accuracy goes beyond the exterior. The interior is finished in high-contrast white to maximize visibility inside the dark hull.
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A long night for the men now. While the fresh paint [music] cures, the next stage is already waiting, reassembly.
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The large components are cleaned outside with high-pressure aqua blasting, [music] stripping the road wheels, gearbox, and other heavy parts back to usable metal.
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But the rebuild also depends on hundreds of smaller pieces. Brackets, covers, housings, and linkages all have to be cleaned before they can return [music] to the tank.
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With that done, the rebuild moves from dirty work to delicate work. The gearbox needs to be checked and reassembled from the inside out.
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It is a very complex task, [music] and Tank Fest is too close to take any risks.
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So, Joe and Jack decide to bring in [music] a group of experts who know this kind of machinery better than anyone.
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It's going to go. But before the gearbox can even go back in, the reality of running a full-time restoration business catches up with them.
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Joe and Jack are working on multiple projects at once, and there is another tank that needs this space to be painted.
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That means the chassis has to come out earlier than planned before the engine or gearbox are back in place.
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Touchdown. We're on the floor. It may be back on its wheels, but it still cannot move itself.
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So, Joe and Jack need another way to get nearly 40 tons of steel out of the workshop.
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The plan is simple. Use a personnel carrier to tow the Ford 4005 into the yard, move the other tank into the main workshop, and then carefully push the chassis backwards through the smaller entrance.
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But executing this swap requires absolute precision. Without tracks or a functioning engine, the chassis is 40 tons of dead weight rolling on freely spinning wheels.
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Controlling that much unpowered mass is exactly why Adam, the group's expert driver, is behind the wheel.
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Woah. That's it. Pulling the chassis out is straightforward. Adam carefully tows the massive hull into the yard, and the other tank is moved inside without an issue.
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But, pulling 40 tons in a straight line was never the problem. Pushing it backwards into a tighter space with only a few inches of clearance on either side is a completely different challenge.
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That is the warning they needed. The small crash only marked the fresh paint, but a second mistake could be much more expensive.
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So, they stop pushing their luck and change tactics. The telehandler gives them the control the carrier could not. They use it to realign the FV4005 with the smaller entrance, then carefully [music] push the chassis back inside.
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With the massive shell safely secured in the shed, the crew takes a much-needed [music] break.
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And they have earned it. They started with a dead, rusted Centurion chassis and stripped it back to bare steel.
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The ruined engine came out and the damaged tracks came off. Decades of paint, [music] corrosion, and unwanted test vehicle modifications were removed.
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Then the rebuild began. The hull was welded back into [music] shape, sealed in primer, and repainted to match the 1950s factory spec.
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But none of that matters if the tank can't move again. The original B12 was beyond saving. So now everything depends on the 600 horsepower replacement Joe had stored inside his house. An engine that still has to be checked and brought back to
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life. So, the main thing we have to do, this engine is a brand new, it's not been used for a long, long time. The oil pump is probably dry. So, if we were to just fill the sump up in a minute, crank it
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over, that pump, if it's not primed, won't actually pump the oil around, which would then mean that the engine would be turning over with no oil pumping around and would seize it straight up.
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This engine's probably worth 20 grand. So, the last thing we want to do is seize it straight up on test run.
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The first main thing is to pre-oil the pump before they start turning the engine over.
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But this is not the only thing that needs to be checked. The other thing we can do is while we're cranking it over, we actually can be checking for a spark.
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So, [music] the magneto is basically like a generator that creates its own electricity. Round and round motion, it generates electric and it also you can see [music] I'm going to try and turn this. Basically, if you turn this
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you can feel each notch. Each notch you can see there is another spark plug.
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These are the points. These are where it sparks and I know this one sparks cuz I've just turned over by hand and [music] electricuted myself. What generally happens is there'll be a little film of corrosion on these points. I'll take
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the points off, give them a little clean up. It's not not too bad. A little bit of fine sandpaper. Bang them back on and they should spark a treat.
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Little tiny layer there. You see I'm scraping just scraping it off? Yep. It seems like an obsessive detail, but clearing away that invisible film of rust is the only thing standing between a dead engine and a firing one.
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Okay, so we are now points cleaned either side, jack's on the drill. We're going to now turn the engine over. Any preservative oil should come out the spark plugs as we go.
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And we should also see if we can get a spark. So, when you're ready Jack, start slow and then uh Start slow and speed up.
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Yeah. Like everything. Slow. Yeah, so now we've got definite oil circulation. Bit quicker? Full speed?
