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Introduction
Active service
Starting problems
Clever solution

When the Salvage Squad first see the Centurion tank it is rusting in the middle of a field near Luton airport. Their task is to get this 50-ton metal monster moving again, make it look just as it did during the Gulf War and track down the soldiers who served in it, all in time for one of Britain's biggest military vehicle shows.

Centurion registration number 01 ZR 15 entered service with the British Army in 1949 and saw action in Suez in 1956. During the early 1960s it was converted to an AVRE (Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers – a special tank used by the Royal Engineers) and took part in the Gulf War in 1990. At that time it was the oldest vehicle in service with the British Army. It was decommissioned in the mid-1990s and has been out of action for the last five years.

As the Squad soon discover, the restoration work requires both brawn and brains. The tank tracks must be repaired and the tank has to be repainted in desert colours, but expertise is needed to get the engine running again.
The tank's engine is a Rolls Royce Meteor, a version of the legendary Merlin engine, which powered the Spitfire fighter aircraft. This massive 12-cylinder petrol engine, with five forward and two reverse gears, powers the tank at speeds of up to 35kph. When the Centurion was built by Vickers over 50 years ago it started with ease. But the antiquated electrics no longer produce a big enough spark to start the engine.

Squad member Jerry Thurston's passion is restoring classic cars and he has tinkered with many engines – but never anything this size. Realising that the huge tank has no hope of getting to the military show unless the engine works, Jerry has an ingenious idea: to replace the tank's aged electrics with the modern electronic ignition from a Jaguar sports car.
First Jerry removes the old electrics from the Meteor engine. The old system is called a magneto, a mechanical device that needs to spin fast to generate sparks. The Meteor engine turns over very slowly when you're trying to start it up. But the Jaguar ignition gives a good spark whatever the speed of the engine.
The idea is a brainwave, but Jerry has to work out how to cram the electronic ignition into the casing of the old magneto. He also has to squeeze his 6ft 5in frame into the very small gaps in the Centurion engine bay to get access to the Meteor engine. The electronic wizardry has to be fitted to the back of the engine and Jerry and Axel Cleghorn have to work blind in the tiny space. Once the new system is bolted on, they pump petrol into the engine and Claire Barratt confidently presses the starter motor. But nothing happens.
The Squad's faces fall as they looked at the motionless tank. Has Jerry's idea failed? Then Claire Barratt realises the problem: modern cars run on 12-volt batteries but the Centurion runs on 24 volts. Jerry needs to add a voltage converter.
With the converter added, the Meteor roars into life and the Salvage Squad know they have a chance of getting to the military show.