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  #181  
Old 19-12-17, 08:35
Big D Big D is offline
Darryl
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Dunedin, New Zealand
Posts: 653
Default M8 restoration

Hi all,

There has still been no progress on the blasting and painting of the hull, which is a bit of a bugger as it is holding me up now. However, it has given me some time to progress some other parts of the restoration.

I’ve done a bit more work on the generator. Things were progressing nicely until I realised that the repair kit I had was for the Ford generator and not the Autolite generator I have. I am on the lookout for the correct kit now....

After a light brush down, the field coils look too be in good shape. They appear fine electrically but will let the auto electrician confirm that when I get it all to him. The armature and commutator also look fine at this stage. Apart from one new bearing which I need to fit, the enclosure and end caps are ready for the reassembly.

I still need to rebuild the ceramic plate that insulates the posts from the enclosure and find another stud to replace the broken post. I also need to confirm what exactly is in the breakerbox that is attached to the side of the generator. Does anyone have any photos of the inside of this? I have a circuit breaker and a thick short cable but that is it.

I started work on the FT-237 radio mount and the radio and interphone bits and pieces. The plan is to get all this working before it goes into the hull. I understand the radio mount should be unpainted and just retain its original zinc finish but the steel on mine was pretty corroded and rough in places though so I after I removed the remaining paint and cleaned everything up, I painted the metalwork a zinc colour. I don’t think it looks too bad.

A couple of the toggle clamps were a bit bent but I heated them and straightened them and they are pretty good now. Two of the wee springs that go on the clamps are broken so I am on the lookout for replacements.

The wiring on the mount actually looks reasonably good so I will just test it and confirm. I have some assembly instructions for the wiring of the interphones coming from a supplier in France. The TM manuals don’t show the colour coding for the interphone connections to the terminal block on the FT-237 and the old wiring was too far gone to work out the colours. I have cleaned up the terminal board and will reattach that now pending the connection of the cabling and testing.

Still to do is tidying up of the data plates and the two posts on the left of the mount. I painted the brass plates black and will scratch away the paint on the embossed lettering.

That’s it for today....
Attached Thumbnails
20171219_181058.jpg   20171219_181117.jpg   IMG_0604.JPG   20171213_133145.jpg   20171213_133230.jpg  

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Cheers,

Darryl Lennane

1943 Willys MB
1941 Willys MBT Trailer
1941 Australian LP2A Machine Gun Carrier
1943 White M3A1AOP Scout Car
1944 Ford M8 Armoured Car
1945 Ford M20 Armoured Car
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  #182  
Old 19-12-17, 08:37
Big D Big D is offline
Darryl
 
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Default M8 restoration

More photos.
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20171218_102500.jpg   20171219_183005.jpg   20171219_183042.jpg   20171218_130951.jpg   20171219_185528.jpg  

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Cheers,

Darryl Lennane

1943 Willys MB
1941 Willys MBT Trailer
1941 Australian LP2A Machine Gun Carrier
1943 White M3A1AOP Scout Car
1944 Ford M8 Armoured Car
1945 Ford M20 Armoured Car
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  #183  
Old 19-12-17, 08:49
Shaun Mastin Shaun Mastin is offline
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hey mate

been following your thread looking good,
don't know if you have it over your neck of the woods but I no where I live that have onsite blasting , like "ecoblasting" which is the a fine sand and water
(suppose to be good for the environment) , maybe try seeing if that's an option , for sandblasting your hull
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  #184  
Old 21-12-17, 21:37
Big D Big D is offline
Darryl
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Dunedin, New Zealand
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Default M8 restoration

Hi Shaun

Thanks for that. I will check with the blasters. They have had to put it off until after Xmas now so no progress on that front until January.
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Darryl Lennane

1943 Willys MB
1941 Willys MBT Trailer
1941 Australian LP2A Machine Gun Carrier
1943 White M3A1AOP Scout Car
1944 Ford M8 Armoured Car
1945 Ford M20 Armoured Car
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  #185  
Old 02-01-18, 01:29
Bruce Parker (RIP) Bruce Parker (RIP) is offline
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Default Compass

Darryl, I wonder if you have any insight into this compass and mounting bracket. It is a Pioneer made liquid compass sold to me as coming out of an M8. Does it look familiar? If so where does it mount? A similar compass went into Canadian Fox armoured cars but I have no idea where (other than somewhere within view of the driver) or with what bracket.
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  #186  
Old 02-01-18, 02:01
Big D Big D is offline
Darryl
 
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Default M8 restoration

Hi Bruce

It is not one of the two compasses used in the M8 and the mount is also not for the M8.

