Dodge D15T

[Pete Ashby]

Today has been all about splitting rims and removing tires,  overall not as bad as some I've done where Iv'e had to cut the tire off the rim in fact I hardly broke a sweat it was a cold North wind mind. 

Bob, these look like standard 900 x 16 Kesley rims,  until they have been blast cleaned I won't know for sure

One down three to go 

Outside face

Inside face

After a bit of exercise with the tire lever, wooden wedges and hammer

Job done time for a  now repeat 3 times.

Pete

Edited May 4, 2019 by Pete Ashby

[Pete Ashby]

A few photos for Bob Carriere,

the hubs and drums are produced by Budd and take 900 x 16 CMP Kelsey rims flat based rims for "British tyres"

Front hub and drum

 

Rear hub and drum

Pete

 

 

[Pete Ashby]

The tyre removal is now complete  I had to admit defeat with the two original tyres and take them to a local tyre fitter who specializes in agricultural and plant tyres,  even then they didn't give up with out a fight. 

 On stripping out the inner tubes it was found that these were also original Canadian manufacture and in perfect condition with no repairs so it's more than likely that it was the first time the tyres had been removed from the rims in over 75 years.

One of the original rear tyres

 

The inner tube from it 

The removal of the tyres marks a turning point in this project now it's about cleaning stripping measuring for ware and then reassemble and painting.

So this the first bit of positive progress   everything up to now has been about taking things apart.

  I decided I would not media blast the front axle or the trucks road springs  I am not a fan of blasting media getting near machined parts like king pin bushes, stub axles or spring leaves.

First job was to tackle the front axle beam and stub axles so it was de-grease using a commercial cleaner then pressure wash,when clean check all parts for ware or cracks, while the axle was still on the truck I had tested the king pins for ware and found them to be in good condition so it was out with the rotary wire brush on grinder and the drill for the tight corners, an hours work on the front axle and it cleaned up well.

Axle beam and tie rod before de-greasing and cleaning sub axles are wrapped and taped up to prevent damage.

After cleaning and an hour with the rotary wire brush

A coat of rust converter was applied and then after 24hrs a coat of etch primer 

First steps the road to completion for this particular project but I'm pleased with the outcome next there is a whole mass of frame brackets, rear axle, drums and the frame awaiting a visit from the media blaster. By the end of the summer I hope to have the frame painted and reassembled with the axles fitted then over the winter period I can look at the engine, gearbox and back axle.

Pete

Edited May 30, 2019 by Pete Ashby

[Pete Ashby]

It been a busy time here in the wild west involving preparations to get the D15 frame and various other large lumps and brackets moved into the barn, de-greased and generally made ready for the media blaster arrival.

Here's the frame transported from the workshop to the barn strapped to my WW2 Canadian 10cwt trailer, ( another project when I get the time) for now doing stealing service around the farm

Now set up on trestles and piled up with brackets and frame fixings spring bushes have been blanked off using threaded rod and suitably sized washers the spring brackets have then been fully de-greased.  I'm probably telling people to suck eggs here but for those who are contemplating media blasting for the first time blasting over greasy surfaces has two effects the first the grease will absorb energy from the blast media making the job harder and longer secondly and more importantly the oils and fats will be driven into the grain boundaries of the steel and will result in poor paint adhesion during the re-painting process 

 

A pallet of wheel rims,  I use polythene tube  warmed up and pushed onto the studs to protect the threads from the effects of media blasting,  if required they will be cleaned up using a wire brush and then a dia and thread cutting paste.

And last but not least hubs, drums and rear axle case  all vents and openings have been blanked and taped shut oil drained and de-greased, only the outside of the drums will be media blasted the inside will be done with a rotary wire brush once blasted and painted the rear axle will be completely stripped and rebuilt. 

Pete

Edited July 5, 2019 by Pete Ashby

[Pete Ashby]

The media used was crushed glass which gives an excellent surface for painting without the heavy etching of the surface that can occur when using some of the more traditional blast materials.  Glass was chosen for this project as there was very low levels of corrosion and no scale for heavily scaled projects something more aggressive would be required.

