How To: Restoration of Ford M8 armoured car US Ordnance number 7373

[Big D]

Hi Dave, David and Terry,

Thanks for the replies.

Dave - yes, my initial impression on seeing it was to go with their recommendation. New plates in there seem logical to me and 'cleaner' than patch jobs as you say. Overall, I think this will be the most efficient and doing one at a time to, does have merit - a good point thanks.

David - that's a good question. I'm betting it could be done, albeit with a bit of extra time involved I'd say. Like you say, it does mean the original plating can be retained. Thanks for the comment on the thread. Good to hear you are finding it interesting. It is proving to be fun so far!

Terry - a good point. To be honest, testing the steel is not something I had even considered. I will have to ask the guys in the workshop about that. I don't know how much of a problem it could be. I know there are a number of 'stitched up' M8's out there, but that doesn't mean there wouldn't be problems with this one.

Chaps - as an aside, it has also been mentioned to me (thanks Doug) that another option would be to cut slightly smaller plates to match the sponson plates, and weld them on the inside of the sponsons. The exterior plates would then be preserved as much as possible and it would just require filling in the gaps from the outside using filler plates.

The disadvantage is that getting access to the innards of the hull would still be very difficult. Another viable option though.

Thanks for the ideas. I still like the idea of keeping it as original as possible, but also accept that one has to be a little practical about it, especially when 'the meter is running'! I need to get my head around the options now and work out what we are going to do!

[colin jones]

Hey Darryl, if I had the option I'd weld it back as it is as the cuts don't look that bad and it would be easy to add a few filler pieces where it's a bit wide.
That is just my opinion only of course Great project by the way.
Colin.

[Big D]

Hi Colin,

Thanks for the reply. I'm keen to hear all opinions. Do you mean using packing pieces to bridge the gaps and just joining it that way?

Thanks.

[colin jones]

Hi Darryl, yes that's what I would do. Your joints would be just as strong after you're finished. I noticed that the original welds look like they're stainless so cutting a complete section out would be considerably harder to do but not impossible. I think you'd be happier with the result if it was original and it's only cut in pieces, not skeletonized.
Colin.

[Big D]

Hi Colin,

Thanks for that.

If we went that way, would we be best to proceed as per the other suggestion of a backing plate of a lighter gauge fitted inside each of those main sponson plates before fitting the small filler pieces?They would be virtually undetectable from the insid and would seem to make the process easier.

If I understand what the engineering guys were thinking, I gather they would torch cut down to the stainless welding to remove the old plates. Would that make sense?

Thanks.

[colin jones]

Well, as you have access to overhead gantry and forklift it would be easy to just turn it over for welding both sides. Stainless steel and torches don't go that well together so I would opt out of that one. You can certainly fill some wide gaps with mig and if you have some brass plate 50mm wide or so you can just weld over that and then take it away for some of the other areas that are too small for a fill but too big for straight welding. if you held some pieces of plate behind and had someone mark it with chalk you can then cut some rough fillers with the gas axe and fit and weld them in place. Just by the look at the photo's of what I can see I would estimate 2 days and it would be as good as new.
Colin.

[Big D]

Hi Colin,

Many thanks for that. Some really good food for thought there. I do like the idea of keeping those side sponsons intact and as original as possible, and that would certainly be a way of doing it.

The only drawback I can see with not removing the side sponson panels is that there is very limited access to the inner parts of channel etc in the hull and actually trying to join those pieces from inside the hull will be very difficult I'd say.

I'll go back to the engineering guys and have a talk about these options. The discussion certainly brought up lots for me to think about.

Thanks all!

[Stew Robertson]

Great Job Darryl
You are building a real fun machine
goes anywhere climbs mountains and is really stable
on the highways and byways
You are doing a more extensive rebuild than I had to but it will be worth it
Just make sure the JXD is a rebuilt and up to snuff
because you will need the rpm and power for a good road trip
I had to redo the engine in the one I doneand it made all the difference between fun and being P*****
CANERA 143.jpg

[Big D]

Hi Stew,

Thanks for that. Wow! A fabulous M20 you have there. I really like the M20's. They are a little more practical than the M8's, I think.

