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Pete Ashby

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Pete Ashby last won the day on August 29 2023

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About Pete Ashby

  • Birthday 01/01/1901

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  • Location
    Wales
  • Occupation
    Small holder and restorer

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  1. Really impressed with the standard of your work it's ordered, meticulous and with attention to the detail. Congratulations Pete
  2. Good luck with the restoration, keep posting your progress I'm looking forward to following the project Pete
  3. Excellent work guys, keep the updates coming Pete
  4. A little more progress, the dash is now almost completed just need to fit the high beam indicator and source a main lighting switch other than that it's done, all gauges refurbished as per previous post above and the speedo has had a new glass brought in from DCM in the US and I made a new dial indicator carrier using the lid of a CD case which was just the correct thickness. The instrument are the standard civilian fittings this truck was the last contract in 1943 that had them, after this all subsequent contracts had standard military round gauges and CMP style switch gear. So this is a page from the Drivers handbook And this is how it all looked in the beginning And this is how it looks now After that brief interlude it's back to scraping paint off the cab roof ...... such fun. Pete
  5. Yes it was a nice find Alex a rare human connection. I did carefully consider saving the the mark on the scuttle and the others Iv'e shown here but eventually decided to record them for posterity by photography and then remove them as part of the restoration process . Pete
  6. While removing paint from the inside of the cab roof I came across the mark in the photo below, it's in blue pencil under the factory red oxide undercoat directly onto the raw steel and looks like the number 20. I wonder if it's a welders identification mark ? There are a number of gas welds that go to make up the cab roof. Probably done at this stage of the war by a female welder, uncovering it was a small moment of connection over the 80 year time lapse. This isn't the first factory assembly mark I've come across on this truck however the other two have been on top of the factory G3 they are shown below circled in red This mark was on the seat base in white paint, it appeared on the seat base that had not been removed since 1943 And this one is in blue pencil once again this time on the front of the scuttle again on top of the factory G3 Just maybe the Canadian Dodge Chrysler equivalent of Rosie the Riveter made those marks on the truck assembly line in the Windsor plant in 1943........... who knows. Pete
  7. The electric charge tariffs will be spareated and charged at a higher rate via those helpful lovely smart meters in so many houses and then you'll be charged additionally by the mile for road tax collected on camera but more probably from the vehicles electronics direct to satellite. The future is not bright and all that glitters most certainly is not gold Pete
  8. More progress all be it of a small nature, .as I've noted elsewhere it's the small stuff that just eats up time. I'm continuing the fitting out of the dash so attention has now focused on the gauges. Their general condition is fair to good but they need overhauling while the bezels and cases need cleaning and repainting. This is how they look when brought out of storage, the ammeter and fuel gauge cluster is representative of the overall condition for the rest of the gauges. The bezels, glass, face plate and gauges are disassembled into their component parts, all metal parts are de-rusted, etch primed and a top coat of semi gloss black. The case has an etch primer then a top coat of weld through primer that is just about the right shade for the original dull nickle plate finish. The glass needs treating with care as the numbers are screen printed on the inside face and can be easily damaged so I use cotton wool dipped in warm water with a little non salt detergent added to carefully swab both sides. The next step is to check out the operating mechanisms of the gauges. A careful clean with a dry soft paint brush then lubricate all moving parts and pivots with watchmakers oil applied sparingly with a pin. Thats the red stuff in the little bottle with the pin beside it in the photo below, then cut a couple of new case gaskets out of thin card and reassemble now repeat for the ammeter and fuel cluster then finally the speedo. Here's the oil pressure and temperature cluster all ready for reassembly . Pete
  9. Thank you The RH drive exhaust manifold for the long block Chrysler engine is not any easy beast to hunt down here in the UK, I think you guys had a grater variety of modified commercial Dodge Chrysler kit issued to you at your end of the world than we did here. Pete
  10. Thanks Seamus I think we share an affinity in terms of welding fresh air. I was at Capel this year under taking a bit of Boarder Raiding and had the opportunity of seeing your truck there, sadly you were not around or I'd have said hello Congratulations, the WoT looked spot on, a real testament to your hard graft and determination. Pete
  11. Have a look at this not mine something I blagged off the web some years ago, I'll dig out my CMD design records and see if I can find any more information for you that is contemporary Second World War A representative sample of Canadian Army overseas vehicle markings from the Second World War is given here.1 Vehicle Colours The subject of vehicle colours is a difficult one to discuss via electronic means due to the variance in monitor settings and a lack of consistency regarding the actual subject matter. Colour photography was not widespread in the Second World War, and accurate reporting of shades and hues has been difficult to obtain. Any discussion of military vehicle colours should be taken with that understanding in mind. The effect of sun, age, precipitation, mud, etc. on military paint schemes should also be taken into account when considering these matters. Paint The Canadian Army followed closely British Army specifications for painting and marking vehicles, as the bulk of the overseas army was located in the United Kingdom before combat employment in Europe. As the Canadian Army preferred to draw its