Gordon_M

I'd love to have the time and energy to do that. Really looks like it needs to be inside before this coming winter though?

If you run across one I'm still looking for a Tri-Master roof ventillator or bits thereof, most commonly seen on T's. I do have a ventillator shell I got from Rex Cadman, but could do with the guts or a whole one from a junk T hard cab.

Gordon

Making progress today with the Dodge one ton rail conversion.

This is on a WD21 from late 1940 or early 1941 that I'm putting VC front sheetmetal, drivetrain and brushguard on.

I don't have the build card ( yet) so don't have the date, but it could be as early as September 1940.

Originally a one ton 4 x 2 panel with single wheels on the back it will be a 4 x 4 with the proper WD duals on the back axle and all VC up front, though the brushguard is actually a VF non-winch version.

... adding HyRail 307 gear to the front, mounted on a shortened VC military type bumper.

The rear HyRail gear is already on, and much neater than the front, as it fits neatly under the back and the rail wheels will be under the dually fenders.

Rear bumperettes and crossmember are from a Carryall chassis that is now under a pickup, pintle is VC, fuel tank is WC53/56/57/58 type with the filler tube up top to clear the chassis rail.

I need just a few small parts for the Fairmont HyRail 307 gear if anyone here has any on the shelf?

Gordon

Yet again two tired lumps of metal find their way to quite possibly the only people in the world that would have a use for them :cool2:

Where would we be without grapevines, and, though it pains me to say it, E-Pay.

Gordon

( still watching out for a steering wheel )

Not uncommon, but in nice condition, even if someone has borrowed all the front metal.

Should be out of there and in a garage somewhere.

Gordon

I think you'd want to move something to make sure they didn't conflict, Steve.

If it is a firepump engine it is possible the original truck sump was just slightly different to avoid this, shorter, angled, whatever. Got any reference shots of other trucks to compare ?

One way or another you don't want them coming together, and it would never have been allowed on the original truck, given the use / abuse it would be subjected to when working.

On the bright side, raising the engine gives you another 1/4" :cool2:

Gordon

I'm thinking that in this case the engine, gearbox, and chassis might have come from three different trucks, so although the original lineup for each might have been correct there are some tolerance issues creeping in.

So much of this has been fabricated or completely rebuilt I don't think the odd 1/4" lineup will prove to be a problem. It is faintly miraculous that it can be done at all, much less to this high standard.

Gordon

On May 7th 1940, an Ordnance Corps inspector accepted a Dodge T202 VC3 pickup into the US Army family.

Happy 70th Birthday, my little truck.

Gordon

Morning Steve,

well I think you've convinced me, engine up 1/4" it is then, which is exactly what they would have done in the factory too.

Found a carb too? dangerously close to getting out the video camers for the first engine run then.

Gordon

My numbers people recommended HSBC as it was free for the first ( three?) years.

I've never had a problem with them, though I'm sure other people might say differently. I have an extra little security access device and can do almost everything online.

Any other candidates?

Gordon

I'm not aware of any white edging that made it into the '50s, but then it isn't my period.

I associate white edging with blackout circumstances in WW2. Post-WW2 ( as today ) you have a damn great army truck painted OD green, with lots of extra reflectors on the back and usually running with headlights and taillights on so you can see it - or at least not be able to sue them for not seeing it, if you get the difference.

Champs, to me, are mostly shiny green creatures, except when they go on holiday and go that nice desert sand colour, but I think you need more Champ-period-specific advice.

anyone ?

Gordon

You have to think about it and know the circumstances. A lot of people were killed in the blackout in vehicle-related accidents.

Some time early in the war it became practice in the UK for vehicles to have thin white edges ( usually 1" ) added to bumpers / fenders / wings just for visibility purposes. They soon appeared on military vehicles too.

As the war progressed a lot of these markings on military vehicles were re-applied, and they tended to get done larger and more crudely as time went on. It's not uncommon to find late WW2 images of trucks in service with a lot of white paint on bumpers and wings. I'm assuming as you are talking Champs you are talking much later, but the same sort of logic should apply.

So, early= no white outlining or very small edge, late = more white paint.

The same sort of logic applies to ambulance signs - started small and got bigger, and the invasion star-in-a-circle, carefully stencilled at first with broken circle due to stencil marking, then repainted larger and uglier in unbroken circle.

The front axle problems were always associated with the ten-ton weight of the armoured cab, and apparently were greatly reduced on the A1 softskin cab version.

In the shot with the rear wheel problems it would probably be straight breakage of the wheel studs due to overloading. I think the assembly was rated at 60 ton gross train weight, but was reported to be used up to 100 tons.

Gordon

Hmm, humble suggestion having looked at the images. Excellent work, as usual.

I take it that you expect the weight of the load on the body / rear springs to push that differential " up " to the point where the alignment of that shaft is pretty much square?

I was going to suggest you consider just shimming the front ( or back ) engine mounts to get the angle of attack into that shaft where you want it, rather than raising the whole engine. It should make no operational difference to the engine ( fan / radiator alignment excluded, but not expected to be critical )

After some thought, would you be better to just build the whole thing, and add a representative load, and then look at heights and alignments of the whole system in a one-off excercise?

Gordon

It isn't a Mack, it's an FWD, with Klauer SnoGo blower unit up front.

These blowers came in two sizes, on Marmon-Herrington Fords and FWD chassis, like this one. Basic scenario is that a batch of Fords and an unknown number of FWDs were supplied to the RAF for runway clearing during WW2.