Yes, I will be fully rebuilding the Hercules engine. I have three blocks available so we should be able to get one good out of that lot. I have most of the parts available. Time and money is always a problem though!

[Big D]

Hi all,

A few delays in the workshop so we haven’t been able to confirm a course of action for the hull yet. In the meantime, I’ve been doing a couple of wee jobs.

One of the things I’ve been looking at are the gun parts. I had been offered a few 37mm gun parts but knowing that I already have a few extra gun pieces, I wanted to see exactly what I needed.

The model of gun, turret and mantlet is one where the telescope mount sits on a horizontal post jutting out from one of the gun mounts. Is this the early version?

Not sure whether the photo shows it very well, but there is a ‘plug’ in the breech and some damage to the mount at the breech end which will need to be repaired at some stage. You will also note there are a couple of ‘foreign bodies’ tacked onto the recoil assembly which I’ll remove.

As you can see I have two of the sleighs (tube mounts) that would sit on the recoil system (if I have the terminology correct for both?). The sleighs (?) are shaped slightly differently so which is correct for the gun?

There are also two recoil systems, and two pieces of the gun turret mount. Both of these gun turret mounts have been cut but one is certainly repairable. The other would require some work.

I have three of the left side gun plates.

Not sure whether anyone else could use any of these extra gun bits but I’ll start a separate thread soon for a few surplus parts I have ended up with during the restoration.


I also did some work on the wheels in preparation for the hull when it is eventually in one piece. I have five new bar tread tires and one of the tires on the wheels, although not the same pattern, is in good nick, so that will do until I get the sixth bar tread tire.

A couple of the tires are completely stuffed as you can see. I intend dismantling each combat rim, blasting and painting and the fitting with a new tire. I’ve been able to undo most of the bolts with a big long bar but the odd one might need some heat to get it to budge.

I also noticed one of the wheels is an odd-ball and not the usual combat rim. Can anyone identify this wheel?

Are there any tips for splitting the combat rims?

Many thanks.

[Big D]

More photos.

[Big D]

Hi all,

It’s been a couple of weeks since my last post. While we haven’t yet progressed the hull any further, I have managed to progress a few other things.

I thought now that I have good access to the axles, I might as well start getting those ready in preparation for the hull being completed. Call me soft, but I decided to get the aid of a local tyre company to assist with the tyre removal. I managed to undo all but a couple of the bolts on the combat rims and took the first 3 wheels to the tyre firm. The tyre company looked at them and said that two of the wheels had solid rubber inserts in them while the third had a tube. They were initially a bit reluctant to have a go at them but once I explained the design they decided to try the one with the tube and then do the others.

They pressed the first tyre off (the one with the tube) and once they saw the combat rim design, they pressed the others off. The one with the star shaped damage was particularly tight. Two of the three had the very thick rubber inner run-flat. I was cringing at the thought of the bill but I was pleasantly surprised to see they charged me $100 for the three wheels. I think it was $100 well spent!

Interestingly, these 3 wheels all appear slightly different. I wonder how many are actually M8 and perhaps some are perhaps halftrack instead. The height of the wheels on two of them are different to the other, as you can see from the photos. What is the deciding factor on whether they will fit the M8? is it the inner diameter or is it the depth/height? I’ve tried an M8 brake drum in all three and there seems plenty of clearance. Mind you, I tried the same drum on one of my scout car combat rims and this seems to fit in there as well.

I’ll drop the other three wheels to the tyre company next week and once the tyres are removed, get all wheels to the sandblaster for painting before I put the new tyres on.

The photos show the flare box, breech shield, more map clips, and the handbrake assembly cleaned up. The steering box and steering wheel are all ready to install. The propellor shafts and pillow block are done. What is the small propeller shaft? It looks like White Scout car to me. I cleaned it up anyway.