bobs1918

Good day today .mounted the two front tires and installed inner wheel bearings. The bearings had been seized on the axles and required a lot of pressure to separate them. To reinstall them we spent several hours honing the inner aspect. Interesting is that 3 of the 4 wheels were Firestones the 4th was either Goodyear or Goodrich There was a "G" on the bolts and this one had straight bearings The Firestones had tapered bearings. The wheels them selves were slightly different as well the "G" wheel has the tire mounted slightly offset from center. The Firestones also have a slot that the rim slides into when mounting. Both are retained on the wheel by a wedge inside and out which itself is held fast by the outer rings. These are hold the wedges and when drawn in seat the wedges and center ,or in the case of the "G" wheel, slightly off center the mounting of the rim tire assembly

getting there. Wheels are also painted and hope to mount tires this week

Thanks I did use a 2mm gun for that PLUS I used a respirator for painting. The fact that the blaster operated as he did well it was his business his responsibility my thoughts as well

Came to me

Perhaps on the outside edge but I will reexamine when I get o the technical/mechanical part of the project.

Thanks Hope to have it all prepped for paint in a week. Need to get the wheels completely painted and then mount the rubber so the truck can be moved from present location to my home for mechanical work to commence. Will continue with updates as it moves along

Back to work o the FWD. Had it sandblasted . The guy who did it spent 6 hours on it and still left much for me to do. Once it was done I had to get some primer on the bare metal or else well you know what can happen. Here are some pictures before and after blasting . Interesting is that a previous owner reversed the tailgate for no apparent reason. Easy to put it right. Note the picture with the sides lowered. ALso missing the two middle stantions on the body . Will have to fabricate them. I used and epoxy primer seasler. Messy as hell and clogged two guns. Anyone have a better choice for priming??

I believe that these are original to the truck I have seen other photos with the panels I believe when the side gates are dropped down a stake is placed in the ground and under the wooden panel to give extra support to the side gate

That makes little sense to me . There were multiple tire/wheel makers I for one have 3 firestone and 1 goodyear on my truck and rims are slightly different. and do NOT interchange. Maybe the plan is to make rims and tires for the Liberty truck which IS standardized. That still leaves a LOT of trucks out of the loop.

Hi Barry Firstly the cost was about 1100 USD per tire.Plus the cost to ship the rims 360 USD and then to ship the completed tires back to me 500 USD I provided my clean rims with old rubber removed. The company is the only one in the US that still makes molds to process these tires. Not sure what the molds are made out of. One set of molds for a set of 4 tires. The wait time was about 1 year. Still waiting for the sand blaster to blast my wheels so that I can paint and then mount the tires. The excess rubber that you see was shaved down before the tires were shipped to me. . Thanks for your kind comments Bob

After waiting in the que for over 1 year the FWD now has new tires courtesy of the Canton Bandag Co. of Canton Ohio. They reproduce the Overman Cushion brand of hard rubber tires. In the next few weeks we should have the wheels sandblasted and painted , bearings seals installed and tires mounted on the wheels. Here is a picture of the new tires and a reminder picture of my truck which has a pretty rare mobile machine/repair truck body also pictured

Well then from 69K to asking 45K getting to a point that someone may take the plunge!

The FWD still not home as I await the solid rubber tyres installed on my rims. . 8 months since the rims were delivered . There is only one company in the States that does this and there have been some labor issues at the company. I have been assured that they are in the works! For now I have taken on 2 small projects to keep me occupied. Thanks to Tim who supplied an original example of the valve spring shroud I was able to have molds made and a set of valve spring shrouds cast. Several hours of finishing and they came out very well. Now they will need to be final fit to the engine. Second project was fabrication of the louvered engine panels which were missing. I had the smaller ones so the size of the louver could be ascertained. Patterns were made and a California speed shop made the panels. To keep them rigid there is an 1/8 inch steel rod which surrounds the panel and the lip of the panel is folded over to retain the rod. Again I was pretty please with the result. After peening the lip over the rod I used an offset vise grip type tool for the final crimp

This was posted on Facebook group I am in. It is in Luxembourg. Asking price is 69 K USD I'm out!

Hello Adrian GREAT find in my opinion LEAVE the bike as is . It is only original once and ww 2 paint is way off. For correct ww 1 paint you would need to have it custom blended. Once again a terrific survivor that would be best refurbished and not "restored" bob

After many hours was able to remove the wheels from the axles. The bearings would not slide off It took the use of three porta-power hydraulic devices to force them off.

Hello there Terry Yes the pattern cover came from Tim Gosling a member of this forum and a superb restorer . Tim I will post it back to you when I have it in my possession. Waiting for the rims to be returned with new rubber. It has been 3 months wait time and still not ready> only ONE company here in the states is doing hard rubber tyres and the wait time is normal for them. In the mean time truck is up on a dolly and can be moved on a railroad track. IT has been difficult to remove the wheels as the bearings are not cooperating. will try hydraulic porta-power this weekend.

Found a great fabricator in California, home of speed and custom shops. He was able to fabricate the missing engine panels.I still need to make a frame of 5mm round steel rod. The panel is then rolled around it and it gives the panel rigidityStill in the shipping box. It took a long time to find someone to make these for a reasonable price.

OK I was wrong The manual does show a Stewart model 131M as original equipment..........So a little hunting led me to a very reasonable example Maybe not THE speedo but nobody will know. Sorry it is upside down.

Yes That is a civilian brochure.Likely after ww 1 . Here is cover of the US Army 1917 manual

OK really into the wheel project. All the rims are ready for new rubber. I need to wrap them up and send to Canton Ohio . We sorted out how to recondition the rim wedges. Made a steel jig to the correct diameter . Apply heat small section at a time and then bend twist raise or lower AND beat with body hammer to reshape. Two man job but got 2 of the 4 wedges almost back to shape. Found that the one odd wheel is not Firestone but must be made by a company beginning with letter G as all of these bolts are G marked

Good day today. The last two tires were removed from their rims. Interesting find is that one rim was different than the other three. The coned surface for the wedge is offset that is not centered. Never the less that will be used as that is what we have. Also today clutch is operational and foot brake is also functioning. Waiting for a break in the weather to sandblast chassis then we can get into the engine.

OK got the last two tires removed Quite a battle to remove the wedges Good picture of the Firestone name inside the rim

Did you get a whiff of it? The wind was blowing to the east!

good view of the inside of the rim which shows the bevel into which the wedge is driven. Also shown is the modification we found whereby the rim and the wheel were "locked " together . A large keyway was made on the rim and a key was affixed to the wheel . This was found on 3 of the 4 wheels. Also shown is how we removed the old rubber. A slot was made in the old rubber with a sawsall. Heat applied underside of the rim and the rubber was cleanly peeled from the rim . A fork lift applied a constant pressure which aided in the peeling . 2 down 2 to go!