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

[David Dunlop]

Darryl.

There seems to be two versions of the tray here that are factory stamped and possibly one repro. One factory version has the two short cross channels stamped completely through the two longitudinal ones. On your version, the two short channels terminate at the rear longitudinal channel.

If we ignore the possible (completely flat) repro for the moment, the remaining two, including yours, have a few common features.

The forward edge lip is continuous and un-notched.
They both have to align at the front of the ready rack for the ready rack door to work.
When in that forward position, there is a large gap at the rear sponson wall.
The hole patterns and photo indicate that whatever radio mount is installed, it is done so at the rear portion of the tray, not the forward portion.

This would suggest the gap at the rear of the tray is there for some reason, related to either the ammo storage or the radio set. It is likely a valid 'feature'.

The rearward mounting of the radio would provide some form of limited workspace for the radio operator and perhaps help prevent radio cabling from snagging in the ready rack door. It would also help prevent the radio from getting bumped and the dials being knocked off frequency.

Just a late thought. Maybe the gap at the rear has something to do with where and how some of the radio cables were routed?

David