bobs1918

7 hours ago, Great War truck said:

• It looks great Bob. You did the right thing. There are several FWD's with a completely modern core and they just dont look right.
• You asked about spare U Joint grease cups. Sadly we dont have any. In fact Steve had to make a replacement as they do get lost.

Thanks  for  checking   we are making  one  as  we  speak.  . 3  out of  4  U joints  came  apart   easily. that  left  one  that  was seized  and  we  had to  drill  out  the   locking  pin. We then   redrilled  the  holes   to  5/16 inch. It  had been 1/4  inch before  the  drill out. We  replaced  the  pin with a  5/16th one. As you know  plenty  of  material  there  to  work  with .

Thanks  Jim we actually we  intended  to  make the  original  tubes functional  but  they  were  so  compromised  that   we  plugged  them  and  they  are  for  appearance  only

Well to  update my  repair  attempt  on  the  radiator  was  unsuccessful. Still  leaked  badly Pulled  it  out  again  and  brought  it  to  a  professional. I  wanted  to  keep  the   appearance  of  the  core as original  as possible.  New   spiral fin tubes  were quoted at  $6500 USD  for the  tubes only.....Not going  to  do  that  so  we  used the  best  looking  original  tubes  on  the  sides  and  front and  put a  modern  tube and fin  design  behind  it. Had  to  repaint  the  shroud  as  the  paint  I gave  the   radiator shop   was  off  in  color  the  last picture is  the  repainted   shroud.

A  little   research   found  that  the  owner of  this   truck  Bill Leuer, passed  away   in 2017. The  truck  is  a   Kissel  built   FWD  as is  mine.  It  also   has  the  Machine  shop body  although I  cannot  tell  which  type  as  there  were   at  least   2   varieties.

Thanks a great  looking  truck that  I  was  not  aware of.   Name  looks   like Bill  Carver but  I  cannot   be certain.

Yes  there is    data  plate  on  the  body but  I  dont  recall  the  makers name  . Somewhere  there  is   a picture  of  it.

It  is   about  80 miles  from   here  so cannot  easily  snap   a new  foto.

FWD  update. We  have   dissasembled  the  radiator   and  repaired  2  leaking  tubes. One   leaking  tube  was interior  and  opted  to  simply   plug  it.  Reaasembled   and  installed  it.  Had a   new step   cast    from a pattern   taken  from   another  FWD. Used cast  bronze  for  strength.   Have nearly  completed  reassembly  of  engine  components   but  a  bit   baffled  by  the   accelerator  linkage.  I  hope  to  get   some    pictures  from  other  vehicles  in  the  US  and  UK  for  comparison.  We  have   good  spark  and  compression   and   expect  to  have  it   running  soon.  I  am  at  the  three  year  mark. The  body   is   ready   to   be  straightened   in  spots   and   then   resandblasted and  painted   

Rather  than  fabricate   a  new step I  had  the  opportunity  to   borrow  an  original   step . Used  as  a pattern  I  had  a    had a  new  step   cast  in  bronze  (for   strength) using  an  existing  the original  as   pattern. Cylinder jugs  installed  Pistons  in   Rod  bearings honed, upper water  manifold  installed, valve shrouds  and  clips  one  side  done (Thanks  to  Terry Harper  and  Tim Gosling), Radiator  apart  and   to be  pressure  tested  soon the  tanks were   caked  solid  with mouse  nest but  the cooling  tubes  look  good. Exhaust manifold,pipe and  muffler have  been  installed.  Good  news  is  I  have  compression  and   good  spark!!!

went  to visit my  parts  chassis  and body  today.  Removed  what  was left of  the  step bracket  as  my  FWD  has  none.  I  will  fabricate  the  step with  welded  steel and  not   have  a  casting  made.   

10 hours ago, 4x4Founder said:

I have read that a lot of war suprplus FWD Model Bs lost their engines to those "hotrodders" driving Stutz Bearcats. From what I remember, the only real difference in the engines was that the Stutz had a larger bore carburetor and spun up a little faster. Maybe some difference in the mags, though I recall less about that. Too busy this morning to dig out those files.

And  they  removed  the  governor!!

Mike  it  is  in  new  york  a bit  far  for you  mate! I  could use  the  spotlight  bracket  but  i  am  not   buying  a  another  truck  for  a  bracket.    I  told  a  friend  of  mine  about it   a  few  weeks  ago  he  has  a  liberty  that   needs   something  and  the  tank   would  be perfect.  Not  sure  if  he  ever  followed  up   The  seller  had  no  idea  how  much  he  wanted  for  it last  I  heard

Received the new  Carb  glass  from  a  Glass  company. I will  leave  the  patina  as  you  see it. Also  checked  the  water pump which  I  bought  18 months  ago.Lucky  me it  was a  winner.Shaft   and  bearing   were  in  excellent  condition. You  just  never  know  what  you  are  getting   and  these  FWD  water pumps  are very  scarce.  Temporarily  installed  it  so  I  could  measure  the  gap  for  the  rag  joint. Used  a  reamer  to refurbish   the  rod  bearings. Did  two  bearings the  other  two  are  at the  machine  shop   while  the  sleeves  are  installed  in  two of  the  cylinders. Moving  along  very  well. 