The weather was perfect with a slight breeze, warm and low humidity and most importantly of all a blaster who knew his trade and took a pride in his work

And now as if by magic it all looked like this

Pete

 

 

 

 

Edited July 5, 2019 by Pete Ashby

[Pete Ashby]

I gave the blaster an hours start then I got cracking in the spray shop with a Zinc phosphate primer by working together with the blaster no surface was left untreated for more then 1hr as blasted raw steel will start to oxidize almost immediately it's worth making the point here that it is best not to handle the blast cleaned parts with out gloves as the sweat and grease (particularly if it's hot..... which it was).will readily contaminate the clean metal and can make paint adhesion a problem.

So after a longish old day by the time I'd washed the spray gun out and tided up a bit it all looked like this

Pete

 

 

Edited July 5, 2019 by Pete Ashby

[Enigma]

Great progress.

I love the inner tube.

\IIRC I have a original innertube in my folding bicycle . Its still in there and better than a modern one.

[253cmg]

Looking good Pete, nice to see the progress on the truck.

Kevin

[Pete Ashby]

Thanks Kevin yes this should move things along a bit now.   There's a gloss grey under coat to go on everything and then the frame and all the other gubbins will go back into the workshop for assembly.

Pete

[Pete Ashby]

Pleasantly warm in the spray shop for the last couple of days so I've taken advantage of the solar gain from the tin roof and got a gloss sealing coat on all the parts that were blast cleaned and primed the previous week.

Pete 

[Pete Ashby]

Attention now turns to the road springs, the bushes have been measured and found to have virtually no ware so they are good to go again without any further work.  The leaves are all good, if a bit grubby, there are no cracked or broken leaves and the rebound clips are all good so the decision has been taken not to disassemble completely but to de-grease then rotary wire wheel them as assembled units.

As removed from the truck

 

After de- greasing and rotary wire wheeling

Nice detail revealed during cleaning the bottom leaf in each spring pack is stamped with the Dodge Brothers logo, part number and the manufacturing date in this case 15 May 1943 ( not sure how visible this is in the photo below)

My usual painting regime followed for wire wheel cleaned steel components with a coat of dilute phosphoric acid followed by etch primer then a gloss sealing coat

Pete

[Runflat]

Some more inspiration for you.  IWM photos CNA 1015 and CNA 2381:

 

[Pete Ashby]

Not seen either of these before thanks for posting,  taken in Tunisia perhaps ?

Pete

[Runflat]

Captions and (better viewing) here:

CNA 1015: Officers of No.244 Wing RAF relax at their open air Officers Mess at Pachino, Sicily

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205209232

CNA 2381 The seven-piece RAF Command Dance Band No. 3, including four brothers, conduct an open-air rehearsal before entertaining No. 244 Wing RAF at Canne, Italy.

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205212494

[Pete Ashby]

Busy day today getting a couple of spray top coats onto the frame, front axle, road springs and some of the frame brackets.  I'm using War Paint's G3 Khaki Green at 15% sheen single pack air dry enamel it matches the original factory colour on the engine bay bulkhead very closely except that is dead flat,  it's a nice paint to apply and will take up to 20% thinners for spraying without pigment separation, the paint is a Xylene base but I use a single pack cellulose thinners to speed up air drying when spraying. 

A few photos:

A couple of the frame

 

Front road springs and pintle spring

 

Rear road springs and pintle cast brackets

 

Front axle beam

Pete

 

[Pete Ashby]

This project has now moved to the bolting clean painted bits back on phase which is always satisfying after the time spent wallowing around in all the cr#p and grease during strip down so a few pictures to record the current state of play.

Front road springs bumper and towing hooks

 

Front axle and brake back plates

 

Rear road springs using the crane made this job much less of a struggle

 

A small detail that became apparent while working on the rear springs was that they are fitted with only three rebound clips per spring pack.

Before cleaning I had assumed that for some reason during it’s civilian life one set on the leading end of the springs had been removed from each spring pack….. Odd but ‘none so strange as folk’ as the saying goes.

