warning about the littlfield museums m16 halftrack

[steve-0]

i thought i had lost these pics but i was able to recover them recently from my camera. (dont press reformat on your camera  )

when i first started looking for an m16 halftrack to take measurements off of so i could reproduce the armor on my m16 halftrack the first one i found close was at the littlefield museum.

i was told by them this one had all original armor and i could take measurements for the price of $75 per hr.

what they have there is an m2 halftrack with an m16 rear bed. the top fold down armor is bad repo and the rear boxes are also poor repo.
the first clue i noticed on the fold down armor was that when its folded down the serial number is in a perfectly placed spot for viewing.
also it looks like they torched out the cutouts in the fold down armor which shrank the metal a bit and they used a ball peen hammer on the inside to flatten it out a bit.

im only posting this to warn others about taking measurements off this halftrack. it a nice looking halftrack but a copy of a poor copy doesn't get better.

i spent $125 for the time i spent drawing up the armor, plus at least $100 on fuel for worthless drawings.
it wasn't a total waste though,, i got to take a tour and they have some great stuff there.


note the hammer marks on the inside of the fold down armor.




note the m2a1 pulpit part on the upper windshield armor

[col.halftrack]

 Thanks for the photos Steve. I had someone else tell me about this but not seen the pics before. A White M2 rebuilt as M2A1 then restored as M16 and looks like Autocar radiator armor as the White's never did the cross braces. Are you planning to repro the long rear box? I have a smashed one from my M16 which has all the original armor. I need some track armor and tool brackets WW2 style.

[steve-0]

i had the original rear bed for my ht. it was missing all the side armor but i was able to do some trading and get the 4 main rear pieces.
i will be building more of the m16 hts.. those ones i will have to repo the whole back end. its years off though.

http://halftrackinfo.com/index.php?topic=22.0

[Dinadin]

Did you let the museum know that it was a M2 with the repro armor?  I am curious what their reaction was.

[mfrance]

Steve another complete m16 arrived last month from east coast with fold down armor to a gentalmen in Vallejo.  he just bought it needs alot of tlc but great starting point.  michael

[WayOffTrack]

Wow that is really interesting. Makes me wonder about some of the other stuff now.

[steve-0]

Did you let the museum know that it was a M2 with the repro armor?  I am curious what their reaction was.

i think just the fold down armor and the rear boxes where repo. i didnt want to take a chance though with any of the measurement i took off it. i did mention the parts i thought where repo and was told " better than nothing" which is true unless you are trying to get very accurate measurements from original.

i should say that the person that i talked to i doubt had ever worked on a halftrack. this may be a halftrack they purchased as is.

[spillmk1]

Thanks for the photos Steve. I had someone else tell me about this but not seen the pics before. A White M2 rebuilt as M2A1 then restored as M16 and looks like Autocar radiator armor as the White's never did the cross braces. Are you planning to repro the long rear box? I have a smashed one from my M16 which has all the original armor. I need some track armor and tool brackets WW2 style.

My White came with the radiator cross brace and both it and radiator armor fit right in.
It's a 1941 M2 rebuilt as an M2A1 by Wylie.
Is the cross brace not correct?

Thanks,
Keith

[mfrance]

White came with radiator cross brace.    Autocar did not

[WayOffTrack]

I have two Autocar's both have the cross brace, my White does not.

[Tapper02]

White came with radiator cross brace.    Autocar did not

I have two Autocar's both have the cross brace, my White does not.

 

[spillmk1]

White came with radiator cross brace.    Autocar did not

I have two Autocar's both have the cross brace, my White does not.

 

Thanks guys for clearing that up!!!

Think I'll leave the brace in and say it was a special White prototype that Autocar copied.

Keith

[colkking]

Now I'm confused (although that is not hard to do!)

I have a White...M16.
NO X-frame on my radiator--never had one.

Can someone confirm that cross brace was truly a White, for all Whites?

I have picked up additional sets of front/radiator armor, and I have found some to have four bolts on the front vertical radiator armor, and some have three.
Please make me smart.
kk

[steve1973]

Do you have fender mounted headlights still? If so it was never converted.

[col.halftrack]

I do not think any White had a cross brace. Perhaps in a rebuild program a Autocar nose was used on a White. But not normal for a White to have this. White used angle braces on the outside of the side triangle armor.