M2A1 Halftrack Improvements

Tracked, Halftrack, etc... Military Vehicles, Wanted, For Sale (NO AUCTION or EBAY), and Knowledge Base

Moderator: Kevin Lockwood

steve1973
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1245
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 1:59 am
Location:

M2A1 Halftrack Improvements

Post by steve1973 » Mon Feb 04, 2013 8:45 pm

It's time to get ready for the convention so that means it's time to spruce up the track. Currently I have a M2 rear floor that is missing the internal vertical portion of the seat/locker area so it is very roomy in the back. A year or so ago I aquired a replacement original floor section with everything intacted so I will be replacing it with that. So, I will have the one I'm taking out fore sale complete with all the track armor in the future. :wink: Since I will have the rear area down to the frame it is also a good time to de-track it and go through the axle, brakes, track suspension and new tracks. :D Remember that pesky bolt on the side of the axle housing that holds that shim in place. Well mine is floating at the bottom of the axle. So, that will have to come out to get fixed. :( Hope to have this done by early april. Next, time permiting, I will move to the front end and clean the bumper for the rebuilt winch. chang out the hood sides(currently reproductions, have originald to replace), change back to the early style headlights and replace a broken leaf spring. And of course, some fresh paint to top it off. That is a lot and it needs to be completed by July 1st when activities kick off with the 4th of July. So here is some photos of todays progress. Enjoy! :D

Steve A.

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image
Don taking a brake from his track to see how my progress is going.

Image
The rear track floor from behind the B pillars back minus the steps will be for sale in the near future. PM me if interested.
1941 White M2A1 (90% restored)
1945 M10 ammo trailer (restored)


User avatar
Viking27
G-Brigadier General
G-Brigadier General
Posts: 2079
Joined: Mon Feb 24, 2003 9:39 pm
Location: Holland

Re: M2A1 Halftrack Improvements

Post by Viking27 » Tue Feb 05, 2013 12:20 pm

Steve,

Nice workshop :) Is the top perimeter rail not welded in one solid "U" shape? Looks in your photos that
the rear part and sides are loose?

Reg

Hinrik
Hinrik Steinsson
Ford GP 9519
Proud member of 50 Shades of Green group

steve1973
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1245
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 1:59 am
Location:

Re: M2A1 Halftrack Improvements

Post by steve1973 » Tue Feb 05, 2013 1:12 pm

Hinrik, you are correct about the perimeter rail. It is in sections 4 sections that is bolted to the side armor but not attached to each other. Also the perimeter rail is just a piece of angle iron with a lip welded to it to get the correct shape. I plan, if I have time, to fix this and make a new perimeter rail, formed, welded, and one piece like original. It will still be bolted to the sides for ease of removal. Good eyes though. I do admit because the previous owner built it this way made it easier to remove everything. :wink:

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

yd328
G-First Lieutenant
G-First Lieutenant
Posts: 644
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2007 4:34 pm
Location: CT

Re: M2A1 Halftrack Improvements

Post by yd328 » Wed Feb 06, 2013 4:53 am

Steve,
Looks like the fun begins, long days and all :D . It looks like you have the mg socket mounts on the side, are all 3 still there?

Gary
MVPA Member
M2A1 Half Track ( Undergoing Resto)
M10 Ammo Trailer

steve1973
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1245
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 1:59 am
Location:

Re: M2A1 Halftrack Improvements

Post by steve1973 » Wed Feb 06, 2013 5:36 am

My two shops is beginning to look like a halftrack motorpool with all the work going on their. Gary, yes, I do have the three gun sockets. You can see them where the ammo locker should be on the passenger side. One I think is original and the other two are reproductions. More work to be done today but first I need some sleep. Good night.

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

steve1973
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1245
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 1:59 am
Location:

Re: M2A1 Halftrack Improvements

Post by steve1973 » Wed Feb 06, 2013 6:11 pm

Got a little more done this evening. The steps are off and one top, rear track armor plate off. One more plate to remove then I can get a set of track armor fabricated for my new floor section. :D Friday I should have the last piece off then work on removing the floor form the halftrack. Lots to do. Left Don at the shop working on assembling his bogies. Friday the halftracks will swap buildings temporarily so I can de-track mine then will bring his back behind mine. It will be like an assembly line of sorts. Here are some photos of today's work.

