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Restoration of my 1941 Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car


zepher11
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The Meatcan

Ralph would appear to be a fine quality control inspector

Pretty soon you will need additional space for vehicles AND dogs!

Terry

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I am in love! :love::love: He is too cute! Look at the size of those paws!

 

What do Gracie and George think of their new little brother?

 

...Kat

 

Hi Kat, the dynamic is interesting to observe. The first few days, both G&G would not have anything to do with him and would growl at him if he came close to them. He is a tough little cookie, however. He just keeps coming back for more. He just does not seem to be afraid of anything. Them something interesting happened yesterday, which was day five. George had a bone and Ralph wanted it. He kept pestering George until George growled, lunged, and knock little Ralph down. Gracie immediately ran over and growled at George and gave him a hip check. Then she went and checked on Ralph. She then kept between them as Ralph's protector.

 

Things are getting better and better now. A real interesting thing to watch. Ralph's only 9 weeks old now, but he has really wormed his way into our hearts! He helped me in the garage today, and isn't startled by the impact gun. I have to peel poor George off the ceiling when i use the impact gun when he isn't expecting it.

 

That's a nice looking little guy, that's for sure

 

Thank you David.

 

Ralph would appear to be a fine quality control inspector

Pretty soon you will need additional space for vehicles AND dogs!

Terry

 

I know, but with the multiplying vehicles around here, I really couldn't say know. B)

 

In project related news, I did get the opportunity to pull the engine and transfer case today. Heavier than I expected. Garage floor had its first blood spilled on it:

 

CC_041.JPG

 

CC_052.JPG

 

I also reconditioned my first part on the CC. The firewall junction block. Not much, but since it is the first item completed it was satisfying nonetheless:

 

CC_031.JPG

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Well, there was a command car sitting here just a few weeks ago. Happy to have it completely disassembled now:
CC_131.JPG
CC_141.JPG

 

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WOW! That is amazing to see how much you have done. I know that removing rusty old bolts is not easy!

 

Thanks for the updates.....Kat

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WOW! That is amazing to see how much you have done. I know that removing rusty old bolts is not easy!

 

Thanks for the updates.....Kat

 

They present a challenge, but it feels good to defeat them. :)

 

Zeph,

Here is a motivator for you...

 

That is a nice looking command car. I saw a couple of 3/4 ton command cars at the Tower Park MV show last month. That was the first time I had seen one in person before. The half tons seem to be more prevalent around here.

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Johan Willaert

Love the 1/2 Ton Dodge Series.... Took this picture at a local meeting last weekend...

 

My 1942 Huffman G519 with a WC-26 Carry-All behind it....

post-92-0-66563100-1432738812.jpg

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Love the 1/2 Ton Dodge Series.... Took this picture at a local meeting last weekend...

 

My 1942 Huffman G519 with a WC-26 Carry-All behind it....

 

Hi Johan,

 

I like the 1/2 ton Dodge WC's a lot as well. They really have a great look, and I am really looking forward to get started putting the command car back together. I have set an unrealistic goal for completion by August 2016 in time for the MVPA annual convention in Pleasanton, CA,

 

That is a nice carryall, and your Huffman looks fantastic!

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  • 3 weeks later...
Slowly getting more completed on the CC. I pulled the tailgate the other day. I was just able to save the original captive nuts as this area was badly rusted. The rear of the vehicle is really beat up including the tailgate. Not sure how to go about fixing the lower rear panel. Hard to see but it is really been beaten. Someone backed into a lot of things over the years, or the vehicle received a lot of push starts:
CC15.JPG
Tail lights look to be original and are properly marked 12 VOLT:
CC16.JPG
I was looking over the frame prior to getting it sandblasted, and I rememebered that that one of the front spring brackets allowed the pin to spin and was a pain to remove. Well, found that the pin hole is wallered out a bit. Enough to allow the flat part of the pin head to rotate so one can't tighten it. Here is the bracket with the elongated hole:
image1485.jpg
I have frames with good brackets that I could use. I was pondering grinding the rivets, but then I noticed that one of the rivets on the inside was flush to allow the motor mount to seat against the frame. Looked like a little more work than anticipated. Therefore, I figured I would weld up the pin bores and file/grind with my Dremel tool. Here is a photo of the flush rivet. Not sure how that is pressed in flush with the frame exactly. One can see the flush rivet under the motor mount area on the left vs. the regular rivet to the right in the photo:
image1486.jpg
The top bore is where the spring pin head sits with the flat edge. Here I have ground the top a bit and the lower hole has the weld:
CC19.JPG
Basically completed here:
CC201.JPG
I then drilled true. The pin now fits perfectly. Probably not the best way to repair, but I'll keep an eye on it. After I was feeling good about this repair, I noticed that one of the rear spring brackets was really elongated. It is amazing how much so. A lot a people probably said over the years. "Do you hear something odd on the left rear?" Then never did anything about it. This bracket had to be replaced. Fortunately, four conventional rivets hold it on. Here is the bracket which should have a round hole in it for the spring pin:
CC211.JPG
CC221.JPG
A lot of grinding involved:
CC231.JPG
Here is the inside view of the bracket:
CC241.JPG

 

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Bracket from the parts frame on the left and the removed bracket on the right:
CC251.JPG
I also picked up a complete set of bushings and spring bolts/pins for the leaf springs from Midwest Military. I was going to cheap out and use the pieces that seemed to be okay, but then I decided just do it right. Plus, I'm happy to support MWM as they make some great restoration parts. Don't know what I would do without them. The parts look outstanding:
CC01.JPG

 

What a difference. I had to ream some of the brass, but the fit is incredible:

 

CC021.JPG

 

Actually the fit was so snug, I had to press the pins in:

 

CC031.JPG

 

I hope to have the frame sandblasted here shortly. Then a little Red Oxide primer and some OD. Looking forward to getting that completed!

