bobs1918

Re the plate I have successfully replicated bronze data plates for a 1918 Dodge light repair truck . There is an old post on this. But to review it get silicone or poly ether impression material from a dentist. Make a mesh form to hold the material. Keep the original plate warm. Take impression Produce a plaster of paris cast. Send to a foundry for a sand casting to be made Dental impression material MUCH more accurate than wax. I should know I am a dentist!

OK

think I got it. Cannot use camping gas as a source in carbide lamps as this gas will not illuminate without a mantle. That is the consensus?

I have had a very little experience of using acetylene lights and the light they give is very nice. A sort of soft yellow. I drove around South Kensington in a James and Browne car and when they looked a bit dim, just turned up the gas and illuminated the street!

 

First of all, you need calcium carbide not calcium carbonate. Calcium carbonate is just chalk. The lumps we used and I have bought since are the size of broad beans or small marbles. There is little to go wrong with the system except leakage so make sure that all of your joints are good. Turn on the gas slowly and wait until it comes through with a match beside the burner. Then simply adjust the flow until the flame looks about right. If you are touching the inside of the casing with the flame, the gas flow is too high!

 

I can't offer more than that really. When the carbide is exhausted, you will have only calcium oxide powder residue which stinks to high heaven! Simply wash it out and start again.

 

My view now is that carbide lights are fun to play with but if you plan to go out in the dark, make some sort of electric conversion or temporary lighting installation as the most likely accident we will have is that someone runs into us because they haven't seen us.

 

Try it once for the experience. Good luck!

 

Steve

Thanks Steve

I do have an electrical modified lamp but for period correctness I want to use the carbide. Thanks for your input

bob

Well on the subject of carbide lamps who is in fact using them and what precuations should I take in using the calcium carbonate in the side mounted Solar brand generator on my Model 1918 Dodge Light Repair truck?

I have been tempted to use a bottled gas by Coleman made here in the States which is used for camping lighting and cooking. Any comments thanks. Happy New Year

I haven't posted in a while as I was working on other projects I thought I would share my further progress on the replication of my Model 1918 Dodge Light Repair Truck . There are only 4 original repair trucks known to still exist of the slightly more than 1000 that were made for the US Army . The canvas on the clone is partially done . The folding drivers canopy frame has been installed. The fixed crank has been installed. Still working on the spare tire carrier. I can report the truck runs real well. Now I just need a place to go where other Great War vehicles play!

You chaps line up a group of WW 1 lorries and act like that's just a normal days activity. IT IS FANTASTIC to see such a line up. Each vehicle is smashing in its own right but in the company of others of like ilk it goes way beyond smashing. It is almost surreal. Keep up the great work you do.

Thanks to you both.I am not real sharp on the non US vehicles but this forum has greatly enlightened me. The AEF did not to my knowledge have any small trucks or passenger cars equipped with disc wheels. We "appropriated" them from our allies and that was my intention when I used them on my replica repair truck.

Bob

Al

I did not mean to infer that dodges were used by French or Italian forces. I was only referring to DISC wheels!! To reiterate when I constructed the clone the correct wheels were not available. Period pictures of other vehicles (Cadillac below) and light trucks showed the use of the disc wheels.It also appears to be a RFC tender employing them . I took the liberty to use them on my truck but never did I come across a picture of such usage on light repair trucks. Fact is there are few pictures of repair trucks. I have not seen them on Dodges but the following pictures does show their usage so the possibility exists.

bob

The engine on the original repair trucks were standard Dodge brothers 4 cylinder. They did not have a starter generator. There were no electric headlamps nor electric starters. The used Eisemann magnetos with a fixed crank starter. For the clone I chose to rebuild a 4 cylinder Dodge Engine identical to the originals. It was from about 1921. I opted to include for now the starter generator and I placed a battery in the regular position as on DB vehicles under the front seat affixed to the frame rail. In order for the truck to have a fixed crank as well it was necessary to modify a dodge crank and fabricate a housing for it that would thread into the front motor mount which would replace the crank hole cover. The assembly has been made but not yet installed.Shown first is the original crank assembly . It is spring loaded to allow for a quick return after the crank cycle. There is a stop bolt installed through the motor mount housing to prevent the crank from pulling out of the assembly .Bob