Steve A.

Image

Image

Image
1941 White M2A1 (90% restored)
1945 M10 ammo trailer (restored)

Phil H
Sergeant Major of the Gee
Sergeant Major of the Gee
Posts: 451
Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2007 4:27 pm
Location: Kentucky

Re: M2A1 Halftrack Improvements

Post by Phil H » Thu Feb 07, 2013 4:51 am

Looks like you are having toooo much fun, hope it makes Portland. Can't wate to see it, great job.

Phil H
1940 VC1 Dodge
1941 WC6 Dodge
1941 WC11 Dodge
1941 WC22 Dodge
1941 WC26 Dodge
1943 WC56 Dodge
1942 Nash-Kelvinator trailer
1941 GP Ford 9066
1942 M3A1 Halftrack

steve1973
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1245
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 1:59 am
Location:

Re: M2A1 Halftrack Improvements

Post by steve1973 » Sat Feb 09, 2013 10:58 am

Made lots of progress yesterday with the help of my Dad. we finished taking off the last piece of track armor so I can get a set made and the we took the floor out. In all we had this done in three hours. I then spent an hour or so pressure washing it before Don came over to move his track into building 2 so mine can be in building 1. Monday is track removal day. Hope to have the axle torn apart and rear idler off by Friday. More to come.

Steve A.

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image
1941 White M2A1 (90% restored)
1945 M10 ammo trailer (restored)

AZ Deuce
G-Private First Class
G-Private First Class
Posts: 10
Joined: Sat Oct 24, 2009 5:32 am
Location:

Re: M2A1 Halftrack Improvements

Post by AZ Deuce » Sun Feb 10, 2013 6:57 pm

Beautiful halftrack, I'd like to respectively suggest that you do NOT install the early style headlights. Your halftrack has the large late style rear idler springs, this means it is a late production model, and the smaller grill mounted headlights are the correct ones for your vehicle, I'd just leave it as is, to be original.

Good luck on your restoration. Looks like you're doing her up right.

AZ

steve1973
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1245
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 1:59 am
Location:

Re: M2A1 Halftrack Improvements

Post by steve1973 » Mon Feb 11, 2013 4:06 pm

Started at 9 this morning and got both tracks off by noon. I'm getting better at this. The nut for the tension idler spring on the driver's side was stubborn and had to use my crane to pull the wrench up a 1/4 turn at a time. After an hour of this I cheated. I used a deep impact socket between the rear idler stop to the back of the idler arm and cranked it in compressing the spring. worked great. I had the track off with in a half hour. The other side was much easier but still used the socket trick at the end. By noon the job was done. Once the tracks were both off I removed the top rollers for cleaning along with the floor to frame mount supports. these were bolted in with carriage bolts and loose. I will fix this at a later time. Wednesday I will finish removing the idler hubs, sprocket assemblies and drums.

Image

These are the tools needed for de-tracking. All the specialty tools came from Gary Hebding. Thanks Gary.

Image

Image

This is a photo showing the socket between the idler stop and idler arm.

Image

Image

Image

Image
1941 White M2A1 (90% restored)
1945 M10 ammo trailer (restored)

steve1973
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1245
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 1:59 am
Location:

Re: M2A1 Halftrack Improvements

Post by steve1973 » Mon Feb 11, 2013 4:12 pm

AZ Deuce wrote:Beautiful halftrack, I'd like to respectively suggest that you do NOT install the early style headlights. Your halftrack has the large late style rear idler springs, this means it is a late production model, and the smaller grill mounted headlights are the correct ones for your vehicle, I'd just leave it as is, to be original.

Good luck on your restoration. Looks like you're doing her up right.

AZ
AZ, Thank you for your comments. My halftrack was originally an M2 so most likely the larger springs were an ad on. Also, My track originally had the fender mounted headlight as the holes in the front fenders were welded up. With all the upgrades, partial or non at all, I don't think there is a right or wrong configuration. Plus, I like the fender mounted lights better and they have high beams for night driving. My pedestal lights give off poor lighting to say the least.

