New Project TEC Trailer? That Turns out as a Bantam T3!

[Peewee]

My MB is ready restored, so here are some pics of my new project.
I bought this trailer three years ago and stored it away.

The first thing, the data plate is stamped with a serial number 145 and a DOD 3-43, but the TEC trailer plates wasn´t.
The plate could be stamped form some previous owners to get a german registration, or is this not a original data plate,
are repros available?














Any infos about the lunette, how to tell a repro from a original WWII lunette?
The only number I found is the 841-3 on the ring.





Some more pictures are here:
http://www.surfacezero.com/g503/showgal ... p?cat=2628

Any help is welcome.

[Chuck Lutz]

Sven....the TEC data plates I have seen do not have anything stamped on them, I note yours has "145" stamped on it and "3-43" for the DOD.

We know TEC did not make trailers in 1943 so that is an indication that the stamping was done by someone other than the factory. I did notice you seem to have some of the USA number on the rear panel!

The USA numbers for TEC are 01004945 to 01005165...for a total run of 221 trailers. I would REALLY be interested to see if in fact, the USA of your trailer is "01005090" which would be the 145th trailer in that run of USA numbers!

I would also love to add your trailer to my data base, but I need at the very least the ACM number off the bottom of the left front gusset plate where the left front spring hanger is bolted on...I have had them reported as 121xxx, 141xxx and 149xxx so far.....Norway, Isle of Wight and Arizona.

Check with Robert de Ruyter about the data plates, I think he is reproducing them.

[lucakiki]

Hi Sven! I am sure your trailer will have a top quality restoration performed!
It does not surprise me that the data plate specifies the (Bantam) TM -10-1281 manual : even with the never say never rule in mind, one would not expect that they would print a dedicated manual for such a small quantity of trailers.
I am quite far from my trailers right now, but I have a faint memory of at least one of my lunettes having only a number cast on the ring, just as yours!
There is plenty of experts on this forum, so you will get an answer on the lunette, sooner or later!
At times, though, the best way to get an answer, is not to ask for one.
Stating that you do not care for postwar replacement parts might help...

[Joe Gopan]

The Safety Chains are still available from Phil Nelson, a long time supplier in the USA.

[Peewee]

Hi Chuck and Luca,

thank you for the infos!

Chuck, no problem you can add the trailer to your data base, I will let you know the ACM number asp. But at this time it is too cold and we have too much snow to bring up the trailer form the storage and work on it.
I don´t think the number on the rear panel is the "original" registration number as the number is painted in a wrong position (to high).
But I will try to recover the number
Was the number on TEC trailers blue or white from factory?

OK Luca, I do not care for postwar replacement parts....
Thank you my friend.

[Joe Gopan]

WWII Lunettes by Willys had the Willys Part number forged onto the neck in raised figures. Some WWII Lunettes were similarly marked to indicate more than one manufacturer, possibly Checker.

[Chuck Lutz]

Sven....I have only heard about a few of the TEC trailers and out of a production run so small, that is not surprising. So far none of the owners has reported finding a USA number on theirs, but I would imagine that at the FACTORY the blue drab paint would have been used. Do not rule out the possibility that the white numbers seen on the rear panel are not in fact, the remnants of the USA number....I can see where two holes might indicate a plate or reflector was installed and that protected the area where those numbers are seen in the photo...

I would suggest you wet sand the area BY HAND and use some tracing paper (onion skin?) so that as each detail of each number is revealed, you can trace that onto the paper as continued sanding will probably remove some of the white paint....those who try to reveal the WHOLE numbers string often lose the distinction between 0, 9, 8, 3 for instance and 6 or 5 or even 2 or 7 if they keep sanding without adding the details to a tracing paper of some kind.

May I also suggest a short trip out to the storage area with some fine sandpaper, tracing paper, pencil, a thermos of chocolate & schnapps?

Or....in a wine glass...
1/2 teaspoon sugar
twist of lemon peel
two cloves
2 ounces Brandy
6 ounces BOILING WATER......

[Peewee]

Some WWII Lunettes were similarly marked to indicate more than one manufacturer, possibly Checker.

Hi Ben, could you explain this a little bit closer, with my limited english I can not get the context.


Chuck...... good advice the tip with the tracing paper, I will do so.
The sugar, lemon peel, clove, Brandy and boiling water version sounds good. I will taste it.
Another opiton is a glass with a fingerbreadth Calvados, some brown sugar, filled up with hot cider (clove, cinnamon and anise flavored)

[Chuck Lutz]

Sven....I don't know about the lunette with that casting "841-3" on it, but I have trailers with lunettes with "PSC-42" and "PSC-43" in the Bantam T3 data base....my initial thought would be that yours is a correct WWII item and possibly original for your TEC.

[Joe Gopan]

The Lunette on my MBT has barely visable markings, it is the Willys part number. Of note on original Lunettes is a portion of the shaft approx 70mm back from the ring that has been slightly ground off and has a ball impression at the mid point. That is where the manufacturer performed the required hardness test during quality control factory tests.

[lucakiki]

The Safety Chains are still available from Phil Nelson, a long time supplier in the USA.

This is not true.

Tom posted elsewhere:

For the record, Phil Nelson does not have any NOS WW2/M100 trailer chains and hasn't had any for several years.


So any guy trying to contact Phil Nelson in order to purchase chains would waste his time, and also Nelson's.

[Joe Gopan]

And the other known supplier with a recent quantity of the A-6392 Safety Chains to offer in the USA was Bob Zubeck who passed away.

[lucakiki]

What is the use of posting this sort of information?
Nelson has not had any N.O.S. chains for several years,and Bob Zubeck , R.I.P.,passed away quite a while ago.

Pan, honestly, what kind of concepts are you trying to convey?

[Chuck Lutz]

Sven....Unless you feel you must completely dismantle the tub/frame assembly by cutting the welds that hold the tub to the frame to replace that floor panel....you might feel that a complete restoration of the trailer will not be necessary in that regard and you can live with some sag in the floor panel between the hat channel ribs on the underside of the tub.

If you have a solid steel plate work table of the right size, you can turn your trailer over (once the bolt-ons are removed) and set it on that flat surface and with a combination of heating/shrinking and a bit of pounding, some of the stretched-out metal in the tub floor can be improved upon....sometimes a little bending where the hat channels are on the bottom is necessary also.

I have seen a few miracles performed with a torch and a wet rag to shrink dents in the top of the cowl on a jeep. That and a little careful pounding between the floor grooves may take a LITTLE of the sag out of the floor pan.

[Joe Gopan]

Luca, the more information and history that is shared, the better the owner of a vehicle will understand the situation and what he or she may be facing. Many of those entering the hobby will discover that they are 20-40 years too late to find NOS parts in quantity at the current dealers. Most who have a stock of NOS parts were lucky to have obtained them from the larger surplus truck parts dealers (long gone) who started buying surplus Jeep and truck parts when they were plentiful during the immediate post war period of the 40's - late 50's. There were at least a hundred sources who bought, sold and wholesaled, they are but pleasant memories to those involved in dealing with gov't surplus parts, me included.