My Former WC51 "Flying Control Dodge" - A New Chapter

[Jessie The Jeep]

While the epoxy was setting, my daughter's child seat was fitted back into the Dodge. It now sits much lower down than before, so she can see what's going on during a trip out and is probably further out of the draft from the cab roof. She currently still fits the modern child seat which fastens into this dummy B-17 pilot's seat, but before long, we're going to have to make a new padded seat and back rest. The four point harness is attached to the seat frame, as the modern seat relied on using the car seat belt. Before locking up the garage, all the bolts were given a coat of olive drab.

Once the epoxy had cured sufficiently to hold the wooden blocks in place, the bars were de-rigged and taken back to the workshop where they were drilled for some self tapping screws. The screws were a little reluctant to cut through the 3mm steel, so a UNC thread was cut into the metal with a tap and that gave the screw the help it needed to start threading itself. With the screws in, both blocks were given a coat of olive drab and may need one more before they have good coverage. Other than some stowage for the bars and mounting the pioneer tool rack ( probably to the left of the seat ), I think it's all done. I can't wait to get the Dodge and Jeep out and do a little photoshoot with it all set up.

[Jessie The Jeep]

December 24th - Crane Storage

While many are winding down and relaxing in preparation for Christmas, I've still been busy with the Dodge, pushing it towards completion for hopefully a trip out in a few days. Two hardwood rests were cut for the bars.

They will be screwed to the locker lids but won't prevent the lids from opening. With the rear rest mounted right at the back of the locker lid, it doesn't stop anyone from sitting on the bench seat if the crane is mounted rather than stored.

[Jessie The Jeep]

The crane head tucks in between the rest and the front of the truck bed. There's probably enough weight in them to keep them there, but if needed, I'll add something to hold them down.

The rests were trimmed down and then given a coat of olive drab. The first coat is always a bit thin, so they probably need a second coat. They are currently baking in my curing cabinet.

[Jessie The Jeep]

December 25th - Finishing Touches

After Christmas present opening was over and there was a lull before the family descended for Christmas dinner, there was time to finish off the crane installation. The last job was a quick ten minute task to fit the crane bar supports. Just two woodscrews in each one, hold them in place. Two small holes were drilled through the locker lid, countersunk on the rear.

The bar rests were held in place and a pilot hole for the screws drilled through the lid and into the rest which then allowed the screws to be easily fastened in.

Edited December 26, 2021 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Even with the bars in place, the rear locker can still be accessed if needed. I keep a few spares and fluids in that locker and will probably empty the rear right locker to keep the chain hoist and shackle in. They'll be easily accessible from that locker.

I need to look for a shorter tool box which will probably go in the front left locker. The long tool box I had, used to live under the false floor along with the spare wheel. That is too long to fit in any of the lockers and I don't want it on show. Now I just need a dry day to get the toys out for some pictures.

[Jessie The Jeep]

Dodge Crane Photoshoot - December 30th

On Thursday 30th, after several days of rain, it was finally dry enough to take the Dodge out for some photos of the completed crane. I started to get the Dodge and Jeep out of the garage at 9am and everything was out and assembled just before 10am, when Andy was due to arrive. He was coming along so there'd be more than just me in the pictures. I planned a local drive, a little over 14 miles, around some familiar stops and a few new places. I assembled the crane at home as the first stop wasn't far away, so if there had been any issues with it rigged while moving, it wouldn't be long before a safe place to stop.

All was well however, with the crane rock solid. At the first stop, the Jeep was brought up close behind and the crane lowered into position for a fake engine change. One day, this may happen for real, but I need to test it on increasing weights first. 

[Jessie The Jeep]

At the next stop, our camping gear "ammo boxes" were the next items to swing from the chain. I'd found some parachute harness webbing which had been used to fit the very first child seat in the Dodge. It still had some steel hardware on the ends and it made an excellent strop around the two ammo crates.

Doing some loading, unloading and transferring to different vehicles will be great for events like the Beamish show where we can drive around and set up at different locations. I'll have to make some lifting accessories to suit different loads and possibly a load spreader for engine lifting.

[Jessie The Jeep]

It was quite a mild day and we were lucky to see the sun after so much rain, though the ground was very muddy under foot. My daughter spent some time in the Dodge before switching to the Jeep and then back to the Dodge again. I'd given her my little action-cam, hand held, shooting some video. From that video, I took several stills of the trip.

[Jessie The Jeep]

Only a few of the stopping places had any kind on hard or gravel surface while the others did pose some challenges to stay on our feet. Now that I've seen the Dodge outdoors, I'm very pleased with the look. It seems quite well balanced visually and in the travel position, doesn't stick up too high above the canvas.

