Restoration of Ford M8 armoured car U.S Ordnance number 7373

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SURPDLR
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Re: Restoration of Ford M8 armoured car U.S Ordnance number 7373

Post by SURPDLR » Fri Feb 09, 2018 12:31 pm

Big D wrote:
Thu Feb 08, 2018 12:50 am
Hi Jeff,

Thanks for the reply. Yes, that block looks real handy. I have had a bit of a look around but haven’t seen anything commercially available yet. Maybe it was custom built?

Thanks for the link to the line. Is there an advantage to using copper line rather than steel? I see the copper is a lot more expensive.

Copper / Nickle ='s easier to bend, and little to no rust!!

For the block, I am thinking something like these for the bleeders: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/rnb- ... D8QAvD_BwE
And Pipe thread to inverted flare adapters for the other side. Drill and tap suitable block to suit.
JEFF HAIN-MATSON
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AND SEVERAL OTHER WHEELED AND TRACKED TOYS!!

MVPA #1833
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Re: Restoration of Ford M8 armoured car U.S Ordnance number 7373

Post by Big D » Fri Feb 09, 2018 5:22 pm

Hi Sawbuck, Nirvana and Jeff,

Very interesting. I haven't seen it over here yet, so I must do some looking around. Like you say, some real advantages there. I must admit, I was not looking forward to getting all that steel bundy line and spending countless hours just trying to straighten it to put it in place. I'll see what I can find and come back to you.

Jeff - those bleeder repair kits look like good options. I've yet to find anything pre-built so I am guessing that setup pictured in the M8 was fabricated by the owner. I'll check those kits out further.

Thanks.
Darryl Lennane
NZ

1943 Willys MB
1941 LP2A MG Carrier
1943 White M3A1 AOP
1942 Willys MBT
1944 Ford M8 Armoured Car
1945 Ford M20 Armoured Car

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Re: Restoration of Ford M8 armoured car U.S Ordnance number 7373

Post by Big D » Fri Mar 09, 2018 12:09 am

Hi all,

Finally some progress on the painting of the hull. The latest paint supplier came up with a paint mix which I think is a good match to the OD-319 paint sample I had. We put that paint on today and it looks good. The paint appears a little shiny in some of the photos as it was still wet.

The plan is to get the hull back to the workshop on Monday and then drop off the turret and a few of the loose big parts and get them blasted and painted as well.

I’m looking forward to actually starting to put some of the restored parts on the hull.

I made up some decals for the vehicle and I will apply them as I go. Thanks to David and Seacon for assisting me with sizes etc.
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Darryl Lennane
NZ

1943 Willys MB
1941 LP2A MG Carrier
1943 White M3A1 AOP
1942 Willys MBT
1944 Ford M8 Armoured Car
1945 Ford M20 Armoured Car

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Re: Restoration of Ford M8 armoured car U.S Ordnance number 7373

Post by seacon » Fri Mar 09, 2018 10:53 pm

Can't wait to get there...

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Re: Restoration of Ford M8 armoured car U.S Ordnance number 7373

Post by nirvana » Sat Mar 10, 2018 5:00 am

darn that looks good. Since you replaced the cut panels, you can't even see a single weld seam in these photos. I think it's proven to be the right choice.

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Re: Restoration of Ford M8 armoured car U.S Ordnance number 7373

Post by ChaseR83 » Sat Mar 10, 2018 8:42 am

Looks great :D

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Re: Restoration of Ford M8 armoured car U.S Ordnance number 7373

Post by Big D » Sun Mar 11, 2018 4:58 pm

Hi Seacon,

It won't be long for your one, especially with Willy helping!


Hi Nirvana,

Thanks for that. If you look up close you can see the joins but overall I think it does look nice and I am very happy.