I think this one was used in some models of the Sherman and also the DUKW.

Perhaps one of the experts on here might be able to confirm?
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Darryl Lennane

1943 Willys MB
1941 Willys MBT Trailer
1941 Australian LP2A Machine Gun Carrier
1943 White M3A1AOP Scout Car
1944 Ford M8 Armoured Car
1945 Ford M20 Armoured Car
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  #187  
Old 02-01-18, 05:15
David Dunlop David Dunlop is offline
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Darryl.

Are there any indications the radio mount serves as a ground for any of the connections? That might be why it was simply zinc plated, to maintain good electrical continuity.

If you paint it, be sure to keep good metal to metal contact between the bits where needed.

David
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  #188  
Old 02-01-18, 09:25
Big D Big D is offline
Darryl
 
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Default M8 restoration

Hi David,

Thanks for the reply.

In all my testing so far, all the power and earthing is done through the three main sockets on the back and sides of the FT-237 tray. I ended up painting it in the end, but that in itself creates some pain in the butt as each time I move the radios on the tray, it scratches the hell out of the paint! Ha!

I have made good progress with getting the radios working and will post another update soon.
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Darryl Lennane

1943 Willys MB
1941 Willys MBT Trailer
1941 Australian LP2A Machine Gun Carrier
1943 White M3A1AOP Scout Car
1944 Ford M8 Armoured Car
1945 Ford M20 Armoured Car
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  #189  
Old 06-01-18, 02:01
Big D Big D is offline
Darryl
 
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Default M8 restoration

Hi all,

This update on the M8 has a bit of a different flavour to the previous stuff but the work I’ve been doing over the last couple of weeks has been a nice change to cleaning, fabricating and painting.

I’ve now made some progress on the radio setup for the M8. After some tidying up of the old wiring, I have the FT-237 tray working. The antenna post still needs replacing and I’ll do this before the tray is finally fitted. I had a BC-604 transmitter and two BC-603 receivers for the radio setup. I needed the BC-604 going for the interphone system in the M8 to work, so I was keen to see if that could be done.

I had two NOS DM-34D dynamotors for the BC-603 radios but before fitting to the receivers, I took the bearing end caps off and put some new grease in there. The old grease was a little thick and might have been okay, but putting some new stuff in was good insurance. When I tested the dynamotors, one worked straight away, while the other one didn’t, bugger it. After some time learning about how they work and fiddling around with it, I found that there appeared to be insufficient gap between the segments on the commutator. I had to scrape the gaps to get the excess of copper out of there. There is a little bit of arcing off the brushes now but the dynamotor is working and hopefully the brushes will settle in. They are quite a neat little device. For anyone else servicing these, I found that when they are working properly, they draw about 1.8 amps with no load.

I have both BC-603 receivers working now. These are French units but they will do until when/if I pick up some original U.S ones. Both had lamps and fuses that needed replacing, and one had an audio problem. After I fitted the new fuses and lamps, and fiddled with the audio tubes on the second unit, both are functioning now.

The BC-604 has been a bit of a challenge so far. In another life, I trained as a radio/TV serviceperson but that was post valve technology and 35 years later I had forgotten all my training. Some of it came back once I started looking at the circuit diagrams, but I had to enlist some help from a Radio forum to get me in the right direction.

I had a used DM-35D 12 volt dynamotor to go with the BC-604. I didn’t know anything about its history but it was the only one I’d seen for sale at the time, so I grabbed it. I put some new grease on the bearings on this before firing it up. The dynamotor fired up initially off a power supply so I fitted it in the set. When fitted in the set though, the dynamotor relay just kept chattering away and the dynamotor wouldn’t start at all. I also couldn’t see any signs of life in the BC-604 itself.