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Why'd you stop? I didn't. A standard power drill is no match for the heavy resistance of a tank engine.
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So, to keep turning it over, they need a higher powered solution. I've gave Jack the job of cranking it over. He loves it because he's scared of sparks.
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It's not that. I'm scared of being electrocuted and being swept up. That's what I'm scared of.
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Right, when you're ready, Jack. Yeah. Light her up. Ready? Yeah. The magneto is working. After years of sitting unused, the engine now has oil circulation and spark. But, there's one more thing that needs to be checked.
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The carburetor, this is two updraft Zenith carburetors. It has a a float in it. So, as the petrol comes in through these pipes here, these little ticker pumps suck the petrol out of the fuel tank, lift it up
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through here, and it starts to bring the level of fuel up in the carburetor here.
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The float acts like a shut-off valve inside the carburetor. [music] As petrol enters, the float rises. That movement pulls the rod down and stops more fuel coming in, preventing the carburetor from flooding.
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If the float is stuck at the bottom, fuel keeps coming in until it floods the carburetor. Raw petrol would flood the cylinders, drown the spark plugs, and create a fire hazard.
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So, we're going to make sure both floats are working before we even consider firing it up.
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Let's check the floats. Here's the actual float itself. It does feel a bit stuck.
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In fact, it's very stuck there. And it's not going. Which would mean this carburetor would flood almost definitely.
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There you go. This is when you push on it, she springs straight back up.
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With the float moving again, Joe now primes the carburetor by hand, feeding in fuel slowly to make sure the system controls the petrol properly.
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[snorts] You can see that the float is actually sunk to the bottom. The rod as when I lift it up, it wants to go back down.
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When we first took this cap off, obviously this plunger was stuck at the top and it stayed at the top. So, had we have just ignored that and filled it, the carb overflows and then there's a pipe down there
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that chucks the excess petrol out there, right by all the flames, which is not brilliant, to be honest.
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[music] The oil is moving. The spark is there. And the fuel is under control.
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Now, there is nothing left to do but start it. And hope no critical weakness shows itself too late.
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And just like that, the replacement V12 comes alive. After all the checks, cleaning, priming, and near electrocution, the engine works.
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It's finally time to get back to the workshop and put all the restored components back where they belong.
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Inside the chassis. Ah, yes. It's in. Give it a little wiggle. And that's too much.
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Oh, it's vibrating. Beauty. What do you reckon, boo? Bit of forklift driving. Upper touch.
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Upper touch. That's clear. Yeah, you got loads of room on the roof. After weeks of work just to reach this point, the 600 horsepower [music] Meteor B12 finally drops into the chassis, bringing the restored hull [music] one step closer to becoming a living tank
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again. Nobody died. No fingers got caught. No. No damage. Oh, a tiny bit of paint scuffed at the back there.
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bit of scuffing, but nothing awful. Why use the correct tool when you can use the wrong tool?
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Yeah. With the engine anchored, the rest of the drivetrain rapidly takes shape. One by one, they drop in the steering linkages, [music] heavy brake drums, and massive cooling fans.
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We've never gone to that length before, but this it all moves and works beautifully now. So, what a what a feeling.
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So, drums are next, then? Yeah. Drums are next, and then we can do water pipes from the back of the water up.
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Go on. Go on. Look at him go. That doesn't actually look a million miles out though.
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What a beauty. The lower half of the tank is almost complete, getting the chassis ready for the ultimate delivery. The arrival of the original turret and gun.
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Down in Bovington, the Tank Museum has finally finished restoring the historic pieces. Now, this massive 15-ton relic has made the long trip up north, traveling across the country to finally reach Joe's workshop.
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But moving a piece of history this heavy is no easy job. That's the turret.
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It's going to wait here. Once the truck finally reaches the workshop, the restoration changes instantly.
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Until now, Joe and Jack have been rebuilding a Centurion chassis. But these are the pieces that make it something [music] else entirely.
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The only surviving FB 4005 turret and gun. The project is no longer an idea, a proposal, or a deadline on a calendar.
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These are the surviving parts of a tank most people never expected to see complete again.
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But to understand why, we have to go back in time. At the start of the Cold War, Britain feared the Soviet IS-3, a heavy tank with armor so thick that ordinary guns could not reliably defeat it.
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Their answer was the biggest gun ever fitted to a tank, a 183-mm cannon built to fire HESH rounds.