Hi Chase,

Thanks for that. Progress for sure. Any progress at your end?
Darryl Lennane
NZ

1943 Willys MB
1941 LP2A MG Carrier
1943 White M3A1 AOP
1942 Willys MBT
1944 Ford M8 Armoured Car
1945 Ford M20 Armoured Car

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Re: Restoration of Ford M8 armoured car U.S Ordnance number 7373

Post by ChaseR83 » Mon Mar 12, 2018 8:26 am

Big D wrote:
Sun Mar 11, 2018 4:58 pm

Hi Chase,

Thanks for that. Progress for sure. Any progress at your end?
None yet. Still researching and saving my pennies. As fast as you are going with your restoration, you'll be driving your M8 before there is anything rusty and armor-plated in my shop :lol:

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Re: Restoration of Ford M8 armoured car U.S Ordnance number 7373

Post by Big D » Fri Mar 23, 2018 12:38 am

Hi all,

Here are a few photos showing progress with the hull. It’s a nice feeling actually putting it together rather than the constant disassembly of the last couple of years.

I’ve had to spend a lot of time cleaning out the threads of all the fixing points on the hull. I ran a tap through each one of these before blasting but I’ve found now that I’m having to do them all again, due to the paint. I guess I can’t really complain about a good paint job!

I will need to do a bit of touching up of the paint on the nuts and bolts once I’m happy with everything.

I haven’t bolted the FT-237 radio tray down yet but I needed to make sure it was positioned right on the shelf. I cleaned up the paint on the shelf mounts so I should get a good earth on the FT-237. I’ll start routing the radio cable through the hull so I can cut it to the correct length.

I still haven’t sourced all the hydraulic lines so I won’t fit too much more in the hull until I have those laid out.

The decals I had made up worked a treat, although you do have to get them lined up first time as they stick like hell.
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Darryl Lennane
NZ

1943 Willys MB
1941 LP2A MG Carrier
1943 White M3A1 AOP
1942 Willys MBT
1944 Ford M8 Armoured Car
1945 Ford M20 Armoured Car

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Re: Restoration of Ford M8 armoured car U.S Ordnance number 7373

Post by Big D » Tue Mar 27, 2018 1:43 am

Hi all,

I am at the stage where I am fitting and wiring the BC606 interphone boxes and the wiring to the FT237 radio tray and I’m hoping to get some advice from the M8 gurus out there.

I have the TM 11-2702 manual for installation of the radio and interphone equipment. I also have all the other drawings and plans for the wiring of the interphone and radios, as per the photos.

What isn’t clear to me is how the BC606s for the commander and loader are connected.

The plans would suggest that the BC606s for the commander and loader each terminate at the terminal boxes in the sponsons, which I have fitted. It is not clear though how those two terminal boxes are connected. The BC606 for the commander is not the problem, as it has a direct connection to the FT237 through the terminal box in the sponson on that side. How does the BC606 for the loader connect to the commander's side though?

I’ve seen many photos of M8s (like the photo attached) that have the BC606 for the commander and loader connected by way of CO213 cable that is strung along the back wall of the interior of the hull. There is no indication of that method of connecting them in the manuals that I have found. I can see the ease in doing it that way, but is it correct?

I know there is conduit that runs along the side of the hull for each terminal box through into the engine bay. I figured this conduit just carried the 12 volt supply from the engine bay to each of the terminal boxes, for the power supply to radios on each sponson. Does that conduit also carry the CO213 cordage that connects these BC606s?

I don’t have the original conduit that goes through the channel from the engine bay along the side of the engine hull to the terminal boxes (as pictured). I also don’t have the conduit/pipe that runs behind the hull interior back wall in front of the fuel tank, so I am running a little blind on both fronts.

If you have any ideas, I’d be keen to hear them please.
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Darryl Lennane
NZ

1943 Willys MB
1941 LP2A MG Carrier
1943 White M3A1 AOP
1942 Willys MBT
1944 Ford M8 Armoured Car
1945 Ford M20 Armoured Car

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Re: Restoration of Ford M8 armoured car U.S Ordnance number 7373

Post by seacon » Thu Mar 29, 2018 8:45 am

I see... wasps...