Here  is   a  Liberty   that  surfaced  in  the  States

5 hours ago, 4x4Founder said:

You are living the dream, my friend!  I've rebuild hundreds of engines but a Wisconsin T-Head is not on that list... nor any truly classic engine. It looks amazingly good considering.

Hi Jim

Some  night  the  dream is  more like  a  nightmare but  I  am  sure    when   I finally  awake, and it  is  completed , the  dream   will have  been  quite  pleasurable!

The FWD engine tear down has begun. After stripping down all the pipes manifolds and other components the heads were removed today. I installed a vintage chain hoist which I had purchased a few years ago at the local flea market. Cost me maybe 20 bucks. System worked fine to lift the two heads off the block. realized quickly why it was hard to crank. one of the two heads had been damaged by water freezing and causing one cylinder to bulge internally and the other to crack externally. The bulge was binding the piston. These issues will be addressed by my engine repair shop. One cylinder will need a sleeve the crack will have to be "stitched " back together .The  second   head   with  cylinders 1  and  2   was fine.  Good news was the original pistons are in wonderful condition as are the valves , guides and  seats . These  will require  a  simple  resurfacing and  lapping. Will  also  look  for  a  set of  rod  bearing  inserts as  the  originals  show  a  good  deal of   wear. They  are  dated   4-18 and  the  original pistons   are clearly   stamped  P-1 through P-4. May also need  new  rings  made

Found  this  picture of  the machine  shop FWD  with  the single post   mounting  an  adlake  headlamp

Today  was a  busy  day. Removed   oil  pan , oil pump(has great  suction), intake  manifold   , warm  air  tube, upper  water  manifold, governor  and   carburetor. One  stud broken 

when  we  removed   water  manifold. The manifold  itself  was  badly  corroded  and  will  not  be  used.  I   had  already   secured  a  good  replacement.A few  valves  are  hanging  up and  will  need  attention.  There  is  also   a  sticky  spot   when  engine  is turned   which  may  be   rusty  rings. That  is   for  next  week. 

Will now have  to  deal  with  the  mouse   nests  in the water  chambers and  passages.  

On 11/27/2018 at 5:53 PM, Great War truck said:

Great that you have the original data plates. The Adlakes are nice. Where did you find them?

Adlakes were also used on  my  Dodge ww 1  repair truck so I  am  always on  the  look   for  them  especially  with  the   handles  still   attached.  Sometimes  ebay  sometimes  local  flea  markets.. Those were   standard  on  the  FWDs   delivered  to  US  Army. Were they  also  on  UK   delivered  trucks?

9 hours ago, Great War truck said:

That's handy that you found a second chassis. It looks quite good condition. Any history behind that? Any other useful parts that could be saved?

Tim

Tim

it was pretty   well  stripped   for  running  gear. NO axles or drive shafts  BUT   what it has is like  gold to  me as  you  well  know.

I  may use    the tie rods. After   I  determine  that nothing  else  is  needed  I will  pass it  along  to  the   next   restorer of  an  FWD. No  history  although    it  was   found  in  the mountains  of Colorado  above  10,000  feet  altitude. If  that  was in  the  UK you  and  your team   could probably   build   a   full  truck on  it!!!

Hello

No  not  from Don directly.  It had  a  different  owner  in  the high  country  although  he  MAY  have gotten  it  from  Don.  The wheels  on  the spare   are  NOT  identical  to  the  ones  on  my  truck. The   hole and ring  pattern differ. It  also  lacks its  own  rings, bolts, and  rim  wedges so it  had  possibly  used for  parts in   its  past......Maybe  Don?

In  a  pinch  I certainly  could  have gotten  it  to   work  if  a  wheel  was  needed.

Hello all

I am in  need  of    the  spotlight  bracket which   mounts to  the   truck. I  will  consider  the  entire   assembly  with  light and  yoke if  necessary . If in  the  UK or  EU I can  provide  a  UK  address

Thanks

bob

The  spare chassis as found  in  Colorado. I  have needed  wheel  bearing   , large  bearing  retainer  nut and   lock washers

All four   wheels mounted  Had  1  cracked wheel   bearing   so my  spare chassis was called upon  to  give up  one  of  its  bearings. Finally  brought  the  truck  home after  2  years. Will  bring  the  body  home  this   spring/summer.  Now to get  into  the  engine  and  mechanicals.

front  wheels  installed today with  the  assistance  of  a  fork  lift. All  the   wheel bearings   were honed   to  reinstall  them.

The left  front   is  either  a  Goodrich  or  Goodyear wheel. All  others  are  Firestone. There are  differences. The  Goodyear or  Goodrich   mounts  the  tire  slightly  offset and  uses straight  roller  bearings  The Firestone's use a  tapered  bearing. Almost  ready  to  roll  it  home!