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Instead of punching through armor, a HESH round spreads explosive across the outside of the target.
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When it detonates, the shock travels through the steel and breaks the inside apart. But a gun this large created its own problem. The ammunition was enormous, so the crew needed a much bigger turret just to load and operate it.
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And by the late 1950s, guided missiles made this kind of tank killer obsolete. The project was canceled, and the FB 4005 was left behind.
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Until now. This is what the little tray cuz the shells were so heavy. You'd load them onto that. The breech would go down.
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Then you slide them in. You see looks here. Gun 183 mil. L4A1 number one.
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This is the first the first and only. One and only. Big old door. How many tanks have a full-size door on the back of them?
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I just can't get over just how big it is. It's crazy big. That's why you see pulling the shell off the wall here, putting it on that thing, so they shove it in the breech.
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Another piece that makes this tank so unique is the rear anchor. When the gun fired, the recoil was so extreme [music] that the tank needed this system to stay under control.
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But way before installing it, Adrian, the engineer who designed and built the new parts, needs to check the measurements.
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The anchor has to match the hull's original geometry. Because if the angles are wrong, it may fit the [music] chassis, but it will not behave like the original.
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So now we're going to cut that back off. We'll take that one off. 58 and 732.
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And you happy with that? That That will go in there. Slip in there beautifully.
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Yeah correct. Beautiful job. Now the next thing to do with these, now that we've we've tacked them in place, did some measurements, and we're happy that that's banging in the in the right place. That's now going to go to the
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machine shop along with that one, and they're going to bore straight through the center of that. As you can see, you see there, it sits on the tank at that angle, but it's actually level if that makes any
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sort of sense. And what we want is to make sure that the pin goes through that plate bang straight there.
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With the rear anchor geometry confirmed and Tank Fest now just 2 months [music] away, the chassis keeps coming together.
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The clutch, radiators, and air cleaners all go back in. But the final piece, the gearbox, is too heavy and too valuable [music] to handle with a forklift.
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To install it, the tank has to come outside first. And the quickest option is also the hardest one.
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Keep going. We're literally pushing 50 ton. I've not got me grippy shoes on. [groaning] It's going.
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I'll do. What are we ready for? Getting the gearbox in. With the gearbox installed, the drivetrain is finally complete.
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The timing, however, comes with good news and bad news. Jack is getting married this weekend, but the honeymoon will take him out of the workshop for a full week, leaving Joe to face the first real test alone.
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We've now filled the gearbox with oil, we've filled the engine with oil, and without further ado, let's see if this thing's going to start.
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There's no exhaust pipes on, so it's going to be very loud. Ignition on. [snorts] I'm going to give it a couple of pumps of throttle, and now we're going to start it.
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At first sight, the full system seems to work. The first start. Now we can get out and breathe.
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But a first start is only the beginning. Now, Joe has to see whether the cooling system can hold water without [music] leaking.
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Let's hope this don't leak. So, what we're going to do for a start, I'm just going to fill it with normal water, straight out of the tap. So, no need for the water filter. Run it up a couple of times, get it to temperature.
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Hopefully there'll be no leaks. At this stage, a leak could undo days of work.
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If water escapes from somewhere buried deep inside the hull, Joe may have to strip parts back out just to reach it.
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Thankfully, the system holds. Nothing leaks. The engine runs cleanly, and the rebuilt drivetrain passes its first real test.
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And the good news doesn't stop there. Jackie's back from his holiday. [music] And he is back just in time for the next heavy job, fitting the restored tracks.
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I was expecting this to get all okay, it's not going to work how I thought it was going to do.
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Yeah, like a big like like a jack-in-the-box. Each side weighs roughly 2 and 1/2 to 3 tons. So, before the track can go anywhere near the tank, they have to turn that loose mass of steel into something they can control.
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They lay it flat on the floor. Then use the forklift to push the chassis carefully over it.
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Slowly. Slow it down a little bit. I just want it to get over that metal road.
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Yeah, yeah. Well, I It weighs 130 ton. I think it's going to go over that well.
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Ben? It's so easy. Yeah, to be fair, that will probably do, guys. Yeah? Yeah.
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Once the chassis is in position, the weight starts moving upward. The team wraps the track around the running gear, guiding the steel links close to the fresh paint they have spent weeks restoring.
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Pass the load. Just don't scratch anything. No, no, no. It's exactly the same, though.
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God. God, this is good. They have to guide it carefully [music] because at this weight, the track can do real damage if it shifts the wrong way, to the fresh paint or to the people holding it.
