w896andy

If it helps here is a picture of my freshly painted GMC, Light Olive Drab from Jim Clark at Allied Forces, well stirred, a lovely shade in my eyes and nice to spray.

Agree with the previous post. If you really want to keep the cost down and if you have a workshop, time and expertise you can reasonably easily convert a 90 N/A Diesel (good engine but slow compared with modern stuff) to a V8 (great engine). There is work involved but I did one a few years back. I bought a military 90 for about £2,600, a decent V8 engine and gearbox from a smashed up civilian V8 110 for about £800. Its mostly parts from the standard Land Rover parts bin to convert, I also fitted power steering which is easy if the engine has it fitted as you only need a power steering box to replace the standard one. Alternatively a 300TDI (Wolf) will fit a N/A Diesel with less work. My 90 V8 was sold to a guy in California who shipped it there for his farm, so its retired to the sun !!!

Part of the report stated :- Police reported that a 18-year old female driving beginner from Detmold apparently overlooked a convoy of tanks when she turned left onto the Panzeringstrasse (lit. Tank Ring Road) Now thats a big thing to 'overlook' and turn into !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes good to hear from somebody local, I'm only in Edington/Burtle just 'over the hill' from you, also have a GMC 353 plus Jeep and Autocar 8144 under (very) heavy overhaul and a Diamond T 969. Always happy to help if I can and you are welcome to come over to look/meet up if you want. You would be surprised how many vehicles are in the area. Isn't there a trial/quad bike course close to you somewhere near the airfield, I've always meant to bring my quad to to it but not got round to it yet. Andy

If I can just add to the above, I’ve just done it on a GMC 353 which has been in the country for a long time not registered. The problem is that if it was made outside of the UK then it triggers the ‘you must have just imported it and VAT is due’ process and a NOVA is needed without exception (I tried, no NOVA - no registration). Vehicles not registered previously but that have been in the country for a long time fall foul of this so it’s something many of us will have to get used too. The only process HMRC have and the forms used say you are importing the vehicle now. Complete in this order. Get it verified, I did mine with the MVT, this gives you a verification letter. Apply for a NOVA using form: VAT NOVA1. Google it and you can download one. Send it to: HMRC National Unit for Personal Transport Building 22, Priory Court St John’s Road Dover CT17 9SH The VAT NOVA1 form is written as if you are importing the vehicle now, it’s the only option and is the one they sent me and told me to use when I contacted them, their process doesn’t allow for anything else. Include any documents you have to confirm its been in the UK since before NOVA started, I sent the MVT Verification, purchase receipt, photos of the chassis number and a letter explaining that I bought the vehicle in the UK, it’s been here most likely since 1944 and confirming I want to register the vehicle but can’t until I get a NOVA registration. As long as they are happy that it’s genuine then no problem. Two weeks later I got back a NOVA registration letter with number and a confirmation that no VAT is due. This number is logged with as has been said above their system so the DVLA can see it. Then apply to the DVLA using a V55/5 filling in as many boxes as you can (only about 25% of them apply). Include insurance, pictures of the chassis number and vehicle, the MVT Verification letter, a cheque for £55 to register it and a V112G if it’s a truck over 3.5 tons which exempts you from plating on a pre-1960 vehicle. If you send paperwork to the DVLA first they will reject it as they will check the NOVA registration on their system. They will also now despite their guidelines saying different reject it if you don’t have a recognised verification letter. Easy, when you know how……not, it took me 4 months of rejects and phone calls to get to this stage and I’m just about to re-submit to DVLA now it’s all in place, so I’m not quite finished yet. I’ve still got the Autocar to do with no receipt for purchase as I’ve owned it for a long time so that’s going to be fun !!!!

Height wise 109 inches with the back canvas on, 93 inches without the back canvas and hoops, 89 inches if you take the cab canvas and hoop off and 84 inches if you fold the windscreen down which is the height of the body side panels/seats. 88 inches wide and 270 inches long for a 353 with winch. I have recently bough a 353 B2 open cab, the first GMC I have owned in many years and many military vehicles, it was 85% restored with all the hard work done so I'm just finishing it off and it will hopefully be on the road in the spring. I've been very impressed so far, easy to work on and not any more complex than a Jeep. Its not that large, but that's when its sat next to my Diamond T 969 and Autocar U8144 which I'm restoring as well !!!! Get the Tankograd book its about £14 online and the manual TM9-801 can be found for a free PDF internet download if you search around for it on the interweb.

