"LUCKY 13" Restoration Process

[prestone]

waouh

good joob

[RB-058]

Amazing progress guys!

Rob

[yd328]

Your progress looks great, a lot of work done there.

Gary

[coreyelliott]

Well, Lucky 13 has finally lived up to her name.  We've had our first major setback where we've had to go back and take things apart.

We haven't moved the halftrack in a couple of months, but we needed to pull it out of the shop and turn it around.  As we backed it out, we noticed a clicking noise.  There was no noise going forward, but it was there in reverse regardless of whether the transfer case was in low or high.   I laid on the ground and Shon droved back and forth while I listened and we agreed that it was transmission related.  Shon and I talked about where the problem must be and decided it must have something to do with the reverse idler gear.

Shon drained the oil out of the transmission and looked at the magnet on the plug.  We noticed some metal flakes.  Not good.  I pulled the inspection plate off the side and reached inside to feel the floor of the transmission.  I pulled out a chunk of cast iron.  It was the piece of the case that holds the reverse idler gear rod in place.  The break looked extremely old, so it must have been cracked for a long time.  It probably snapped off the first time we put it in reverse.  While feeling around further on the inside of the transmission I also find a broken off tooth.  That was our clicking noise then.

We dropped the tranny and disassembled it on the bench.  Of course, we broke a snap ring while taking everything apart.  The reverse idler gear was fine but the gear it meshes with was missing a tooth.  We now need a new case, a new gear, a new snap ring, and probably a new brass washer that goes on either end of the reverse idler gear.

Wonderful.

Pictures attached.

Corey

[Torque]

I have a complete transmission in Iowa that is good, already out and on a pallet.

[Dan Boland]

Cory,
I am interested in buying the cracked case, if you want to get rid of it. Just the case, nothing else.

[coreyelliott]

It's been a while since I updated our restoration thread so I'll make a few posts this evening, breaking up the pictures into groups so I can say a little about each.

Our broken reverse gear was basically unobtainable due to our shrinking project budget (Hint: this probably won't be the last time I mention that).  So, we took a chance and just repaired it.  We'll see how that goes.    Also got a replacement case since the ear broke out of our previous one.

We also got our seat lids welded together (we got them in two pieces instead of the single one we were after) and welded on the seat angle iron pieces we made.  I repaired our fuel tank selector valve and am just hoping it doesn't leak. 

[coreyelliott]

The perimeter rail is made and installed.  Our existing rail pieces make it seem like this might have been a field mod on our truck as it is nothing but angle iron, so that's what we went back with. Welded, primed, and bolted in.  Still need to put in a few beads here and there to weld the armor to the rail in just a couple of spots.  Not 100% sure how this was handled originally, or if there was a specific way.

[steve1973]

Looks Great!!

[coreyelliott]

The tires were a major pain in the ASS.     This wasn't our first rodeo removing MV tires, but each fight with them is different.  I removed one at my house by myself and decided the next one was going to be a group affair.  No reason Shon should miss out on this fun.  We ended up just cutting the tires in half and removing one side, then pulling out the part of the tire that was pressed between the wheel and the ring.  Then the ring was hammered off.  Then the new tires, flaps, and tubes went on with very little trouble.  I don't have a pic of them at the moment.



































Corey

[coreyelliott]

We also bent up some top bows.  These are not replicas, they are simply to hold a tarp over our heads when we are in the field. 

We got some more parts from Paul!  Fuel tank covers and driver's side ammo locker.  We got them primed, painted and one side installed.  Since our project budget is shrinking so fast (I told you!)  we haven't been able to get the fuel tanks yet.  So, we went with some cheap, smaller tanks to get us by.

Lastly, we also got some more armor screws/bolts from Kevin and now almost have all the holes filled up in the armor!  Shon made up the seat backs and mud flaps. 

I'm sure I forgot something, but that's it for now! 

[8683jb]

You guys have done an incredible job on this half-track. I remember your first posts and it's pretty danged impressive how far you've come in the short time you've been at it. Keep up the good work and feed us more pictures as you go!

Jon

[spillmk1]

Looking really great guys!!!!

Keith

[RB-058]

Wow!! Amazing progress!! Thanks for sharing, it is inspiring!

Rob

[Selliott]

Thanks for the at-a-boys!  We have really been at this project pretty hard and we are starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel.  (And for once I don’t think it’s a train!). Really appreciate all the help we have gotten from members of this group.  I was talking to Kevin the other day and the idea of a halftrack rendezvous came up.  We were wondering if there might be interest one of these days in a bunch of us getting together in the middle part of the country and taking some rides together ?  I suggested Kevin could have an open house and some of us bring our tracks and all just spend time together.  Would anyone be interested?