42 Pilot Model HUP Project

[RHClarke]

It has been a very busy summer this year with little time to pay attention to the HUP Pilot Model. We did manage to pull the yellow HUP out of its shelter and did a survey of remaining work to be done. The big items to be done this summer are to remove the body from the frame and to get the engine turning over.

If you are interested in the state of this vehicle, I uploaded a small video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr96ff9SY5Y

The front bumper came off with very little effort (less one snapped bolt). It has the usual damage, but it is easily repairable. The two fuel tank protection plates and the tanks themselves came off with more than a little effort. A lot of the nuts were rusted and had to be chiseled off. The state of the fuel tanks were interesting. The driver side tank was rusted through near the bottom of the tank. The pax side tank was intact and contained about a gallon of old gasoline, which was disposed of in the most ecological manner possible... For the curious, yes the fuel tanks are same as in later model HUPs.

The running boards were also difficult to remove and both sides have significant rust damage, but again, this is easily repairable. At first glance the running boards look the same as the 42-44 HU running boards, but there is a difference. Two spacers were welded to the "L" brackets to lift the fuel tanks up to clear the running boards. Later model HU "L" brackets were made with slight changes so that the tank could sit properly.

The removal of the tanks and running boards makes working under the truck a lot easier as now we have better access to the underside. The body is held on by a series of eight (to be confirmed) bolts that go through the floor and upper flange of the frame. The bolts are long enough to accommodate a stiff spring, a washer and a square nut. The spring gives the body some movement if the frame twists.

The underside of the truck is rusty, and there are some areas of the floor plate that will need careful repair. The exhaust system is shot, but there is enough muffler left over to allow a family of mice to live in comfort. Their eviction notice has been given.

Sometime this weekend I hope to remove the nose from the front of the truck so that we can fiddle with the engine. Then we will pull the body from the frame and set it on another HUP frame for temporary storage.

More later.

Photos:

1 - Bumper assembly
2 - Fuel tanks - note hole in the bottom of left tank
3 - Running boards
4 - Easier access with boards and tanks gone
5 - Bolt and spring used to mate body to frame

[RHClarke]

Tuesday's weather was perfect for removing the Pilot Model HUP body. Bob and my son, Jesse hauled the Caldwell HUP frame from the wagon lines to the barn. This frame will support the Pilot Model body while I work on it.

Last weekend we removed the 10 bolts that secured the body to the frame. The bolts on both ends of the truck were about 8 inches long and had springs attached. Interestingly, the remaining six bolts were quite short and did not have springs. The body did not sit directly on the frame but was separated from it by some 1 inch thick, two by two inch square shaped gaskets that looked like they were made from an old conveyer belt.

The rear fenders were in surprisingly good shape (when compared to other HUP fenders I have played with...). There was some very thin metal remaining on the rear of the driver side fender and there was some expedient repair work done on the passenger side fender that will have to be removed and re-repaired.

After the fenders were removed and after most of the linkages were undone, we rigged the body with chain. Bob manned the tractor and we hooked the chains at a central point and began the lift. All went well (after we finally undid the remaining wire harness leads), and we rolled the frame from under the body. The only casualty was the shift lever that decided to get hooked up with the undercarriage. The reverse cam lever got a bit twisted, but was repairable.


Bob maneuvered the body onto the Caldwell frame, which eventually was rolled to the side of the barn. The Pilot Model frame was left outside of the barn door and will be cleaned up and stripped down this weekend. The next issue is to see what is keeping the engine from turning over.

Photos:

1 - Fenders off
2 - Body gasket
3 - Body gasket
4 - Dvr fender
5 - Pax fender

[RHClarke]

Some more photos from Tuesday:

1 - Bob and Jesse hauling the frame
2 - The under body has some rust damage - as was expected...
3 - Body off
4 - Frame
5 - My mechanics hard at work on the end product

[RHClarke]

I had assumed the worst case scenario with this engine given its refusal to turn over - even with a pry bar on the gear from underneath!

Removing the valve cover and the side panel revealed a lot of flaky rust that was easily removed with forced air. Two push rods were bent but the others seem to be straight - we will roll them on a flat surface later to verify their trueness.

As with most aspects of the truck tear down, the engine head came off quite easily - unlike my 45 HUP that had the two center pistons rust welded to the head. One of the pistons on the Pilot Model is really stuck, but the others seem to be OK. We will see when we pull the engine and take the bottom end off.

More later!

Photos:

1 - Side shot
2 - Side panel
3 - Shot of the head - after I breathed on the camera...
4 - Block
5 - Block again

[Brian Gough]

Hi Rob,

Thanks for the recent updates on your Pilot Model HUP project. Good luck on the engine teardown. When I bought it Mr. Cobban made the famous "ran when parked" comment. I'm looking forward to seeing it up and running again.

Brian

[Bob Carriere]

....showed two stuck valves.... adjoining intake on cyl. 2 and 3 are stuck open which accounts for the sludge/rust in cyl. 2

Will know more once we have the engine out of the frame and on a full rotating engine stand.

Head is stamped/casted as H 14 0 which I read as 8th month Aug. 14th 1940 ......... there is a good chance the engine is original...... Rob has the full stamped serial numbers which he will run on the web site for dating.

Lots to clean but lots of potential to save the original block.

..... are we having fun yet!!!!

Bob

[RHClarke]

Bob, Having the facilities to do this work makes it fun. I know you enjoy working on this truck as much as I do, and I appreciate all of your help. There will be plenty more fun later this summer!

Brian, I intend to restore the truck to its original state, which means that the block will have to undergo surgery. This may take some time (and money of course), but I am looking forward to it. In the mean time I will be taking on the thousands of small tasks involved in a ground up restoration. You can count on seeing more photos later.