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I see it. The goal is to bring both ends as close as possible for the pin to go back in.
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Is that all right? It's It's all good. Or it just won't fit, guys. But the ends only lock if the holes are perfectly aligned, and that means now comes the most dangerous step of the operation.
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I love these things cuz this is the really finger trapping horrible now. You know, if you trap a finger in there, you lose your finger.
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You can't worry You were having a go. this one, to be honest. Oh, you want me to use my hand?
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Yeah, there you go. Look at that. I like that thing. That's the one. Do you feel Look how close that is.
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Yeah, exactly. Look at that. With the holes close enough, they drive the pin through and lock the track closed.
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That might be the easiest main battle tank track we've ever Daddy, you've been swimming.
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You've been swimming. Oh, dear, you do smell. You are stinking. Joe and Jack reset, move to the opposite side, and repeat the whole process from the beginning.
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Woo! After the second track is locked in [music] place, they tension both sides, taking out the slack until the tracks can move properly with the chassis.
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That is what finally lets the FB4005 roll out of the workshop [music] as it is supposed to, ready for the moment of truth, fitting the restored turret.
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The turret is a 5-ton one-off structure, tall enough for the crew to handle the huge 183-mm rounds, but protected by only thin splinter-proof steel.
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That makes this lift especially risky. If it catches the chassis or lands badly, the metal can bend, and there is no replacement.
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And even if the lift goes perfectly, there is still one question, whether the restored turret from Bovington will actually fit Joe's rebuilt Centurion ring.
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Joe has measured everything, and the numbers say it should work. But with a turret this heavy, should is not enough.
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If the turret and ring do not match, there is no time left to redesign anything before Tank Fest.
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The turret has to come down slowly and precisely. Joe steps out of the truck and controls the crane remotely, standing where he can see the ring properly while Jack holds a rope to stop the 5-ton turret from swinging.
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But lowering it is not enough. The whole turret has to rotate into the exact angle before it can drop into place.
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The turret is lowered until it hangs just above the ring, close enough to fit, but still suspended over the hull.
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Then Joe and Jack climb inside to check the bolt holes from up close. And at first, they do not line up.
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Joe has to use the remote from inside the tank, making tiny crane adjustments until the turret finally settles into place.
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One by one, the bolts start to fit as they are hammered into place. The gamble is over.
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The restored turret and Joe's rebuilt chassis fit exactly as they should, giving the tank [music] its full towering shape for the first time.
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But the rebuild is not finished yet. The crew still has more original parts to bring back before the restoration [music] is truly finished. Starting with all the pieces that Adrian carefully engineered and built to make this [music] tank exactly as the original.
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That starts with the ground anchor. And after Adrian's earlier measurements, this one is not another gamble.
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The geometry has already been checked, and it fits flawlessly. Next comes the gun crutch, the front bracket [music] that supports the huge 183 mm barrel during transport.
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The original was lost, so Adrian's [music] team had to rebuild it from scratch using the old blueprints.
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And on the roof, they bring back [music] the sliding hatch, rebuilt from a single original roller found hidden inside the gun barrel.
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But, one piece still matters more than all the rest, the 183 mm gun. And it is finally time it goes back into the turret.
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In theory, this is just another installation. In practice, it is the one installation they can't get wrong.
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This is the piece the entire tank was built around. And with Tank Fest only a month away, there's no plan B if it gets damaged.
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The whole lift has to happen slowly because the gun is not only heavy, it has to enter the turret straight enough to settle into its original mounts without tearing into the restored metal around it.
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That is the first victory. But the gun still needs its front plate. They protect the fresh paint with cloth because this mantlet has to slide along the barrel and sit tight against the turret without scratching or denting the
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finish. [music] At first, the bolts do not line up. For a moment, the perfect restoration becomes another fitting problem.
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Joe and Jack stop, check the plate while Adam jumps on the forklift and adjusts the position until the holes finally find each other.
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That's it? That's it. Good job, Adam. After months of work, the gun that defined the whole machine is back in the turret. And for the first time, this restoration feels bigger than a rebuilt chassis. It feels like the FB 4005 is
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truly returning. But with the new components adding more weight to the tank, one single forklift is now not enough to push it inside the workshop.
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[laughter] Yes. Here it comes. It's going to be really gentle. Just like in every other stage of the rebuild, Joe and Jack find a way together getting the tank back under cover to finish the job they started almost 6 months ago.