With some assistance from a knowledgeable chap on the other forum, I ran all sorts of tests on the BC-604 but kept coming back to the dynamotor as being part of the problem, so I pulled it out of the set and completely stripped it. I ran all the resistance checks - 180 degree - segment to segment - then segment to armature - all measured fine. The brushes also measured fine and the surface of the commutator at each end looked good. I put it back together and then cleaned out the bearings again, re-greased them and experimented with varying preload on the bearings. The armature seemed to rotate freely, and I figured I was good to go.

I tried another 12 volt source. Again, about a half turn rotation on the dynamotor and the leads to the battery warmed up very fast. The dynamotor was initially drawing over 12 amps (more than my ammeter would go up to) and it just seemed like it was a big short circuit. I had another look at the circuit diagram and I noticed that there was no capacitor across the Low Voltage ends of the dynamotor, unlike the circuit diagram. I wondered if it had been removed at some point and whether that capacitor was supposed to assist as a start-up device. I fitted a capacitor from one of the dynamotors from the BC-603’s, tested the DM-35 dynamotor and away it went.

I fitted the dynamotor back into the BC-604 and although the dynamotor ran, the set still wasn’t doing anything and keying the microphone didn’t start the dynamotor like it should have. I removed the dynamotor again and gave it another going over but could not see any reason why it shouldn’t do what it was supposed to do. I put it back in the BC-604 and made up another set of cables for connecting to the set. These were beefier than the ones I used before and I figured it couldn’t hurt. First test and as soon as I hit the Operate button, the dynamotor fired up as it should. No delay in the dynamotor relay; a nice clean start. A couple of further tests proved I wasn’t dreaming. At that point I noticed that the power amplifier tube in the set was lit. That was a first.

I tried keying the microphone and initially had no success. I checked everything and worked out that I had a dodgy wire in the microphone lead which was causing intermittent connections. A repair later and the microphone keying now starts the dynamotor. I had been told these dynamotors should run without the capacitor (a late war change) so I went back to the dynamotor and removed the capacitor. Success. The dynamotor starts now without the capacitor and even the meter on the BC-604 set is now working.

I’m not sure if the power supply was part of the problem all along, but I had felt that the battery I had been using was getting a bit tired toward the end of my hours of testing and that couldn't have helped. The cable change definitely made a difference. Looking at the dynamotor, it does say 18 amps on the side so maybe it was just too much for the cables I was using. Either way, a few lessons learnt.

The next step is to check the interphone and see if it works. I hadn’t really planned on fixing the transmitter itself that but I guess I’ve come this far so I may persevere with that. After that, I’ll tidy up the old paint and freshen the sets up a bit.
Attached Thumbnails
20171220_174005.jpg   20171220_174036.jpg   20171220_174411.jpg   20171221_164306.jpg   20171223_142811.jpg  

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Cheers,

Darryl Lennane

1943 Willys MB
1941 Willys MBT Trailer
1941 Australian LP2A Machine Gun Carrier
1943 White M3A1AOP Scout Car
1944 Ford M8 Armoured Car
1945 Ford M20 Armoured Car
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  #190  
Old 06-01-18, 02:02
Big D Big D is offline
Darryl
 
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More photos.
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20180103_115336.jpg   20180103_115627.jpg   20180106_123855.jpg   20180105_120130.jpg   20180105_120150.jpg  

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Cheers,

Darryl Lennane

1943 Willys MB
1941 Willys MBT Trailer
1941 Australian LP2A Machine Gun Carrier
1943 White M3A1AOP Scout Car
1944 Ford M8 Armoured Car
1945 Ford M20 Armoured Car
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  #191  
Old 07-01-18, 00:48
James P James P is offline
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Happy new happy Big D. Small baby steps but each and every one brings you closer to seeing a new and complete M8 in time. Breathtaking amount of in depth work you are putting into this project.
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  #192  
Old 08-01-18, 18:12
Big D Big D is offline
Darryl
 
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Default M8 restoration

Happy New Year to you to James P.

