F60L reg.no. 51555

[Rod Salter]

Found


Half on


On


Tied down


Out the gate


Big 'THANKS' to my brother-in-law for using his truck

[Rod Salter]

In a quiet bush place

[Mike Cecil]

AWM126 reveals that this 4x4 GS was one of the CMP trucks supplied to US Forces in Australia (USAFIA) and when it was returned, it was 'US' (unserviceable) and was boarded, that is, subject to a Board of Survey and written off.

USFIA received many vehicles from the Australian Government as Reciprocal or Reverse Lend Lease (RLL), from Morris & Austin two door cars to locally built SC1 armoured scout cars. The majority were eventually returned to the Commonwealth and credited at an agreed second-hand rate to the RLL account, then disposed of by the Commonwealth Disposals Commission (CDC).

If only 51555 could talk ..... it might even be in an American accent.

Mike

[Matthew P]

Maybe this is a silly question. But is that a logging boom on it? Or was this a recovery vehicle during the war and that's a tow hoist?

Matt

[Beau Bruce]

Did you trade the previous owner some auto electric skills for the truck like he stated in his for sale add on gumtree mate.?

[Mike Cecil]

It was a GS truck in service, with no indication of any official alterations.

The crane boom appears to be a typical civvie change: rip off the GS tray body and install a way-over sized crane.

Mike

[Matthew P]

Ok thanks. Was confused because the crane seemed so nice looking. Not the typical welded together scrap heaps often seen for logging gins.

Matt

[Mike Cecil]

Hi Matt,

Those sorts of conversions were very common in Australia especially for logging. Derelict CMPs with all sorts of contraptions, counterweights, chassis strengthening, and so on, were to be found derelict at old sawmill sites well into the 1970s, so I'm reasonably certain that this example is one of those.

Mike

[Rod Salter]

Hi Matthew P, I understand the truck was used in a sawmill for a time, then it's last job was lifting large bags of South Australian charcoal for re bagging into smaller bags for local sale here in Queensland.

Beau, I paid for the starter repair he had got done and the electrical work at some future date. The man is not well, had a fall from a forklift and injured his back, in early 2018

The crane is hydraulic under body ram, from a pump with chain drive off back lower right of gearbox.
There are steel spacers to stop the rear springs from flexing.

The crane will be reconstructed onto a chassis as a trailer and will be used with my tractor.

In my dreams the truck looks something like

[Rod Salter]

The crane truck has arrived at my place



Do CMP vehicles have a 'METAL' attraction to each other ?



Now to unload



I can't quite make out the stories they tell, But I can hear them rusting



And another big 'THANKS' again to my brother-in-law for using his truck.

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by Rod Salter

In my dreams the truck looks something like

Attachment 104539

Hi, Rod.

How are things progressing with the truck?

Is it looking anything like the AWM pic yet?

It's always nice to have another sidevalve fire up.

[Rod Salter]

Thanks for asking, It is a bit lonely out here

I have had a bit of a hold up!
The council realised about a third of my place was in fact their Park.
All my spare time for the last 7 months has been taken shifting 3 acres and 19 years accumulated "Illegally Dumped Rubbish" over the line from their "Park" to my yard.
They are nice about the whole episode, by marking out an area for me to have done in 30 days.
I have only 2 areas to go, so 2 more months. Come on August.
My side of the line is now slightly cluttered and full. Which is not so much enjoyable any more.

That said, I have been up the road in the crane!
What fun, wind in my beard and did I mention absolutely no brakes, whoo hoo!

I decided the chassis had been repaired too many times, so I stripped it bare, and added a hitch.
The crane has been used to shift my “Good Handy Stored Stuff” out of the park.




Moving on,
Now that I have set up my new workshop with carpeted floor, air-conditioning and bright solar powered lighting, I can get onto stripping No2 for sand blasting.
This truck will get the engine, gearbox and transfer case as well as the winch transplanted into it from the crane.



No 3 (other monkey face) Will get all the leftovers and be offered for sale. If anyone wants it in a hurry, a few days help would help

No 4 The long wheel base Chev, mmm, the chassis has been extended and not tidy either, so I will attempt to get another chassis with a complete (drum to drum) rear diff. Oh, and a gearbox and transfer case would be handy too.

No 5 The Chev radio truck, which I want the most'est, is, entirely a long way from anything.
It has a strange 5 stud front axle welded in it.
But hey! it has the little light to shine on the rear of the diff. (me thinking positive)

Neither of the chevs have steering boxes or even the brackets for one. So a long way to go.

I should post a list of “I wish I had one of ” or is that 2 of nearly everything?

And, I have found a water pump for the other Chev, I will be able to run the motor for a longer time after I fit that, and maybe go for a drive up the road too.




Cheers rod

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by Rod Salter

The council realised about a third of my place was in fact their Park.
All my spare time for the last 7 months has been taken shifting 3 acres and 19 years accumulated "Illegally Dumped Rubbish" over the line from their "Park" to my yard.

