1941 Chevrolet Portee

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

Look like 1944 conversions to , well let's say 3-ton at the moment, G/S? Making something useful out of obsolete..nice jobs!
Nice photos thanks!

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by David_Hayward

Look like 1944 conversions to 3-ton G/S?

I have recently been shown some photos from an Album of 1952 CMT (Compulsory Military Training, NZ's scheme of National Service) that feature, amongst other things, a couple of Portee's. These trucks still plainly retain their Portee decks and have not yet been converted to GS bodies.
David, while your records show some CGT and Morris Portees being converted to 17pdr towers and later GS trucks, it is apparent that some of the NZ trucks did not get converted well into the 50's, and therefore done locally and not in the UK.

Some interesting points:
2pdr guns are quite rare in NZ and as all of the pics I have seen of NZ Portees show them unladen, it is open to conjecture wether any guns returned to NZ at all, only the Portees. Note that in Pic 1 and 2, the front tyre pressure is shown on the front guards as 40psi, well below the recommended for a CGT. Was the combination of Runflat tyres, 101"wb and unladen state too unconfortable for the crews?

In pic 1 (on the front bumper) and pic 4 (on the rear wheel guard), there appears to be a marking of white, yellow or red vertical bars (actual colours are difficult to determine from B&W pics). While they are located in a position you would expect Unit/Formation signs, or troop/battery markings, they don't seem to be . If they are simply traffic markers, why doesn't the F30 in pic 3 have them?

From this thread: "Other known NZ Portee numbers are NZ23853, NZ24669 and NZ24671". Note in pic 1, the number can just be made out on the fuel tank: NZ 24671! This Portee still survives to this day.

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

Interesting that some if not a largew proportion were not converted to G/S trucks! Thanks for that...it is mentally noted.

[Tony Smith]

Another interesting point: None of the Portees appear to have headlights!

[cliff]

Originally Posted by Tony Smith

Some interesting points:
2pdr guns are quite rare in NZ and as all of the pics I have seen of NZ Portees show them unladen, it is open to conjecture wether any guns returned to NZ at all, only the Portees.

Tony the lack of 2pdr guns in New Zealand today could be because they were either all cut up and scrapped at the end of their life or sold in bulk overseas. My Brother-in-law remembers cutting up Vickers MG's and other small arms for scrap in his early service days. I also think that the guns were not taken from storage very often as New Zealands Armed Services were down sized very quickly at the end of the war and money for practice would have been tight for quite some time. Loading the guns would produce un-needed wear on both guns and trucks.

The lack of headlights could be because they were rarely off Army property as they are also not showing any NZ registration plates as Military Vehicles must be registered the same as any other vehicle to enable use on public roads. In 1989 we also had to paint (in black) "New Zealand Army" and the area of it's base (e.g. Auckland) on the doors of our Unimogs and other heavy transport to comply with Transport regulations. The police Traffic department at the time also tried to get all Military Drivers to have the appropriate grade of licence to drive vehicles on Public Roads as well. As we were a Medical Unit the Ambulance Drivers needed to have the equivilent Civilian Emergency Services Drivers Licence and to drive a bus load of troopers you needed a Civilian Bus licence. Common sence prevailed and the equivilent Heavy Transport and trailer licence was all that was required in the end.

[Rookie]

Due to an overindulgence in Dutch beer during the drought I managed to put three rolls of photographs of the disassembly of the Portee through the washing machine.

Being a Newbie and an idiot I now have a shed full of cab parts that I cant work out in which order to repair and re assemble. This included what I felt to be wooden insulating bits between body bits.

THE QUESTION: Is there anywhere on the web or MLU that shows the cab assembly? I have the manuals on line for everything but the body assembly.


HELP

Rookie

[aj.lec]

This is about the best i have although two are ford pictures and one chev they are fairly similar
Hope that helps

[aj.lec]

Here is a couple of photos
The middle one shows the wooden spacers in position
The other two are just general shots

[Rookie]

Andrew

I think you just saved my sanity (whats left of it)

Thanks Mate

Rookie