Thanks for that. I have to admit that I wasn't holding my breath about getting all the radio gear going but it looks like I am getting there. I've made more progress in the last couple of days so will post another update soon.
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Darryl Lennane

1943 Willys MB
1941 Willys MBT Trailer
1941 Australian LP2A Machine Gun Carrier
1943 White M3A1AOP Scout Car
1944 Ford M8 Armoured Car
1945 Ford M20 Armoured Car
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  #193  
Old 18-01-18, 03:12
Big D Big D is offline
Darryl
 
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Default M8 restoration

Hi all,

I have had some limited success with the interphone system in the BC-604 transmitter. I had to do some more fault-finding and with the assistance of a radio forum I worked out that one of the vacuum tubes in the set was faulty. I replaced this and the audio stages in the set started to work.

The BC-604 mounted in the FT-237 does allow you to test sidetone, which is a test on the interphone circuit. The BC-604 now works but it has a wee problem which I may or may not be able to resolve in the short term. I am told that in the Interphone mode, the dynamotor in the BC-604 should run continuously (can anyone confirm this?). This makes sense as the dynamotor powers up the audio stages in the set which are required for the interphone audio to operate.

On my set however, I seem to have an intermittent problem which is likely to be caused by the S104 radio/interphone relay. I had the BC-604 in the FT-237 radio tray and for a short time the dynamotor was running continuously in the interphone position (which I’m told is correct). However, then the dynamotor stopped running continuously and now it won’t run in interphone mode unless I key the microphone. I figure that one of the contacts in the radio/interphone relay is the cause of the problem but there seems to be no easy way to get at the contacts to clean them. It is a complicated relay with lots of connections and I don’t really fancy the idea of trying to replace it, even if I could source a replacement!

As it stands, when using the interphone, one has to key the microphone and pause for a second or two before talking to allow the dynamotor to fire up the audio. At this stage, I’ve found the audio is a bit noisy and there is some dynamotor whine in the audio so I intend replacing the capacitors on the dynamotor to see if that helps. I have also ordered some replacement vacuum tubes for the audio stages, just in case one of the existing ones is not quite right. Not an ideal situation, but when it does work, it does work! If I’m not happy with the performance, I do have a NOS BC-605 that I could fit instead of one of the BC-603’s and this will provide interphone capability.

I have tidied up the BC-604 and the two BC-603’s. I didn’t do a complete strip down and paint of all the panels on the sets. There was just too much involved in removing all the control panels and besides, the appearance of these was not too bad as it was, and I may replace the French sets with US ones at some point anyway. The new paint on the exterior panels has freshened up the appearance of the three sets though.

I am still having some issues with the DM-34D dynamotor that I needed to work on to get it to run and I am ready to admit defeat on this one. More often than not it won’t start. The resistance measurements I’ve done on it suggest that there are some open windings on the armature, so I will keep an eye out for a replacement. If anyone has a good spare they want to part with, I’d be interested.

In the meantime, a few other bits and pieces have arrived in the post (thanks to Brent and Jean-Marc).

Next week I hope to have some progress photos on the hull sandblasting.
Attached Thumbnails
20171229_144152.jpg   20180118_081142.jpg   20180118_081555.jpg   20171220_174000.jpg   20180118_141122.jpg  

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Cheers,

Darryl Lennane

1943 Willys MB
1941 Willys MBT Trailer
1941 Australian LP2A Machine Gun Carrier
1943 White M3A1AOP Scout Car
1944 Ford M8 Armoured Car
1945 Ford M20 Armoured Car
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  #194  
Old 18-01-18, 03:14
Big D Big D is offline
Darryl
 
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BC-605 3.jpg   BC-605.jpg   20180118_144443.jpg   20180118_145233_001.jpg   20180118_145139.jpg  

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Cheers,

Darryl Lennane

1943 Willys MB
1941 Willys MBT Trailer
1941 Australian LP2A Machine Gun Carrier
1943 White M3A1AOP Scout Car
1944 Ford M8 Armoured Car
1945 Ford M20 Armoured Car
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  #195  
Old 25-01-18, 08:56
Big D Big D is offline
Darryl
 
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Default M8 restoration

Hi all,

The sandblasters have started on the M8 so I took the opportunity to check for serial numbers before they put any paint on it, to see if I could learn a bit more about the hull.

