Author Topic: "LUCKY 13" Restoration Process  (Read 80595 times)

coreyelliott

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Re: "LUCKY 13" Restoration Process
« Reply #240 on: July 26, 2021, 09:07:28 PM »
Well, we haven't updated our post in over 3 months so I'd like to post at least something to let you guys know we are still around and kicking.  It's been hot here, as summers are; however, we've been dealing with humidity this year.  We aren't used to humidity in the summers here in West Texas and it can some times really get us struggling.  Also, Shon has been on summer vacations with his family and I have been with mine.  But there really is a bigger reason or two that has led us to our lack of updates, which I'll touch on down below.

First, We got our shipping stencil printed and cut out.  We printed the stencil on stencil decal paper and hand cut them out with an exacto knife.  LOOOONGGG procedure.  We also got the invasion star painted on the hood and the regular star painted on the front.  Painters tape and an exacto knife for those.

This was all being done several months ago as we were preparing for our first public event.  There was a large car show and we had already contacted the organizers and they were ecstatic to have us attend.  The event was close enough to drive the truck to, but we've never had it over a mile at one time so we needed to go on at least a 4 mile journey to make sure things went well.  As the driver, things seemed to go really well.  It was a little weak on the top end and I could only get it to maybe 40, but other than that it went great.  That was when Shon, who was following me, pointed to head back to the shop as he passed me.

We threw the rubber on about 8 of our bogies.  We knew it would happen eventually, but we just assumed we would have a little longer.  We don't drive it much so we assumed they would last a year or two.  They didn't.

We were now going to be down for quite some time without the funds for either NOS bogies or urethane recoating.  Since we were going to be down, we decided to go ahead and replace a leaking freeze plug and investigate our leaking water pump.  Shon lined up a trip to Brent Mullins while he was going to be near there on vacation and we had come up with enough money to buy 8 NOS bogies. 

Pictures follow.









 


































































« Last Edit: July 26, 2021, 09:21:50 PM by coreyelliott »
1941 Autocar M2A1 (M2-13)

spillmk1

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Re: "LUCKY 13" Restoration Process
« Reply #241 on: July 27, 2021, 07:12:45 AM »
Looking good!!!
That hood stencil is fun isn't it?

Not sure how fast Bertha will go.
When we have the Shacktown Militia rolling to an event (1955 M38A1 Jeep and Half Track) we run
about 25-30mph and just grin like possums and wave to the surprised passers by.  ;D

Keith
1955 M38A1 Jeep
1952 M100 Trailer
1941 M2A1 Half Track
MVPA Member

coreyelliott

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Re: "LUCKY 13" Restoration Process
« Reply #242 on: July 30, 2021, 03:15:34 PM »
Looking good!!!
That hood stencil is fun isn't it?

Not sure how fast Bertha will go.
When we have the Shacktown Militia rolling to an event (1955 M38A1 Jeep and Half Track) we run
about 25-30mph and just grin like possums and wave to the surprised passers by.  ;D

Keith

Thanks Keith.  Luckily for me, Shon handled the hood stencil!

I think we will just keep it in the 30mph range for our max speed and be happy with that.

Corey
1941 Autocar M2A1 (M2-13)

coreyelliott

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Re: "LUCKY 13" Restoration Process
« Reply #243 on: July 31, 2021, 08:52:58 PM »
We got the new bogie wheels installed and wrapped up some of our other things off the "to-do" list and took Lucky 13 out for a drive.  Things went great.  We do have a clunking noise coming from the driver side track and I think it's because the track is too loose.  It might be hanging up on the sprocket.  See the video below!

https://youtu.be/2QgWiNoGwqE

Corey
1941 Autocar M2A1 (M2-13)

emptyhead

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Re: "LUCKY 13" Restoration Process
« Reply #244 on: August 01, 2021, 04:42:06 AM »
Very nice

yd328

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Re: "LUCKY 13" Restoration Process
« Reply #245 on: August 01, 2021, 08:53:44 AM »
The halftrack looks and sounds great. Check the toe out adjustment on the rear idler. 

Gary

coreyelliott

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Re: "LUCKY 13" Restoration Process
« Reply #246 on: October 30, 2021, 08:35:59 PM »
The halftrack looks and sounds great. Check the toe out adjustment on the rear idler. 

Gary

Thanks, Gary.  We have checked the toe adjustment and it's not correct.  It's out by about an 1/8".  We've adjusted the turnbuckles as much as we can.  Looks like we will have to look at getting some machining work done in the future to get these set right.

Corey
1941 Autocar M2A1 (M2-13)

coreyelliott

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Re: "LUCKY 13" Restoration Process
« Reply #247 on: October 30, 2021, 09:14:51 PM »
Well friends, it's been awhile since there's been an update.  We have really tightened up some loose ends and have figured out things such as what we want to keep on the truck and where we want to store them.  Our temp fuel tanks are all plumbed.  It starts in less than one revolution and has great compression in all cylinders.  It might be running a bit rich still, but I can live with that until the motor is fully broken in.