equipment from domestic sources, some modifications to this practice were made; some vehicles came from British stocks in the UK early in the war, and the 5th Canadian (Armoured) Division drew a large number of British vehicles when it arrived in Italy in late 1943. Paint manufactured in Canada was done to British requirements as described by their War Office, though some modifications were made on occasion to comply with manufacturing conditions in Canada. The basic requirements as laid down by the War Office were that paint be of a flat ("matte") finish, in order to reduce reflectiveness. Paint had to be able to be resistant to poison gas, and easily decontaminated. The use of lead compounds was subject to restrictions, as the dangers of lead poisoning were known at the time and were especially applied to paint used on vehicle interiors, particularly armoured vehicles. Paint schemes consisted of a "basic" colour, which was applied to the whole of the vehicle (usually at the factory, with disruptive or camouflage colours applied overtop by brush or spray. Vehicles were usually painted the same basic colour at the factory - a drab green or brown - and repainted if necessary by the Army (in the event of, for example, employment in the desert or in snow-covered terrrain). 1939 Military Training Pamphlet issued in the UK in June 1939 outlined a basic series of two-colour camouflage schemes, and it is believed the Canadian Army adopted these on the outbreak of war. A series of horizontal patterns of Khaki Green G3 (No.23 Middle Bronze Green) and Light Green No.5 (Light Bronze Green) were applied to vehicles. According to the Milifax article The date for this change was December 1940 according to one source, which described the colour unhelpfully as a "very dark grey, almost black, with just a hint of green...unless it's blue."2 1941 Amendments in 1941 changed the colours used on canvas tops and hoods, and this change is noted in Canadian Army Routine Orders (Overseas) on 14 October 1941. The change was the result of paints at that time causing damage to canvas. Catalogue No. HA Section H-1 Paint, camouflage, bituminous emulsion 6188 Standard Colour No.1A 6179 Standard Colour No.7 Vehicle bodies were to sprayed, as before, with Khaki Green No. 3 and Dark Tarmac No. 4. New Colours At this time as well, a series of Standard Camouflage Colours (SCC) were introduced to supplement, and later replace, Greens G3 and G5. The new colours were produced in both enamel for wood and metal vehicles, and in "bituminous emulsion" for use on canvas. SCC No. 1a Very Dark Brown SCC No. 2 Dark Brown / Service Colour / Service Drab SCC No. 4 Dark Earth (not to be confused with a shade used by the Royal Air Force of the same name) SCC No. 5 Light Mud SCC No. 7 Dark Olive Green SCC No. 11b Desert Pink SCC No. 13 Jungle Green SCC No. 14 Black, also known as Charcoal SCC No. 15 Olive Drab A month after the above regulations on canvas were promulgated, new orders were published by Canadian Military Headquarters, stating that only the new "paint, camouflage, bituminous emulsion" would be used on vehicle canvas. The orders outlined several colours: For the top of hoods and the dark part of pattern at sides: Catalogue No. HA6188 Standard Camouflage Colour No. 1A (Very Dark Brown), or failing that Catalogue No. HA6184 Standard Camouflage Colour No. 14 (Black) For restoring the basic khaki colour of the sides of faded hoods: Catalogue No.HA6194 Standard Camouflage Colour No. 2 (Service Drab) The basic colour was changed from dark green to a dark brown, Standard Camouflage Colour No.2 (SCC No.2), a dark brown, due to shortages of chromic oxide, used in the production of green paint. Existing paint stocks of green were reserved for use on combat aircraft. However, older vehicles were not repainted until it was necessary due to major overhauls, severe fading, modifications, or other similar reasons. Painting was not done solely to change the colour to conform to other vehicles in the new basic colour, as that was considered a waste of resources. The complete list of the new SCCs was published in 1942, with, according to Hodges and Taylor, "idiosyncratic descriptions of the colours" with no explanation of what was meant by "dangerous."3 Colour Description in British Army MTP 46 SCC 1 Brown SCC 1A Very dark brown SCC 2 Cup of coffee and milk SCC 3 Cup of tea SCC 4 Cup of weak tea SCC 5 Very light grey SCC 6 Dark green SCC 6A Very dark green SCC 7 A useful warm green SCC 8 Mid green (rather dangerous) SCC 9 Light green (very dangerous) SCC 10 Useful dull red SCC 11 Rusty red SCC 11A Bungalow tiles red SCC 11B Sandy pink SCC 12 Clean cold grey SCC 13 Dirty grey SCC 14 Black 1942 In 1942, a new camouflage scheme was ordered into use, as detailed in Canadian Army Overseas Routine Order 2383 and Army Council Instruction 1160.4 1944 By early 1944, with a preponderance of US designed and built vehicles (particularly AFVs) entering British and Canadian service, the decision was made to retain these vehicles in their factory provided monotone Olive Drab. In terms of unit markings for my tanker the following is currently in my mind, there were only two contracts for Dodge Chrysler tankers both of these were for British contracts so British operated would be logical and historically accurate. The date of manufacture of my truck is at the end of the first contract so could possibly indicate either Italian campaign or Normandy invasion. Currently I'm leaning towards Italian campaign late 1943 attached to a REME Infantry field workshop unit that my Father was a member of, but time will tell. Pete
  12. I'm not going to ride the push bike I don't possess 40 miles round trip to go to Tesco,............ perhaps I'll buy that Diamond T Pete
  13. Thank you, indeed you are absolutely right there's been a few of those to add onto the program timing. Pete
  14. So to finish off this phase of the work here's a few photos of the cab rear section reunited with the scuttle on the frame: Quick recap this was the starting point And this is the state of play currently after a bit of bish bosh, a few meters of Mig wire, a fair few grinding and slitting disks, a tea spoon of epoxy filler, a dollop of paint stripper and probably 400 hours of input to get the cab to this point. Next up the roof if ever it stops raining here in the Wild West I just might get it sprayed and fitted before winter sets in. Pete
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