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The FV 4005 is finally complete and Tankfest [music] is only 1 week away. For the first time, the tank looks ready for the public. But looking ready is not the same as being [music] ready.
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Joe tries to start the tank and nothing happens. Then he tries again. Still nothing.
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That's a shame. Only on the third attempt does the engine come alive. Which is enough to move forward, but not enough to trust it.
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Before Tankfest, they have to know whether this is just a bad start or the first sign of a bigger failure.
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I am so strong. [clears throat] No. Calm yourself. The search does not reveal any critical failure, but it does expose a problem they still have to fix.
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W- what is a lot in there? Nothing. That's how much is in there. Absolutely F A.
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Jack, it's got a water leak. Jack. To find it, they have to fill the system with water again and let the leak reveal itself.
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Turn it off, Jack. Tell you what, it's going to be dead easy to get that back one.
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Ah, I can see the leak. You can? Straight away. And that was easy one to get out as well.
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Is it? Yeah. Yeah. Look at it. Streaming out of there. Look at the mess it's made.
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Let's go with it. Well, that that has done that. With Tankfest only a few days away, the leak is fixed just in time.
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Now only one final detail remains. Installing the system that lets the turret rotate. You ready?
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Come on, Jack. Lift it up. It's traversing. At this stage, seeing the tank move as [music] one machine with its turret turning above it feels like the perfect reward for all their work.
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Need a parachute to get me out of there. It's called base diving, isn't it?
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6 months of hard work have led to this moment. The tank is ready to leave the workshop and head to Tankfest tomorrow morning.
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The biggest gun tank in the world is whole again, [music] restored on the outside and rebuilt on the inside.
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And naturally, [music] none of it would have been possible without the help of its project manager.
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Ted has worked absolutely immensely hard on this project and I think everybody needs to thank Ted for his hard work and guidance. [music] The tank is ready.
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It starts cleanly, drives properly, and after months of fighting for this moment, Joe and Jack couldn't be happier.
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So, it starts so nice as well. Get out of me. Nice. After everything it has taken to reach this point, the tank is ready to travel across the country for its public reveal at the world's largest live display of
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historic and modern armor, Tankfest. After everything it took to get here, Tank Fest should feel like the finish line.
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Which makes this the worst possible moment for one more problem to appear. So, things aren't going to plan.
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It's the alternator in here. It didn't want to start, but it started a bit and spluttered and farted.
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And then we've realized that all the spark plugs are full of petrol. And then we've realized that the carburetor is is basically flooding itself.
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That's not new. Doesn't look very new, does it? Yeah, this is the one off Mike's.
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But the bowl's fine. The bowl's fine. Earlier, Joe fixed the stuck float, but a tiny hole has let petrol inside. So, instead of floating up, it now sinks to the bottom.
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That leaves the valve open and the carburetor floods. To make things even harder, the fault is in a terrible place to reach. And with the reveal tomorrow morning, dismantling half the tank is not an option.
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a dead end. That was a dead end like Dude. So, you want a kettle that um what do you call it? Carburetor crush.
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You got it? Oh, what a blight. Full of petrol. Full of petrol. Oh, yes. Listen to it.
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Getting the float out was manageable. Installing the replacement is the nightmare. And it keeps them working until 1:30 in the morning.
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They're leaks. Luckily, the fix works. Now, all they can do is hope the FB4005 has no more surprises waiting before tomorrow.
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But hope is not much of a plan, so they remove one more risk. One link comes out of each track, tightening them before the tank can throw one in front of the crowd.
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It'll now be available on eBay for a thousand [laughter] Before the debut, Adrian comes back for one final check, making sure the parts he engineered move, lock, and sit exactly as they should.
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For months, this tank existed [music] somewhere between history and imagination. A lost machine, a surviving gun, and an idea almost too ambitious to take seriously.
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Most people knew it as a legend, a drawing, or a monster from a video game.
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But Joe and Jack saw something more. They saw a machine that could still have a future if someone was stubborn enough to fight for it.
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Now, in front of the crowd it [music] was rebuilt for, the FB4005 moves under its own power.
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The gun turns, the engine roars, and a tank that once felt almost mythical finally exists again in the real world.
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And for two best friends who refused to let it remain forgotten, this is [music] the moment everything becomes real.
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One of the most unique tanks in the world is alive again because they believed it could be.
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Woo!
Topics:FV4005tank restorationCold War tanksBritish military armorCenturion Mark IIITankfestmilitary historyhistorical accuracytank mechanicsQuantum Makers
