Gordon_M

Not much chance you finding one of them, then? I suppose given the bits you could replicate what Weirs did, if you had the info. After all, if a few Scots can do it in ten days ..... Being a non-artillery type, how come something 8lbs lighter (17 versus 25 ) was superior as an anti-tank weapon - barrel length?

Good to hear, thanks Radek Gordon

Got the teeshirt, that's how. I remember getting two half ton WC36 Carryalls, one on top of the other, with the spare engine dropped inside. I managed to lift / roll all the bits out of and off of the various locations, manhandle the body off, jack it square ( the rear liftgate / tailgate aperture was 2" out of square ) and roll it back on again. Surprisingly easy as it was just a tin box by the time everything else was removed. I have photographic evidence somewhere, rummage, rummage; Biggest swine was trying to shift a half ton 4 x 4 WC front axle as that was both heavy, awkward, and trying to crush your hands if you gave the thing half a chance. There are no two-person jobs on a Dodge, there just aren't. Unlike my DUKW and LARC-V when you either needed a hand or two wreckers on hire at an arm and a leg per hour. I would thoroughly recommend a Dodge to someone that wanted to own just one vehicle, but it had to be something that could be stored, shifted, and worked on just by one person

... and when Pike got his sticky paws on the Thompson it was the proper 1921 / 28A1 model too, with the compensator and the L drum. The British got a lot of the original Colt-produced 1921 model, some of which were 1928A1 overstamps.

It's a profile thing, that percentage that people go on about when talking about tyres. Older tyres are normally 100% profile basically the cross section of the tyre is the same height as it is wide. Modern radial tyres tend to be lower profile, from 100% right down to about 50% profile. Your problem is that instead of being 10.50 100 20 ( with the 100 being the profile ) you have bought 10.50 (x) 20 with the (x) being something less than 100. They should fit, and work, but of course the two implications are that the truck will sit lower, and the speedo calibration will be wrong because the lower profile will have a smaller rolling radius anyway. There are tyre charts online that will tell you the difference in rolling radius between 10.50 100 20 and whatever you bought. Fit them as a set, with tubes, but don't be tempted to inflate them beyond the maximum pressure stated on the sidewall, and don't mix old and new tyres as it is illegal to have (old ) crossply on the rear of a vehicle and new (radial ) on the front - stuff like that. If you haven't fitted them, have a word with your tyre supplier and see if they can supply the same tyre in a higher profile for a restock / reorder charge maybe?

Worth throwing in here, for those considering purchase decisions, that although half ton WC Dodges are a little lighter and narrower than the 3/4 ton, the fixed bodies like half ton Carryalls are actually slightly higher than the 3/4 ton WCs. Virtually all parts of these machines can be manhandled by one person ( ask me how I know .... ) with only engine blocks and axle assemblies being too heavy to lift or roll easily - the front axles are particularly difficult to handle on your own. Best Dodge type is the early VC half ton ( I would say that - wouldn't I ? ), which was lighter all round, but chassis and axles are not as durable as the later ones, plus spares are more difficult to get.

AS long as it rolls... I think with one 13" wheel it would be forever turning left or right. Well done for taking that on. Although not as old as many vehicles on here I know that 50's and 60's vehicles were used a lot over salted roads and few survived. I can't remember the last time I saw one of those in the flesh, regardless of how common they once were. Gordon

He's wasted doing them boring ordinary cars and trucks, I reckon everyone on here could keep him employed ...:cool2: If you are only short two 16" rims, put the two you have on the back and give it that trendy forward rake till you find the other two. Gordon

I'm sure I'm not the only one that doesn't know what that is, so a word or two on the subject would be welcome please. Gordon

Aha, so they were doing something else instead then. Let me think then - pipeline has to equal PLUTO I suppose? Weirs could have done all those pumps, lines, and distribution systems no problem. Gordon

OK Rob, a bit of pipeline direction then? I've worked in all those places but not that recently. I believe Cathcart is about to become a housing estate - may be already:cool2:

Happy to be corrected there but still pushing for Command Cars - must get another one myself. It may be that the shock mounts for the radios really worked, or if you needed both you just used them and swapped valves as you had to.

Well you're in the wrong place then ....:-D If you look for Weirs Pumps, Cathcart, Glasgow there should be more info that you could possibly need. I'm sure they'll have a historical records section somewhere. Their basic production was pumps at the Cathcart plant - for example all the pumps on the RAF refuellers like the Thompson Brothers and Bedford refuellers with the Zwicky booms, but they also did huge amounts of other equipment and would have been full time on military production throughout the war. Lots of production for naval ships and so on too, given the proximity to Clydebank. If you wanted a centrifugal or reciprocating pump, you went to Weirs, while dog-bone compressor pumps all came from Mirrlees and fans from Howdens - all within walking distance of each other if you could put up with the Glasgow rain. I wouldn't have expected them to be tooled-up for gun barrels, but receiver frames, carriages, platforms, etc would be well within their machine shop capacity.

In this instance you are forgiven.:angel: It doesn't matter what you do to it - it will end up looking better than that. Gordon

Oh, they have a LOT of interesting Dodge stuff in that barn .... Welcome all Gordon

Sell the jeep and the gun, mount the radio kit in a nice Command Car instead ? ....:red: As I understand it you'd never have a fixed weapon like that in a vehicle with sensitive valve radios - anyone prove to the contrary?

Endless machining work - at least you have the facilities though. I certainly wouldn't make them out of ordinary cast iron as those lugs would just ping off at the first opportunity. Bit of forged steel bar would be the thing. Gordon

I'm sure I found a Matador locally which was in very good order, and when I enquired about it the man-that-knows said it was one of a batch made for the RAF in the 1950's ( well post-war, basically ) Anyone know anything about that batch?

My favourite starting procedure is to strap the tank to the front of a concrete mixer after putting in the bits from one or more toughened glass windows. Half an hour of churning with glass fragments inside really cleans out all the junk, and you can wash and re-use them. Don't have any broken toughened glass ? Your local scrapyard would be delighted if you took some away.... I did coat the inside of the tank when cleaned but don't really remember the product name - something like RUSTBUSTER I'm sure.

The shot where they are craning a dead halftrack onto a Dragon Wagon is quite something.... At 9.something tons that Whites halftrack is right on the 10 ton limit you'd want to lift with the Bay City crane.

Oooh, it's not mine Rod, I'm not that brave. It belongs to G506 - I think Mark. Gordon

That strikes a chord since I've actually been there. Houton is on the 'mainland' of Orkney, looking south east over Scapa Flow, with Flotta dead ahead ( south east ) and Hoy off to the right ( south west ). I believe it achieved some importance as a seaplane base but don't know exactly what time period. The seaplane ramps / hardstandings still exist near the current ferry terminal.

There is one great benefit here - basically it isn't scrapped and is stored for the future, whatever happens. When I was a lad I passed by a whole pile of stuff that I knew I couldn't restore or would never get round to, and now it has all been melted down I'm sure. Last ten years or so if I run across anything unique that really should NOT be melted, regardless of condition, I've managed to find time and money to grab it and get it under cover, or pass it on to someone who could - at a last resort via fora like this one. There would have been a really good case for buying this, cleaning and conserving it, and just keeping it stored somewhere even if it is another hundred years before someone can get it all back together - well done. Gordon

The Clarktor is a Clarktor Six, heavy, as it has the heavier ( cast ) rear wings and dual rears. The Dodges, including the station bus look to be T110L code D60 Canadian built trucks

Having established the name and what it was used for, do we know when it was introduced and when it was superceded? Obviously still in use in 1968 as per the date on that can, but when did it start and finish? Gordon