My first carrier: some assembly required

[super dave]

Also I cleaned up my steering wheel and gave it a fresh coat of paint for the NEW look

[super dave]

Well I finished off the week with the installation of the dash and the wiring to it, All done now except for hooking up the lights. I made the rubber spacer that goes between the dash and the front armor using the dash and pieces from an original one. Also I made a sort of hangman's tree to hang the dash from to hold it while I was wiring it up and it was a big help.

[super dave]

Sorry forgot the pictures Also what a pain to do working with all of those wires in a small confined area

[David Dunlop]

Looking Good, Dave!

David

[super dave]

Thanks, It feels really good getting up to this point as I can see the light now Hoping to get in a full year of driving it, Been a long haul since purchasing it.

[super dave]

Now that I have a good idea on how the fire extinguisher bracket needs to be made does anyone have some close up pictures of the spare valves and parts case box and dimensions of it as seen in the picture as I need to make that box up unless some one has a spare they want to sell


It will be a little slow going on the assembly now but I have to start to do some more fabrication as I need to make up some engine covers as well as the front sand shields and a few other items.



On another point as I get ready to get the seats cushions made up I have seen carrier illustrations with the front lower cushion D section pointed to the front and also with it pointed to the rear, Which is the proper way or is there one ?? Also the lift the dot fasteners on the front of the seat frame is there suppose to be straps on the seat cushion that would hook to them like the CMP ??

[super dave]

Must be getting tired as I forgot to ad the picture, It mounts on the right rear mud guard. Just a note as the pictures are from other members carriers.

[super dave]

Just thought I would ad this little tip that worked for me. Was talking with my friend today and the topic came up regarding the fuse that is for the lights and goes in the separate holder with cover inside the dash panel. As we were able to get new ones but the fuse section did not have the wire on the board. As I was looking for something totally different I stumbled upon a fuse that was used in my Saturn under the hood and it looked very close in size as the original unit. The fuse was rated at 30 amps which I thought was too much for the headlights/tail lights so I took it and snipped in the middle of the fuse link as there was a small hole there from factory so I thought that if the whole fuse link was 30A that half of it would be around 15A. After the snip I just wrapped some electrical tape around it so no possibility of shorting out on anything

[Michael R.]

Interesting question regarding the seating cushions for the driver and gunner. Where there are multiple factory images and NOS samples of the seat cushion you describe with the rounded portion (faces rearward, pardon the pun) ...

There is a square seat cushion with lift-the-dot fasteners for both the MK-I* and MK-II*. The cushion has cut-outs to lock the internal wire spring frame under the metal tabs at the rear of the supporting seat frame. The two lift-the-dot male fasteners are located at the front of the supporting seat frame. That cushion is similar to the CMP, but for the material and square shape only. As the carrier is open to the weather, the material is not plain canvas.

In addition to the seat cushions, there is the square kneeling pad. Two found on the MK-I*, strapped together in the wood seat frame over the driver side fuel tank.

[super dave]

Thanks Michael for those pictures as a couple of them are new to me. I was doing some research on this forum as I am getting ready to get some made up but as always there were a few questions that did not get answered that I found. The main one for me was regarding the 2 lift the dot fasteners at the front of the seat frame for the bottom cushion and how the D style cushion attached to it. It looks like that the lift the dot was for the square cushions only maybe ?? When was the square cushions used as all that I have seen in the Illustrations are the D style for the MK1 carrier.

As for the position of the D style the parts book shows them with the rounded sides to the rear of the seat and in Nigel Watsons Volume 1 book it shows it at the front ???

[Michael R.]

Drive a few miles sitting on the D shape and you will put the straight edge forward. Seriously Dave, I have no idea what is the 'correct way'. However, most furniture chairs are straight at the leading edge, rounded to the back. The 'D' shape cushions are B L O O D Y uncomfortable for any driving time.

The "D" cushions do not have any lift-the-dot tabs, nor do the kneeling cushions. The square seat cushions with the internal metal frame with springs below two layers of horse hair can also be found with an enclosed bottom with two side flaps that accept two female lift-the-dots per flap.

Notice the image of the MK-I or MK-I* carrier with the Vickers? Also note the MK-I* carriers have the locking tabs and lift-the-dot male portion on the support frame.
I have not looked for dates on the square cushion covers. Perhaps someone can check. The originals cannot be used for other than display, as they crack and turn to dust.

Consider getting the anodized lift-the-dots, not the plated ones. When you set them on the back rests, copy the originals for the lift off direction.

