M2A1 Front End and Engine Rebuild

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Re: M2A1 Front End and Engine Rebuild

Post by vj » Tue Sep 12, 2017 2:55 am

Steve, All looks super great. You sure have done a great job and all the picture,s too.Keep up the wonderful work, I sure enjoy looking at the pictures. :D :D wendell
I have got four running halftracks,plus 5 ton ww2 semi-truck,1943 willys jeep and other ww2 vehicles,plus a lot of parts to trade on. Wendell in Tn.


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Re: M2A1 Front End and Engine Rebuild

Post by steve1973 » Tue Sep 12, 2017 12:58 pm

Major accomplishment today. I got the cowling back on the frame. Its beginning to look like a halftrack again. ;D Now to finish up the wiring.

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Steve A.
1941 White M2A1 (90% restored)
1945 M10 ammo trailer (restored)

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Re: M2A1 Front End and Engine Rebuild

Post by steve1973 » Sun Sep 24, 2017 7:44 pm

Made lots of progress this last week. First, thanks for all the kind comments! :mrgreen: The one thing I like where my shop is that I'm close by many great parts places. I have a rubber and line place, fastener place several parts houses and a auto paint supplier. Anyway, back to my progress. All the fuel and vacuum lines are in. Thanks to Eric at Pacific Rubber for that. Here is the fuel line set I had made up. It runs from the frame mounted fuel filter to the fuel pump. $50.00 plus shipping if anyone is interested.

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I filled up the engine with break in oil, did some more painting and sandblasting. Finished up all the electrical on the firewall and my add on spark module in the coil box. Installed the generator with the help of my crane.

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Here are some detailed photos of what I have done so far.

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I will be re installing the exhaust and filling the cooling system this week. Tomorrow I'm buying a 8D battery and getting that installed. My goal is to have the first engine start next weekend. :mrgreen:

Steve A.
1941 White M2A1 (90% restored)
1945 M10 ammo trailer (restored)

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Re: M2A1 Front End and Engine Rebuild

Post by steve1973 » Sat Sep 30, 2017 6:01 am

Made some headway this week in preparation for the first engine start now planned for this Sunday. Monday I purchased a new 8D battery and installed it using the original battery hold down brackets. The battery is a little narrower than the original Willard battery so I had to use some extra nuts as spacers to cinch up the end brackets. I will need to make some new rods in the future to correct this.

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The rest of last week I was busy with work so I didn't get much done till yesterday. Friday I started going through my mental check list making sure things are ready for Sunday. I did some more painting for the exhaust brackets and such, tightened up the lower generator bolts and then decided it was time to fill the engine up with coolant. For reference, the cooling system holds 24 quarts or 6 gallons. Everything was going good till I put the last gallon in, LEAKS!!! ??? :o It was now time to chase and fix leaks.

Water pump drain loose and was tightened, leak stopped.
Temperature sensor loose and was tightened, leak stopped.
Various hose fittings leaked. I got a set of the old style hose clamps and they leaked at the same spot where the clamp was drawn together. Out with the old style and back to the newer style. Problem fixed except for one. I can't seem to get the hose below the oil cooler from weeping coolant. I may have to replace that hose, we'll see.

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That's all. More to come. I will be installing the exhaust today and testing the electrical especially for proper groundings.

Steve A.
1941 White M2A1 (90% restored)
1945 M10 ammo trailer (restored)

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Re: M2A1 Front End and Engine Rebuild

Post by steve1973 » Thu Oct 05, 2017 7:26 am

OK guys, the first engine start was a success!! Only a couple of problems. I had the distributor wired for counter clockwise and I was off one plug location. Not bad I think. Once fuel got to the cark it fired right up and sounded great. Oil pressure stayed between 40-60 psi and temp was 160. I still had some coolant leaks to fix. I noticed a big difference on how strong the engine sounds from before. I think the Pertronix ignition and MSD spark control helped a lot with that.

