Gordon_M

Last time I got Dodge stepped cylinders done at Past Parts the total was slightly more than buying brand new equivalents, but then I was getting a particular size reworked ( one ton Dodge ) that was not available as a new cylinder so the difference wasn't enough to concern me. I think I put new cylinders on one axle and the rebuilt ones on the other axle. If anyone else has cylinder problems they might want to check the actual sizes of the cylinders. leading and trailing, front and back, because half and 3/4 ton WC military cylinders will do in many cases, according to users in the US. For example the 3/4 ton military cylinders are the same as the 1.5 ton civilian units, as that's what the military parts were borrowed from. 4 x 4 Dodges tend to have the same cylinders all round. 4 x 2 tend to start with the same cylinders all round, for example the 4 x 2 half ton, but rear cylinders get bigger with bigger rear hubs. It might be that a larger 4 x 2 truck with the same size hubs front and back could just use 3/4 ton military cylinders, which are freely available. As with all brake - related stuff, take expert advice and check out the feasibility before doing anything rash ..... If in doubt pay the money and go with the original equipment professionally rebuilt.

First thing is to turn the radiator cap back one click so rad isn't pressurised but then change all the core plugs .....:red:

You may well be correct there. I have seen details which said a batch of VC 1 went there but I really can't remember where. I'd forgotten about the photo though. Got it - it was on the Just Old Trucks Forum' date=' courtesy of Bill Murray http://forums.justoldtrucks.com/32169/Argentinas-trucks?PageIndex=1 Here is a photo of a T202 in Argentinian service with the Cavalry School in Cordova. Bill Gordon

I'll have a look Niek, currently in Aberdeen and the manuals are in Falkirk. I know the Master Parts appears to show them as rods with flattened ends, but I know straight bars have also been seen. The 1940 manuals aren't that great, but there is interesting detail on the front couple of pages, and having all three manuals side by side let's you check which pages were added and subtracted - for example ( and this is from memory - don't hold me to this ) 1. The first manual is VC 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 - remembering here that the VC 6 prototype was in this batch but was just given an ordinary truck USA number. 2. The second manual is VC 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6, as the VC4s were already made, and this second batch included the production run of the VC 6 Carryalls. Therefore more pages than the first manual. 3. The third manual was just VC 1 and VC 5, as these were by far the most common variants, and my impression is that this batch was just a few hundred trucks to use up the leftover parts. Less pages than even the first manual I think, due to the reduced number of vehicle types covered. My final parts list flew in from Argentina, reinforcing that detail I saw some time back about a bunch of VC 1 Command cars going there. Just wish I could remember where I saw that. Anyway - back to your excellent restoration....

Getting there Niek I can now announce ( drum roll please ..... ) that I have not only all three of the VC manuals for the various production batches, but also the three matching parts lists. This was difficult to achieve as the last batch was only a couple of hundred trucks so the manual and parts lists are correspondingly rare. I don't know anyone else at all who has all six of these, even Dennis at Portrayal only had five. Might be that Wally Wahlforth has a set. Might seem no big deal, but even the 1943 Master Parts doesn't have everything in it, not sure for example it has all the part supercedence info, plus the original manuals have details about the pickup supplied to the Civilian Conservation Corps and the like. I'm not interested in copying, reproducing, or selling them, but I can copy individual details for owners who need them when I get the time.

There are some NOS temperature gauges about, but they don't all work I remember trying three at a dealers to find on that works. The Plymouth car / truck people have a page on how to rework / replace the sender tube but never done it myself. I did think I'd take a broken original, then just cut up one of those new jeep / Dodge repro gauges for bulb and tube. Might have a bit of VC manual news this week, wait and see ....:cheesy:

Early Dodge WC63 with transplanted hard cab Worth having, though that crane might mean the rear chassis has done a lot of work

Never noticed that Niek, I'll have to check the manual.Well spotted

All good stuff Niek. Why the lever switch? The blackout light switch was just the same as the panel light switch I think. What are you using for manual and parts list? Master Parts maybe ? The VC manuals are pretty useless, I have all three, but there is some extra detail in the Parts Lists ( working on getting the third one ) as some of the Master Parts info is superseded part numbers I think. I have an original tag from one of my rear fenders which was NOS, but the part number on the tag doesn't appear in the Parts List. You will know that both the rear fenders were unique to VC3/4/5 so it's not like it shouldn't be listed.