As I previously mentioned, the ordnance serial numbers ‘7373’ are in each lower corner of the front hull. These were nice and clear. I was hoping to locate the other number on the front armour plate in the centre below the front hatches. The metal on the hull here is quite rough and I could not make out a lot out with any certainty. I thought I could see a ‘6’ but then again it could have been a ‘C’. I took some pictures of this area but even blowing the photos up didn’t reveal anything. Whatever was there was very hard to see and nothing like as clear as the ordnance serial numbers on the lower front corners.

There are a range of other numbers on the hull in various places. There is a series of numbers on the top of the hull at the rear above where the radiator is. There are other numbers in the front armour which I figure are plate drawing numbers. All in all, not a lot more learnt!

I’ll send through some more photos once they’ve got some paint on the hull.

Along with cleaning up a few other parts, I’ve just about reassembled the generator. I had to fit a new electrical stud and make up a new insulating plate and insulating sleeves for the two studs. The repair appears to be okay. I’ve made up some new gaskets, replaced one of the bearings and have some new brushes coming, so hopefully not a bad repair cost overall, excluding all the hours I put in! Everything seems to check out so far but we’ll see what the auto electrician says. He’ll tell me how good (or bad) I am!

I’ve also had some other radio/interphone parts arrive. It seems a shame to open these boxes up.

That's it for today.....
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20180125_154535.jpg   20180125_153932.jpg   20180125_153650.jpg   20180125_153427.jpg   20180125_153143.jpg  

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Cheers,

Darryl Lennane

1943 Willys MB
1941 Willys MBT Trailer
1941 Australian LP2A Machine Gun Carrier
1943 White M3A1AOP Scout Car
1944 Ford M8 Armoured Car
1945 Ford M20 Armoured Car

Last edited by Big D; 25-01-18 at 21:43.
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  #196  
Old 25-01-18, 08:57
Big D Big D is offline
Darryl
 
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More photos.
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20180125_153134.jpg   20180121_152539.jpg   20180121_154913.jpg   20180125_095934.jpg   20180125_132829.jpg  

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Cheers,

Darryl Lennane

1943 Willys MB
1941 Willys MBT Trailer
1941 Australian LP2A Machine Gun Carrier
1943 White M3A1AOP Scout Car
1944 Ford M8 Armoured Car
1945 Ford M20 Armoured Car
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  #197  
Old 25-01-18, 09:30
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colin jones colin jones is offline
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Hi Darryl, fantastic . The rewards will be great after you get the hull back and start bolting things back on. Your radio and generator look like new.
Great job.
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  #198  
Old 25-01-18, 13:55
James P James P is offline
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Looks great, try shining a bright light at an oblique angle to see if the numbers come up better. Good lord you will have to remove your shoes before climbing in that M8 it is so well done.
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  #199  
Old 26-01-18, 08:28
Big D Big D is offline
Darryl
 
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Hi Colin and James,

Thanks for that. Yes, it’s hard to believe the stage it’s at now. It has been quite a journey so far!

I had another look at the hull today after they put the primer on it. As you can see, we dropped the turret ring down enough to blast between the surfaces, and get some paint in there.

Some of the other numbers on the vehicle became more apparent with the coat of primer on it. It’s amazing how a coat of paint transforms the vehicle!

After we looked closely at the front armour we can see that a grinder or similar has been used in a number of places on the front armour; the middle panel where that other serial number would be, and the top panel. You can actually see some of the dips in the surface from the grinding, and it appears that other number has been ground away. The lower panel where the Ordnance Numbers are shows no signs of any grinding.

I guess there could be a few reasons for the grinding but it was certainly done some time ago and prior to at least the last coat of paint it got in its service. Maybe the hull sustained some frontal damage at some point and the steel was repaired and grinded smooth. Who would know….