Because things are going so well, we decided to take the halftrack to an event we were attending in New Mexico.  Shon's truck pulled Lucky 13 with no issues, except for just drinking the diesel fast, but that's to be expected.  Stopped at the local brewery and had some really good locally brewed pale ale and unloaded the halftrack with no issues.  The next day, we loaded up our GIs in Lucky 13 and sat off to battle on a 4wd road up a hill. 

We made it 6/10th's of a mile and all of the sudden Shon noticed smoke coming from under the passenger side floor.  First thing I thought of was electrical fire somewhere around the battery or battery wire.  I stopped and Shon got out and raised the hood.  It was antifreeze hitting the manifold causing the smoke.  Based on the damage, we immediately thought the headgasket had blown.  After a little further looking, that wasn't it.  The damn freeze plug I had installed only a couple of weeks ago was leaking.  Unloaded the guys and told them they were gonna have to hoof it.

We got home home and Shone immediately tore apart the manifolds.  The bottom freeze plug (behind the manifolds, of course) had just fallen out.  I'd never installed these disc types before and I guess I simply didn't flatten them out enough.  Because they are located in such a shitty spot, we decided to toss the freeze plugs and just tap the castings and install plugs.  No more leaking then!

Thanks for reading,

Corey









































1941 Autocar M2A1 (M2-13)

Jesse

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Re: "LUCKY 13" Restoration Process
« Reply #248 on: November 15, 2022, 09:06:34 PM »
Wwii pictures 12AD

autocar925

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Re: "LUCKY 13" Restoration Process
« Reply #249 on: November 17, 2022, 11:36:57 AM »
When you tapped for the threaded freeze plugs, what size plug did you use?

Tapper02

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Re: "LUCKY 13" Restoration Process
« Reply #250 on: February 15, 2024, 09:19:39 AM »






What exactly were you testing for here?  Did you clean up the resistor at all?  Did you replace any of the flaking insulation or coat it with anything before putting it back in the housing?
1944 Autocar M15A1 (M16A1) Halftrack
  (Being restored to an M3A1 configuration)
  Serial Number M-15 A 1, 1356
  Model M-16 A 1, Ord Serial Number 1106
1944 Schelm Bros. M10 Ammunition Trailer
  Serial Number 16959
MVPA # 30507

Jesse

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Re: "LUCKY 13" Restoration Process
« Reply #251 on: February 15, 2024, 11:47:28 AM »
Looks like that confirms the resistor is good. That resistor probably was never coated. A good brushing of the junk in between the coils would make it look better, but won’t affect its operation.

steve1973

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Tapper02

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Re: "LUCKY 13" Restoration Process
« Reply #253 on: February 15, 2024, 06:52:29 PM »
http://halftrackinfo.com/index.php?topic=1694.msg9765#msg9765

Steve A.

Thanks for the reminder Steve.  If I can't resurrect mine I may go that route.  Would still like to know where (which TM) the specs for the original resistor are listed, if anyone knows.  Also, I think I found a way to create the old insulation...I'll make a new thread detailing my efforts...if the resistor is still good.
1944 Autocar M15A1 (M16A1) Halftrack
  (Being restored to an M3A1 configuration)
  Serial Number M-15 A 1, 1356
  Model M-16 A 1, Ord Serial Number 1106
1944 Schelm Bros. M10 Ammunition Trailer
  Serial Number 16959
MVPA # 30507

coreyelliott

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Re: "LUCKY 13" Restoration Process
« Reply #254 on: March 13, 2024, 09:40:49 PM »
Sorry all, I've been away way too long. Life gets in the way sometimes.

Quote
Thanks for the reminder Steve.  If I can't resurrect mine I may go that route.  Would still like to know where (which TM) the specs for the original resistor are listed, if anyone knows.  Also, I think I found a way to create the old insulation...I'll make a new thread detailing my efforts...if the resistor is still good.

This was just confirming the resistor to run the 6 volt blackout lights is still good. You don't need a TM to show you the specs, you just need to know you need a resistor to drop you from 12 volts to 6 volts. It can get more confusing if your dealing with larger amps than we are here, but in this case the math shows you need a resistor of 2-3 ohms with a draw of say 10 amps. This one is still amazingly showing good at 2.4 ohms. I was just amazed it was still good, that's why I posted the pics. We converted the blackout lights to 12 volts so we didn't actually use the resistor for the blackout lights; however, it is still wired into the trailer plug since those bulbs would be 6 volts.

Actually, now that I think about it, maybe it was just the trailer plug that was using 6 volts and the HT BO lights were actually unusually 12 volts. I can't honestly remember, I'll need to look further into that to refresh my memory.

There was not type of lacquer or any other type of insulation on the resistor.

Corey
1941 Autocar M2A1 (M2-13)