Cushman 53

Sand blasters have done a great job again and primed them for us too!

Managed to do a few jobs...waiting for the warmer weather really! After a weekends work we finally managed to remove the eight old tires from the rims, not sure how long they had been on there but we surely needed the help of a hydraulic truck leg or we would never have got them apart. They will be sent away for blasting and new tires are on their way.

The battery tray has a special hard wood packing behind so to clear the rivets in the chassis and also to allow the cables and earthing straps to run through. Original fuel filter being stripped and ready to be cleaned and ball/knuckle zinc plated ready for assembly.

We managed last year to get most of the fifth wheel apart but had always had one pin stuck rusted in that was the last one to get out from the assembly, we wanted to get everything apart to make sure everything works as it should and to have it all blasted and then re assembled and painted. Well with many hours of heat and the persuasion of a sledge hammer we finally managed to remove the last pin. Now where's the warmer weather?

Thanks Phil,

Front brake actuators rebuilt.

Over the last few weekends we have been busy running more airlines through, attached both air tanks and various parts. We have been cleaning parts for the shock absorber connectors, dressing dust covers, front and rear connector parts assembled and now fitted. 

Brake actuators rebuilt with new diaphragms. 

Thanks Phil.

So we are starting to put parts back on now! Where possible we have bought new nuts and bolts but if we can't find the correct size we have cleaned them primed and painted the original. There were many internal/external lock washer's on this truck when we were taking it apart and we are putting them back where they should be, luckily MV spares have a couple of sizes available but some of the bigger sizes were also cleaned and re used. There are also earthing straps which we will cover when we come to put those back. In case it's not clear the pics after the prop shaft ones are of the frame assembly that the cab steps sit on.

We were lucky to have the correct battery box made for us and also the toolbox. The last pics are of the battery box loosely mounted as we need to add a wooden packing spacer as the originals had to clear rivets and bolts in the chassis.

 We have been making progress slowly! We decided that the chassis needed spraying again now we are starting to assemble and bolt parts back into place so airlines etc had to first be masked up, painted the prop shafts and also the tool box. A few weeks ago we lifted the engine back into place and managed this weekend to get the gearbox in place too, slowly but surely we are getting somewhere. 🙂

Hi Phil, Happy New Year to you too!

Yes it was a bit of a job to get apart! The large pin that we had to clean as best as we could before removal to make it as easy as possible to knock out is obviously so the top plate can pivot from front to back on the base plate, there are two large coil springs that can't be seen from the pictures which enable the mechanism to pivot from left to right, the two wedge shaped pieces we removed are to lock the top plate once on even ground to prevent it from moving from left to right....if anyone one knows different please let us know.

'Fifth wheel'. Had many set backs over the year so didn't get too far on the restoration, hopefully back on track next year. A couple of years ago we managed to buy the correct Dayton fifth wheel as the one fitted we believe was post war. The Dayton was seized solid and over weeks of digging out compacted dirt and grease and soaking in penetrating oil, steam cleaning and more penetrating oil we finally had a little movement...all with help from a recovery truck hydraulic leg, obviously we had to take this easy as to not brake the casting at all, literally took a whole weekend to get things moving and finally removal of the main shaft no other way other than perseverance with the good old sledge hammer! now everything is apart and can be cleaned and inspected before assembling.

Prop shafts.

starting on the prop shafts, all parts stripped and cleaned spiders and needle rollers all checked for wear. Cups and needles repacked with grease. One down, three to go! 

Nice project, will be watching this with interest. We restored a couple of 53s a few years ago.

Thanks Alan, good advice!

The weekend was spent painting the front axle, fitting front springs and lifting front axle in to place and bolting in place. The springs were attached and with the help of the forklift we lifted the front axle up on a pallet and it so easily lined up, U bolts dropped in really easily too! The plan was for now to drop the front axle onto our trolley so we can move it in and out to work on as we are in a confined area, trouble is the trolley won't take the weight now so for now we dropped the front end onto a couple of pallets so we can move chassis around.

Hi Phil, Thanks.

To be honest we are not too sure if we will put the front axle on or not yet! The reason being is that we have the trolley back under the front end if we need to move it about, if we were to go with the front axle it would need to have the steering assembled as well to be able to turn, the forklift can still pull it out but we are in a fairly confined space and nowhere to pull the chassis straight as we have a building in front of us. Spent today sorting parts and moving things around until it got too cold!

Back axle finally back on!

After many months we we able to pull the trolley out and quite easily with the forklift the back axle was reunited with the chassis. Happy days.

Thanks Phil, yeah was bloody cold 😬

We have been working on the springs and assembling ready for installation, with the very useful aid of the pallet truck and an old plastic box we were lucky enough to get the rear springs in a good position ready to be installed, for anyone who may not have experienced such weight I can tell you that it is a real struggle for two people to lift just one spring together, if the helper springs were assembled as one unit there is no way any two people would lift them, that is why the helper springs were bolted in place separately. The springs really were no trouble to get into place at all, the rear part slides into the rear hanger and the front part is held with a shackle pin. It is quite exciting times to see little things taking shape, both rear springs are in place now...hopefully soon rear axle!

We wrapped up as best we could at the weekend to make more progress! We really wanted the rear axle in top coat now, one for more protection through the winter and two to hopefully have the chassis sitting on it soon, We finished cleaning in the hard to get areas, and on a quick inspection the shoes seem to have plenty of life left in them so we are hoping we will get away with a good inspection and clean in this area. The front shoes we will replace as these were soaked in oil and we have new for this. Once done we covered up for now.

U bolt saddles, spring seats and U bolt brackets cleaned and primed.

New rebound clip made and riveted in place, bent to shape, both helper springs assembled using graphite grease. Obviously needed touching up with paint as this was burnt off due to being heated up. We are almost ready having all the springs assembled and hope to soon have axles and springs in place weather permitting as we are working outside!

During the week my brother has been carrying on with the springs, nearly there now. New rebound clips, bolt tubes and rivets have been made also.

We started to clean the rear axle a while ago, now the springs are coming together we carried on with this task, firstly we took the wheels off, jet washed again and cleaned with the wire wheel. We just managed to get as much primer on before the rain started on the last part of Sunday. we will take the drums off another time to inspect and rebuild. Again like the front axle many casting numbers and stamping's.

Gradually getting the springs assembled. New center bolts had to be machined as what we had were too far gone! We applied graphite grease between leaves to stop rubbing and hopefully stop water getting in between leaves as per 1943 TM.

Thanks for the nice words guy's, it is appreciated.

Wow, thanks for coming forward Alan. I am going to message you.