welbike Posted March 14, 2021 Author Share Posted March 14, 2021 (edited) 2018 now, and working on the lamps, had found a pair of K-D lamps, with the wrong bracket at the Malvern jumble, so took those off. Didn't make any before pictures! but the shells are the right ones. Here the various parts, I had found on Ebay some bigger K-D lamps, with the right mounting brackets, so removed those, and welded the holes in the right shells, very thin material! Brackets needed some reprofiling to fit the radius. Made some new rivets on the lathe. And re-rivetted the brackets, not as easy as it looks! And the finished lamps, well pleased, as this seems to be the most difficult part to find!! Another shot, the glass lenses are not the right ones, have them waiting in London right now, will get them here in April. Alex Edited January 2, 2023 by welbike additional info 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welbike Posted March 17, 2021 Author Share Posted March 17, 2021 (edited) Here some recent pictures of the front lamp (rear is the same), also note all bolts have the C embossed on them, for Clark, much like Ford "F" marked bolts, but much more difficult to find! these now have the correct glass lenses fitted. Lex Edited March 17, 2021 by welbike additional info 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 You've done a remarkable job Lex! Ron 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OzH Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 What a great thread on a not so common vehicle..! Great work! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welbike Posted March 26, 2021 Author Share Posted March 26, 2021 No, not so common, only about 4000 made, but still due to it's smallness quite a few survivors, but most of them never saw action, the last ones built, were sold as war surpus in 1946 in the US. So on to the steering handles, had several spare ones, and chose the best ones, and blasted and painted them, only to find out I forgot to straighten them! so did it afterwards, paint not damaged too much. Also straightened the seat supports, they are a bit fragile, and always bent, especially when the big hook of the winch is attached to the seat, and then the winch cable rolled up too tight! More small stuff blasted. Then the ballast boxes, had them powder coated, about ten years ago, after some welding, but this was alread going rusty a bit, so some sandblasting, and sanding, and a special clear 2 pack primer was used to get good adhesion, and the next day a final coat of O.D. now only to make one more inspection cover! Seems early models had 2 covers, and late 3 ? Here the left one, still have to fit the covers. Beginning to look like something now! Fitted steering tillers, was some modifications done to them, but is all OK now, but cannot get them adjusted evenly, the left goes about 3/4" more forward then the right, we'll see if this is a problem later. Lex 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terra1936 Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 Very nice work. Are all of the winch parts there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welbike Posted March 27, 2021 Author Share Posted March 27, 2021 (edited) Thanks! yes, all the parts are there but I had to fabricate the winch handle, see previous page for that, but now someone in the US is making reproductions! Lex Edited March 27, 2021 by welbike additional info 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welbike Posted May 25, 2021 Author Share Posted May 25, 2021 Ok, I'll make a little update, as I'm far behind here! this was April 2018. Here's what was left of my battery box, checked it on the drawings, that I had scaled up: And then had one made by a friend, came out very nice!! And painted; So for now a repro seat installed, original still needs more restoring and painting, and canvas upholstery to be fitted. More in the next post. Alex 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welbike Posted May 25, 2021 Author Share Posted May 25, 2021 Fast forward to 2021, and I just got an original batterybox top in, very happy with it, but probably too rusty to use as is?? Repro top will be going to the US it seems. Lex 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welbike Posted June 17, 2021 Author Share Posted June 17, 2021 So, also the hydraulic rams and supports were painted (they had been refurbished years ago by a friend of a friend) and the first test ride was succesfully done in May 2018, on one run we almost ended up in a watery ditch!! in fourth it really flies, so now we got a nickname for it! "Deathtrap" Then back with other stuff, a friend kindly refurbed the valve block, it had some play, and the bore was rusty, so it was honed out, the TM states never to do this!! haha, but today we have more modern methods, so the plunger was metal sprayed and turned down again for a perfect fit, the seal that was in there, was the old leather type, en completely shot, and difficult to find in that size, so the retainer was opened up a little, so a metric seal with double lips could be fitted, well actually two are fitted, and glued in, so should be OK. So that out of the way I concentrated on the rams and supports, this was all straightforward. Then a little more welding on the blade, plus attaching the carrier for the dataplate, and all blasted again, and in primer and OD. And fitted!! More next, Lex 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welbike Posted June 17, 2021 Author Share Posted June 17, 2021 So in June 2018 I had a look at the side panels, and decided they were too far gone and cut some new ones, the r/h side has a bulge for the governor, so that needed done too, don't copy the sizes from the picture, as they are not good; I got the right sizes from Christopher in the US (contact me if you need them); Then I made a simple pressing tool from wood, as I was only making one. This went reasonably well, and all was blasted/primered/painted again. Also in the meantime (for clarity not everything is chronological) I added the wiring, for the moment a self made harness, when I have some more money to spare I might order one from VWM. Note fuze holder, as per original. Still on the "to do" list, check if it charges, might have some wires switched on the ammeter, but the battery lasts months before a recharge is needed, so maybe it does charge. More next. Lex 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpsmit Posted June 17, 2021 Share Posted June 17, 2021 Looks fabulous! As I was looking at the blade I recalled a story a friend told me years ago about his father. His father was working on the construction of the Alaska Highway when they cracked a dozer blade. The father said he could repair it before a new one arrived - the foreman took the bet. He did get it repaired over an entire weekend - but what he really wanted (and got) was a weekend's worth of overtime pay. The goal was never the blade. 