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A Dodge called Michigan


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recored Radiator arrived today. Hoping to get the engine running soon and put a video up on this forum.

Tomorrow we'll fix the front chassis rails which are slightly bent, something which is often seen on weapon carriers with a winch. After that it should be ready for sandblasting. Hope to get it sandblasted next week.

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Engine is almost ready to test, waiting on some small parts to arrive.

We had a look at the transfer case in the meanwhile.

 

Lots of old oil and grease but it doesn't seems to have been used much, gears look almost new.

Had a rebuild by the norwegian army in 1964.

Got some NOS oil seals for it. Need to soak them in oil before mounting.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Got the engine running last week. After adjusting the valve clearance it sounded like a proper T214.

No Oil or water leaks which is unusual for a first start.

Here's a link to a video of the engine running.

https://goo.gl/photos/BrqhtUfQe7vvXemX7

 

Transfer case is finished, i'm looking for some speedy sleeves for the yokes.

 

Started deassembling the transmission. Gears took quite a beating.. Luckily i've found a new set to replace the old ones.

Hand brake drum and lining look almost unused.

 

Found a correct late style 6V horn to go on the engine.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Chassis returned from the sandblaster. Put it in primer yesterday and hope to spray it olive drab tomorrow (if the Belgian weather permits :-D).

Cleaned out the PTO and put new oil seals in it. Gearbox is now fully done.

Removed all the remaining parts from the cab, it's in good shape, just some minor dents and no rot. Cowl vent needs to be fixed, spot welds seem to have come loose.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Frame has been painted and has dried for a few days. Now putting some parts back on. The engine and gearbox have to wait untill the Dodge is back on it's wheels.

 

Had to open up the PTO again, it was missing the reverse. The selector wasn't in the right position and so it couldn't shift into reverse gear.

 

Found a correct front axle (large one, with welded diff cover) to swap against my early bolted diff cover axle. Hope to collect it on saturday.

 

Rear springs have been cleaned and put in primer (they're both dated 1/17/44 which is nice, i estimated the DOD of the dodge as late january, early february 1944). A friend made some new bushings to put in the rear springs. Rear axle has been cleaned and put in primer. Hope to put these in khaki green soon and assemble on saturday.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Rear axle and rear springs have been painted and installed, pleased with the result. Waiting on the joints and seals to arrive to put it back together. :D

 

Front axle has been stripped of paint and degreased, waiting for some primer to be put on.

Front springs have been reassembled, they were quite greasy, unlike the rear springs..

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  • 3 weeks later...
Chassis returned from the sandblaster. Put it in primer yesterday and hope to spray it olive drab tomorrow (if the Belgian weather permits :-D).

Cleaned out the PTO and put new oil seals in it. Gearbox is now fully done.

Removed all the remaining parts from the cab' date=' it's in good shape, just some minor dents and no rot. Cowl vent needs to be fixed, spot welds seem to have come loose.[/quote']

Hey Niek,

can you give me the adress off the sandblaster.

is this Always incluiding the 2 Jupilers:cheesy:

Real nice job again.

keep the old stuff alive

 

regards

Wil

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Some more progress on the Dodge lately.

 

Front axle and springs are back in place, started assembling the front axle, had to replace all the oil seals with new ones.

 

Tyres arrived, hope to put them on the combat rims soon. New tyre tubes too.

 

Cleaned the shock absorbers and put them on the frame.

 

Some more parts arrived for the axles including NOS brake linings, new brake cylinders and some more oil seals.

Next up will be cleaning the brake drums and putting the linings on.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Been a while since last update, not much changed because of show season.

 

Installed the rear diff and rear drive shaft today.

 

Found a nice m24A1 machine gun mount and a .50 cradle to put on the Dodge. It had one installed at some point because it had the holes in the body for fitting one.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 year later...
  • 2 years later...

Well, time passes quickly...

About a year or 2 ago the DODGE project was put on hold, because some motorcycle projects came inbetween...
But we're back on track now! And we're really starting to see progress.

Long story short, the woodwork of the cargo body was a real pain.
We had to refabricate everything (including Bows, lazy backs, floor...),. Luckily we still had a pattern to work with.

A couple of weeks ago we prepared the DODGE for it's final layer of pain. We got a new supplier for paint, so the color is a bit different from what we started with. However i feel like it's a better match to the original paint we found and a lot easier to spray.

So here's where we are today, we fitted the bows and lazy backs and test fitted the canvas. Fitted the seats and completed the dash.
What still needs to be done:
-The wheels still need a layer of OD.
-Trailer socket needs to be fitted and wired
-Headlights/Blackout/marker lights/taillights need to be fitted.
-Headlight grilles need to be fitted
-Markings need to be applied.

As for markings: my friend (who's an expert on US vehicle markings) and me did some research.
We started with the original markings we found on the DODGE:
-Shipping stencils
- Really big invasion star (+gas detection paint)
- Caution left hand drive / NO SIGNAL (indicating this Dodge was in the UK for some time)
- The name ''Michigan''
- ??-736? on passenger side bumper and STAR ??9 on the driver side front bumper
-Bridge plate and POM code White-Yellow-White 49793
- USA 2219960 in blue drab and white

The POM-code is not in the known list, but combined with the 736 found on the bumpers we made a researched guess that Michigan belonged to 20th corps, 736 field artillery. A FA batallion using 8-inch howitzers/ M4 High speeds tractors. A DODGE WC52 would  be used in the Service battery or Headquarters. This We can't be 100% sure unless the POM-code can be deciphered.

I've decided to go with XX-736F SV-9. I'll be doing blue drab/ white numbers and big invasion star.
More to follow soon...

Niek





 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Well, another update.

Last batch of small parts has been painted. Only thing left to paint now is the wheels.
Assembled the windshield wiper motors. Also put on the pioneer rack, running boards,  jerrycan holders and rifle holder.

Now busy with the lights. Still missing a set of 6v sealed beams, seems like they're hard to find. Most european dealers don't seem to have them in stock... The electrics are almost done, just the trailer socket needs to be wired. i've wired the Dodge to the original schematic, so only 1 normal  tail/stop light and only have stop when switch is completely pulled out.

Correct font Blue drab hood number stencil has arrived, but i'm having trouble finding a correct shade of paint...

 

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Another day on the WC52. And the end of the project is in sight...

The replica sealed beam bulbs arrived today. When the Dodge arrived it had norwegian lights on them.
I still had one NOS Dodge headlight in stock, but had to buy one replica headlight housing.
I started with the replica headlight and installed the bulb, all went smooth.

Then i tried fitting the replica sealed beam to the original headlight. Aaaaaand it didn't work...
The replica bulb is tiny bit bigger and it won't fit correctly. Luckily i still had the working original bulb.

I tested all the electrics and was relieved to see that all is working as it should.
After the test i mounted the grille.
Below is  the end result of todays work.
Next up will be the markings.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Gathered all my courage today and started on the stencils.
First off is the blue drab hood number. I got my stencil from Dataplates4u in NL.
It's a perfect match to the original font. The blue drab paint came from Jemax which was made of a sample of original blue drab paint. Despite being a little on the cold side to do this kind of work, i think the result came out nicely.

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