Cheers rod

He-he: "That's not rubbish, Alderman! It's Playground Equipment for Grown-ups!"

19 years? Aren't you you able to claim "Squatters Rights" and legally acquire the land from the council if you've been occupying it and using it as your "Park" for more than 12 years?

[Rod Salter]

I should have made this post weeks ago.

I got 3 solid days on the truck and have the chassis turned over to refit the winch

This means bolts are going in now





I have saved nearly all the bolts by using various methods to cut the nuts off

It is so good when you have the correct tool for the job



cheers rod

[Tony Smith]

Lots of clear space in the Park to do some abrasive blasting now.

[Rod Salter]

For those who were worried I had forgotton the fords
Truck no 2 was RED at some time, before that it was 40453
Who were the M/C Traders Assn?



I got 3 good days on dismantling truck No3
I soon had the cab off



And engine no 2C42484F out



Why would the radiator mounts be cut out to fabricate more mounts
Note the heavy brazing job on the engine mounts too



this nut is stripped and had fell of, but the split pin was still in the shaft

[Rod Salter]

Then I moved the chassis close to the real workshop and got out the big toys
A 7 inch grinder and the plasmar cutter



I cut off a heap of add ons including this reversable flow brass gear pump
Why use a fillet 3/4 inch thick to weld a 1/2 piece to a 1/4 inch thick chassis I wonder?



then set the chassis on stands

This truck has had a hard life possibly a 15 ton tipping grain bin on it
so much wear and tear, the spring bushes and some unijoints are non existant!



The open air shop is decidely empty

[Rod Salter]

Then yesterday out in the horrific wind, I cut and ground off more extras before I cut a hole in a cross member
(The chassis is upside down)



carefully removed some rivets and another cross member to drop in the winch.
Then, lined up the existing holes in the chassis, put in some bolts and went to run the cable



Damm there is another cross member in the way
So are trucks with winches fitted with different arrangement of cross members?
I know about another roller at the rear to align the cable into the guide pullys, but how do I get around this member?

and I still have to get the rear lower roller off and bolt it in its correct place
More 3/4 inch welds to remove



I am off for a holiday to see snow and the trucks now wait untill next month
cheers rod

[Rod Salter]

One last job before some time off

I decided to try and get the roller off the pully plate

What an ordeal

First weld it with multiple layers of weld and for good measure poke the rod down the bolt holes on the impossible to get at end and fill them up too



I ground and plasma cut and ground and flogged with many different cold chisels and a B big sledge hammer
All the while holding my breath that the casting did not break

I got it eventually

Now after carefull study > this chassis was not made for a winch!
so I will abandon that idea and chuck the winch

The next hack will be to remove the front engine cross member along with the front spring mounts and replace them with parts to be got out of the crane chassis
On this chassis they are already partially bolted in, I have not decided if I will re-rivit them or bolt them up

Oh and luckily I did not damage the cross member I took out for the winch inserion (seemed an easy task at the time) because now it will have to go back
Then close up the other holes that are cut in cross members all over the place and smoth them off

Next month > Grind back smooth all the remaing welds of the added on accessories, scrape the gunk off, wire brush all over and sandblast

And, and also next month, relocate the last of my 'Illigally dumped rubbish' out of the council's park

I will be so glad when that is done except for the depressing congestion around and about my shed and back yard

To be continiued ...........
.

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by Rod Salter

For those who were worried I had forgotton the fords
Truck no 2 was RED at some time, before that it was 40453
Who were the M/C Traders Assn?

Attachment 108556

40453 is listed in that pic (like all the others listed) as an Indian Solo Motorcycle, probably a 741B! "M/C Traders" is the Motorcycle Traders Association.

[Rod Salter]

How is this possible? What are the chances?

I have spent hours looking for the engine number of this truck no 3 in the books

Anyway I gave up and went back to check engine number of 51555

The engine number I am chasing 42484



I glanced up to truck 51554 and I could not belive my eyes



I have brother trucks! unbelievable!

I got 51555 from Beaudesert and 51554 from Dalby

I'll bet those trucks could not believe their headlights when I parked them together again. What stories they could tell.
One loaned to the yanks and the other stayed home

,

[David Herbert]

Does the entry for 51555 not read: "U.S. when returned to Australian Army" ?
Could the "U.S." mean serviceable rather than America ?

As you say an amazing coincidence !

David

Response to Mike Cecil (post 34): That will teach me to proof read ! I did of course mean 'unserviceable' in this post, having a vague memory of reading about this status, which was actually from Mike's post number 3 in this thread. I will crawl back in my hole now !

[Tony Smith]

Remarkable!!

[Mike Cecil]

David, see post 3 above re 'US'.

Quite remarkable indeed! Out of tens of thousands of trucks, you get two with sequential ARNs.