Anyway, on Monday, the gloss white goes on. After that, the plan is to leave the paint to harden for a few days before masking the white off in preparation for the OD to go on.
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20180126_143953.jpg   20180126_144319.jpg   20180126_144605.jpg   20180126_144615.jpg  
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Darryl Lennane

1943 Willys MB
1941 Willys MBT Trailer
1941 Australian LP2A Machine Gun Carrier
1943 White M3A1AOP Scout Car
1944 Ford M8 Armoured Car
1945 Ford M20 Armoured Car
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  #200  
Old 26-01-18, 13:26
James P James P is offline
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Anyway, on Monday, the gloss white goes on. After that, the plan is to leave the paint to harden for a few days before masking the white off in preparation for the OD to go on.

I am perplexed, are you shooting a gloss white, masking off vehicle markings (stars and numbers) then going OD over top that ? I know next to nothing about wartime application of M8 paint but why not just go green and stencil on in white the markings. I would be afraid of every ding and chip on OD and seeing the white surface. Looks great, once you have the big green box back home and can do the "fun and easy" stuff like markings take some silver paint to those bullet strikes and holes.
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  #201  
Old 26-01-18, 20:23
Lynn Eades Lynn Eades is offline
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Looking great Darryl!
It's a good feeling at this stage.
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  #202  
Old 26-01-18, 20:41
David Dunlop David Dunlop is offline
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Hi Darryl.

Are you taking advantage of the relatively open hull at this point to get a coat of white on the basic interior more easily? Good idea to let it cure and toughen up a bit for a few days. You’ve probably got great weather for curing paint right now. What is it they say? ‘Sit back, have a beer and watch the paint cure?’

David
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  #203  
Old 26-01-18, 23:22
James P James P is offline
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Ehh... interior in white......... now I get it
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  #204  
Old 27-01-18, 08:31
Big D Big D is offline
Darryl
 
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Hi Lynn,

Yes, still a bit surreal to see it like this. It has changed a lot since you last saw it!

Hi James,

Sorry, I didn't word my last post well. Yes, the painters are going to paint the interior in gloss white. Once that has hardened, they will mask off the white and apply the OD.

Hi David,

Yes, spot on. It is certainly great weather for this at the moment. 30 plus degrees in Dunedin and that doesn't happen often. Come to think of it, it is beer o'clock now!
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Darryl Lennane

1943 Willys MB
1941 Willys MBT Trailer
1941 Australian LP2A Machine Gun Carrier
1943 White M3A1AOP Scout Car
1944 Ford M8 Armoured Car
1945 Ford M20 Armoured Car
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  #205  
Old 27-01-18, 19:53
David Dunlop David Dunlop is offline
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Before I forget, Darryl, I like the look of the way your Wireless Set is coming along. I just finished the first cleaning of the front panel on by 52-Set Remote Receiver and was amazed at how much nicotine staining came off of it. The upper and lower panels actually match in colour now and everything looks so much brighter! Nice to accomplish things like that when one can.

David
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  #206  
Old 01-02-18, 01:21
Big D Big D is offline
Darryl
 
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Hi David

Thanks for that. I thought I had replied to your post but it appears I didn't click on save. I have been watching your thread with interest. I have a WS19 set that I might do at a later stage so I am keen to learn what I can and your thread is very informative.
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Darryl Lennane

1943 Willys MB
1941 Willys MBT Trailer
1941 Australian LP2A Machine Gun Carrier
1943 White M3A1AOP Scout Car
1944 Ford M8 Armoured Car
1945 Ford M20 Armoured Car
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  #207  
Old 01-02-18, 01:23
Big D Big D is offline
Darryl
 
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Hi all,

Just a few more progress photos along with a funny story.

The gloss white has been applied to the interior of the hull. The hull is being masked off now in preparation for the OD to go on. Unfortunately there is a problem with the OD paint and the finish is not matt! We are talking to the paint supplier now to see what has happened there. Hopefully we will have a resolution soon.

Back to the funny story. There was a major scrub fire last night in the suburb of Burnside (how ironic!) in Dunedin. It raged for about 6 hours and took out a few industrial buildings, pine trees, and damaged some homes leading to the evacuation of a number of residents.

The sandblasters where the M8 is being painted, are based right in the area where the fire was! The fire got to about 100 metres from their premises, but fortunately did not get any closer to the building. If it had reached the nearby LPG gas bottle plant, things might have been different.

The guys had to clean all the ash and soot off the hull this morning before starting the masking.