[Jessie The Jeep]

It will be even better once I have a dummy propeller to hang from the crane, or perhaps even a Willys Go-Devil engine crate to set up an engine change diorama. After all the effort through December, it was great to see the crane finished and outdoors further than the garage door!

[Jessie The Jeep]

It had been a great morning, with us out for around 90 minutes to do the 14 miles covered. While it had been a mild day, a nice warm coffee was required before I considered putting the vehicles away.

Before I packed away however, I thought it best to give the vehicles a wash down. The gritters had been out just before Christmas and while I was hoping all the rain would have washed it away, I wanted to be sure they were salt free.

Further pictures can be found here - https://www.sacarr.co.uk/mymvs/events/2021/crane_photoshoot.htm

[Jessie The Jeep]

January 6th - Dodge Canvas Repairs

I don't know how old the Dodge canvas is, but it probably dates back at least to Norwegian Army service. There's a few small wear holes in it, but overall, it isn't too bad. One of its main problems was that three of the buckles on top were missing - the leather buckle straps having snapped long before I got it. Two of the cab canvas buckle straps had also snapped at some point and new straps sewn onto the leather patch, rather than un-sewing it and using rivets as it originally had been.

A friend had a spare buckle on a patch which he posted to me. It may have been from a GMC or different model of Dodge, as the patch shape was different to my WC51 canvas. This was going to be a doner for the rear right fixing. I'd also bought some leather belt blanks to make some new roof straps to replace those missing from the bows. I hadn't found any originals in the UK and those in Europe cost a fortune, before shipping and import duty. As the bow metalwork isnt original ( I think it's Norwegian ), I wasn't worried about the straps not being 100% authentic, especially as this was considerably cheaper.

As you probably noticed from the pictures taken while I was out driving, I've only had the front corner of the canvas rolled up. Once these repairs were done, I'd be able to roll up the canvas side properly and secure it. Here's the original fixing with the snapped leather strap and the doner patch and buckle.

[Jessie The Jeep]

The rivets were ground off the doner buckle with a mini drill and stone wheel and also off the snapped strap remains on the roof. This separated the buckle and its strap from the patch. This was a test to see how well/easy it would be before I went hacking away at the other two! I still have the other two snapped straps to cut free and I'm waiting for two replacement buckles and some leather rivets to arrive in the post.

The leather belt blanks were also cut to length, ready for the bows, but I'm also waiting for some hardware to attach them. The leftovers from the belt blanks will be used to attach the new buckles to the front of the canvas. Once repaired, I'll have a full set of buckles to hold the rolled up canvas.

[Jessie The Jeep]

January 7th - Buckle Straps

Another small step forwards on the canvas repairs. When I ordered the leather straps, I actually ordered one more than I needed by mistake. Two was enough for the six straps needed, but it was a couple of weeks before when I worked out the lengths needed and when I came to ordering, bought three in error. It turned out just as well, as this gave me spare material to replace the missing front buckles. I hadn't realised the two front ones were missing initially.

Two new lengths were cut for the front buckles and were folded in half and fed into my bandsaw to cut the centre slot. For many years I've had a leather punch, which I think belonged to my granddad. I've never needed to use it until now but the cutters were still sharp and made nice clean holes in the straps, ready for the new buckles.

[Jessie The Jeep]

January 10th - Buckle Repair & Tie-Up Straps

I found some small D-rings on Ebay which were pretty cheap. They aren't the right shape, but wanted the canvas useable as soon as possible. These will do for now until I can make a proper set. The gloss, gunmetal finish was scrubbed off with fine wire wool and they were then given a couple of coats of olive drab.

The last of the bits and pieces arrived in the post today, so late afternoon, I set to work. The new buckles were slotted onto the straps I made and riveted into the canvas. They weren't a bad match for size and shape of the original buckles. I'm sure they'll dull down and I can always give them a light wire wool to help that process. The third and original strap was also riveted in place, giving me a full set of buckles across the whole canvas.

[Jessie The Jeep]

The six canvas straps, that hold the roof canvas when the sides are rolled up, were next. They were riveted onto the D-rings firstly. These rivets can be cut off when I get around to making the proper rectangle fittings. I'm going to have to mount these onto the wooden bow, rather than the metal curved corner piece. Other photos I've seen are mounted through the lower hole in the curved metal corner of the bow. The metalwork on my Dodge is I think Norwegian, and the metal is split into front and rear halves. There's a joint down the outer edge where the two pieces meet and where the original mounting hole was located.

The ends of the leather were cut to a point and then I started the long job of punching out the holes for the buckles, based on a picture of an original for the hole spacing. One done, five to go.