Mike

[Rod Salter]

I managed to get another day or three on the ford chassis

I have removed the remaining welds of the attachments

The welds were high strength, therefore hard and time consuming to grind, with barely any sparks coming from the disc

I have straightened any bends in the top and bottom of rail sides

I have fill welded all the extra cut holes in the rails, and filled the bigger ones in this cross member



The welds have all been ground back flush, and then disc sanded

I found a swelled section between the outer and inner chassis rails, behind where I had removed the cross member, so I cut a piece out of both inside rails, finding plenty of rust from the inside of the inner thin rails, and will replace these pieces after the sandblasting



I have done the 'total bolt removal' and now a 'partial rivet removal' with the damaged front engine mount crossmember, and the radiator mounts removed
I have also removed these parts out of the 'crane' chassis ready to go in



All these pieces and the chassis are scraped and wire wheel brushed clean, along with the mudguards, ready to sand blast

I hope I am at the bottom of the deconstruction, because this dismantling does not feel like progress, and the outside workshop looks like a Blitz grave yard

time for

[Ken Smith]

Good day Rod,
A lot of hard work there. Well done on your efforts.
I know how hard it is, good to see that you are so focused.
That is a real bonus with the two ARNs being sequential.
Cheers Ken

[Rod Salter]

I had a phone call late yesterday about a gap in a production line
so loaded the trailer with some ford parts, arriving there after dark
and tonight, a long way after dark these pieces of "mining equipment"
were delivered back to me, sandblasted and etchprimed!



includes 2 guards, both crossmembers with brackets, both radiator mounts, half the floor and a jerry can

I was told there is another gap in a couple of weeks, "we'll let you know" they said

sometimes it just all comes together

[Rod Salter]

Final inspection done this morning by the council. "The Park" is clear of all my “Illegality dumped Materials”

A few days short of ONE year since they came and restarted my 'Panic attacks' that had previously gone away.

That department is happy, their part is done, they will pass "The Park" onto the next relevant department.

I now wait to learn what little surprises they will bring

Got to love councils

[Ken Smith]

The next thing will be hordes of small children wanting to play on your "old army trucks", which will give you the opportunity to give them a good history lesson.
You have done a good job on the next door park block.

Cheers Ken

[Rod Salter]

I'm still here
After the council went away (they never been back, So what was all the panic?)

I started clearing up, dare I say it? Taking stuff to scrap
I did alright for a while then I disturbed that 'Old Black Dog' and I couldn't face the job anymore
I got through without meds by joining another group of people who like to dress in costumes, like gun powder, pieces of 158 grain lead and short shotguns
Being in a group once a month beats being on your own, talking to yourself
I've not fully lost the dog, but he's a fair way back following me now

I also picked up some part time work to supplement my radio collecting
Some of you may have seen some posts on other sites
I've re-organised my radio room, shelving, sorting
Attempting to get some of them going
Bought a couple of rare radios
I tell myself the radio collecting is complete, only bits and kit to gather

Covid put a halt to doing displays, and that in turn leads to thinking
“What have I got all this for?”

I've obtained some parts for the blitzes
And some military engines, generators and the like

The drought stopped and the grass grew fast to make up for all it hadn't
I've nearly got some of it back under control by spraying
The job was too big for any mower people

Some of you may know my old Hi-lux (ran on cooking oil) had a cab fire from an oil leak onto the exhaust
I started fitting a Lite Stout cab

Then big Nissan started random boiling, a new head only made it worse.
I parked it up, when a 2000 GU Patrol with a new reconditioned engine became available in a deceased estate, through the tax department who had seized his possessions
Attempts had been made to steal it, it cost a bundle for Nissan to reprogram the computer to recognise the Key
Only then did I learn what bad engines these ZD30 are
I fitted all the modifications
The engine took me 1700 Ks before it seized a piston in a cylinder
They had put a10 thou oversized piston down a bore that had only been bored 6 thou
Phunny they are out of business

The dog came closer again

I couldn't afford a shop rebuild, spent ages waiting for the right bits at a price I could afford to become available
I've put it together and have almost reached 10,000 ks touch wood

I've done a little towards finishing the house

I've got a load of batteries and another stripped out car shell, ready to go
Then there is a pile of white goods to get the motors out before they go, but I can't seem to find the 'oomph' to do them

The little chev truck has the chassis sandblasted and primed. The cab is in the shed with some of the rust cut out and repaired

I'm turning 70 this year
Other medical issues have slowed me too
Possibly a gluten intolerance, investigations continue, endoscopy next month
and maybe a flashing camera capsule, right through

Dentist for an abscess next week, extraction of a big one

When will I get back to the trucks?
It is hot here one day, windy the next and scattered showers about
I started setting up a place to put up a roof of sorts
every day I look at that project is seems to get more difficult
So maybe this autumn, who knows