Gordon_M

That's definitely Post of the Day

If that valve cover is cast iron it may be time for a new one. On the other hand, if it is cast steel, a touch of weld and grind would be fine.

I don;t see any way for those valve covers to be retained? Am I missing a thread or some sort of physical retainer thingy?

Just on the way past, then.

None of my GMC, DUKW, or Dodge stuff has ever done lots of miles, and I'm not very religious about topping up, but from memory most of my GMC product seems to vent coolant out to a level ( when cooled again ) that is roughly level with the top fin / sheet visible inside the radiator neck.

All the knowledgable GMC / DUKW owners I've ever talked to stress the requirement to let the engine idle and the exhaust manifold to cool down a bit with the engine running after working it hard. DUKW enthusiasts will know that when you are really working the engine at night you can look down past the drivers feet to the bottom of the hull, as see the cheerful red glow of the exhaust manifold reflected off the bottom of the hull - or any water therein.

Thanks Adrian, that's the name I was trying to get my ageing brain round. I know it is quite useful when working in a dark engine bay, but it was hideous.

Will cross post that to the other lot.

Gordon

This has come up on another forum, where someone called that horrible light green engine colour Rolls Royce green ( can't see RR being too chuffed by that ... )

What is the correct Sunday name for that hideous green colour that the UK painted its' engines ? Do they still use it?

Gordon

Yup, and not post war either, standard practice. In fact the DUKW came with one as standard so contact your local DUKW owner for a look.

I think the kit consisted of a sealed radiator cap ( for the main radiator ) and a line to the overflow tank, which you put the normal pressurised radiator cap on.

In use any overpressure in the main radiator blew water into the overflow tank, which vented off excess steam as normal, and when the system cooled it drew coolant back into the main radiator.

The part numbers will be in the DUKW listings, but I know they were found on the ordinary non-amphibious GMCs as well

TB will be Thompson Brothers, who did a lot of refueller stuff.

Looks like a WW2 British water tank, seen very similar with Morris Commercial plate in the back. The tank is probably worth having for trade purposes whether or not it matches the chassis, and it may well do.

Thank you for an interesting set of photos.

 

I'm no expert in artillery but isn't that a Long Tom behind one of the MAN's?

 

- MG

It's the howitzer version I think, but the carriage is the same.

I now have images of four surviving T-36 units on the updated page;

http://www.gwim2.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/t36.htm

Gordon

The plug on the back of the block is the same size as the rest of them I think, though it's years since I did one.

You can do a decent job of the rest of them, but you really, really need to get the back-of-the-block one right as you'd hate to do it twice.

I'm sure that I've seen someone add some insurance there, as they had fitted a new core plug, and then ( presumably after turning the block on its nose ...) filled the whole core plug recess up with lead solder. I remember thinking at the time it was a damn good idea for a core plug you really did NOT want to have to fix again.

That particular block had been left with the head off, and was not being changed out because a a core plug.

Thanks Mike.

I was looking at he chassis length on yours and thinking it was probably a van body rather than a tractor, now I see.

I'm sure a winch on the front will do that no harm at all. I suppose it was just an army rebuild where a trashed pontoon tractor chassis lost its' winch and you gained one?

Now in the envelope but waiting till Post Office opens. I don't really want to post it till I can get it officially weighed and stamped as I don't want it going adrift or ending up with insufficient postage.

Gordon

Manual is in a bag and will be headed your way when I can get it in an envelope and Postman Pat goes back to work.

I can see the logic behing keeping the winch, but was it a plain van body or a towed one? Don't think I've seen an image of either?

Gordon

Brake drum casting looks like a decent quality cast iron ( rather than steel or malleable iron ) I'd suggest a thorough crack check of any replacement before you spend a pile of time and energy fitting it, and the one on the other wheel as well. MPI check for preference. You might find some cracking on something that looks other wise fine visually.

On the other hand it does look relatively simple form, and would turn up nicely from a ring forging in carbon steel, which would probably be preferable mechanically since cast iron is great in compression and a bit iffy under tension and shear stress.

Positive note - you have a back axle, diff, wheels, so what's one cracked casting? :cool2:

I'm guessing that the rubber could be cut down a little to give a surface, then built back up and autoclaved to vulcanise it to the rims.