It's a tricky process, but satisfying when it works. I tried various tweaks but ended up doing all my rivets up to 3/16" cold just using pneumatic impact. I managed a few hot, by induction, but it wasn't being kind to the spot welder I was using as the source so I went back to cold forming.he rule seems to be to hold the inside and form the outside

 

That sort of body would originally have been formed in sections, but on final assembly the rule seems to be to hold the inside and form the outside. I wonder if originally those were flat headed rivets with domes formed on the outside and you have achieved the same result by doing it the other way? Are the heads on the inside face of the original body absolutely flat?

Gordon

The rivets were set as were the originals.The flat sides on the original show that all the peening was done on that side. Also the manual even lists the "3/8 inch round head rivets" to be used in the construction

bob

I've been known to do a bit of riveting like that.

 

I found I needed to have the correct snap and set tools, and for best results I had to start with an over-length dome headed rivet and adjust the length by grinding it back till I got the correct head form on the other side. The rule of thumb is you need a length of twice the rivet diameter standing proud before you start work, so for a 3/16" diameter rivet, you need 3/8" of rivet shank protruding after it has bridged whatever you are riveting. No problem usually for sheet metal, but the thickness of those plates would have to be allowed for.

 

I ground back the riveting snap tool till it fitted my little air chisel / needle gun, and I found that rotating the tool while riveting allowed me to catch any rivet shanks that try to go off line, with just the odd one getting severely out of shape and having to be knocked out and re-done.

Yes indeed..we had to make a few tools for botH the setting side AND the bucking side as access was limited in certain tight spots. The more mass the bucking bar had the easier to hold the head in place. There were a few spots that required round heads to be formed on the working side . This required a rCupped setting tool to be used in the rivet gun rather than the flat one. ALL 3/8 in rivets were set red hot.You can see one picture shows a heat sink in use.

bob

Quite right. The challenge is everything. If it was too easy, we wouldn't do it!

 

I hadn't thought of Dental resin. That has worked well with a lovely result. How did you obtain the materials? Perhaps I am just being dim and should ask Mr Google.

 

One other thing intrigues me and that was how you set all of those rivets? I have found using such large rivets in thin plate troublesome as they tend to roll over in the snap and twist the plate locally.

 

Nice job. Keep it up!

 

Steve

Steve

the dental impression material came from a local dentist's office. I made the frame to support it with thin perforated aluminum as used to make grill covers for home radiators. The material needed to be contained when the mold was taken. The detailed plaster of paris was from the same source. The impression material is very expensive but I was given some out of date stuff and worked fine. I had the warm the metal with a hair dryer as the dental materials are designed to set at body temperature. ...

Good point on rivets and thin plate.......In areas susceptible to warping we used a heat sink of thick metal plate clamped bolted or otherwise affixed as close to the rivet site. This absorbed enough excess heat to keep the twisting to a minimum. We also kept the area firmly bolted on either side of the rivet hole (when possible) to keep the work stable. Some slight twist was unavoidable.

bob

Details details details and how to accomplish them is what keeps these projects stimulating. For me the recreation of the ww 1 vehicle data plates was one of those "details" I did not want to remove the original riveted plates so I had to replicate them where they stood. Using a polyvinylsilxene dental impression material I made a copy of the two plates. Next I created a positive cast using a dental plaster of paris. These casts were cleaned up and sent to a foundry to have bronze castings made using the sand casting technique. The originals are the last 2 pictured

bob

The original dodge front fender needed to be modified by removing the headlights and the mounting brackets. The original repair trucks used stock Dodge fender with a steel plate replacing the fender mounted headlight bracket...Pretty simple modification. These fenders would require some work prior to the final paint job.The clone is on the top original is below

bob

The rear fenders on the repair truck is the only component bolted to the body. They were designed to be an additional flat work surface for the repairman/driver. The angle iron on one side was ct and filled like the gas tank cradle. The other side we simply heated and bent to the proper curve.The sheet metal was then formed around the angle iron and riveted to place.

