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Above is a view of the damage to the sponson caused by the crew of the Panther blowing it up. Roy Hamilton continues;
"New torsion bars were ordered from the original company in Germany and then installed. The swing arm bushings for the torsion bars had to be made new and were duling manufactured out of original phenolic material. Road wheels were found and fitted. The Panthers transmission was in surprisingly good condition and only needed some bearings to be replaced! The final drives were not as easy, and new gears had to be cut. The gear box under the turret basket which drives the hydraulic pumps for the steering assist, had the top blown out and was pretty sad. However, it was pieced back together with some new pieces added and rebuilt.
Much of the interior had to be made afresh, including heat ducting, shell racks, lubrication tubing etc. Zimmerit has been applied behind the road wheels and will shortly be applied to the whole hull. As for the turret (as noted earlier), the original was in such a poor state that after salvaging the mantlet, the gun mount, commanders cupola and other pieces a completely new turret is being made".
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