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

steve1973
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1245
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 1:59 am
Location:

Re: M2A1 Halftrack Improvements

Post by steve1973 » Sat Mar 02, 2013 12:28 pm

I'm back working on the halftrack again. I've been sick for the last 3 weeks. Got the rear idler hubs off. One was a real pain as the locking nut would not budge. I have Gary's special tool and it still did not budge. Don and I both tried. We ended up drilling the side then cutting through it to loosen it up. Can't figure out why it wouldn't move. There was no rust or damage to the threads. Also got the drums off the jackshaft and were just bad enough to need replacing like I did on the front. Next week I take a trailer load of parts to get sandblasted and then onto the brakes and third member. Remember, I to have that brass shim that fell out of place so got to get that taken care of. That's all for now.

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image
1941 White M2A1 (90% restored)
1945 M10 ammo trailer (restored)

yd328
G-First Lieutenant
G-First Lieutenant
Posts: 644
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2007 4:34 pm
Location: CT

Re: M2A1 Halftrack Improvements

Post by yd328 » Tue Mar 05, 2013 4:28 am

AZ, Thank you for your comments. My halftrack was originally an M2 so most likely the larger springs were an ad on. Also, My track originally had the fender mounted headlight as the holes in the front fenders were welded up. With all the upgrades, partial or non at all, I don't think there is a right or wrong configuration. Plus, I like the fender mounted lights better and they have high beams for night driving. My pedestal lights give off poor lighting to say the least.
Steve, I believe all this was done when they converted the M2 to an A1. I have all of the same features including the welded up fenders. The hydrovacs were also part of the upgrade and the right front spring mount from what I can tell.
You guys look like you're moving along nicely out there, keep up the good work and the pictures of course.
Gary
MVPA Member
M2A1 Half Track ( Undergoing Resto)
M10 Ammo Trailer

steve1973
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1245
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 1:59 am
Location:

Re: M2A1 Halftrack Improvements

Post by steve1973 » Tue Mar 05, 2013 4:05 pm

Well, today is my 40th birthday and took the day off to relax and go out to dinner. That changed when I got in an argument with my Dad yet again. Ruined my whole day. So, instead I went to the shop to blow off some steam. It's the one place I enjoy going to get away from the stresses from work and home. So over the last two days I got a trailer load of parts ready for sand blasting. That includes plugging the bearing cavities fro the drums, rear idler hubs and top rollers. Today I removed the floor plates up front but first had to disconnect my temporary gas tank and move it out of the way. As soon as I removed the hose a steady stream of gas shot out of the fuel pick up at the top. It didn't dawn on me that pressure had built up in the tank and the vent in the cap doesn't seem to be working. Gas shot out everywhere. I'm starting out good wouldn't you say. Once that was done I removed the driveline and took out the third member and tore my pants in the process. I'm having a great day! Low and behold the brass shim that rides against the ring gear was at the bottom of the axle assembly. Tomorrow I will take apart the rear brakes and do some miscellaneous projects that need to be done to make room. I hope to bring Don's track back into building one next Monday to re-track it. That's all for now.

Steve A.

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image
1941 White M2A1 (90% restored)
1945 M10 ammo trailer (restored)

steve1973
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1245
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 1:59 am
Location:

Re: M2A1 Halftrack Improvements

Post by steve1973 » Tue Apr 09, 2013 5:33 pm

I haven't had a chance to post her in a while. I've been busy shipping the armor bolts and helping Don with his track. I managed to get some free time and took my rear brakes apart. I'm surprised they even worked at all. They were almost as bad as the front ones were. My original plan was to rebuild the wheel cylinders but there were newbies at the parts counter that don't know squat so just by chance I dug into my stash of spare parts and found two new rebuilt wheel cylinders to use. I bead blasted the shoes and gave them a coat of paint and look as good as new. Now to finish cleaning the small parts. More to come.

Steve A.

Image

Image

Image

Image
1941 White M2A1 (90% restored)
1945 M10 ammo trailer (restored)


Post Reply

Return to “Tracked”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 36 guests