C8A HUW: body dimensional data needed

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Jerry

The link below goes the top of the lower windshield ledge which reads as 1 1/2 degree up angle toward the front

http://canadianmilitarypattern.com/R...02nd%20004.jpg

Which compared with under side of the body which seems shows the same angle this would seem to indicate that top of the window ledge should be parallel to the floor.

http://canadianmilitarypattern.com/H...lsofAngles.htm

Wonder if someone else could confirm on another HUP also does anyone have a way of measuring these angles with a higher accuracy?

Cheers Phil

[Jerry Hill]

Well on Monday we straightened out the inner wings. First pic shows the one in the background before treatment in the press and one after in the fore ground. On Monday we collected the reworked radiator pic 2 which set me back a small fortune. Pic 3 & 4 show the radiator installed and ready to fill. Pic 5, she's coming together. I filled the rad with a 50% Bluecol mix ready for winter and started her up, wonderful, then dammit the flexxy hose to the oil pressure gauge gave up its mortal coil and peed all over the shop. A blessing in disguise I told myself. Another little job...
Jerry

[Jerry Hill]

Wednesday was spent cutting the vertical and base pieces of the centre section of the front panel to enable us to get a sporting chance of straightening them up to use as samples for the replacements we pressed last week.

We aligned all the bits of the centre section of the panel for a trial fit. Anyway after sometime we'd got it aligned as best we could and Richard kindly tack welded them. We offered them up to the vehicle, pics 1-3, to see how bad things are and were surprised to see how good the fit is. So we'll start making the replacement vertical pressings fit and weld them up ready for the end result.

We also need to decide what to do with the front bulkhead. The distortion is quite small, see final pic, but I want it right, so we'll pull it back to shape as described before. This needs to be done in conjunction with the repairs to the front doors which will be the next to be tackled, to ensure a good fit.

The ruptured oil line to the oil pressure gauge has been replaced and a radiator overflow hose has been fitted.

Jerry

[Jerry Hill]

Today we took the plunge and copied as best we could the mocked up the nose section with the newly pressed 2mm zintec pieces. After one false start we got the hang of it. By close of play we'd made up the new nose section, some tack welds and some proper final welds. We used a spare grill to ensure the alignment was right. There's more to do, but we're pleased with the outcome so far. We need to angle grind the ducting to fit the radiator, which will then be welded up. A few little jobs like the bonnet catches and a couple of fillets are needed. The final job will be robust. Jerry

[Jerry Hill]

When last I wrote we'd made up the new centre front panel, after a fair bit of time trimming and fitting it didn't pass muster. So plan B was called for, that being a drive through the Suffolk lanes down to the workshop where we could do a proper on vehicle fitting job. For this we had to make the vehicle almost road worthy (no lights).

The front doors were trial fitted to establish how much we'd have to pull the front bulkhead to get everything back to shape. The drivers side was attacked first as this was easiest.

Next the passengers side. In Pic1 we've shunted the truck against our long suffering car repair ash tree. A wooden block was buffered between tree and the bumper adjacent to the chassis. Three cargo pulls were gradually loaded up to pull out the deformation.

Pic 2 shows each strap was located over each body post and pretty tight they were.

Pic 3 shows the string marker nicely aligned on completion. The drivers door closes beautifully but will need cosmetic repairs later. The passengers door will need dismantling and pressing straight.

Pic 4 shows her ready for the drive down to the 'surgery', note the doors fit, however you can see why the front centre panel was rejected as it's too short/inboard at the base, as can also be seen on Pic 5.

I can tell you it was a chilly old run up to the workshop. But it was worth it as we're well underway to sorting out the front panel, more news later in the week I hope.

Jerry

[Jerry Hill]

At last some real progress.

Pic 1 shows the front end coming together, starting on the easy side first, all the previous work straightening out panels or replacing them where necessary pays off. This assembly work is a dry run, next we'll tack weld the structure together, when we're sure all alignments are as good as we can get them. You'll see where we cut the centre section to insure the faulty angle we'd made earlier was corrected.

Pic 2 The front panel needs aligning to the curved angle iron structure at the base and involved a degree of twist viewed here. All is held in place by various G clamps and one in a cross brace position.

Pic 3 I'd expected difficulty with the passenger's side and inner wing but it came together surprisingly nicely and all that remains is for me to straighten out the headlamp panel and the bottom rail which is still a little buckled.

Pic 4 The few gaps that remain on the passengers side will be pulled up after we remove the tacked front end.

Pic 5 Next week we'll remove the angle iron front end assy carrier and warm it up and reshape it to fit before tack welding it up.

What a relief, still a way to go but we're getting there.

Jerry

[Jerry Hill]

Today we completed the passengers side headlamp panel straightening and fitting, followed by tack welding the entire structure together to be strong enough to dismount from the vehicle to enable us to final weld the front panel from the inside.

Pic 1 shows the passenger side panel being temporarily bolted up. When we finally weld up the assy the temporary bolt holes will also be welded up.

Pic 2 shows the front end tack welded.

After the pics were taken we removed all the clamps and braces, thankfully there were no nasty surprises. Later in the week we'll fit the angle iron support bracket to the base of the assy and tack welding it in place. Then we'll the remove the whole lot for final welding.

Jerry