On closer inspection when everything was cleaned up it could be seen the leaves that have clips fitted have square cut ends (as opposed to tapered for non-clipped leaves) and the clip is riveted to the underside of the leaf.  There was no evidence of the rivets being cut and no square cut leaf ends on the supposedly missing clips so it appears to be an as built feature. 

I have a parts book that covers the D15 ‘van’ (GS in British terminology) and that lists four clips each for the rear spring packs so it would appear to be an anomaly regarding the tanker versions.

The only plausible reason I can come up with is something to do with helping to control the mass of water in the tank during braking but I’m open to suggestions.

Pete

[Pete Ashby]

One repair that needed to be done at this stage was the replacement of four split rim studs that had broke out while disassembling one of the rims. 

Fortunately I think it may have been a Friday afternoon job when this particular rim was manufactured back in 1943 as the welds failed  and the studs came away leaving the holes clear except for a little residual weld.

The residual weld and holes were cleaned up using a spherical Carborundum tool grinder and paint removed ready for welding

 

New old stock studs were sourced from LWD parts Holland (Dirks son Stefan now runs the business) the order was placed using the web site order form and the parts were dispatched that day and arrived four days later at my workshop I was most impressed with the order tracking system that is in use.

I was asked how I kept the studs true while welding them so for anybody interested this is my method, it comprises  of three copper washers the exact fit for the stud, a large steel flat washer and a rim nut. The copper prevents new weld sticking to the steel washer and nut. you could just bolt the two rim half's together however there is a risk that you'll end up welding them together if there is any burn through.

the rim nut is tightened down just past finger tight then to check for true the distance from the rim  can be measured with calipers at four points on the rim of the washer

Job done and outer rim fitted all ready for new tires.

Pete 

Edited September 10, 2019 by Pete Ashby

[Pete Ashby]

I’ve noticed for some time now that a number of US based restoration forums extol the virtues of molasses baths as treatment for rust removal so I thought I’d run a little experiment and see for myself just how good or otherwise it is.  I have a whole bunch of rusty wheel nuts and rim nuts from both the Dodge and the Leyland so I used these as a feed stock for the experiment.

To start then, 5l of molasses from our local farm supplies shop for £7.50, an  empty polythene container with a snap lid from the back of the barn and a magnet with a long piece of wire attached to it, diluted the molasses with water at approximately 10 water to 1 molasses by volume and a drop or two of car cleaning detergent (the sort that has no salt in the formulation) to break down surface tension and aid wetting, add the nuts snap the lid on and put it somewhere warm, I used the poly tunnel now leave for a month or more.

Here’s some pics:

Molasses

Before

After fishing out of the brew this is what the magnet on a bit of wire is for although this is a non-toxic process the resultant brew will stain your hands so use rubber gloves for this stage

What you end up with is a dull grey finish to the steel with bits of residual paint and a slightly crusty looking surface this will clean off very easily with just a hand held wire brush or if you want to speed things up use a drill or angle grinder mounted brush.

I do the nuts in batches using an odd bit of pipe or long bolt as a mandrel and clamping them in either the vice or workmate if you set them so the faces are at 45’ you can do two faces on each nut before loosening the jaws a touch to spin them over re tighten and do another two faces.

short length of pipe as a mandrel 

Clamped in the workmate ready for brushing

Less than two minutes later

Conclusion:

It works very well but is slow.

Pros;

• It’s non-toxic (except where the lead based paint dissolves and contaminates the bath)

• It’s not a corrosive process like acid dipping for example, molasses works as a chelating agent ( Google it)on the iron oxide which effectively dissolves leaving good steel untouched

• Non aggressive unlike most blast processes 

• It doesn’t produce explosive off gas unlike the electro de rusting baths

• It’s low cost and requires minimal intervention

• The contents of the bath can be disposed of down the drain

Cons;

• It’s not a fast process but could be speeded up if the brew was heated I might try this at some stage.

• It does stink a bit after a while so needs to have a lid and this will also help prevent evaporation

• There is the need for very small amounts of finishing with the wire brush after the bath treatment but this is very quick and as can be seen from the photo above it produces a factory fresh bright finish.

