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Funnily enough, this is something I have been looking at recently. My main reason was a need to review the photos I had to separate out the US-built Dodges from the Canadian Dodge Air Portable Trucks (APTs) which, at first glance look the same, but, in fact, have a bed which is 6" narrower. It isn't immediately obvious until you look at the overhang of the rear wheelarch, or the overhang of the jerrican on the running board if one is fitted. I was looking at a few photos of them in use by British forces, both in SEAC and, later, during the Malaya Emergency and many were APTs. As for NWE, of course, the first ones were tested at WVEE so there is the photo of those with the trafficator, sidelights moved closer to the outside edges of the mudguards and so on in UK, but I can't find any evidence of their use in field force units. The other possibility is that some came north from Italy with the Canadian Corps when it moved up at the end of 1944 - it seems there was a greater preponderance of US-built vehicles serving with Commonwealth forces in that theatre which would have increased the likelihood of their appearing in France thereafter. And, of course, there were a lot in use with Free French Forces as, I understand, they were equipped exclusively with US vehicles - though the scale of issue I do not know.

I know that many Dodge Weapons Carriers (with and without winch) were issued to the British & Commonwealth Forces in the Far East and in SW Pacific area and Australia , as my Dad used one in Borneo in 1945, (and the recreation of his Dodge would probably be disbelieved at MV shows today, as it would be painted in US Olive Drab and with Allied star as delivered, with Australian Army additions of the Australian 7th Division, and driven by dad in RAF Uniform (a mix of Jungle Greens and Australian version, with Australian Brown boots, and with a few trusted Japanese POWS in the back!) But were Dodge Weapons Carriers ever used by the British Army or Canadian Army in NW Europe? I think the Canadians made their own version of the Dodge WC at their Chrysler factory as the D3 but I guess that was too late to see action in NW Europe?

Its not a coachbuilt cab, it doesn't have a PTO for it to be a heater truck. It does however have a gun hoop in the cab and gun racks inside and also a lubrication chart plate that we can make out says 'Commer Q2 AM 15cwt Load Carrier'... We are thinking it would have the GS body fitted?

Rootes, Regarding your Commer 15cwt, what type of body do your think it had or has remains of?

But back to your question: The exhaust was rotted off my First MUREX, so had to get creative.

x

Having worked on "Low Orginal chassis" and this one (High), I found this higher chassis much easier for access to the engine. Perhaps after they decided it was never going in a glider again, the REME just did what you've done (in reverse) and removed the low chassis and fitted this one?

I had most of the things to hand including the lead white. I am lucky to have access to a wide variety of toxic compounds. However I'm sure that the internet could furnish you with the requirements. I had to make the patent driers from several other sources and the prussian blue as I had run out. The driers used was lead acetate based, but it's contribution to the paint is just an off white. This could be substituted with a similar colour pigment. The plan was to create a fresh colour that I could create a similar mix of non toxic pigments.

Fascinating results and certain to cause lots of discussion. How easy is it to get the ingredients?

Hi . The post-war Commer engine ... what a excellent source of parts for the Humber guys - engine parts for vintage British vehicles are scarce enough , but even more so for those of us located outside of the U.K. No such luck with post- war Morris engines as a source of parts....at least the crank main bearings in these Morris OH engines are shells - R.B. kindly sent me a old set. I found a pre-war NOS Morris 6 head gasket at Auto Surplus but there were two types... the early ones ( like I found ) must have caused problems , the later revised gaskets have improved sealing . I have 6 of these engines .. one is out of a pre-war civilian C model truck .. the rest are from my WW2 era CS8 and PU wrecks. I recently got a price for a set of Morris rings from a UK supplier... around $600 Aust... yikes 82mm + .040" is very close to 3.25" Dodge WC size but.... the Morris rings are metric in width (2mm) compression and (2.5) mm oil control plus the ring grooves in the Morris pistons are unusually shallow. The VW beetle rings are dimensionally correct except for being far too deep for the shallow Morris piston grooves , the VW rings would have to be narrowed down somehow. I don't want to deepen the Morris grooves .. very risky as a piston top would break off. I can get a ring set custom made .. a business down in Melbourne . The rings being so narrow, are somewhat fragile and they snap easily . Another oddity with these engines is: the crankshaft was made without counterweights - like a Model T Ford.

very interesting experiment. A lot of discussion is often had about "the correct WW2". I can imagine in WW2 consistency was a issue.