Great restoration job!!

Beamish what a fantastic backdrop for all these great war vehicles. Nothing like that here in the US that I am aware of

bob

In order for the acetylene spotlight to be supported by the dash board two reinforcing steel plates had to be made. The plates were on the back of the dash and on the fire wall. They are braced with two bent steel strips. I made an aluminum prototype to get the bend right before fabricating the steel supports.

Bob,

 

Masterful work! I gather then you know Mark Ounan (I wrote the AutoWeek article and rode with him some of the time on the TMC reenactment). What a pity you couldn't have driven your Dodge on that event with him! Have you checked the serial number of your "real" car to see if it was one of the ones on the original TMC (Transcontinental Motor Convoy)? We checked Mark's because his had been surplussed out west and it wasn't a big leap to hope it might have been on the original as well. But, alas, no joy. I have a copy of the list of vehicles on the original TMC and I see one Light Repair Truck listed; hood #111422, chassis # 303822, engine # 351400.

 

Again, superb work and thanks for sharing all the details!

 

BTW that pic of his car was taken on a bridge that was built in 1919 and miraculously survives on a military reservation in Utah.

Jim

yes Mark and I have met several times We actually met at the PA Military museum to get a first hand look at the Light Repair truck in their collection. That was done before I began the build and before I had bought my original truck. BTW the engine on my original truck is 315745.

I also have a 1916 restored as is Mark's. Although not originally used by the army it is a very good approximation. Here it is at Hyde Park NY home of FDR

thanks for your comments

bob

The gas tank and cradle was the next major assembly to fabricate. I cut, bent, and welded the angle iron to achieve the radius

Hello again

Now that the body has been riveted time to attach it to the frame and complete the seat assembly.The grab bars at either end of the seat were fabricated bob

Do you have the Dodge light repair truck handbook? If so, are ther drawings that you could share? This is an interesting projest and I'm enjoying following it. Keep up the good work . . . both in the garage and on the forum.

 

Bosun Al

Al

yes I have a copy of the original manual which was loaned to me from a member of the Dodge Brothers Club.

I will post some of the interesting pictures found there in asap

thanks

bob

Now body and tailgate are put together .Time to complete the riveting of body to the transoms. We would eventually take the body off the frame to complete this step.Bob

Next step was to fabricate original style latches for the tailgate. To get the ball shaped handle I used a German mauser carbine bolt . The bracket was formed and riveted. Works like a charm

The pictures aren't an artist's rendition. They started with actual photographs and whited out the backgrounds, airbrushed details on either a negative image or a positive print and made copies. I have some before and afters of certain pics and it does make them look semi cartoonish. I think it may have had to do with having to print the photo on an offset printing press. In the early eighties I worked with printing a little bit and we used various half-tone screens on pictures to make them printable. What did they do in the 30's and 40's? I don't know. I have various pics of different military body styles and they all show the same wheel configuration. You have two very nice trucks there! Kevin Clause

Thanks I always thought they were due to the lack of sharpness. Thanks for the correction Now the photos that you have posted are easily recognizable for the repair truck . It is probably one of the first of the line . Note that the kerosene headlamps are not installed neither is the canopy top.Also I see that the data plates have NOT been riveted on

bob

The tailgate posed some difficulties in replicating the original hinges and latches. For the hinges I started with a large old strap hinge and modified it by adding a second layer of steel and shaping correctly.I built up the other end of the hinge similarly.The original is on the right. See earlier post for final tailgate result.

bob