Plenty of Dodge owners in here ....

If you are primarily interested in Dodges, you need to sign up here, and in the WW2 Dodge Forum, and you may also consider the Maple Leaf Up forum as they deal with primarily Canadian equipment, and most of the 'standard' Dodge trucks were Canadian pattern D15 and D60.

Gordon

Anyone have a U8114T in restoration?

I bouhgt a small pile of manuals recently and included was a TM9-1817 Power Train, Chassis, and Body manual for the U8144T.

I'm happy to leave it in the library, but thought I'd mention it here in case someone needed it more than me - as I can't see me every owning one.

These connection issues will sort itself out over the next couple of days (max). We moved to a brand new server and it takes time for it to be found all over the internet. It's a bit technical but trust me on this

I'll believe you Joris, you have an honest face :angel: I have a vague appreciation of Cookies, Caches, and the need to update addresses. Let's wait and see.

The thing that really struck me was that once it was back up the traffic was down to nothing, but that might just be me.

Merry Christmas

Now loading reliably, but I'm seeing a pile of messages on Maple Leaf Up from people who can't access this forum, particularly those on Internet Explorer ...?

Got an error message first time I tried to post this too.....

They can't be that rare, as I've actually driven one - quite an experience.

The design is Thompson Brothers, basically a structural tank with a wheel at the front and a small Ford flathead four at the back to power transfer pumps and wheels. Tanks has two or three compartments for fuels and lubricants. Chain drive to two rear wheels I remember, Weir Pumps in Glasgow did the pumps, commonly found with Zwicky boom too.

Smaller, lower units pre-WW2 ( smaller aircraft ) bigger units, with boom during WW2. Tank, boom and pump setup is reputed to be the same as the back of the QL refueller.

Welcome Joe,

I've got some Allis Chalmers Snow Tractor spares somewhere - I think I'm down to my last 60 drive sprockets. Sean Spencer in Canada has an M7 and a list of over 30 survivors - we both have M19 trailers for them.

I have a T-36 Iron Fireman here in Scotland, one of four known survivors, and always looking for any information or reports on testing of those too. It has the Cletrac MG series differential unit in it.

welcome again,

Gordon

I think you pretty much have the procedure to get it to roll correct, it's trying to tow start them that kicks the transmission into touch.

Gordon

PS, How's Mike Scholer down Florida way? Haven't heard of Mike for ages?

I'd guess the radial setscrew is like that precisely because it can't back off till the correct disassembly has taken place.

With that setscrew in there, the wheel can't fall off because something has come loose, basically.

Gordon

Well there is one thing that comes to mind, if the Ferret is mechanically much the same as the Dingo that I worked on.

Anyone that bought it as a toy and didn't know it, then had it refuse to start, would surely have tried to tow start it before giving up. I remember that tow starting a Dingo was big no-no as it killed the Wilson preselector - can anyone confirm that the Ferret is the same?

I'd definitely be asking 'how many times did you try to tow start it' before parting with cash. Note that I said 'how many times', and not 'did you try to'

Gordon

That's lovely, a real clean and fit job. Did I see a full set of internal expanding brakes in those rear hubs too?

There must be all sorts of odds and ends like that axle, dotted about the world, belonging to people who know how rare they are and determined to prevent them for being torched for no reason, so everyone happy at this sort of result I'm sure.

I've looked at this a few times, and the survival rate for WW2 US vehicles seems to be 2 to 5% if produced in quantity, but strangely some of the low-quantity oddball stuff produced in small quantities seems to have a proportionally higher survival rate...

3 of 36 T-36 Snow tractors

30+ of 291 M7 / T-26E4 Snow tractors

3 of 25 VC 6 Dodge Carryalls

I can only think of a couple of vehicle types ( apart from prototypes and the like ) which have only single survivors; Rick Jones VK62B RAF crewbus, and our very own Ashby families WK60 breakdown, both three ton Dodges.

... T-36 Iron Fireman Snow Tractors. Not a bad survival rate as they only made 36 of them.

http://www.gwim2.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/t36.htm

Gordon