panelvan

Update... Still no luck in getting a Panel Van model. I have tried Perth Model Shop who used to list it but no reply to my E Mail.

Update... A couple of weeks ago after first dropping the coolant, i slacked off in sequence all the cylinder head stud nuts and this of course included the two suspect nuts,( the ones that i had removed when i took off the oil filter bracket). Then i torqued them all back down in the correct sequence to the correct torque settings .refilled with the coolant at started it up. At first it seemed like it had cured the problem, but the next day the little weep of coolant out of the 2 stud nuts was back. The next step now is to get a new cylinder head gasket to see if that cures the problem. I will check out the cylinder head whilst it is off unless its plainly obvious the gasket was the problem. regards Mike

Hi and thanks for your reply. I have tried both CGM and Gunze links and up to now no success, ( it might be my lack of internet skills ! ). I did find it listed along with a half ton carryall and half ton pickups but no option to buy. I will keep on trying regards Mike

Hi Gordon, Something else you mentioned made me think .... After doing the earlier work on my radiator , i fitted a new radiator cap. On checking it properly i saw that it seems to be a 7 psi rating ! Although i have only run the engine for about 20 minutes maximum in total since then, it could be that the higher than 4 psi pressure, if thats what it should be , may have been a contributing factor along with the 2 nuts that i did not re torque down properly , to the weep of coolant up the studs. I will discard that cap and refit the old one for now. I will try to get a new old stock one from Dallas as the old one is a bit worn and minus gasket. regards Mike

Hi, i may have asked this before but can anyone help me to locate a model of a military Dodge Panel Van. I have a Dodge WC42 panel radio van. I know there are no models of this vehicle but there used to be a resin kit of a Dodge WC11 panel van which is identical in all but details. I have tried in vain to find it on the net. I know the same company that makes this van also does a resin kit of a half ton Dodge pick up truck. I seem to think it was an Australian company or was distributed by an Australian model shop. i am attaching a couple of pics i located some years ago of these models ,Plus a pic of what i think is a scratch built model of a panel van ( superbly modeled too ) and therefore not a model that can be purchased, unfortunately these pictures do not give any details. regards Mike

Hi i wondered if any Dodge fans may like to see some pictures of a rebuild plate i have. It is in poor condition and is very hard to read but i wiped down with vinegar and its possible to read some of the stamping. It seems to be for a WC54 and the date appears to be May 1947 . Chassis number 81644813. Rebuilt by Daimler Benz. Wouldnt it be good if someone had this actual vehicle !!!

hi there and thanks for the response. no i have not had the head off but you may have hit the nail on the head so to speak ! when i was doing work a couple of weeks or so ago i removed the oil filter unit itself from the bracket fastened on to the head . to do so i removed one of the nuts to get better spanner access to the filter clamps. i did not torque down the nut when i refitted it, i just tightened with a spanner thinking that it was not necessary as the bracket itself and the 1 remaining stud which i had not loosened, would hold it ,and this may possibly be the cause of the problem. I will refit the bracket and torque down the nuts on the weeping studs and redo the rest of the studs and report back here. cheers Mike

hi i wonder if i can ask if any one on the forum has had this problem and what is the cure? after doing a lot of work on my Dodge T215 engine when checking on the sump gasket after re fitting sump pan i noticed droplets of coolant on the sump lip. tracing it back i realised it was dribbleing down from above , in the area behind all the stuff on the left of the engine. (drivers side)oil filter ,hoses and bracket, starter motor and lead, steering column etc. after removing filter and bracket it became obvious that the anti freeze was leaking up the 2 cylinder head studs that the oil filter bracket attaches to. i wonder is it going to be a cylinder head gasket problem or something more sinister like a crack in the block ? i am attaching a photo showing the trickle of coolant that had formed overnight after clearing flaky paint and crud that had built up behind the bracket. any suggestions or advice would be gratefully appreciated regards Mike

