Richie's Mk1 Restoration

[RichardT10829]

Yes but only of the rear axle har har. i have stripped and rebuilt the brake assemblies which were shall we say mega seized ! if you remember when i managed to finally get the drums off they looked like this

other than the pads being good the internals were a bit caput.....

i pulled them apart and moseyed back to the clean workshop aka Kitchen and began the strip down (of the components that is)
carefully teasing the spreader to bits i managed to free up the stuck pistons without damaging the castings, luckily for me my fingers are small so could get them right into the housing, once stripped down i initially washed them with cellulose thinners then popped them into the sink and sprayed them down with oven cleaner and left for a while. returned and rinsed off to have nice clean and dry bits to work with.




next i attacked the cast housing (the outside) with 80 grit pads rubbing away all of the oxidised materials and loose paint, finishing it off with a 350 grit pad to make it smooth (but keyed), i used some 1200 grit wet and dry on the chambers and removed the pitting. then placed the housing into the oven to gently heat through. once warm or slightly hot to the touch i added a coat of spray, resulting in a quick drying nice satin coat finish.


finally after pollishing and cleaning the internals i added some grease and rebuilt the spreader unit like so.


i noticed the retaining pins were missing... rotted away perhaps or removed for greater travel, none the less UC-F1 says they should be there so i replaced them.

i wire brushed and red oxided the back plate and metal sections of the shoes so they were nice and clean then rebuilt the assembly



i have replaced the old ruined leather gaiter with a rubber equivalent... i used a 1970 vauxhall viva one cut down and it looks a good finish, plus it wont let any water in so happy days

I am going to take a gamble and not rebuild the diff, i have justified this by looking at the oil condition that came out and the fact when spun it is perfectly smooth and everything works...........remember this post if in future i blow out a diff har har har !

strangely i have anjoyed rebuilding the brakes, normally it is the most painfull and mundane task on a vehicle, but in comparisson to my other tasks this one has been nice and straight from the book

i have also stripped and rebuilt the drivers side bell crank that mounts onto the rear pannel so that is working great, just got to do the gunners side and the axel can go back on. unfortunately the grease nipple is missing from the drivers side one so i will have to go on the hunt.

[RichardT10829]

Well thought i would pop up a few more pictures just to maintain peoples interest (if there is any) i have started to mount the front fenders and the odd bits and bobs, i got a large quantity of base paint which i spent ages with period swatches at the Chromadex factory in Gateshead, luckily for me the girl who served me is severely hot ! needless to say it took just over an hour, got her number too shame i cant ring it though the paint code nearest (ie one tint off) to the 1943 "Light Stone" is RAL1002 in 10% matt, the new NATO version of Light Stone is miles away from the 1940's version. the paint costs £30 for 5 ltrs and they do it whilst you are there. i have quickly flashed over the front of the hull then i pushed it out into the sun to make sure i was happy, and it is very vry close indeed. i have ni on finished my dash pannel which has its NOS speedo in, i was the first person to look into the gauge since 1943 as the box had been sealed, almost a shame to open it ! same goes for the switch pannel which had been sealled up in 1942 at the ford factory to be opened by me over 60 years later.
still got the visors to put onto the plates but will do this with a mag drill once it is all buttoned up. center bulkhead is back in and sides are on, going to make the rear plate removeable i think for ease of engine removal, not fully decided on it yet though.

[RichardT10829]

just a little update...


slowly getting there with the armour, found a retired Rivetter who is showing me how to do it.... he is also going to lend me a big rivet hammer and snaps....

sent my engine away to get built... got some photo's back got a phone call from Belcher Engineering who wanted to charge me £400 for a set of +20 thou big end shells and +30 thou mains !!!!!!!! went online 30 sec later found a set of shells for $90 (£65ish) from the US







stuck piston was removed with the application of coke (pop not the narcotic) poured down the bore and left over night next day....voila !









the sump as removed.. i poured a shed load of AT fluid down the pots when i got the engine back to the UK and it has dragged all the crap out the engine into the sump..... YAK !


big end shells... i dont think they look too bad to be fair ! engine was last built in march 1945 (when it was recond)




gearbox.... first and second look pretty chewed up... no syncro's here guys its a "bang it in" jobby..

[RichardT10829]

[Lynn Eades]

When you are looking for g/box bits, the WWII Dodge (wc) uses the same components, apart from the input and output shafts. Input, and output bearings are the same, pins, cluster, 1st, 2nd,3rd, rev idler,selector forks, and shafts, cluster bearings, and intermediate bearing (hyatt 99000)are all the same.
Are you going to leave your hubs off until you have the axle bolted back in?

[RichardT10829]

yes buddy, the axle is now bolted back onto the hull solid was easier than i expectd to get it back on, did it myself shims and all........ The hubs are still off for now though.... I have a full new set of wheel bearings to go back in, just making the billet shims to take up the difference from 40mm to 50mm ID... I have a spare gunners side armour sheet (repro) in 8mm steel if anyone is interested in it. i have not yet drilled it so its good to go onto any British or Canadian pattern carrier that might need one.

[Philliphastings]

Terrific posts Richard, please keep them coming. On the subject of hull paint colours, I always asumed the Mk1's would have been painted deep bronze green semi-gloss but now that I have started taking bits off I am finding plain old olive drab lustreless with a light stone camo sprayed over the top - a bit of a surprise I must say but definately factory original (the OD that is)

Cheers

Phill