Engine compartment splash guard. The line of bolts fit to the chassis, curved bit clears the down pipe I think. Gordon

Not something I've ever had to do Tony, but thanks for the vote of confidence. :angel: I'd be phoning someone who does this every day, like Steve Rivers at Dallas Autos. I don't believe you have to dismantle the whole damn truck just to re-hook a spring. I can imagine the amount of shafts and joints you'd have to shift just to move that gearbox back far enough. Is there not a small hatch top centre on the bell housing to get access or is my memory going? Good luck with it

Just keep an eye out for a small vacuum tank then Tony, the one I saw was only about a pint in volume but it appeared to work very well. It was hidden under the passengers side of the firewall and was just bolt on. No idea if this would work just off manifold vacuum - you would certainly need a check / non-return valve between the manifold and the tank though. Computers - hah

Condenser. Even brand new condensers tend to be a bit iffy these days. Still got the WW2 condenser you took off last time you changed it? try that one, they really made condensers back then

.... and normally in the heavy rain too. One worthwhile mod here is a fuel pump, with a vacuum pump on the top of it, plumbed to a small vacuum tank hidden under the cab, then to the existing wipers. The tank volume keeps the motors working flat out when you have your foot hard down - when normally that causes them to slow to a crawl. I have seen this setup working and it worked really well, but no idea where to get the bits. I think the one I saw came off an old '40s bus, but no idea where you would find a bus driver to ask .....:-X

There's only about five bits in that setup Tony? line comes from manifold to screen via swivel joint, splitter to take tube to each motor I was lucky enough to find NOS motors at Chris Muys in Belgium - they make a big difference though still not up to the sort of duty you would expect from a modern system. I think the most effective WW2 wipers were on the Weasel, but Weasel motors really to big to fit on a Dodge, open or closed cab.

I'll bet you were just hopping up and down with Peanuts-type joy finding that lot, even if the headlight brackets were expensive....

I'd guess that the flat plates were for shackles, but positioned so that they could be used to lash it down or free it easily and quickly in a glider or transport aircraft.

Well, the block and head could be Magnetic Particle checked or Dye Penetrant checked - no big deal. However your block may have cracked internally where you just couldn't see it. Long term solution is pull the block strip the crank and pistons out, leave the head in place, fill the water jacket and pressurise it and look to see where the water is coming out. Short term? I'd be inclined to try a can or two of leak sealer in the block. Even better if you could do that with the radiator out of circuit to avoid blocking that up - connect the radiator inlet and outlet together, throw in leak sealer and water, run it just long enough to get hot. If this was a jeep, the classic location would be a crack from the water jacket into the distributor tube, but no idea where the equivalent weak point is on a 270. I'd be watching out for a good 270 that I could rebuild ready to swap in, too.

Sand skirts being attached. If you look at the tanks behind you will see a mixture of skirts on and off. Might be 'local' manufacture.

Not my area, but ... 1. that looks like a portable welder set on a trolley, rather than a one piece thing. 2. Tanks have shipping stencils, no headlights, so I'd guess that this was a commissioning area and the chap with the pull through was removing shipping preservative from the bore of the weapon.

That' very nice Niek. I wonder what they used to winch on with that hand winch ? Any chance at all the winch is original?

They were all the same spec, I think M601 was mentioned but not sure. US cab and chassis, with or without winch, bodies I'm sure were Danish for the old local content. Many of them went to the US in the late 1990s, and still more were broken up for spares to restore WW2 WC trucks. As far as the engine and mechanical bits go - Dallas Autos near Reading. Steve and co will have spares.

Good to hear from you Leanne, your father had our fondest regards, and all respect to the group who took on the completion of the project as a lasting memorial, not only to the original soldiers of the patrol, but to your father as well.

Well, from what I remember, and it has been ages since I worked on one, they may have sealed the whole vehicle up to and including the radiator air outlet, so that may be some form of air outlet bladder with a relief on it to allow air to pass through the radiator. I do remember the driving position, and would hate to be in that one. I take it the whole thing was sealed maybe up to turret ring level, and cooling air was drawn it through the hatch and blown out via that bladder maybe ? Cold, wet, nasty, and about to get a very severe dose of salt water rust, poor thing.

If it is registered, legal, and not overlapping or overshadowing their property there is no case.