halftrackinfo
pictures of your halftrack => post updates on the progress of your restoration => Topic started by: Mash on July 10, 2024, 01:31:36 PM
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First time posting on here, so a little over a year ago now, I purchased a "good" runner with no major issues, this was unfortunately done blind due to work commitments and locations. Collection of the vehicle seemed nice and easy as it was dropped off at the port and all I had to do was drive it on the ferry then a short run home, or not as the case maybe.
Refusal to board the ship was given due to the rough running engine (over-fuelling due to a non regulated electric pump) and 3 bent push rods caused by sticking valves, some good old initiative/bodgery took place over the next 24 hours before finally being allowed on the boat.
Once back home it was apparent how much work was needed and I soon ended up with the front end stripped down, head off and a huge parts list growing by the day, moving on to the rear end I was a little short of a gas axe to free it up and get it down to its component parts ready for overhaul.
I will try and add pictures and descriptions in a chronological order (as best I can) to talk you through the process of getting her back up and running, I'm by no means finished and still have away to go until the next event she's booked on.
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Initial pictures showed her in a good light and information given all seemed above board, a deal was struck and I became the owner of an M5 ????
The vehicle was dropped off at Poole docks on the 11th of June and what was meant to be a simple drive on to the boat was far from that, as I've said the rough running and occasional backfire (think ports staff assuming a bomb scare as it backfired in the search shed????) so REME expedient repair skills came into play as my old boss and myself set about doing all we could to get this running enough to make it onto the boat (much to the annoyance of our better half's who got to spend the day on Poole docks), we were having great fun. At this time we were assuming the rough running was down to the electric fuel pump over powering the carbs floats (one of which was leaking), a simple override switch was produced allowing manual cut off to the pump whilst retaining the ignition system. This successfully got us on the boat, however a severe lack of power was noticed when driving so a recovery vehicle was used to get from the docks to its new resting place.
A hunt for parts ensued and were dually ordered, a carb rebuild kit, new floats and a regulator for the fuel pump were all on route so I moved onto the cosmetics ready for the "little" jobs I believed I had (those rose tinted glasses really are strong).
Obviously being both British and ex REME and having a vehicle the REME used both during and after the war, there was only one way this vehicle was going to end up. With a lovely coat of BS298 being applied I awaited the arrival of my spares. the rebuild of the carb and fitting of a regulator I optimistically hoped would solve the issues, (there's those rose tinted glasses again), she ran a lot better but it was evident there was a lack of power when test driving it across the field, speaking with a few people far more knowledgeable than myself on these vehicles it is a known fault that valves are prone to seizing up if they are left unused for a period of time.
Time for a full strip down of the head and assess what is required, (for those of you that don't know, the head is rather on the heavy side), Once the head was off I could see the issues I had, the pistons and liners were in great shape
As you can see bent push rods of which I had 3, caused by seized valves.
A very dead fuel pump.
A rather sorry exhaust manifold connector.
This engine was overhauled along with the rest of the vehicle by the Israelis I believe in 1983. (If anyone can translate the rebuild plate I would love to know).
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With the head removed, a full strip and clean was carried out. All valves were removed and checked for true on the lathe, cleaned up and lapped back in.
The block was cleaned up, new core plugs installed and all water jacket channels I could get to were cleaned with a magnet.
Oh and I had to do the mandatory red diamond repaint.
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Moving on to the rear end, I had to remove several horns from each track to allow them to pass under the bogie wheels, the entire rear end was seized solid, I had no movement in any of the rear suspension. A lot of chisels, large hammers and eventually copious Oxy/Acetylene finally got it broken down into its component parts.
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Brakes were last overhauled, I assume by the dates painted on them were August 1983, all cylinders including the master were sent away for refurb having stainless steel liners fitted to ensure years of trouble free service.
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With the back end stripped it was a good time to get the compressor fired up and the needle gun out on the chassis, all cleaned up after a few hours and several litres of paint gave me a much nicer looking rear end. Whilst doing this all the components of the suspension/drive train were also cleaned and painted.
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Knew Id forget a stage or two, so between the engine rebuild and rear end strip I had to move sheds due to storm damage. Cue the Disco and my mates GMC.
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Rebuilding the back end, with everything cleaned and painted and now very well lubricated I was able to get it all back together and have loads of movement.
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Now at this point I should explain that I was booked to go on Armour and Embarkation, the photos above of the rear end were on the 27th may and the ferry was the 20th of June. At this point I still had a full re-wire to do as the post war bodges were dangerous and I had no lighting, the front tyres both needed replacing (with rims shot blasted and painted), both tracks needed fitting and tensioning, a new fuel tank needed fitting and the windscreen frame needed the Israeli mods removing, primer and paint, with a host of other minor jobs. Who doesn't like a little bit of pressure eh.
Windscreen was a fairly painless affair, the drivers side still had all the retaining studs, however the passenger sides were missing, a few modifications to some bolts gave me a reasonable looking stud to fit, with the extra brackets removed I was able to prime and paint before fitting new seals. (I know the interior still has a long way to go but that is now the slow time aspect of the restoration).
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Wheels, well they were interesting, both tyres had significant damage that i was not happy with running on the road so new tyres sourced it was time to have them removed.
