My halftrack trek back from the dead...

[colkking]

So, I got the frame, crab, and axles back from the paint shop today.
Rocky Mountain Automotive, in Arona, PA does AWESOME work.

They sandblasted the parts, applied the epoxy primer, then painted.

The parts came out looking great.
Biggest challenge has been loading/ unloading them at the house...I am equipped with the following plethora of assets:
1)  tilt bed trailer with winch
2)  a myriad of Harbor Freight wooden furniture dollies
3)  a six foot tanker's bar
4)  a couple of 3 ton floor jacks
5)  an 8 year old supervisor on summer break before he starts 3rd grade.

Got the frame off the trailer, and into the garage.  Ditto with the crab.  Rolled the crab into the garage, and after some helpful suggestions from the supervisor, we got it under the rear of the frame and bolted it on. 
Put the front end of the frame on 12 ton jack stands, and now starting to rebuild/ create the winch boxframe.  Had to get a new set of frame extenders for the winch--the old set sort of met an untimely demise sometime in 1952, I believe.
Also, attached the mounts for the drive axle to the frame.  Using grade 8 bolts all the way around the frame--figured I would beef this up as much as I can, but will still use the countersunk slotted bolts for the armor.
Will post pictures shortly.

Thanks for reading!  I figured this is a good way to decompress and organize my thoughts, as well as learn from the experts out there!

Cheers,
kk

[colkking]

bringing the axles back from the paint shop

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[colkking]

and my supervisor, hard at work

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[colkking]

building out the winch box...

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[colkking]

and attaching the crab...

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[colkking]

Next steps are:
1) Sending out the paybed (M16 pedestal and subfloor boxes) to Rocky Mountain to media blast/ metal repair/ epoxy prime/ paint.
2) Completing the winch box assembly (thinking of build the whole winch on there as well while I am at it)
3) Completing the attachment of the front frame extensions and bolting on the front springs
4) Attaching the drive axle
5) Attaching the oil pan armor (figure it will be a royal pain once the engine goes in).

Still inclined to use grade 8 bolts throughout, although mocking it up with the cheap grade 5 bolts from Tractor Supply.
Has anyone had any issues with using 1/2" bolts on the frame?  The holes seem just a tad too tight to get the 1/2" bolts through in some instances--had to resort to 7/16" bolts, but thinking that the grade 8 fine thread bolts should still be more than strong enough for the task at hand.

One question (of many) I have:  do you guys recommend installing the engine and transmission together as a unit, or individually?

Thanks for reading!
kk

[colkking]

the BEFORE photo...

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[Smadge]

Looking great!!

[vj]

looks great,  You do great work, Also do you have the 70 dodge challenger,  I got 3 halftracks and a ww2 5 ton tractor  and other ww2 stuff,   I am doing a resto on a 70 challenger 440 six pack and a 70 cuda six pack completed,

[Tapper02]

I am equipped with the following plethora of assets:
1)  tilt bed trailer with winch
2)  a myriad of Harbor Freight wooden furniture dollies
3)  a six foot tanker's bar
4)  a couple of 3 ton floor jacks
5)  an 8 year old supervisor on summer break before he starts 3rd grade.

Hey, someone's gotta be in charge!

Looking forward to watching the build.

-Tom

[yd328]

The parts look great. It looks like your top roller were stuck at one point?
More importantly, it looks like if you keep the supervisor supplied with pizza he'll go easy on you .

Gary

[Tapper02]

It looks like your top roller were stuck at one point?

Gary

Interesting...and good catch Gary.  I had to go back and look at the pics to see that!

-Tom

[coreyelliott]

It looks like your top roller were stuck at one point?

Gary

Interesting...and good catch Gary.  I had to go back and look at the pics to see that!

-Tom

That really interesting to see those rollers like that!  I didn't see that until it was mentioned either.

Corey

[colkking]

I honestly don't know why the rollers are flattened on one side..the rollers on both sides are flattened the same way.  Anyone have any ideas why they are like that?
Is it a way they de-milled the vehicles or something?
To be honest, they both roll freely...and I thought the flat side was nothing out of the ordinary.
I reckon I will be in the market for a new set of rollers.

Got to go out and get some more pizza for the boss, then we'll be back at it again this weekend.

Thanks, guys!
kk

[colkking]

Lots of hours on the project this weekend, but not as much as I would like to show for it.
Having some fitment issues with the bumper, but at least I know that the pieces are in the right places (thanks to seeing all of the pics you guys post and a donor halftrack in the sideyard)  :-)

Nevertheless, I got the axles into the garage and staged the drive axle.
Also got the oilpan armor in place.
Got the idler axle holders cleaned up and installed as well.
Cleaned up the new dash--will start mocking up and installing pieces next.
Also looking at replacing the steering box.
Finally, I just finished removing about 10 pounds of creosode from the new front spring mounts, and the goal is to get the springs installed this week, then mount the front axle.  I honestly thought the spring mounts had a rubber coating, until I started scratching it and found it to be about 3/4" of creosode coating.
Moving forward--I may not be fast, but I am persistent!

Thanks for listening!
kk