Note: if you are at the same point as me. Fill with water first. once you have leaks fixed then add coolant. lesson learned. ;)

I want to thank my mechanic Matt for the terrific work he has done and to Don, Steve J., Steve Sr. for there help when needed. Also a big thanks to Eric for coming out to my shop and making all my brake, fuel and vacuum lines. Enjoy the video.

https://youtu.be/CCJL2MFR2Z4

Thanks for watching. :mrgreen:

Steve A.
1941 White M2A1 (90% restored)
1945 M10 ammo trailer (restored)

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Re: M2A1 Front End and Engine Rebuild

Post by steve1973 » Fri Nov 24, 2017 8:27 pm

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

This is a little off topic but thought I would share it anyway. I just returned from Hawaii with my Dad. I was able to visit the USS Arizona memorial, USS Missouri, air museum on Ford Island and touring the USS Bowfin WWII submarine. The highlight of my trip was staying overnight on the USS Missouri in an actual bunk, it was a little on the tight side. Also, my Dad had arrange for us through public affairs at the sub base on Pearl Harbor for a grand tour of Pearl Harbor and Ford Island. On the tour we saw the old hospital that was shot up, the location where the USS Nevada beached herself trying not to block the harbor, USS Oklahoma Memorial, USS Utah Memorial and the WWII submarine memorial on the sub base. Other highlights included the sub barracks where my Dad stayed, Beeman's Liberty Center and the dive tower where they practice surfacing from the deep. Last but not least we spent 3 hours on board the USS Olympia SSN 717, Los Angeles class fast attack nuclear submarine. How can you top that! :mrgreen: Due to time and lots of traffic I was not able to visit any of the Army museums. :( I guess that is for next time. ;)

OK, back to my halftrack project. I spent the day taking apart the passenger side half of the front axle for cleaning and inspection. I got most of it apart today. tomorrow I will be cleaning and hopefully reassembling it then moving onto the Driver's side. Here are some photos.

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In a prior posting some years ago I had already did the front breaks, bearings and drums so it all came apart nicely. I do need to put new wheel cylinders in again as the ones I rebuilt leaked. Thanks to Kevin Lockwood I have all new wheel cylinders to install.

Steve A.
1941 White M2A1 (90% restored)
1945 M10 ammo trailer (restored)

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Re: M2A1 Front End and Engine Rebuild

Post by G102 » Mon Nov 27, 2017 9:03 am

Hi Steve,
I noticed some of your pictures, your copper gas lines should be in steel.

the black lettering on your engine should be painted white, not black.

Gary

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Re: M2A1 Front End and Engine Rebuild

Post by steve1973 » Mon Nov 27, 2017 2:25 pm

Hi Gary,

You are correct about the lettering being white. My mechanic painted the engine and all the lettering black. I like it and is easier to see and keep clean. As for the copper lines they are actually steel lines. I guess the new thing is to give them a copper coating as a rust/corrosion protection. This was brought up some years ago on another halftrack. I though the same thing.

Steve A.
1941 White M2A1 (90% restored)
1945 M10 ammo trailer (restored)

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Re: M2A1 Front End and Engine Rebuild

Post by steve1973 » Tue Dec 05, 2017 1:44 am

Here is the link to the previous work on the front axle and brakes.

http://g503.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=212293

The driver's side was much worse as there was quite a bit of rust and debris on the axle and in the axle tube. I had to come up with a way to scrape out the inside of the axle tube.

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I went to the local hardware store and got a 1/2" X 3' threaded rod with a 2" fender washer at the end.

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With the axle tube scrapped out I used my small shopvac to vaccum out all the loose debris. I then cleaned the Driver's side axle shaft of old grease and rust then prepared both axles to re insert back in the axle housing. I installed two new wheel cylinders the proceeded to put the axle back together drums and all.

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Now that the axle was done I moved onto installing the floor supports. With that it was time to wire in my master cut off switches for the ignition and radio.