To say the split rim bolts were tight was an understatement, considering the manual states to only tighten them up with the issued spanner and not to use any extra leverage, I had to use the Disco and scaff tube on my 3/4 bar to loosen them.
The rim was not separating without a proper machine so they were sent to the local tyre company for removal, it was only once back I noticed one rim was dished in on the flange so it was off to a big press to straighten it out, cue 16t of pressure and I had a serviceable rim again. Final coat of green was applied on the 8th of June so getting close to the event date.
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Nice halftrack! FYI, “Red Diamond” was the model of the engine. IH halftrack engines left the Springfield Ohio factory in the same blue /grey as the White style engines.
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Nice work!!
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Very nice work. They always are in worst shape then you think. Keep at it
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Well where has all that time gone, so lets do a little catch up on the progress.
So she was completed in time for A&E, I actually managed to get the first fire up on the 13th and a short test run in on the 14th of June, and when I say short it was two laps of the field, I still had several things to finish off prior to the ferry.
The drive to the ferry saw her bog down under load and max out around 15mph, undeterred and with a White M3A1 in the lead we got to the ferry port and booked onboard, in the compound I cracked open the bonnet and broke out the spanners, I have fitted an additional fuel filter to the HT as prior to rebuilding the mechanical one the electric one was overcoming the carb floats, this filter has an adjustable regulator on it and I assumed this was restricting my fuel and so power, with that all adjusted we then just had to wait and see how it preformed on the other side.
As normal the ferry was running late and this meant we would be arriving into the UK in the dark, now neither of these HT's had been driven off island by us prior to this and arriving in the dark ahead of a 20 odd mile drive through unknown country lanes was definitely going to be interesting.
So did the last minute tweaks work? Yes they did and very well, despite the extra weight that larger RD engine is very impressive, we certainly noticed the M3A1 dropping back on some of the climbs, snaking along the lanes we arrived at the camp site around 23:00hrs and got our heads down ready for an early start.
The following weekend was fairly trouble free, my mates HT had shed a bogie wheel on the drive up but we were able to source a replacement had had his up and running again quickly.
Armour & Embarkation is a truly amazing event and total credit to the team of organisers and the outriders who enable us to move freely through the junctions and roadways, its now 2026 and we are booked to go on it again, they have run out of space already and have had more applications than they can handle, if you are in the UK and have never seen this event look them up on FB.
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Nice job getting the old girl back in service
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So A&E was just a shake down in preparation for the XXX corps tour, this was going to see a large convoy of vehicles from Guernsey join up with in excess of 250 vehicles from the UK and Europe, this was two weeks in period kit following the route of XXX corps on Operation MARKET GARDEN.
Sourcing a new canvas and bows in the short period of time I had was proving difficult so a cunning plan based off of some period film footage set me on the road to building a wooden superstructure on her instead, this was done with some REME and signal units as it offered more room and drier storage, and with the appalling rain we had I was very glad of that. The wooden frame went up quickly, unfortunately the building suppliers were a few boards short prior to one of our local shows but it went as an ongoing project, once wind and water tight a few creature comforts were added which include lighting and fold down beds (very welcoming compared to the faff of tentage)
For the majority of my time I was in my element, along with one of the other guys we spent the vast majority of the time working on anything green, from motorcycles to trucks and armour we had the spanners out and ensured everything got to the end. My halftrack became an unofficial recovery vehicle for our packet, day one saw a Bedford QL on tow for the majority of the day due to a faulty coil, the M3A1 developed some vapour lock at one stop so that needed a short tow to the next location and finally the recovery of a Norton motorcycle that had been parked up on display in one of the stop off towns, it had been knocked over by a pensioner on their mobility scooter who promptly rode off, this caused the magneto to be out of alignment amongst other things so onto the bumper it went.
A truly great trip with like minded individuals, we even managed an Inter HT photo
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Nice job getting the old girl back in service
Cheers, I just cant believe so much time has passed since I updated this post, more to come that is for sure.
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This is so cool! I doubt i'll ever have the money for a trip like that but i love to see people get thes pieces of history out and really show what they could do! Beter to be driven and beat on then rotting in a sealed case in some museum.
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Updates and progress
The past few months have been productive with some planned and preventative maintenance happening in the garage, with our liberation coming up and the fabulous Armour and Embarkation following closely behind.
February consisted of two men, a van and 2200mi over four countries in four days on the hunt for any parts covered in cosmoline and some that were not.
Once back home the first job was to refit the newly re-cored radiator, the engine was always running a little hot for my liking, now with the new radiator she sits around 120-130 so much better.
As you can see the old core was definitely passed its best.
In with the new.
(http://)
I've also managed to source an original oil bath air filter and got rid of the Israeli one.
As the front axle bearings had never been touched since owning it I decided to strip it down and re-pack them, finding the hub nuts and locking washer mullered it didn't take long to see that the bearings has some dents in the cages, new bearings and locking rings ordered and fitted.
The last Job was fitting of some new tracks, this gives me some time to bed them in and ensure everything is settled in and re-torqued prior to the UK trip.
(http://)
Other things that have happened,
A new bespoke canvas has been sourced and fitted,
Entered a local car show and was awarded best military vehicle,
She ran on our 80th liberation parade (I however wasn't driving),
Did some detail work inside the cabin including some weapon mounts for the driver and commander,
Probably a few more things too.
(http://)