Sherman Register > Surviving Shermans > M4A4 s/n 5271


	*Sherman M4 Medium tanks and related AFVs*
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M4A4 s/n 5271 as found > engine restoration > engine ready > dismantling > hull restoration > fitting engine & track > hull finishing > turret and gun restoration > finished!

I decided to restore the engine first. The main reason for this was I was determined this M4A4 was going to have a multibank fitted, not a radial or some other engine. If it was not possible to rebuild an engine from the parts I had, it would give me more time to source alternatives. Also having a running engine on a stand would be a good encouragement to finishing the rest of the vehicle.

11) After clutch and flywheel removal.
Note the starter motor and drive shaft sticking through the radiator. This is the only reason the radiator had not gone for scrap years ago, as it is not possible to remove it with the engine in the tank.

12) Rad off showing the gearcase that brings all the drives together to the central shaft.

13) Gearcase showing the individual drive gears and the central output gear.
Note also the broken right-hand mounting which was a result of the range damage.

14) Engine drive gears.
This is the corresponding part of the drive train showing the gear on each crankshaft.

15) 1st and 2nd blocks off. This shows how compact the engine is and how much 3 and 4 undercut the other engines.
The two horizontal stub pipes at the back are the water pump inlets.

16) Some blocks were very good inside, others were less so.

17) Centre crankcase, upside down.
You can just see the oil pumps at the top of the picture. These are driven by bevel gears from a central shaft.

18) At this point I was faced with spending a small fortune on having the five best blocks machined. This included sleeving most of the bores and all new valve seats. I was very lucky to find new blocks in Belgium. These came with piston sets, water tubes, studs and cam bearings!

19) Building the new blocks up.
Each engine is slightly different around the power unit. Fuel pump, tacho drive, manifolds etc all require special parts.
The cranks rotate anti-clockwise viewed from this end and so a gear driven cam is used. This allows the use of standard crankshaft and camshaft forgings but results in a reversed firing order.

20) Blocks ready to assemble onto the crankcase.
Mionor differences are visible between the various units.

M4A4 s/n 5271 as found > engine restoration > engine ready > dismantling > hull restoration
fitting engine & track > hull finishing > turret and gun restoration > finished!