[Jessie The Jeep]

All the holes were marked out in pen first and then the slow job of punching out the holes began. After each punching, I had to pick out the leather waste from the tool. Unfortunately the tool has a blind hole, so the waste couldn't be poked out from the other side, but had to be picked out with a scalpel blade.

At some point, I'll probably invest in a new canvas, possibly with a custom made rear curtain to accommodate the crane. This canvas would then return to being an overnight cover for the Jeeps at weekend shows. One of the straps is shown below, test fitted into the repaired rear buckle.

So I now have a repaired canvas and six new straps ready to be fitted, which is the next job. I'll try and do that inside the garage, but may have to take the garage door runner cross brace off to allow the full canvas and bows to be fitted.

[Jessie The Jeep]

January 11th - Tie-Up Strap Fitting

On the morning of the 11th, I went out to the garage to fit the straps. The two rear bows could be fitted between the garage door runner, though the centre brace would have to come off if I wanted to fit the canvas. The front bow is tucked between the Dodge and garage wall. With the woodwork, canvas curtain, first aid kit and fire extinguisher bracket, it's heavy and awkward to lift out of that position, so I didn't bother fitting it to the Dodge.

All the bows had existing holes from previous straps, though the holes were lower than the proper position, below the metal corner bracket. I fitted the straps to the front bow where it was, against the wall.

[Jessie The Jeep]

With holes already there, I didn't bother making fresh holes in the correct position. When I get around to making some proper strap fittings, I might look into drilling the metalwork for the proper location and plugging the current holes.

Since they'll be removed again at some point when I make some proper fixing hardware, I just used a little PVA glue to lock the threads for now. The excess bolt length will be trimmed off once those have dried. I think I'll have to get the Dodge out to try the canvas on, with the sides rolled up, as it will be easier than in the confined space of the garage.

[Jessie The Jeep]

January 12th - Canvas Fitting

Despite my last comment, I decided to try and fit the canvas on the Dodge inside the garage, partly to recheck the height in relation to moving the garage door lintel. The garage door track cross brace had to be removed as the truck is taller than the door runner. Then the heavy front bow was jiggled out of its position against the wall and into place on the Dodge.

That was easy compared to wrestling with the canvas in the confined space between the door runners to the side and roof trusses over my head, trying to stop it from sliding back off the bows as I fought it into position.

I got there in the end and rolled up the right side. All was well.

Edited January 13, 2022 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Despite the straps being mounted slightly lower than they should be, due to using the existing Norwegian holes, the canvas rolls up far enough to give a clear view to the side.

It enabled me to get a better sense of the clearance, or lack of, between the truck roof and the position of the garage door lintel, once raised to its new position. The string in the last picture marks the lower edge of the new lintel, which will be moved right up to roof truss height. It doesn't leave much room for a frame around the door. I'm probably going to go with outward opening wooden doors and a custom thin frame over the top, as the various styles of metal doors all seem to require at least a 2 inch frame over the top of the door, often due to the locking mechanism.

Edited January 13, 2022 by Jessie The Jeep

[Enigma]

Looking good. 

[Jessie The Jeep]

January 21st - Warning Sign
 
When I took the Dodge out for the photoshoot, Lynne was following me in the Jeep. That won't always be the case, so I wanted to make the end of the crane more noticable for truck drivers coming up behind me. The crane is too high to be an issue for cars. I didn't want anything modern, so made this red wooden disc that attaches around the end of the crane with a bungee. It's quick to remove once at a show and fits inside the rear locker with the other crane accessories.

[Jessie The Jeep]

March 19th/20th - Childseat Rework

Since 2015, the B-17 pilot's seat in the back of the Dodge supported my daughter's car seat. It fastened into the pilot's seat using the Isofix fittings and had a four point seat harness attache to the seat frame. By 2021, my daughter was getting a bit big for the seat, but we weren't out in the truck much, so it didn't matter too much. This year, I needed to do something about it. The picture to the left shows the B-17 pilot's seat and the childseat that fastened into it.

The pilot's seat was still big enough, but it needed a new seat cushion and backrest. I bought some foam locally and ordered some olive drab linen online to cover the foam. I'm not great at sewing, so wifey was recruited to work with me on this project.

Edited March 20, 2022 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

The base was made from two pieces of foam, a 4 inch sheet glued to a 1 inch layer. I needed a fairly thick layer so my daughter's legs would be high enough to avoid resting on the metal front edge of the pilot's seat. This was cut into a cushion approximately 20 inches square, with the rear corners rounded to fit into the seat.

Here's the base fitted into the seat. The backrest was going to be a 2 inch sheet. The base was the first piece started and the more complicated shape, due to the curves at the back and a chamfer at the front. The top, front and bottom material was one piece with two side strips that would fill the openings at the side and connect it all together.