Edited October 6, 2019 by Pete Ashby

[john1950]

I do not think the drain is a good place to dispose of the resulting brew. As it will contain dilute hydrocarbons from any paint oil and grease, as well as metal oxides and lead in the sludge. It is technically the residue from an industrial process and should be anallised before disposal.

[Pete Ashby]

3 hours ago, john1950 said:

I do not think the drain is a good place to dispose of the resulting brew. As it will contain dilute hydrocarbons from any paint oil and grease, as well as metal oxides and lead in the sludge. It is technically the residue from an industrial process and should be anallised before disposal.

I think it is a case (as is the way with many things in life) of proportion,

I agree if this was to be carried out on an industrial scale there would may be a case for pre analysis prior to discharge however,  1 liter  total volume of molasses/water @ 1:10 dilution used to de rust a handful of nuts and bolts probably is not worth the effort I suspect.   There may be a higher and more continual risk from copper ions originating from the dissolving domestic plumbing  in soft water areas, the dilute hydrocarbons are not an issue in this case as for the process to be effective oil and grease needs to be removed before immersion. 

Edited October 8, 2019 by Pete Ashby

[john1950]

I agree it is a matter of proportion, but someone else may read the post and think it is OK to dump an IBC full down the drain. Great work on the trucks they will look factory fresh when you are finished.

[Pete Ashby]

I said in a previous post that I wanted to have the frame finished and on a full set of wheels by the end of the summer,  well like many other things currently in life the time table has slipped a bit  .   Not withstanding that things have been moving forward in the workshop so here's a few photos of the current state of play. 

All the gubins that was blasted back in the summer has now been top coated and  with the exception of the steering box bolted onto the frame.

 

A expedition into the depths of the Crog loft (Talot or hay loft in English) produced  four 900 x 16 bar grips that had been languishing  in the dark with the spiders  and other assorted junk for last 12 years awaiting their call to duty, here's a couple of assembled tyres and rims to finish this update.  

 

Work is now focused on refurbishing the front and rear brakes hubs and drums.

Pete

[253cmg]

Hi Pete, when prepping your chassis did you find any numbers? If so where?

best regards Kevin

[Pete Ashby]

1 hour ago, 253cmg said:

Hi Pete, when prepping your chassis did you find any numbers? If so where?

best regards Kevin

Hello Kevin good to hear from you how is the T110 coming along? I keep looking out for any up dates on your blog.

Yes I did find the frame number on the top face of the rear left hand frame rail (see photo below for position) .it appeared after the blasting process and it matches the contract and build data stamped onto the cab plates. 

I don't believe Dodge stamped their frames, (Gordon correct me if I wrong in this assumption) but I think this may be a British Army addition as I have seen one or two British operated Jeeps with numbers stamped into the front horns in a similar font and size .

Pete

 

[Gordon_M]

Well that's odd.

US Dodges were all stamped on the left front frame rail side, near the front spring, front hanger, about 1" down from the top edge of the rail. Numerals were about 3/8" high and often not very enthusiastically stamped.  In addition the frame PART number was machine stamped mid-wheelbase on the right side.  Both Detroit and LA plant trucks were all this way, ( I have one of each ) and remember Canadian trucks were geographically not that far from the Detroit plant.

It appears that the frame number stamping was done somewhere on the production line - the only number on the frame when it arrived from the chassis plant was the part number.  I'd expect the same chassis plant, or plants, to service the US and Canadian facilities too.

Top edge on the back of the frame rail sounds wrong, maybe re-stamped during a rebuild or for British post war registration confirmation.  I'd expect it on the front somewhere.  Remember the Canadian plant also supplied piles of one ton 4 x 2 panel vans and the like, and the panel van body would completely cover any number stamped on the top of the frame rail anywhere rear of the scuttle.

I also remember the Canadian Dodge D8A T212 had an acceptance stamp on the side of the left rear chassis rail, basically just round from where your chassis number is.  There is an image of that stamping in one of those Canadian Chrysler wartime promotional books.

Just out of idle curiosity, have a really hard look on the side of the left front frame rail near the front hanger.. If there is a different number stamped there you have a 1940's ringer   8-)