Post war, many of them were rebuilt by the Ministry of Supply and supplied to small airports and local councils for snow clearing work. They tended to get abused, run down, and cut up.

This basic truck isn't uncommon as a cab and chassis, and I believe one or two of them have been restored with cargo bodies ( Fords too ) However this one does seem to have all the original equipment in place which would make it a good candidate for restoration as is.

Certainly should be saved. I saved one of the Fords and sold it on, not that keen to tackle another even larger unit.

Well it isn't always the gadgets and gizmos that are the most useful things, I've been giving this a bit of thought lately.

I do use a small amount of what's in the toolbox to do a very large amount of work, but there are any number of things in there that you maybe only need every few years, but when you need them, you really NEED them.

First candidate would be a UN-form thread file, basically a 1/2" square block of tool steel ten inches long with eight different UN thread forms cut in it with a file profile, so I can restore threads. Many of the fittings on my Dodges use standard threads, usually UNF, but the length and head forms aren't easily obtainable, so being able to restore that special 1/4" UNF bolt where the first couple of threads are crossed is invaluable. Doubly beneficial if it is something that is installed on the vehicle and doesn't have to be taken off.

Second, large reverse-thread screw action extractors. Anyone with a Dodge who has worked on the headless bolts on the back springs will really appreciate one of those.

Gordon

I'd be asking this question on the Maple Leaf Up Forum, as they know everything there is to know about CMPs and who used them and how.

Gordon

It's going to relate to other stuff, isn't it?

For example, all the ordinary US wagon / pickup bed widths of the period would take four foot widths of material - Dodge truck pickup beds were 48 1/4" for this reason all the way through the war.

I'd guess that the barrel height was set to go across the wagon / truck bed, so it wouldn't exceed 48", stuff like that.

Gordon

Spotted this at Threlkeld Museum Cumbria , its a Bucyrus crane on a 'Transit Crane' 6x4 chassis its in RN colours and still carries the reg. no. 7835RN I assume the Royal Navy wouldn't be buying US kit in 1950s so is it wartime era ?

Too much time on my hands, had to look this thing up.

Quote from Fred Crismon's excellent "US MILITARY WHEELED VEHICLES" page 429 There is a very small photo of an almost identical unit, but with a solid boom and cable-operated bucket. It looks from the text below that these things were made for the US Army and Navy from WW2 into the early 1950's at least, so the 1953 registration could be spot on for a new vehicle, or it could be slightly earlier US Navy surplus transferred?

Quote

" In 1946 the Harnischfeger Corporation (P&H) built numerous examples of this model 150 truck crane for the Army on their 10 ton 6 x 4 chassis. They had provided the same vehicles to the Navy during WWII. The wide mustachio-type brush guard became a trademark for the P&H Cranes, which in this version were powered by a six-cylinder Waukesha Model 145 engine coupled to a five-speed Fuller transmission and three-speed transfer, and drove into the Timken rear axles. A separate Waukesha 6-MZA engine powered the crane unit, which is seen here dropping a load of dirt from the shovel attachment. A 6 x 6 model known as the model 255A was delivered to the Navy in 1951 ( P&H ) "

end quote

Steve, 12x4 was the chassis model number it was built on, according to Crismon.

In that period the US manufacturers used to state the model number, and add " x4 " if it was a 4 x 4 version. The other period example that comes directly to mind is the 1939 Dodge TF40x4, basically a 1939 TF with a 4 x 4 added. One still exists in the US as I traded an original manual to the owner, and the TF40x4 was the model year before the Dodge T203 VF series.

if I need one of those, even for one of my most obscure vehicles, I just phone up a dealer with a debit card number and he pops one in the post ...

All power to your various elbows, lathes, and milling heads. Want to bet you'll find an original now that you have made one?

Gordon

I ran my old (Darling Buds) Chevrolet for years with the number plates just painted on, front and back.

Black rectangle, white numerals of requisite size, cross-section, and clarity - never had a problem.

Is this still legal, as I'm sure it used to be, although there may be age limits to it?

Gordon

Lovely work, as usual.

The problem with all these ' one-offs ' is that to get the machining dimensions and know you have a usable end product you are going to end up making everything out of a slightly heavier section casting than the original.

I'll bet the original production unit would be upwards of 20% lighter than your new one and consequently a lot lighter. Like me part of your casting coat will be the casting material weight, as that stuff isn't cheap, or light. ( I got some gunmetal bronze brackets cast for my DUKW and Weasel compass mounts, 2 Kg per bracket, or should I say four and a half pounds ...?)

Gordon

1/4" laminate cut by local glazier or company like 'Plant Glazing' Should be around £20 per pane including cutting, if you go cash in paw.

Try and get the edges clean and ground back, and take the frame so you know it will fit. When you put it in the frame use some kind of panel sealant ( NOT windscreen sealant which is next to useless ) This will keep the edges dry and prevent water creeping between the laminate sheets.

Gordon

I seem to remember a large MVT presence in that area - maybe one of them knows of something?

The only thing I can guarantee is that a vehicle, no matter how small when in one piece, takes up several times that size when you start dismantling.

My tiny K-38 trailer, about as small as you can get in this hobby, is still taking up lots of space.

Gordon

I'd be brazing that up. I think I'd braze it before I opened up the main bore too.

Gordon