US WW2 Corps of Engineer Airborne Trailer Mounted Compressor

[17thAirborne]

First engine shroud part done to give me something to shoot for.

[17thAirborne]

Back to engine tear down

[17thAirborne]

Back to metal work and data plates for a bit

[17thAirborne]

Timing Cover removed. Tough work on the two dowel pins.

[70th Division]

Back to metal work and data plates for a bit
data plates 1.JPG

Hello Oz,

This looks like a great project, I didn't even know they had these,
and congratulations on that Coke Machine, it looks great !


Best Regards,
Ray

[17thAirborne]

Thanks Ray. Good to have you back. COke machine was fun and this is even more enjoyable. It is simple and small so everything can be done in-house. Does not look like I need machine work. I'll clean everything up in the engine, do a cylinder hone and replace seals, bearings, rings and gaskets.

I'm trying the vinegar treatment on one of the data plates. Here are the before and during images.

[70th Division]

Thanks Ray. Good to have you back. COke machine was fun and this is even more enjoyable. It is simple and small so everything can be done in-house. Does not look like I need machine work. I'll clean everything up in the engine, do a cylinder hone and replace seals, bearings, rings and gaskets.

I'm trying the vinegar treatment on one of the data plates. Here are the before and during images.
shipping-tag1.jpg
tag3a.jpg

Hello Oz,

That is looking good !!
I am sure they will clean up very nice, for restoration.


Best Regards,
Ray

[17thAirborne]

I have the Wisonsin engine block stripped and opened some of the oil galley plugs. They are sealed with flat head screws that will not move. Two of them came out and I did not want to bugger up the rest. I have the block degreased, wire brushed and pressure washed. Here is a short video of the fun:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/latt9eJ5SuU

[17thAirborne]

Working on getting the block ready for assembly.

[17thAirborne]

Tearing down the cylinders for the blaster.

[17thAirborne]

I spent a few minutes trying to descipher the engine serial number from the badly rusted Wisconsin tag. The best I can come up with is in the 307XXX range which would put it mid 1943 from the SN list

[17thAirborne]

Lots of work yet to do:

[17thAirborne]

The Wisconsin brand engine serial number data plate is totally rusted. As seen from the image above, the serial number can only be determined partialy from behind. I am assessing this to be a mid-1943 engine which jives with the date of deliver on the Army tag.

Being a stickler for history I am assuming the following calculations:

Using the table I posted above, there were 100724 engines built from 1 Jan 1943 to 1 Jan 1944. That translates to a straight line manufacture of 275 engines per day assuming the factories operated 7 days per week. Taking the existing serial number (I'm using 307786) and the 275/day number, this engine would end up being finished at the factory on or about the 122nd Julian day in 1943 or 2 May 1943. The Trailer was accepted by the Army on Jun 1943 making it plausiable that the engine was produced about a month before the assembly and final inspection.  I feel generally confident that the 307XXX number is valid.

The best I can conclude is that the engine was made in Early May 1943 and the data plate confirms trailer acceptance on 6 June 1943. Wonder where it was on the dame day in 1944???

[17thAirborne]

I ended up buying a blue spraypaint VE4 data tag from ebay. It took me several hours to clean it up. I will try filling in the old SN with some JB weld and try to stamp the WW2 SN over it. I'm not sure if the JB will flake off , but if it does I can carefully refill leaving the new stamps visible. We'll see how this works.

After a few blank practice stamps on sheet metal. I need to practice a bit more, but the font and size matches fairly well. I'm using a 1940s Power Stamp hand stamping kit. Once the JB Weld dries tommorrow I will use an antique nickle paint to touch up the boss and see what we get.

[17thAirborne]

I'm happy with the final product!