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I picked up my frame yesterday. Nice and clean:
Frame_21.JPG
Frame_3.JPG
So, I ended up taking today off. Up at 5:30am to prime with red oxide and shoot the OD as it is just too hot to do it any other time:
Frame_4.JPG
Frame_5.JPG
Frame_6.JPG
It turned out pretty nice. Actually feels like I accomplished something rather than just taking things apart:
Frame_7.JPG
Bonus pic from on the way home yesterday. Don't know what it is exactly, but says Royal Air Force on the side. Wonder where this is off to? Heading south on Interstate 5:
Frame_12.JPG

 

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Zeph,

 

The frame looks amazing. You have made some great progress. Thanks for the updates....Kat

Thanks Kat!

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Visible progress sure feels good, doesn't it? I was shocked how hard it was to grind the rivets on my WC1. That was 2009 or 10, and not much progress since then. Keep going, Zeph, it's always great to see your pics!

 

Steve

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Zeph,

Your project is looking good! Keep the pictures rolling in. The frame looks great!

 

Thank you!

 

Visible progress sure feels good, doesn't it? I was shocked how hard it was to grind the rivets on my WC1. That was 2009 or 10, and not much progress since then. Keep going, Zeph, it's always great to see your pics!

 

Steve

 

Hi Steve,

 

It does feel good to get something accomplished towards getting a project completed. I have found that with the rivets, the larger the grinder the faster the project is over. B) I cheated on these ones. I picked up a Dewalt cordless hand held hacksaw/band saw a few weeks ago. I used it to cut the heads off the rivets first then had minimal grinding before using my air chisel to punch them out. That hand held hacksaw is very handy. I only spent like ten minutes getting all eight rivets out. Seems like it took me hours to remove the rivets on my GPW project frame using a smaller grinder only.

 

In other news, earlier today I treated myself to a new sign for Father's Day. Hopefully, it will look good on the wall above the WWII vehicles:
Keep_Em_2.JPG
One of Patton's command cars:
Keep_Em_4.jpg
Thank you and happy Father's to all the fathers out there!
Zeph
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Looks like you're going to have a great truck once you done! Thanks for sharing the pictures, reading build threads always inspires me to go work on my truck.

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Looks like you're going to have a great truck once you done! Thanks for sharing the pictures, reading build threads always inspires me to go work on my truck.

 

I find that reading about other's projects gets me in the mood as well. Thanks!

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Bonus pic from on the way home yesterday. Don't know what it is exactly, but says Royal Air Force on the side. Wonder where this is off to? Heading south on Interstate 5:
Frame_12.JPG

 

 

 

This very same truck, trailer and helicopter just drove past me a couple hours ago on Palmdale Blvd out in Littlerock. That's the way to El Mirage and Aviation Warehouse/ Thompson Aviation Manuals. The websites have some neat pictures of all the aviation and military stuff the y have out there: http://aviationwarehouse.net and http://www.thomsonsaviationmanuals.com/ . It's a great place to visit and look around but I don't think you can go much past the store anymore, if that's even open still to regular customers. I didn't see this helicopter listed on the website but I'm pretty sure that's where it was going.

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Very interesting. Not sure where this shipment originated from, but sounds like it is close to its destination now!

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  • 3 weeks later...
Had some time to dink around on the CC today. Cleaned up a few parts and Installed the rear axle housing:
7-11_CC_Parts_01.JPG
7-11_CC_Parts_02.JPG
7-11_CC_Parts_03.JPG
7-11_CC_Parts_04.JPG
7-11_CC_Parts_05.JPG
I could not get this pin in for the life of me. I don't know why. It would not seat into the frame bore. Then when I tried to pull it out, I couldn't get it to pull out! Finally, after prying on it to align it for like an hour...and just about ready to give up, It finally aligned and seated.
7-11_CC_Parts_06.JPG

 

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Completed the front axle components and installed this evening. Now it looks like I will be rebuilding the trans and transfer case next:

 

CC_032.JPG

 

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Zeph, you've been at this truck project for 3 1/2 months and you're making fantastic progress. Don't take this the wrong way, but I hate you right now. My WC-62 just past it's 19 year anniversary with me, and I think you're going to beat me to the finish line with your restoration.

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Zeph, you've been at this truck project for 3 1/2 months and you're making fantastic progress. Don't take this the wrong way, but I hate you right now. My WC-62 just past it's 19 year anniversary with me, and I think you're going to beat me to the finish line with your restoration.

 

You'll get there Robin. Having been to your place, you have a few more distractions and projects than I do. One never knows, however, when I may get side tracked. You should shoot for completing your WC62 by August 2016. Then you can bring it down to the MVPA event in Pleasanton. I know they are trying to get the largest turnout of military Dodges ever for an MVPA annual show. If I only had a larger trailer, I would take a couple with me!

 

Take care,

 

Z

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