Gordon_M

Good to hear you are still at it, as they say.

I liked your compressor truck, and I suppose that is one of the ones that went into storage?

A full rebuild will be ££££. I think Dallas strip and assess the engines themselves, use a machine shop for boring / lining / grinding, and then reassemble and test on the premises.

Any competent engine rebuilder COULD rebuild a Dodge engine, but Dallas have gaskets, bearings, original hoses, replacement water pumps, themostats, water distribution tubes and the like actually on the shelf, so much more of a 'one stop shop'

If you check their website and there is an image of an engine in silver - that's my T72 engine which is now back in the front of my TD20 pickup - where it was when it left the factory 71 years ago.

Hello again Matt

Dallas Autos at Newbury. Only people I'd trust with a Dodge engine.

Will not be cheap, consider replacing valves and seats as necessary, new water distribution tube, that sort of thing.

regards

Gordon

Wheel rims look like French pontoon trucks, they aren't DUKW rims which would be the obvious contemporary swap.

Rear lights look French or Swiss too, but I'd guess the rest of it is pretty much as it came.

No idea about the LEDs, but the jeep conversion is quite straightforward.

Fit service stop taillights on both sides at the rear, pull the guts of the lower pods and convert to indicators either with yellow paint / plastic or amber bulbs.

Convert your front blackout lights to indicators, and you really need to gut the lenses and leave just the front lens or you can't see them, then buy two motorcycle 6v headlights with built-in running lights for up top - job done.

The headlights with built-in running lights aren't usually sealed beam, so you can experiment with removing the lenses and replacing them with originals if you want that SEELITE look.

I think the most interesting airfield substitution was when the USAAF traded a bunch of their 4 x 4 Dodge WC 53 ambulances and were given a bunch of Austin K2's instead. I can never get proper historical verification of this tho'.

Logic was that 4 x 4 ambulance would be better used up the sharp end and Katies were fine for flat airfields, though I personally would have paid a few Groats to see a bunch of US-types getting to grips with driving a K2 ....:cool2:

Agreed. A good bit of TV, something of a rarity in these days of all the reality rubbish!

I would suggest that this WAS reality TV, much more so than a bunch of losers locked in a house... ?

Gordon

Brilliant stuff, Steve!

 

I don't know how the Dodge will look without the spare wheel next to the driver, you've taken away a very distinctive feature of the WWII Dodge.

A load of Dodges and other vehicles operated on airfields commonly operated without spare wheels, axes, shovels, jerrycans, and all sorts of stuff - basically on the premise of if you are on an airfield just how far can it be to walk back to the garage, I think

I've just been over it again and updated the production list ( top link in top message ) with a set of clickable links to the source material and images.

Gordon

I've never been happy with the way the 1943 Dodge Master Parts List covers the 1940 Dodge 4 x 4 half ton VC military T202 code production. It's incomplete and a little misleading, but doubtless all they had space for.

I've compiled a new page with what I believe to be a full set of production figures, Instruction Manual and Parts List numbers, and I've added notes to explain where the additions and alterations come from;

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

Some of the totals still don't match as individual chassis are reported as being in two production batches, but I've left those glitches in as they are derived from official Dodge sources.

The 1940 Dodge Military Survivors list, started by Steve Greenberg and expanded and maintained by me over the last six years, can still be found here;

http://www.gwim2.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/vc200401.htm

If anyone has any interesting 1940 Dodge military truck info, images, chassis or production data, feel free to copy me at;

Gordon (at) Dodge.org.uk

... and I'll update the list when I can. I also have most of the T202 and many of the T203 ( 4 x 4 AND 4 x 2 ) Instruction Manuals and Parts Lists if anyone needs info, but no requests for copies of dozens of pages, please.

Gordon ( really needs to get back in the garage ) McMillan

During WW2 the USA number would have remained the same, as the USAAF was part of the Army for logistical purposes till about 1947 ( I think ) or whenever it became the USAF.

