New Hampshire CMP Barn 2011- 2012 HUP Overhaul

[Bob Carriere]

Hi Phil

Must have been awful breezy driving at -11 in an open cab....Brrrrr.....
even if only for a few miles.

You must have some Canadian blood in you !!!!!

Are you going to unload the HUP body on a temporary wheeled frame ....?

I think you have more energy than the 3 of us in Hammond....

Bob

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Bob

Yes it was a bit cold, but I had dressed in layers, looked a little like the Michilem Man. Maybe a bit of Canadian blood my mother came from a farm north of Saint Albans, Vt.

Haven't really decided how I'm going to work on the body yet. Considering a couple of options all depending on progress I make on the chassis, engine and the weather. If spring comes before the chassis is done I may take the body down to a local stone cutter/antique car restorer and have the body sand blasted.

I like this guy for this type of work as he has about 12 antique cars and knows how to clean paint off without damaging the metal. His primary business is as a monument engraver which is mostly done by sand blasting now.

What is kind of interesting about this guy is he learned his trade from his father who was a German stone mason, who emigrated to the US after being interned here in the States as a prisoner of war. Having been captured in North Africa, as a member of the Africa Corp. I met his father some 30 years ago when he came over to look at the HUP at one of the first shows I took it to. His father said he had seen a few of them before, as we talked it came out where.

If winter last two long I may turn the body on its side on the cargo body using the the trucks hydraulic arm and the chain hoist in the shop bay. If I can figure out the mid-line CG this might be the most practical.

Cheers Phil

[Phil Waterman]

Hi All

Today pulled the engine out of the chassis, must say it is a lot easier pulling the engine out of chassis rather than out with the body in place. But only easier if you have to body of for another reason.

Pictures below show the process, the engine balance rig is one I made specifically for pulling engine out of CMPs. When pulling engine with the body in place you need to remove the valve cover and position the balance bar down just clear of the valve train. The attachment points are the bolts holes on the top of the bell housing and down on the sides of the front engine mount. This makes the chains clear everything.

Engine is now sitting on an engine stand so that it can be cleaned, tested and moved around easily.

Cheers Phil

[Bob Carriere]

Amazing....!!!!

[Phil Waterman]

Hi All

Been busy out in the shop but a bit slow on posting activity, first I need to update the time lapse video photo video part of the problem is the size of the thing it is now comprised of over 2000 individual photos.

Visible progress has slowed down a bit as I have gone over to a work plan of cleaning parts as I remove them. Methods of cleaning parts could be a separate thread in the Restoration Forum what works and what doesn’t. Got a kick out of Paul’s M 37 resto in new brunswick with the pump on his parts cleaning system being dissolve by the cleaner.

I have been using, very hot water, Gunk and Kerosene, what has been working well though for small parts is boiling water and Arm & Hammer washing soda. Large electric fry pan with water and the washing boiling away and just put in the parts and let them boil while I working on other stuff. Then rinse with hot water and parts are generally free of oil, grease and in many cases most of the paint.

Since lifting the body off the chassis was prep to using the high pressure washer with hot water, had to wait until it was warm enough to do out side. Fortunately the weather cooperated with a day in the high 50s.

Once cleaned the chassis was pull back into the shop once again using the winch on the C60L. Then everything that can be unbolted from the frame has been removed.

Only repair work on the frame its self that had to be done was to straighten out the rear cross frame member which showed the evidence of several occasions of unwise attachment of towing chains. The two tow eyes designed for this purpose had been used to mount the turn signals, something I will correct when I reassemble. I considered two methods of repair, one replace the whole cross member the other was to cut straighten and re-weld, the results of cutting and welding look OK and is probably stronger than trying to replace all the rivets.

Rob (or any body else) did you find any crack problems on the frame that I should examine carefully? The frame seems to be quite rigid not like some frames I worked on where when you support the frame at the four corners you can lift one corner up without lifting any others. My frame passes this test, pick up one corner and other corner at that end comes up as well.

Has anybody found a serial number stamped on the frame of later HUPs my understanding is that it should be on the right side near the spring hanger under the drivers area. But I have not found any sign of a number and the area was still coved with paint.

As soon as I update my web page I’ll post the link

Cheers Phil

[RHClarke]

Originally Posted by Phil Waterman

Hi All...Only repair work on the frame its self that had to be done was to straighten out the rear cross frame member which showed the evidence of several occasions of unwise attachment of towing chains. The two tow eyes designed for this purpose had been used to mount the turn signals, something I will correct when I reassemble. I considered two methods of repair, one replace the whole cross member the other was to cut straighten and re-weld, the results of cutting and welding look OK and is probably stronger than trying to replace all the rivets.

Rob (or any body else) did you find any crack problems on the frame that I should examine carefully? The frame seems to be quite rigid not like some frames I worked on where when you support the frame at the four corners you can lift one corner up without lifting any others. My frame passes this test, pick up one corner and other corner at that end comes up as well.

Has anybody found a serial number stamped on the frame of later HUPs my understanding is that it should be on the right side near the spring hanger under the drivers area. But I have not found any sign of a number and the area was still coved with paint. As soon as I update my web page I’ll post the link. Cheers Phil

Phil,

I have not yet seen a serial number stamped onto a HUP frame. I stripped my frame down to the shiny metal and have been all over it like a fat kid on a candy bar. The only stamping I found was an "S" near the front of the truck on the outside of the frame.

Cracking - check the bolt holes in the frame that are located just under the partition wall of the cab. There is a tendancy for the older HUPs to develop cracks that run from the hole to the short side of the frame.

Rear cross member - my 45's rear cross member was pulled backwards which caused the end of the frame to pinch inwards. One of the previous owners welded a tow hitch to the rear rails and welded two support from the hitch to the inside frame rails just before the cross member. It was evident that they towed more than they should have... It took a bit of heating and hammering to get it back into something that looked OK. Considering that that cross member is rarely seen, a good coat of paint will make it look "normal".

The tow eyes are interesting. You should have gusset plates rivetted to the end of the frame rails. I posted photos of my 45's "eyes" and how I replaced the gusset rivets with round headed bolts. Please post a photo of your "eyes" - I want to see if they were as distorted as my 45's were.

Interesting work and great memories of my early restoration (great now, but not so great then...).

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Rob

Below are pictures of the two areas you mentioned the tow rings and the cross member area just under the driver back wall. I have not seen any evidence of problems, guess my HUP as lived a more sheltered life despite a lot of off roading. I guess I abused it in the way that it was designed to be used, as compared to the many HUPs that were made into tow trucks by local garages.

Next area of discussion I want to bring up is what I've found as paint colors. My frame was primed with black paint, possibly not true primer as it is a gloss black, this was over sprayed with a layer of Olive Drab which was unevenly applied some areas missed completely and others nearly an 1/8" thick.

It is obvious that the frame and parts bolted to it were sprayed OD before assembly then the whole underside was sprayed again once assemble. This is evident because the engine which was painted black had OD over spray shadow areas from the splash shields.

Transmission, bell housing, transfer case appear to just have been painted with OD. They had to have been painted before installation because there is paint in hidden areas.

Cheers Phil

Cheers Phil