Welcome aboard, I owned a WC63 once, restored it then sold it, selling it was worst thing I ever did !!!! :cry:

HI Jon Good to see it back in the UK safely, the look of it sat in your workshop will make all the hassle worth it. The GMC is progressing, body painted and back on, all good.

w896andy

It makes my Autocar restoration efforts look like a simple afternoons jolly, I look forward to the future blow by blow restoration pictures, very well done - mad - but very well done... :nut:

Next time I buy some paint from you I'm definitely going to double-check the colour before I put it in the spray gun !!! :nut::nut::nut:

81,000 miles in about 12 months (if its 2013) is an awful lot of miles to do in a 90 in a year !!:nut:

Michael Its US Light Olive from Jim Clark at Allied Forces. It sprays nicely too. He sells it by the 5 litre and keeps it in stock. I've got to go back to him in the next couple of days, I've just bought a GMC which needs spraying as well !!!!! :nut:

Tony Replied to you, thank you very much.

Mike Nice looking truck and something a bit different, look forward to seeing it finished.

I’ve done a bit more to the Autocar. I took the back hubs off to see what it looked like and make some space to remove the back springs later. They came apart very nicely, the brake linings were like new as are the bearings so I’ve stripped them right down for a paint and put back together. I also painted the cab frame and put it on the chassis for a trial fit. As you will see from the photo it makes an already ugly truck very ugly and very naked ! I have trail fitted some of the panels which the previous owners had made, unfortunately the large side panels have not been made to the right profile for the bonnet and the front grille meaning I’m going to have to find somebody with some panel bending skills to re-profile them.

Thanks for the info on the fifth wheels, that’s expanded my knowledge by about 800% on the subject now and all makes sense. Now if anybody can find the open box behind the cab and the tool box on the chassis between the wheels you guys will have solved all of my problems !!!!! The other thing I would like to know is can you still get the wheel studs/nuts, as those of you in the know will be aware there is a stud (which looks to be bolted to the hub), a threaded nut for the inner wheel and a nut for the outer wheel. A number of mine are wasted where the rust has got to them so will need replacing, I’ve been told I could get modern replacements as it’s a fairly common fixing ? Tony. I’ve dropped you an email re your euro contact for one. Jack. Good to see you are paying attention, please feel free to come out of retirement and come and have a look in the flesh, I’m only the other side of Glastonbury from you (an offer open to anyone). I’ll even make the tea and let you touch it as long as you don’t try and take it home in your pocket !!!

Trevor Sorry I know I didn’t explain it well. It looks like the chassis was shortened with a view to making it into a tractor unit but it never progressed from there so it never had the fifth wheel or the holes fitted. The trucks with the box bodies (picture below) were made the same as the tractor unit (apart from the winch) and even had a cross member in the same place as the tractor unit but the chassis on the box body was extended further back so cutting it short was an easy 10 minute job with no-doubt a big angle grinder. Thats why I'm also missing the open box behind the cab which is used on the tractor which I also need to find/get made.

Guys, thanks for your replies. Tony, I’ll follow up on the steering wheel, as you can see mines a bit too far gone !!. Regarding the fifth wheel coupling my chassis has not been drilled as it was a box van so I will be able to mount any fifth wheel and drill holes where I need to, but of course I’d prefer an original one if I can find one. Apart from the pictures in the Tankograd book the only information I’ve been able to find is that it appears the two types were fitted as the supply was available so either could have been put on but Drayton seems to be the one I’ve seen the most of. The difference in both of them from a standard fifth wheel seems to be that they both tip side to side as well as the usual front to back, I assume because of the off road potential of the truck and the need for it to move both ways. From a practical point of view because I won’t be using it off road I could fit a standard modern fifth wheel if I had no other options. , The pin size on the trailer is standard on them all right up to modern times so they should all be interchangeable. The parts diagram of the coupling in the Tankograd book is taken from the U7144 manual and seems to be a Drayton, I have bits of the U8144 parts book which I have copied below, it shows the fifth wheel from a different angle than Tankograd but also seems to be a Drayton looking at the base plate. What’s your knowledge on the subject ? I’ve also got the semi-trailer, the picture below shows it as found in a wood yard and is complete with dolly, its American (you can’t see the back wheels but they are American style) and 1940’s, possibly civilian rather than pure military and it’s been a bit messed about with over the years but I can un-do that and the chassis is solid with no major work needing doing Pete/Bryan Thanks for the leads on a spring rebuild that’s very helpful, I’ll give them a call to discuss.