Hello there. having managed to get access to my Dodge yesterday i can report that i think i may have sorted out the low oil pressure problem. my earlier posts show what the issue was and what fixes had been suggested and what i had already tried. Eventually i followed the suggestion of taking off the oil pump and packing the pump gears . I used Castrol spheerol classic . I did this on a bench after carefully marking with a paint pen the spiral worm gear and its tube , then i (reluctantly) dropped the sump pan, gave it a thorough clean and jetwash, but to be fair it was not that bad really anyway ! I took off and cleaned the floating oil pick up filter which was really dirty. Put new cork gaskets on. and re fitted the sump. The job of removing and refitting the sump was something i had not been looking forward to doing , and it was not an easy task. Access was awkward lying on my back working under the Dodge. everything seemed to be in the way, axle, diff, tie rod , exhaust. After filling with 20/50 oil i tried to start it. It wouldnt go so got a gallon can of petrol 'just in case, and success... it started. Checking the oil pressure my heart sank it was zero!!! then i remembered i had disconnected the original oil guage and teed off a pipe to a modern guage in case the original one was faulty. doh!!! Checking the modern guage i was pleased to see a reading of just over 30 psi. I left it ticking over for about 10 minutes and the pressure slowly dropped to 21 psi and stayed at that climbing to around 30 psi on pressing the accelerator. I was hoping for a bit higher tick over but at last it is out of its" sick bed " it seems and it drives again.

forgot to say i already have the gasket set.

its been difficult to get access to my Dodge as it is at my works and we are closed because of the virus situation so i can only go by arrangement. i have packed the oil pump and i now have to refit the sump using a gasket set. does anyone have any recomondations or tips regarding this and what gasket goo to use please

thanks for the advice. i have to say i thought vaseline was petroleum jelly ! so i will look for it ( petroleum jelly ) on the net in case i do use it 🕵️

hi everyone and once again thanks for your suggestions. first regarding checking if any of the steps i have tried have worked. i agree and i have done this except for what i have done today. it seems to me that nothing has worked up to now, but it will come right in the end. what i may do is re fit the sump fill with oil and try again before i pack / prime the pump . second, regarding vaseline versus liquid grease. the product i was planning to use may not be actually a liquid grease. that was my own interpretation of what it is that i have ordered. when i get it, i will describe it better to this forum. if it turns out Vaseline, as suggested on this forum is what is best, then thats what i will use. third , i will blow air through the pressure gauge line as suggested in case there is anything in there, but oil did come through the line when i cranked the engine with the gauge removed

Sump off. float removed. Filter gauze was very cruddy . cleaned and refitted making sure float was free moving, but i bent top tang slightly to make it stay lower. Next job is the pump. I cannot get a new one yet so i am going to follow the advice given on this forum and elsewhere and i have ordered pump gasket and liquid grease ( like vaseline ?!). I intend to take off the pump and using said grease, prime up the pump and refit it and try again. Thats if i can get access to my works

Thanks to everyone for the advice given. hello Gordon long time no speak if you know what i mean. I am debating whether to drop the sump today. My concern is that my Dodge is here in my workplace, and with things being as they are i may end up starting a job and not be able to finish it. My workplace may be closing for a period of time because of the Corona virus situation , at any time now and i dont fancy the idea of leaving it with the sump pan removed.

the Dodge was stood for quite some time after draining the oil and removing the filter. at least 5 weeks . so the mention of oil pump problem after standing without oil sounds interesting. i did turn it over using starting handle before starting it up when i did eventually put in new oil and fitted a new filter though. Strangly enough , when i did start it up for the first time with the new oil and filter, it ran with decent oil pressure for two or three minutes or so before before it started to fall. Thereafter it dropped pressure more or less immediately after each start up.

Tony thanks for this. yes i think it was the same although i must admit i did not check it carefully. I have to say i did not run it for very long as the pressure was so low. Yes i have read up the manual on it including the trouble shooting. The puzzle is that it was fine when i last used it before bringing it into work to sort out brakes and radiator . I am, as are so many people in this hobby only an amateur so i do not have a depth of knowledge or experience to draw on, but it is odd how it can be fine one minute then after a lay off, this problem. I still not dropped sump pan yet to check float/strainer but according to manual its designed so that if strainer gets clogged the oil should by pass it . I want to make sure it ( the strainer ) is mobile enough to be immersed in the oil though. I just hope i can get an oil pump as well and the Corona virus does not affect supply or delivery

Hi everyone can anyone give me guidance on low oil pressure/leak on my Dodge T215 I have had my Dodge laid up for a three months to sort out brakes and recore the radiator. During this time i drained engine and gear box oil to replace both of them whilst off the road. After this work was done i replaced the filter and oil. The engine was fine at first, then the oil pressure started to drop. Since then i have started it up a few times but with the same problem of low oil pressure ! this is not caused by anything to do with the radiator repair or water temperature as it drops within seconds of starting up! these are the steps i have taken up to now. replaced new oil filter with a another new different make listed replacement replaced oil filter hoses tried using a thicker oil, 20/50 removed filter housing cleaned it out and used airline to blow it through and make sure hole in filter tube was clear removed oil pressure valve (twice) from block checked hole in piston was clear. broke into the oil pressure gauge line and ran a pipe to a modern 0-100 psi oil pressure gauge tried leaving oil pressure valve out and cranking engine over after removing rotor arm. got some oil out of hole, but not under any great pressure , although i dont know if that is a relevant test or test result result ! disconnected the new oil gauge, cranked engine over , got oil coming from pipe but not under any great pressure ! once again not sure if that is a relevant test or result. I have got a sump gasket set and i planned to remove the sump and check that the oil strainer pan and its pipe are clear and pivoting, but before i started to undo the first oil sump pan bolt i noticed that the visible edge of the sump pan gasket appeared to be oily and indeed the underneath of the sump itself appeared to be oily. At the rear of the engine near the flywheel there is a "plate" with a fibre/felt seal. This was also wet with oil. I might add there is no oil on the floor under the vehicle and its been parked in the spot it is now for some time I am planning to get fitted a new oil pump when i can get one I cannot smell petrol on the dipstick and the oil level does not appear to be raising so i do not think petrol is leaking into the sump via a faulty fuel pump diaphragm so i guess my question is ... if the sump gasket is leaking slightly would that cause low oil pressure and can anyone please give me advice as to what it might be, or am i looking at an engine out rebuild !!!!! thanks Mike

i have posted this already elsewhere, but asking does anyone has any pictures of the DODGE WC42 PANEL RADIO VAN as used by British and Commonwealth forces during WW2. i have the supply mechanical identity pics, 2 pics of the Polish forces using them, a couple of pics in the it in North Africa and Italy and a picture of Ford WOT,s in a vehicle park with Dodge panel vans , probably WC42,s in the very distant background but that,s all. hope there are more out there, cheers, Mike

hi, i have asked before some years back. trying again. does anyone have any photos (or information) of the interior of the half ton Dodge WC42 panel radio van. pictures of this vehicle in service are not common. i have some from a polish book and the British Army supply mechanical identity pics but thats all. cheers, Mike

hi , i had a knock on the door last week and a chap i have know for a long time was there. he said " i am having a clear out and thought you might like this " and gave me a nice hardback daimler armoured car manual he has had for years !!!! how nice was that ?, any one needs any info from it please ask. i just wish he had got a dodge wc42 manual too !! :laugh:

hi there as the owner of a wc42 this thread caught my eye. yes i/2 ton dodges saw plenty of action in world war 2. in all theatres of the war and particularly the early part of the conflict. what book was the wc42 pic you refer to in polish service ? cheers mike

hi gordon. i got many wc42 parts from willy lindsay. i dont know if you were aware that he has recently passed away. what an amazing character he was. one of the very best. he was a true lover of old army trucks , an interest generated by his families coal business using ex army bedfords as coal lorries , and also transporting cattle.i miss our long phone conversations about military vehicles and his no nonsense approach to getting them restored and on the road

hi Gordon, the manual does show pic of the inside , but it has no radio or equipment fitted. i guess its a factory, or pre production shot. i did once see a couple of shots which showed optional placements of 2 or 3 different radios in a wc42 , but once again they were not " in use " type pictures.i dont know publication ? they were in . i have not heard of any wc42 vans in the u.s.a , only mis-identified vans [ wc11s ? ]. cheers, mike

hi, has anybody got pictures or documents which show radio equipment fitted in the 1/2 ton dodge wc42 used by British and Commonwealth forces ?. i know this is a long shot, as there were only 650 of them built and also it would be less likely for troops to take a picture showing a " sensative " , [ in the security sense ] vehicle than say a jeep !