Our LRDG Chev

[Andrew H.]

Lately we have been working on the front bumper. First we found that the correct military style bumper is straight (with two distinct bends) but the original civilian bumper is curved throughout. So we need to make a new correct LRDG bumper. However, the correct dimensions are different from standard sizes of channel steel bought over-the-counter, so we had to have a new one folded up. Then we discovered that the original dumb-irons as used on the civilian Chev make the bumper hang far too low. The bumper has to be high enough for the crank handle hole to align with the holes in the grill and radiator apron. First we made up a plywood template (see pics) to get the angle of the new dumb-irons right and the bumper to hang at the right height. Then we made new dumb-irons out of 12mm steel (work still in progress - no photo of that yet).

We also discovered that LRDG trucks used the same kind of D-shackles on their bumpers as the Blitz trucks of that era. Modern D shackles are the wrong shape so we are now looking for two original WW2 D-shackles. Can anyone in NZ help us out with this? See pic of correct D shackle attached.