😆 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welbike Posted June 27, 2021 Author Share Posted June 27, 2021 Well, then we get sort of into July 2018, and at the end of the month the plan was to take the Clark to the big War & Peace show in the UK, there was some little room left on a friends truck, in front of his Studebaker Weasel. This left an overal respray to do, with everything now together, and do the markings and seat canvas, and adding the fantastic dataplates, made by Robert from https://dataplates4u.com/ he still hasn't sent me the bill, but more are on order, he also recreated the font for the USA number, I was very picky with that! I also took it to a little local tractor show, and it performed flawlessly there, but still no hydraulics! Let the pictures speak for themselves; And at the W&P show in the UK, on the day we left, it got soaking wet!; OK, more soon, Lex 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welbike Posted June 27, 2021 Author Share Posted June 27, 2021 Then we've arrived in August, and got a big box in from Christopher in the US, with a lot of missing parts! all (but the rear ones) metal hydraulic lines, a bit bent and battered, but very usable, also the towing hitch, did not have a good one, and this one's perfect. all was worked on and blasted and painted. seat was also restored, only a new round bar installed, as the other one was too bent to straighten out. And the seat canvas was duly finished after a lot of pestering, and then I was not entirely satisfied with the cushion, so modified that again! (too thick and not rounded off, and modern staples on the bottom) Pffft, more tomorrow I guess! Lex 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terra1936 Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 Looks like a million bucks! Great work! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rootes75 Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 It looks great, I really like seeing different types of military vehicles and things that I would consider more unusual. Keep up the good work. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welbike Posted June 28, 2021 Author Share Posted June 28, 2021 Thanks guys! only about 3500 made, but still a lot of survivors, but not many that were in war zones, like this one! (Southern France, operation Dragoon) Cheers, Lex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welbike Posted July 26, 2021 Author Share Posted July 26, 2021 So now it's 2019, and I still haven't finished the Dozer! Had to wait for the proper rubber hose for the hydraulics, and that came in recently, together with the cold weather, so it will take some time, before I fit anything, did get the scraper plate wear pieces painted and trial fitted, just need some bolts shortening, and a weld ground down, then I can fit them properly, but all holes line up nicely. Then the hose stuff, I did not want to go with the modern hoses, I had over the years collected everything to make the original stuff work, exept one set of compression couplings, and I did buy a whole wreck for that!! It does have nice tracks though, so I will keep those! Here some more stuff how the couplings work. The make of the couplings is Eastwood but have not been able to find any parts on the loose anywhere, was difficult to get the brass compression "tubes" off the old hoses, but did manage. So this is all ready to assemble now, but have to figure out the lenght of the hoses used. More later, Lex 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex van de Wetering Posted July 27, 2021 Share Posted July 27, 2021 Lovely work Lex. I like you dedication to find the correct and original parts, even if it takes a couple of years. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welbike Posted September 15, 2021 Author Share Posted September 15, 2021 Another problem I ran into is that after the valve block was fitted to the oil tank, this metal line doesn't fit!! as all these parts come from different machines it's maybe understandable, but still very strange, and don't know what to do with it, except make a longer tube. Have an idea, that more to the front the line was shortened, as the weld looks different where it meets the crosspipe. so I may have to alter that! Cheers, Lex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welbike Posted September 15, 2021 Author Share Posted September 15, 2021 Ok, so where was I ?? the too short hydraulic line, in the end I found out, was OK, I just had fitted it wrong, the brackets had been extended upwards, so I cut them down, and used the original lower holes, now everything fitted OK! Also fitted original choke cable outer wire, inner is a replica. Original knob had broken off years ago. And the right size stencil had arrived, 1 3/4" high, as per originals, not 2" as I had them made before, this I still have to change, even now we're in September 2021! Lex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welbike Posted September 15, 2021 Author Share Posted September 15, 2021 Also restored a WW2 toolbox, and cut some stencils for it, to put in the ballast box, it just fits! Also bought a lot of old tools, with big sizes. Lex 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrEd Posted September 15, 2021 Share Posted September 15, 2021 What a wonderful thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welbike Posted September 15, 2021 Author Share Posted September 15, 2021 Thanks Mr. Ed! here a current picture of the toolbox in the Clark's ballast box, it was made to put sand or stones in, to get the weight up, when moving a lot of earth! They are also called "sandboxes" and the outside panels are hinged, to quickly lose the ballast, but have never seen any period pictures of them being filled, too much work I guess!! Not sure what they put in/on it in this period picture?? Lex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrEd Posted September 15, 2021 Share Posted September 15, 2021 7 hours ago, welbike said: Thanks Mr. Ed! here a current picture of the toolbox in the Clark's ballast box, it was made to put sand or stones in, to get the weight up, when moving a lot of earth! They are also called "sandboxes" and the outside panels are hinged, to quickly lose the ballast, but have never seen any period pictures of them being filled, too much work I guess!! Not sure what they put in/on it in this period picture?? Lex Looks like a concrete block maybe? what a fascinating vehicle 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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