M

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Re: Restoration of Ford M8 armoured car U.S Ordnance number 7373

Post by Big D » Sat Apr 07, 2018 5:54 pm

Hi all,

I have now learnt (thanks to Willy) that the conduit that runs around the hull actually carries the 12 volt power supply for the terminal box on each sponson, as well as the CO213 cordage that links the BC606's for the commander and the loader. The conduit terminates at the terminal boxes and then there is a short length of cordage to each BC606. This fits with what I was seeing in the plans.

What I was confused about were photos of some restored M8’s that had the cordage on the firewall inside the hull connecting the commander’s and loaders BC606’s. I understand now that this is the early design. I’m going the later design with the conduit around the hull behind the firewall beside the fuel tank, providing I can get my hands on enough of the conduit!

I’ve now connected up the four BC606’s and the FT237 radio tray using the CO213 cordage. Preparing the cordage was a bit of a tedious job. Seperating the shield on the outside is time-consuming as it is very tightly wound around the internal wires.

I wired in the cordage for the driver and co-driver BC606’s in situ, only because I wanted to be sure of the lengths of the cable required. I wired the BC606’s for the commander and loader out of the vehicle and that was a darned sight easier. I’d have to say, that despite all the drawings and plans, without knowing exactly how it was all laid out, I still needed to do lots of research and have a good think about the layout and how it was connected both before and during the installation.

I was (and still am) a bit confused by the layout of the BC606’s. The plans show that the BC606’s for the driver, co-driver and commander should be positioned with the INT/RADIO switch and Volume Control side of the unit down. I setup the BC606’s for the driver and co-driver in this way as per the drawings.

I placed the loader’s BC606 as per the drawings with the INT/RADIO switch and Volume Control up. As I say, the drawings say that the Commander’s BC606 should be positioned with the INT/RADIO switch and Volume Control side down though, which didn’t make much sense to me.

What was the logic to how these BC606’s were fitted? I have seen numerous variations in the setups in restored M8’s, and a number of pictures of M8’s during wartime also showed variations. Why not keep them all in the same layout with the INT/RADIO switch and Volume Control upwards where the crewman can see it and change it if required?

In the end, I positioned the Commander’s unit with the INT/RADIO switch and Volume Control up, as per the Loader’s unit. I guess someone will correct me if it is wrong.

Along with the radio stuff, I’ve been trying to progress the gun. We haven’t been able to remove the two screws holding the recoil system in place. These screws have an allen type head on them but they were pretty knackered and corroded. I had been soaking the screws with penetrating oil for several months but the heads weren’t good enough to get a decent bite on them with the allen screw bit. We tried welding a bolt onto one screw but even then we couldn’t get the thing to budge. As a result, I will be taking it into a metal specialist next week to get the screws removed by spark erosion.

I got the boys in the engineering shop to profile cut a tool for removing the big nut on the barrel. This will allow me to remove the sleigh. Again, this nut is stuck and I’m better off having a tool that fits it properly before trying to lever it much more. l will give this tool a try next week and see if that will shift the nut.
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Last edited by Big D on Thu Apr 19, 2018 2:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
Darryl Lennane
NZ

1943 Willys MB
1941 LP2A MG Carrier
1943 White M3A1 AOP
1942 Willys MBT
1944 Ford M8 Armoured Car
1945 Ford M20 Armoured Car

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Re: Restoration of Ford M8 armoured car U.S Ordnance number 7373

Post by Spec4Don » Sun Apr 08, 2018 7:53 am

Excellent work

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Re: Restoration of Ford M8 armoured car U.S Ordnance number 7373

Post by Big D » Sun Apr 08, 2018 12:48 pm

Hi Don,

Thanks for that. I've been watching your M3 progress. Very impressive! Man, you've put some work into that.
Darryl Lennane
NZ

1943 Willys MB
1941 LP2A MG Carrier
1943 White M3A1 AOP
1942 Willys MBT
1944 Ford M8 Armoured Car
1945 Ford M20 Armoured Car

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Re: Restoration of Ford M8 armoured car U.S Ordnance number 7373

Post by GreyWulf » Tue Apr 10, 2018 4:24 pm

This is awsome work. You are a lucky man to have such a progect and a skilled restorer in your work. Thanks for the pics.
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