I thought this might be of interest. I recently started making some of the paints in the 1915 artificer handbook. The service colour for artillery pieces etc proved interesting. The shade depended not only on the original of some of the pigments but also the mixing style and dampness of them. The prussian blue in particular showed itself particularly susceptible to not dispersing in the oil media producing a fairly dull brown. However if it was dampened the classic khaki drab instantly was apparent. The picture below shows the difference from the same spatula of pigment mix. It just goes to show that the variations in production could be varied even with small preparation changes. Good job it was made by the hundredweight.

Hi Mike I'm glad to see you working on the Morris. Thank goodness I defected to Humber, the engines are like a big jeep engine with lots of refinements. The wartime Humber had poured big ends, but luckily I got a post war Commer engine in pieces, and they have rods with shell bearings. Would there be any post war Morris engines with compatible rods ? Sounds like a long shot though. Mind you, I was lucky to get NOS bearings. The crank had to be ground 2 sizes to suit the bearings available. regards, Andrew

Reading through this thread for the first time, we are restoring a 1944 Commer 15cwt RAF truck, I'd be interested in a copy of the list if that were possible? I have a contract number for the truck but she is just a chassis cab so I have no idea what the RAF use was. She was sold off in France in 1946 and we've only just re-patriated her.

It's not military but deserves saving. https://www.ebay.de/itm/276430838975

Hi The front spring bushes are made out of, steel, with a M20 thread.(Question answered) lots of metric and imperial sizes, due to War economy measures on the engineering side. the old bus has the early low ratio front axle, and later(by 53 ch.nos )rear standard ratio. which is OK by the book as this makes no difference on soft ground in four wheel drive, an acceptable practice. I had an early LandRover which had freewheeling 4x4, gearbox. get the tyre pressure wrong, 28 rear, 25 front, and it would drag along.on the road, regs rup

I thought I would update this post with another images of another 5kv trailer chassis. This particular chassis originally was fitted out with a murex welder. Now I’m not sure if this was an original build or army modification?

Little more progress from the weekend. So looking at the images of John C welder trailer restoration it seems there is an additional plate welded to the chassis to locate the front engine mount. Based of the images below I have the same alignment issues. So I planned to replicate by fitting the additional plate too. Doing this jacks the engine up meaning the fan won’t run concentrically in the radiator. in the end I removed the old engine plate and replaced with a slightly longer one. Complete with little helper!

Perfect. Thanks for the advice. I never gave the patents records a thought.

Hi Bryan, I appreciate it was some time ago, but I've been unable to find this listing elsewhere. Would it be possible to PM me a copy please? Thanks for your help. Best Regards, Adrian

Hi all, I’m looking for an exhaust manifold Y branch for an Alvis Saracen. As far as I know this is a specific B80 component for the Saracen PFA photos below. Many thanks!

Nice articles Jan! It's known that when the US entered the war, there was not enough equipment to send overseas, so it was locally procured, like the French 75mm. guns etc. etc. Cheers, Lex

Worth looking at? https://www.robush.com/metalastik-mounts/ http://www.partline.co.uk/automotive/product-filter.asp?PROD-GROUP=Mountings&COMPANY=Metalastik

Hi, @JerryjeeprichardI had the same idea as @Zuffen The patent is from 1934, Standard Motor Company, Coventry. Full patent here: GB431874A.pdf Best Regards, Adrian