M2A1 Restoration

[RocnTJ]

Well after searching for one for a long time I finally took the dive and am the new owner of an Autocar M2A1 halftrack.  I have used this site for much of my research and thought it was time to post some photos of the newest addition to my collection.   I purchased it in Southern Oregon and had a friend of mine transport it down to the Sacramento area for me.   Everything went well with the retrieval until it came time get the track from the trailer into my driveway as you can see in the following pictures.



Had to unload it in an open area just down the road from my place.   This was the only level area large enough to get it unloaded. The track started right up and drove off the trailer ok.  Had to use the emergency brake for stopping since the service brakes were not working.    Headed up the road to my driveway and the engine begin to sputter and then die.  Sure hope no one comes down the road in a hurry to get to work.



Well I would guess the reason that the engine died had something to do with the gasoline running out of the carbuerator.  No worries I am sure that on't be a difficult fix, but for now I will just grab the tractor and pull it the rest of the way.



No problem, on the move again down the road.   At least until we turned the corner and headed up my steep driveway.   



At this point all four wheels of the tractor begin spinning and there was no way that this tractor was going to pull this heavy weight chunk of iron up the driveway.   My first lesson learned was that a half track requires much larger tools, trailers, towing rigs and just about everything needed to work on it than the Jeeps and 4x4 trucks that I was used to working on.  Now I had a problem, what else did I have that would be heavy enough to tow this beast up the driveway.   



Well I finally found a good use for my military ambulance.   A half track recovery vehicle!





Success at last the halftrack is in position in its new home ready for its restoration.  I look forward to sharing progress with you all and hopefully getting some help as I need it along the way. 

Tom

[Outsider]

Looks like a nice HT to start with. Keep us posted on your progress.

Steve

[steve1973]

Welcome Tom!
Glad to see your post here. How's your progress doing since we last spoke? Any luck on the pulpit? Looking forward to seeing more photos. It was great seeing you at Camp Gleason and hope you had some fun.

Steve A.

[RocnTJ]

I have made some progress.   My work has been crazy lately and I have been working out of town so I have not had much time for halftrack restoration.    Yes Steve A., there is now a pulpit sitting on the ground next to the halftrack.   Thanks for the lead.   I went in to SC early on a Saturday morning and worked out a decent package deal for it.    I took some measurements and it should fit ok.    I think it will clean up and look close to original with a little work.   I worked a gun cradle into the deal but I think the one I got is a more modern version so I may have to trade it for a period correct one.  I need to do some more research on that.    There is a lot of learning to do with these machines.   Thanks to your help and encouragement and additional help and pointers from Don I am making slow but steady progress.    I will post some more pictures soon.   

Tom

[gab]

Looks good Tom, I had the same tractor problem, but mine was dead on the trailer. I chained the tractor to the half track and the four tires were spinning so I dropped the trailer and chained up the 3500 Dodge and it pulled it off with no problem, then I cut it loose and hooked the tractor back up. It was on flat ground so it should pull it with no problem, wrong, four holes in the yard, back to plan B, I hooked the Dodge back up and finished the job, I guess I need to make it run, that will make it move easier.   Greg

[spec4don]

Hey Tom, nice pictures, you embarking on a whole new oddacy Glad you made the treck to the Camp! Let me know if you need any pictures and measurements. Keep next July open for the Camp and MVPA Convention in Portland!

Don G.

Oh don't forget Tower Park

[steve-0]

that looks great. 

[RocnTJ]

Well I have made some progress since my last post.   

Rear bumperettes and steps are done - just need final painting.


Perimeter Rail is cut, bent and bolted in place.   Just need to weld the corners but I wanted to get the floor section fitted in place before doing that so I could tweak the armor if necessary.



And I have made good progress on the floor.   I am building this from scratch so it took me a while to understand how it all fits together but I think I am headed in the right direction.  Chain lockers are done.  most of the sheet metal is cut and bent and next weekend I hope to get much of it fitted together.









I have a couple questions for those of you who have built one of these floors before:

The sheet metal piece at the front with the lip to support the floor plates does it mount flush with the top 1/4" bulkhead at the back of the cab or below it so the floor plates are flush with the top of the bulkhead?  I have seen pictures of both.

Do the 2"x2" angles that support the floor extend under the vertical track armor?   It looks like they should from a structural standpoint.   The few pictures that I have seen seem to indicate that they do.

It seems like they had a poor design for mounting the armor to the frame at the back of the cab.   I guess the L-shaped bulkhead is suppose to carry the load of the rear armor through the two panels that mount behind the seats.  But it seams like they could have come up with a better design.   I see now why they need to weld that support on the right side when they remove the panel on the M2A1 conversion.   Otherwise there would be no solid support of the armor at the back of the cab.  My track did not have a floor when I purchased it so the armor was sagging badly at the back of the cab.

[WayOffTrack]

I pilfered this picture from some guy named Steve.  Does this help?

[WayOffTrack]

Here's another that might help a little.

[RocnTJ]

Thanks for the additional pictures.   From those two shots it looks like the rear floor plates are flush with the top of that bulkhead.   That contradicts what I have seen in some other shots and basically confirms that there is probably no one way that all the halftracks were built.   Seems like the build standards on these machines were rather loose - probably due to the fact that multiple manufacturers were building them in a wartime environment.   It would be interesting to see if the track in the second picture has the reinforcement between that bulkhead and the vertical track armor on the right side.   It is missing the extra plate behind the passenger seat.

[WayOffTrack]

From those two shots it looks like the rear floor plates are flush with the top of that bulkhead.

That's correct. The reason they are flush is there is a seat in that spot that is mounted flush with the top of the bulkhead. The one in the second picture is mine. I'm still working on it and have a long way to go. I'll post up some more pics for you if I can find some that help.



In this shot you can see it is flush. There is also a grab handle mounted to the front side of the bulkhead for the guy riding in the middle seat.







 
My impression is if it is not flush iwth the top of the bulkhead its an incorrect repro.

[RocnTJ]

Thanks for the additional pictures Wayofftrack.   Since it looks like you had a fairly intact original floor, can you verify a few dimensions for me.   Inside to inside of the vertical track armor - I have 45"  the length of the transverse 2"x2-1/8" angle supports under the lower floor - I have 45-1/4".

Additionally I could use some dimensions on the  support that runs lengthwise under the upper front floor with the hole for what I understand was an antenna mount?   From the pictures I have seen it looks like this piece is u-shaped but I am not sure.    Also my understanding is that the formed angle supports welded to the vertical inside of the benches run the full length of the rear floor with a notch out for the cross angle support at the front chain locker.  However, some pictures I have seen it looks like these pieces stop at the front chain locker and are welded to the cross angle support - if that makes sense.   I could use some help on that also.   

Thanks for all the help
Tom

[WayOffTrack]

I will get those for you as soon as i can. The vertical riser for the rear seats were torched out in mine. Here is a shot of the work to replace them.

[WayOffTrack]

I have an extra tool box door with the latches if you need one.