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Steve A.
1941 White M2A1 (90% restored)
1945 M10 ammo trailer (restored)

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Re: M2A1 Front End and Engine Rebuild

Post by steve1973 » Mon Dec 11, 2017 10:49 pm

The next project I worked on was to fix the fuel valve to the gas tanks. Earlier on in this rebuild I added an original fuel filter to the frame. Doing this I had to make a new flex fuel line from the gas tank fuel valve to the fuel filter. To change out this line I removed the lines to the tanks. Well, when I went to reinstall the tank lines I got the driver's side one in at an angle and damaged some threads. Luckily with the help of my line guy, Eric, using a 1/2"-20 bottoming tap he was able to fix the threads.

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One thing I have to mention is that the jerry can holders come in very handy as tool tray. Plus you have one on each side. :mrgreen:

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Steve A.
1941 White M2A1 (90% restored)
1945 M10 ammo trailer (restored)

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Re: M2A1 Front End and Engine Rebuild

Post by steve1973 » Mon Dec 11, 2017 11:20 pm

First, I want to tank everyone for your kind comments. :mrgreen:

At this point I decided to fix my leaking steering box. I rebuilt this a while back but didn't seal the cover very well and it has been leaking gear oil ever since. Here is a link to the steering box rebuild http://halftrackinfo.com/index.php?topic=941.0. Since my halftrack is an M2 variant it uses a Ross "T" steering box which is also shared with the M3A1 Scoutcar. I sent off the cover to my gasket maker and they made a template for their file and sent me back 10 gaskets. I'm keeping 2 and the rest are for sale, $15 each and $7 for shipping if interested.

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PM me if you are interested in these gaskets.

Steve A.
1941 White M2A1 (90% restored)
1945 M10 ammo trailer (restored)

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Re: M2A1 Front End and Engine Rebuild

Post by steve1973 » Mon Dec 11, 2017 11:27 pm

Back to the front axle. It's dust boot time! When Don and I did Zelda's boots I can recall some not so fun times. Due to the age of the NOS boots they have shrunken in size. They were a bear to put on and after many attempts and several days later we got them on. Well, I'm going to try newer made M35 boots and wire bands. This is my project for the week. Fun times ahead. ;)

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Steve A.
1941 White M2A1 (90% restored)
1945 M10 ammo trailer (restored)

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Re: M2A1 Front End and Engine Rebuild

Post by philipgslattery » Tue Dec 12, 2017 2:49 am

Fantastic work. Can you please tell me what you did for the wire mesh and frame for the 2 horns. Are the NOS or did you somehow make them?
Thanks
Philip

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Re: M2A1 Front End and Engine Rebuild

Post by steve1973 » Tue Dec 12, 2017 11:10 pm

Hi Philip,
The horns are original to my halftrack. I sent them out to be professionally rebuilt. All internal parts are new Delco NOS parts. Here is what my horns looked like before sending them out.

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Here is a link for info on the place that restored my horns. http://halftrackinfo.com/index.php?topic=1818.0

Steve A.
1941 White M2A1 (90% restored)
1945 M10 ammo trailer (restored)

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Re: M2A1 Front End and Engine Rebuild

Post by steve1973 » Thu Jan 18, 2018 3:38 am

Hello everyone. It's a new year and time to get things rolling again. I left off working on getting those boots installed. Well, I fought for a day trying to get one on myself and ended up only getting the inner ring mounted on one side. I needed an extra set of hands. I had a co-worker that was nice enough to come help me for the day. The passenger side went on fast. It was done within an hour. I did find out that the outer clamping ring is a bit brittle as it broke when locking the two nuts together. ??? Good thing I have spares! ;D The Driver's side inner was a chore. We were having trouble getting the two ends close enough to put the screw and nut on. My co-worker, Ryan, had the bright idea of looping a piece of wire around the ends and then twist to draw the ends closer. this worked great and got the screw and nut on then cutting the wire loose. Boots done!! :P

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The M35 boots were much easier than the original NOS ones Don and I put on Zelda. I would recommend loosening the bottom plate of the steering knuckle when doing this.

Steve A.
1941 White M2A1 (90% restored)
1945 M10 ammo trailer (restored)


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