Great War truck Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 Thanks for posting those. Definitely ex military. It has the US ordnance plate on the fire wall and an army tow hitch. Makes a great restoration project. Tim (too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mesquiteforge Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 Phase one and a half has begun..... moving the truck. Got it moved this week, it is now sitting outside our shop where we can begin a long project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minesweeper Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 Great stuff - and good luck with it! Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 At least you've proved the basic soundness, swing the beast up into the air. Be worth it though to see another old lady running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 Brilliant. Thats the easiest way to move them. We could have done with a handy tool like that on many an occasion. So whats the plan? Restore it to a military configuration or back to how it was last used. Good luck. I hope that you can post pictures of your progress. Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mesquiteforge Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 Brilliant. Thats the easiest way to move them. We could have done with a handy tool like that on many an occasion. So whats the plan? Restore it to a military configuration or back to how it was last used. Good luck. I hope that you can post pictures of your progress. Tim Somewhere in between....Military configuration as far as structure but with a different color scheme. I do not want to get ahead of myself though. I have a full time job that is more than full time-about 80-90 hours a week-so finding time to dedicate to this is going to be hard, but now that it is moved-I am anxious to get to work on it. It was last used by my great grandfather in his building material business in the late 1920's and early 30's. I want to research the dump bed a bit more, because if it is not correct I would like to turn it into a flat bed truck or a stake bed truck which would be more practicle-if such a vehicle could still actually have a practicle use in these modern times. Now is the time that I am really going to start putting this forum to its intended use. Thank you all in advance for all of your input. I will get more detailed pics of the engine compartment etc... when time allows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 Good luck. Do post any photos or queries and i am sure we will collectively be able to answer them all. You could of course restore it with the wooden general service type body on it. We have the plans and it would probably be the most useful type of body. Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FWDTEXAS Posted November 22, 2009 Author Share Posted November 22, 2009 Any idea when your relative got that truck? Check the right front fender for extra holes, from the look of the raditor guard this might just be a survivor of the Pancho Villa Punitive Expedition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mesquiteforge Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 Any idea when your relative got that truck? Check the right front fender for extra holes, from the look of the raditor guard this might just be a survivor of the Pancho Villa Punitive Expedition. That would be a great history for this vehicle, unfortunately-if memory serves me(confirmed with a bit of internet browsing) the Pershing Expedition to find/fight Pancho was 1916-1917 and the plate on my FWD is 1918.......too bad, so sad for me-that would have been a colorful history. I am doing as much research through family records as I can, but the resources are limited. My best guess is that my great grandfather purchased the vehicle from military surplus in the 1920's to use in his -then growing-sand and gravel material business in San Antonio. He was deeply involved in the growth of San Antonio, Texas' downtown area. He supplied masonry base materials for the construction of San Antonio landmarks such as the Nix Hospital, the Medical Arts Building (now the Emily Morgan hotel), Smith Young Tower and many more. In 1930, he sold the business and used the funds to buy my family's ranch about an hour south of San Antonio. My guess is that the truck was brought to the ranch around that time to assist in ranch work and construction. The only kink in that idea is that the ranch land he bought-used to be a townsite. The truck could have come from inhabitants of the town-which was named Crowther, Texas. Some New England developers planned on prosperity in South Texas, but after realizing that water was to deep to dig to, quickly abandoned the project. A railroad was planned through the town (Artesian-Belt Rail), the grades were built but track never made it that far South. Curbs and Sidewalks were poured and numerous businesses and homesteads were created. A few remnants of that time still exist today-possibly the truck being one of them...?????... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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