Since the majority of USAAF vehicles were used inside the UK for most of WW2 they were prone to getting personalised with crew names and crew art, but the ordinary Army stuff was often neglected, things like carbine carriers, spare wheels and brackets, hood and frame.

They were also prone to the common carrying modification of getting the rear bumperettes turned upside down so the flat faces could be stood on and stored on.

Best pictorial references are the Roger A Freeman books like The Mighty Eighth although understandably the emphasis there is on the planes and faces.

Welcome Gareth,

I'm re-creating the WW2 equivalent, or I would be if I could get some time in the garage;

http://www.gwim2.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/wd21.htm

Gordon

If you had two M26's, or M26A1's, and were looking for something to tow.

Definitely comes into the 'absolutely useless but but cute' category.

Ah, OK, duly corrected. :-D

I'll go back to sleep now and wait for the next installment.

I got a little confused there until I worked out you'd posted the pics in reverse order - silly me :nut:

Gordon

I'll add my vote to the Olive Drab pile.

They were supplied in OD, and no-one would have wasted time, energy, and paint repainting them before they needed it.

I'd guess that towards the end of the war they were still OD, with some RAF markings and maybe the odd roundel. The one exception might be the 'follow-me' vehicles which seem to be OD+ white for the British and OD+yellow for the US.

Gordon

Well I think it makes the point admirably ....:-D What's more, you're all talking about it, so it has achieved its aim ?

I do like old green fuel-guzzling trucks, but I'm happy to drive a high-efficiency diesel as a daily driver and turn lights off when I'm not using them.

G

Looks like a fabrication job to represent Chieftain to me. I think the idlers on the bottom were just for moving it around, and it is probably 2/3rds or 5/8 scale too.

Tinwork definitely needs attention.

On the other hand, it's sitting very nicely straight and square on the road, so the underneath bits (probably) aren't needing as much work as the on top bits.

Gordon

(still looking for the internal parts of a Tri-Master cab ventillator, got the top shell)

" Adrian could turn that into a Sherman with some plate, a few rivets, and a couple of months ....."

Dave Klink forwarded this message from Russia about an I-H radiator cap. Tony on here or anyone know an e-mail?

Gordon

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Gordon, do you know Tony Robinson over in the UK? I urgently need to get information about the rad cap used on the IHC M-1-4/M-2-4 and he has a restored M-2-4. If you can contact him and ask it would be greatly appreciated. I got the M-1-4 up and running again but don't think I have the right cap on it . . . .

Your 8" Howitzers were towed by Mack NO series 7.5 ton 6 x 6 trucks.

Although the variants were almost identical, they weren't old trucks, having started off as NO2 series during WW2 and getting to the NO7 by the time you got them.

Never driven one myself, but there are a lot around, and very popular, since as late as about 1995 you could by an obselete complete unit in drive-away condition for £1300 - couldn't give them away as petrol had just increased to a whopping 55p a GALLON, not litre.

Anyone here own one and want to say a word in their defence?

One of the US dealers has the rear end truck of the pair up for sale about $15000 or so. Not sure if it would be a lot of use without the front end and the bit in the middle though

Gordon

I took a day off my current trucks today and went to visit an old friend, my WC-36 Carryall that I sold to Julian, as he had it at the Scone show.

He has finished it and got it on the road, but with a few odds and ends still to do - very nice though.

Ta, just what I'm needing, duly saved.

thanks again,

Gordon

I've been rebuilding the two original headlights on my 1939 Dodge pickup, and starting to get them back together.

They are both in excellent order, but the silvering on the reflectors is very poor. No corrosion or damage, it has just worn off with repeated cleaning attempts I think.

Anyone have a source for getting two 8" reflectors re-silvered without breaking the bank? I have two NOS headlights I want to keep for the next project, so i would rather get these two replated somehow if I can get the right price.

Gordon