A number of years ago I was lucky enough to come across an Autocar U8144 by chance, I had no intention of buying anything like it but, I got carried away and well before I knew it, it was on the back of a lorry heading for home…. As I’m been busy with a number of things including building my house for the last few years I’ve not had time to touch it, now however the time has come. I was also prodded into action by firstly a friend of mine, Paul rebuilding his Jeep in my barn who has kindly offered to help me and secondly a chance conversation over a beer on Jim Clark’s stand at W&P this year with somebody very close to this forum (you know who you are) who it seems likes Autocar’s a lot and made it clear that I needed to get on and get it running or he would never speak to me again. So to you two gentleman, this is for you and it’s all your fault !!!!!! Its reasonably intact, was stripped down to its chassis with all of the running gear, brakes etc. including the original petrol engine in place and working. All of the cab frame, panels, radiator, grille, interior, etc. came with it in bits. It’s just missing the large open topped equipment box which sits behind the cab, the stowage box on the side underneath, the headlamps and fifth wheel coupling all of which I will no-doubt have to get made as I’m not likely to be able to find them anywhere. The truck seems to have a bit of a story behind it, it appears to have started life as a U8144 with a box body on the back, from the pictures I’ve seen these were very large, very high and very long, in fact too high to fit into any of my barns. It seems at some stage it has had the rear chassis cut back to convert it into a Pontoon tractor unit, which of the ones built were the most numerous. The box truck didn’t have a winch on the front but the Pontoon tractor did. A stroke of luck happened during one of those chance conversations as somebody else had a winch and all the bits but wanted a plain non-winch front end for his. Parts duly swapped I can now have it looking correct. The original petrol engine runs but had to come out as I wanted to grit blast and re-paint the chassis properly so a lot of soul searching took place regards putting it back in or converting it to diesel. It was a case of 2-3mpg with the petrol or about 10-ish and better reliability with a diesel. After a conversation and a lot of help with the expert on these things Mike Gillman (tootallmike) who does this type of thing for a living it’s been agreed that he is going to source a Cummins 6BT diesel, mate it to the original gearbox and fabricate the engine mountings to match the originals on the truck. That way I can have a truck I can use, keep the petrol engine in the shed and if ever in the future somebody wants to put it back to original it can all be swapped back. The work so far is really pictured below, the idea was to get the chassis painted before the winter arrives and get it into my workshop on stands which I have completed today. I can now work on the chassis, suspension (the rear springs need rebuilding), brakes etc. and then await the engine in the new year, then start the cab rebuild and get the missing bits made before fitting it all together and painting it all again with the rest of the 5 gallons of olive drab I’ve just purchased from Jim at Allied Forces. It all sounds simple, which I know it won’t be but you have to enter into these things full of positive optimism !!! If anybody has any leads on the missing bits I need including the Dayton or Austin fifth wheel coupling and a set of 12.00 x 20 bar grips plus a supplier who can re-build leaf springs please let me know, of course as always any other comments constructive or otherwise always welcome.

Was in Paris over the weekend, saw a convoy of around 40 mainly American Half-Tracks, GMC's, Dodges and Jeeps with some 'captured' German vehicles and some FFI trucks moving at a reasonable pace through the city. All with plenty of fully kitted out troops of many types including FFI, french police, etc. hanging off of every corner of each vehicle, looked great, must have been for the 70 anniversary of the liberation of Paris.

On the M5 heading south near Weston Super Mare a FC101 and sankey being driven and then a Diamond T wrecker and GMC on the back of a low-loader, no idea where they were going

Just to add my bit in as well, yes I had the same problem when doing it the other way round and taking an old plate off my 1946 BSA and putting it on my everyday Range Rover, I have owned the BSA for 30 years but still had to MOT it before they would allow the plate to come off.

Trevor Yes, they are the ones on X-MOD but still an eyewatering price at £280 for a pair and could well be where PastParts were trying to get them from I guess ? The AC site shows the same set up but there are different sizes that Girling seemed to make, the Sankey Trailer one are 10 inch by 1 3/4 inch brakes and the AC ones seem to be larger so the expanders maybe different.

A bit more digging around and found out they are Girling and the their part number is GB42705, I can also cross reference that to a military part number NSN 2530994004758. Therefore it is likely that they fit a civilian trailer from the 60's or 70's and were standard-ish Girling part but I can't find anybody who has them. There was one on ebay a while back for £20 which is much more like it price wise. You are right although they are seized I could free them off but I have a stud which secures it to the back plate broken and they are pressed in so I need to sourced at least 1 if not 2 (I haven't dare look at the other side yet !!!) I guess in another few years when there is a demand as they all break (there must be hundreds of Sankey trailers out there) they will be made again like Jeeps parts and be easy to get !!!!!:cry: