Our LRDG Chev

[Andrew H.]

The other day we had a mock-up assembly to see how the seat riser and cab look when they are attached to the chassis and we are quite pleased with the result. The next thing will be to make the rear cab sheet-metal.

[Andrew H.]

Today we made a start on the rear curved cab panel using a friend's home-made English wheel. We were quoted $1,000 by a professional panel-beater to make the rear cab panel but that was far too much for us. It was surprisingly easy to use the English wheel considering we had never done it before. We are constantly finding we can do things we never dreamed we would ever be capable of doing!

In pic 1 the panel is being pushed backwards and forwards through the wheeling machine rather like using an old two-man crosscut saw. You can see the same panel (framed by the wheeling machine) on the restored LRDG truck in the background. Pic 2 shows the new panel temporarily screwed onto the framework of our truck to see if it fits properly (it does). We will spot-weld it onto the framework at a later date.

[Kuno]

Andrew, hi. Good to see that you are making progress on your truck :-)

[Marc Montgomery]

Great work! Although these were Canadian made vehicles, (originally LRDG had CMPs)
I don't think there are any LRDG examples in Canada...or??????

[Kuno]

Marc; such 1533x2 Chevrolets in LRDG configuration are currently 1 in California, 4 in New Zealand and Andrew is building the fifth one... none in Canada as far as I am aware of.

[Lynn Eades]

What about the ones in the U.K.,.... or are they different?

[Kuno]

Oh - I forgot the 1533x2 Te Anau II of the British Desert Raiders in UK. As far as I am aware this is the only 1533x2 in UK? Are there any others you know of?

[Andrew H.]

There are two more in NZ that I know of - one finished and another under construction (both in the South Island). So that makes 7 in New Zealand, one in UK and one in California, making 9 in the world altogether. All are replicas of course, as none of the LRDG 1533X2 Chevs are known to have survived the war. The surviving LRDG Chev ("Waikaha") in the Imperial War Museum is an earlier WA or WB model, as are the three burnt-out wrecks in the desert at Jebel Sherif, Libya.

[lynx42]

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

There are two more in NZ that I know of - one finished and another under construction (both in the South Island). So that makes 7 in New Zealand, one in UK and one in California, making 9 in the world altogether. All are replicas of course, as none of the LRDG 1533X2 Chevs are known to have survived the war. The surviving LRDG Chev ("Waikaha") in the Imperial War Museum is an earlier WA or WB model, as are the three burnt-out wrecks in the desert at Jebel Sherif, Libya.

Don't forget my replica WA too.

Regards Rick.

[Kuno]

Quite a number of 1533x2 in NZ it seems - It seems they are planning something and want to re-establish the LRDG?

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by Kuno

Quite a number of 1533x2 in NZ it seems - It seems they are planning something and want to re-establish the LRDG?

Hi Kuno,
We can thank you and Brendan O'Carroll for the resurgence of interest in the LRDG in New Zealand. There are several recently-published books on the subject, all the result of excellent research. Well done!

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by lynx42

Don't forget my replica WA too.

Regards Rick.

Hi Rick,
That's a great truck you have there! I don't know of any Chev WAs being restored here as LRDG trucks. Unfortunately there seem to be very few of them in NZ (at least I haven't seen any). Otherwise I am sure there would be more WAs being restored here, particularly considering that the early Long Range Patrols were manned solely by New Zealanders. The later 1533X2 model is more numerous in NZ and its distinctive "waterfall" grille makes it a popular choice that captures the imagination of restorers.

[Andrew H.]

Attaching the sheet-metal to the rear cab proved to be quite difficult and a marathon effort, but we eventually got there. As we are completely inexperienced at welding everything requires a lot of planning beforehand and slows us down. It was found that cutting vertical slots in the curved corner panels and clamping them firmly against the old sheet-metal was the best way of welding them on(see pics attached).

[Andrew H.]

Yesterday we had a go at attaching the main rear panel between the two corner panels. First we ran the panel through the English wheel to put a slight curve on it. This acts like a swage by preventing the sheet-metal from bending in and out after it is attached. Then we butt-welded the main panel to the two corner panels and ground the welds off. Finally we gave it six coats of paint, including a final coat of matt finish. We are quite pleased with the result.

[Lynn Eades]

Great work Andrew!!. Very smart. Thanks for posting.

[hrpearce]

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

We are quite pleased with the result.

And so you should be that is excellent work.

[Andrew H.]

Today we attached the rear cab and sub-frame to the chassis. Its starting to look like a truck!

[Marc Montgomery]

excellent work!

[lssah2025]

Wow great work..

[serge]

Hello

After congratulations for the wonder job done by ANDREW , I have to note that there is an other CHEVROLET WB rebuilded in FRANCE.
These last was build after some travel from FRANCE to IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM and I had soon make a description of the truck.
So one more to add.
Best regards Serge

[Andrew H.]

Great work Serge!
It looks very nice and authentic. One day we may do an LRDG Chev WA or WB, although we have nothing planned at present.

[serge]

Hello ANDREW

The truck I displayed is not my truck and I am not the owner neither the restorer. It has been build using parts from two civilian CHEVROLET with large modification to reach what you see. The civilian fenders had been enlarged and the wheels completely rebuild. The owner living in FRANCE had make some travels in the IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM in the aim to take mesurement on the original truck displayed.

Best regards Serge

[Andrew H.]

Progress has been slow lately, but we try to do something to the truck almost every week to keep the momentum going. Recently we have been measuring and cutting out the bearers and cross beams for the tray and welding them together. We were lucky that Greg (tartan shirt) happened to come along today and give us a hand as he is a professional welder and his welds put ours to shame. He spent some time today grinding some of our welds out and re-welding them.

[Andrew H.]

We have worked out what we hope is a good method of attaching the flat sheet-metal on the sides of the rear body to the supporting "battens". Because they taper in at the top we had to cut the battens out longitudinally from a piece of box section steel. In doing that we left 6 small "tabs" which we will poke through slots in the sheet-metal and weld them on from the inside. That will hide the welds, greatly reduce heat distortion, save time and (we hope) make a neater job. We will see how well that works in the next instalment.

[Andrew H.]

Today we continued welding the bed framework and getting everything square, true and straight before starting to attach the vertical supports and the three top rails. It was quite tricky work and reminded us again of the old saying: "Measure twice and cut once" We were lucky to again have the help of our mate Greg (black singlet) whose skill and experience made everything happen so much more smoothly.

[Andrew H.]

We continued welding the rear ammo body last weekend. Its quite time-consuming to weld all the joins and there are more to do yet before we can start installing the sheet-metal for the sides and floor. Slow but steady wins the race

[Kuno]

Andrew - that will be a very nice LRDG truck!

[Andrew H.]

Yesterday we started cutting out the 2mm sheets for the floor and sides and seeing how they fit onto the framework of the rear Godfreidson ammo body. None of the sheets are welded on yet, they are just clamped to make sure they fit properly. We won't weld them on until we are sure they are right, but it still gave us a boost to see it all coming together, just as Mr Godfreidson intended it.

[Alex van de Wetering]

Great to see that rear body coming to life. Very nice work Andrew. That French replica has been the feature of an article in (the French) "Vehicules Militaires" magazine a few years ago. I thought I had the magazine here, but I guess I must have sold it. However the article did show some of the handywork the owner did in converting the civvy Chev parts.

Alex

[serge]

Hello

Among the huge quantity of WWII military trucks that I saw in NORMANDY last week, I have shoted this INDIAN CHEVROLET replica. Were such truck used by LRDG group or only by INDIAN troops?

Regards Serge