[super dave]

OK, Thanks for the experience Just wanted to clarify the front lower cushion as I have the rest figured out. I have already purchased the lift the dot fasteners for it and have all of the measurements of where they are located on the top cushion and hope to go to the Upholstery shop within this next week to get them started

[super dave]

Well things have slowed a bit on the restoration but still going forward. I have finally finished all of the engine covers for it having to make 6 of the 8 covers with the upper right hand ones I was able to save with some hammering effort. On the lower covers the front ones had the small kick out panels on which I had to make a die to stamp out some new ones.

[super dave]

Here are a couple pictures of the die I made for the front lower panels with some scrap metal I had.

[super dave]

Also if anyone might have a spare thumb screw as in the picture that they would like to relinquish as I have 7 out of the 8 I need for it I would be very grateful

[Lynn Eades]

So Dave, as you have mentioned buying them, Where does one buy Lift the Dot components, without buying the patent rights?
Have you bought Military black ones?
Did you get your thumbscrew?

[David Dunlop]

Lynn.

You can get lift the dot fasteners in NATO black finish at either Scoville Fastners in the USA, or OPAS in the UK.

Not sure of costs at Scoville, but OPAS has a 25 Pound minimum order limit.

David

[rob love]

Or you can just get them off ebay.

[Jim Burrill]

Note: The lift the dot receivers use a special tool to cut the slots and hole. I Have one, but damn thing cost more than the box of 100 peices.

[rob love]

Here is the tool for only $18 US on ebay. Good deal.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Never-Used-L...YAAOSwhcJWO6be

And here is the company that makes the lift the dot fasteners. Not sure if they sell direct to public, but they do list prices per 100. There is a shopping cart so I suspect they do sell retail. The carrier uses government black. They also sel the common sense fasteners like used on Jeeps and other military vehicles.

http://www.dotfasteners.com/lift_the_dot.html

[Phil Waterman]

Hi

I've found the Dot posts, and fastners at canvas shops and marine equipment shops, probably cheeper per piece to buy them in bags of hundred but that way I'd have 50 or 60 left over after doing three trucks.

As to the tool to punch the holes, I just marked the main center hole and the little holes for the fold tabs. Then used one of the standard hole punch tools with the 5 different size punches on a wheel.

Cheers Phil

[Grant Bowker]

One ebay source for the black Lift-The-Dot fasteners.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lift-The-Dot...5UoHFg&vxp=mtr

Beachwood Canvas also sells online.
https://www.beachwoodcanvas.com/order/productlist.cfm

I haven't dealt with either to comment on service but both seem to have been around for a while.

[super dave]

Originally Posted by Lynn Eades

So Dave, as you have mentioned buying them, Where does one buy Lift the Dot components, without buying the patent rights?
Have you bought Military black ones?
Did you get your thumbscrew?

Sorry for the delay as I had an unexpected out of town trip. I purchased my fasteners from JT's Outdoor Fabrics in Ontario

http://www.jtsoutdoorfabrics.com/Lif...rs_c_2722.html

as it was the cheapest I could find at the time and I got plated ones as that is what I thought they were based on the rear headrest sample I got from Brain Asbury. So are they Black instead of the plated ones ??

As for the thumb screw no still searching

[Lynn Eades]

Dave, I have originals (1941 and 1942) both are nickel, however the military black does look nice.

[Petr Brezina]

I have brass ones on my original backrest. So bought on Ebay nickeled, took the nickel out and have ready nice, shiney brass ones :-)

[super dave]

Been a little bit since my last post but life got in the way for a while. I have just finished up on the gas tanks as that was a big job as they were quite rusted out where the felt was and I had to cut all of the rusted bits out and make new metal up for the patches. After I had them tacked I tig welded them as I wanted full penetration so the less likely of having a pin hole afterwards. For extra insurance I coated the insides of the tank with a sealer that a local antique ford parts dealer sells as well as putting a coat of the por15 on the outside where the newly made patches were. I did the filled them up with gas and let them sit for 1/2 a day and no leaks

[super dave]

The sealer I used and the finished tanks. If there was any more work that had to be done with those tanks I would have looked into making new ones as it was around a weeks work in total

[super dave]

Also got my seat cushions back from the upholstery shop and overall I am satisfied with the results. I just have to install the lift the dot fasteners and they will be ready to install.

[Wayne Hingley]

Originally Posted by super dave

I have just finished up on the gas tanks as that was a big job as they were quite rusted out where the felt was and I had to cut all of the rusted bits out and make new metal up for the patches. After I had them tacked I tig welded them as I wanted full penetration so the less likely of having a pin hole afterwards. :

Very nice work Super! Thats a lot of work to make what probably looked like unsalvageable tanks into "just like new" condition. Great job.

[eddy8men]

i agree most would have had new tanks fabricated, maybe you will start a trend for repair.