M2A1 "Hell Hound" project

[67tank]

Finished up for today - almost all armor off.  Broke 3 drag link sockets and my giant bolt cutters.  Mounted the winch as a test- figured the front bumper was home made after looking at the welds and photos on this site.  Going to leave it for the time being.  Took some photos of some of the jerry rigging from the past 50 years or so.  Doesn't look like the rear spring is stock and have no idea what the lever crudely welded on the driver side frame is - thoughts? 

[andy]

That lever is for the factory winch to engage it. Only thing i can think is there may have been a winch located out back and that engaged it. That pic with the spring looks like the early rear sprocket tensioner type, front bumper is definitely aftermarket.

Im sure others will chime in

Andy

[spec4don]

Wow, that halftrack has a bunch  of very early stuff on it. It looks like it was never up graded. First off the bracket outside the frame by the brakes is for the early style vacuum assist brakes, It was never converted to a hydrovac. Looks like the lever welded to the frame is someone's attempt to add a winch lever. I would suspect that because of the home made winch bumper. They did the same thing to mine. So your winch lever will not be where an original set up would be.

Now looking at your rear spring set up, Its possible that what you have there is a piece of halftrack history It looks like it was one of the first conversions from the non-sprung fixed rear idlers to a sprung rear idler. If you have Hunnicutts book it talks about how the first conversions were done in the field by a Maintenance company using springs from a crawler tractor. It was done until the factory modification was made. If it is the is very unique. There has one other post I've seen where the half track still had the fixed idler.  But if we could see some more detailed pictures that would help. All indications are your halftrack is a very early one.

Don G.

 

[67tank]

Don

1.  Rear spring - Interesting.  I will keep as is then.  What photos would you like to see of the rear setup?
2.  Hydrovac - I have a hydrovac and the brackets in my garage -  but since this one was never converted - should I keep with the early style or make the conversion? 

[steve1973]

Pat,
Your better off with the newer style hydrovac. The earlier style is problematic and can lead to problems. As for the rear suspension there is no way to put tension on the springs with that set up. I know the earlier suspensions were prone to cause to throw a track. As for removing the armor bolts. I've had good luck heating the nut and then using an air impact on the nut. Foe the slot screws I use bits from Harbor Freight. When the brake I exchange them. Another trick as to not damage the bolts is to use a good air chisel and split the nut. This doesn't damage the bolt much if you do it right. Reproduction nuts are available from several vendors for $.90 each.

Steve A.

[spec4don]

Hi Pat. Steve is right the early system was actually a vacuum cylinder that assisted with the brake pedal, there was some monkey motion that is part of the brake pedal that had to be adjusted.  The hydrovac is cleaner, If you don't know the history of the hydrovac probably wouldn't hurt to have it tested.

On your rear idler could you get some shots of the attachment point on the idler arm and see  if it has the idler stop on the back also.

Don G.

[67tank]

Don
Photos of spring - as requested 

[67tank]

I brought the transmissions and the ordnance manual over to a trans shop in San Francisco.  The owners of the shop fought for the South Vietnam Army back in the day - think the last time they saw a halftrack or halftrack parts, it might have been operated by the French.....they are long time friends of the family and going to do it right - I hope. 

[spec4don]

Hi Pat that may the original spring  set up before the factory modification. That is really interesting. May Kevin L has a thought on this?

Don G.

[yd328]

That's the early spring set up on the idler.  It's illustrated on page 40 in Hunnicutts book.

Gary

[67tank]

I have been making some progress.  Used a friends cheap plasma cutter and started removing a lot of the farmer additions.  That plasma cutter failed and went out and bought a new one.  Have to finish removing the rear bed and I-beams.  Most of the armor has been sand blasted and primed.  Few pieces had cracks or needed some repair - Steve-O is welding the cracks, fixing the mounting tabs on the firewall, and welded new bolts onto the windshield.  Big shout out to him and his metal skills. 

Transfer case is rebuilt, PTO is redone and the Transmission is waiting for an input shaft and a few internals from Col Halftrack - who also supplied a new PTO lever, mounting bracket, all new bearings, shifter knobs, and a complete new exhaust.   Thanks Col much for your patience and assistance. 
 
Front axle is almost complete - all new race, bearings, seals, brakes, and got the new tires mounted on the split rims - just waiting on the hubs to come back from the sandblaster.

Dash - When I bought the HT it came with a new speedo and a complete NOS instrument cluster.  Had a tach that was a little beat up.  I visited Rod Shaver down at his home in Arizona over Thanksgiving and picked up a banged up Voltmeter (and drooled over his scout car and Hellcat) .
Steve-O has rebuilt both the Tach and Voltmeter.  Just need to track down the "panel Light" switch, fuel switch and electric brake control. 

Also had a chance to meet Steve1973 while he was down in the Bay Area and picked up a set of new headlights - he graciously helped me identify some of the parts I had and where they went. 

After having it pointed out that the front bumper was a home made job, have decided to remove the whole piece and picked up a complete original winch bumper from Steve-O.  Might as well do it now while i have everything off. 

[steve1973]

Pat,
Keep up the good work. I had a great time visiting you also.

Steve A.

[steve-0]

looking good.

i don't think many people use the brake controller even if they had it wired in and working. i have some that would fill the spot on your dash but may not work.

[67tank]

Perfect - Doesn't have to work.  Just needs to look the part.  Will not being towing an artillery piece any time soon.

[WayOffTrack]

Here is a pic of what the complete early brake booster looks like.