As you can expect, I was sweating on things for a while but it appears that on this occasion, the gods were smiling on me….
Attached Thumbnails
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Cheers,

Darryl Lennane

1943 Willys MB
1941 Willys MBT Trailer
1941 Australian LP2A Machine Gun Carrier
1943 White M3A1AOP Scout Car
1944 Ford M8 Armoured Car
1945 Ford M20 Armoured Car
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  #208  
Old 01-02-18, 08:44
Lynn Eades Lynn Eades is offline
Bluebell
 
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Tauranga, New Zealand
Posts: 5,534
Default

Hi Daryll, I would not have exected you to paint today. Having arrived home this arvo from ChCh. and seeing the news.
I'm now guessing you'll be working tonight.
For the rest of the world, we've had some nasty weather today around N.Z. with wind and flooding (and a fire in Dunedin)

That hull is looking good!
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Carrier Armoured O.P. No1 Mk3 W. T84991
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  #209  
Old 01-02-18, 09:12
Big D Big D is offline
Darryl
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Dunedin, New Zealand
Posts: 653
Default M8 restoration

Hi Lynn

Yes, a busy night last night with the fire and a complete turnaround with the weather today!

Yes, thanks. The hull is looking good.
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Cheers,

Darryl Lennane

1943 Willys MB
1941 Willys MBT Trailer
1941 Australian LP2A Machine Gun Carrier
1943 White M3A1AOP Scout Car
1944 Ford M8 Armoured Car
1945 Ford M20 Armoured Car
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  #210  
Old 06-02-18, 09:40
Big D Big D is offline
Darryl
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Dunedin, New Zealand
Posts: 653
Default M8 restoration

Hi all,

While I am waiting for the hull to come back, I've been planning the fabrication and installation of the various hydraulic and fuel lines. I have no old lines to work from so will be working from a clean slate and will have to fabricate each line.

According to the manual, I need 142” of ½” line, 260” of 3/8” line, 923” of ¼” line, and 275” of 5/16” line!

I have a range of pictures and diagrams of the hydraulic and fuel line layout and am curious about the different line sizes used. I see there is ½” for the clutch lines; 3/8” for the accelerator lines; 5/16” for some of the brake lines, 1/4” for the other brake lines. Was the variation in line sizes simply to allow for greater hydraulic fluid for the different applications?

I have read a number of suggestions about fitting in extender lines so that I can bleed from various places. I’ve attached a couple of pictures of one setup. I can’t remember where I got this, so hopefully the owner doesn’t mind me using the photos. This setup seems like a good option to me.

Is there anywhere else I need to consider extender lines?

I am also going to progress the 37mm gun in readiness for getting the turret back. I’m not sure whether it is clear from the photos but the barrel I have is a little bent. I’m guessing that it must have had a fairly hefty weight on it at some point to put a curve in the barrel. It is not going to be a live firing gun but I would like it straight ‘to the eye’ and I would like to have it so that it can fire blanks.

Straightening it is beyond my expertise and the tools I have so I have the Action Engineering guys working on this. We need to get the old sleigh off the tube first and then we can straighten the tube. Hopefully some pressure from a large press and perhaps a bit of heat will do the job.

The breech end of the tube has been plugged which we should be able to clear quite easily. I have the correct sleigh and also have a NOS breech block coming for it.

I also need to get the recoil system off the mantlet so that I can get that stripped and functioning again. The screws holding it to the mantlet are pretty rough but hopefully we can get a rattle gun on them. Otherwise I might have to resort to welding a couple of studs onto them so that I can get a spanner on them to shift them.

I have some repro data plates for the gun side plate. Can anyone advise the size font for the stamp for these plates?
Attached Thumbnails
IMG_1998a.jpg   IMG_1998b.jpg   20171028_132608.jpg   20180205_152453.jpg   20180205_152459.jpg  

__________________
Cheers,

Darryl Lennane

1943 Willys MB
1941 Willys MBT Trailer
1941 Australian LP2A Machine Gun Carrier
1943 White M3A1AOP Scout Car
1944 Ford M8 Armoured Car
1945 Ford M20 Armoured Car
Reply With Quote
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