G7113 - 1942 Cargo with winch (W-391408)

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retro-roco
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G7113 - 1942 Cargo with winch (W-391408)

Post by retro-roco » Thu Dec 10, 2020 12:59 pm

D.R.H., 42cargo,forestry4ever, kelley,Tobywann,newc, and so many others,

I have thought many times about creating a thread for documenting the restoration journey of my truck... It has been a start and stop, hit and miss journey of over 17 years since I first drug it home. It was actually never at my "home" until we moved here to Illinois about 10 years ago. I've had a strange attraction to these trucks for even longer than that. I first got into reenacting as I figured it was a good way to meet guys who might tip me off on where to find one. It seemed back then like most that came up were usually on the coasts, and out of my price range.

My lucky break came when a co-worker mentioned that he knew a guy looking to unload an old army truck. He was renting a house and garage, and therewas only room in the garage for his half-track. The property owner was giving him grief about the pile of junk sitting in the driveway. We struck a deal, and I hauled my truck from his driveway, to a polebarn out in the country. (Lots of history that I could recount about where I've kept her over the years, but the main thing is I held onto here, even when we moved two states away...).

I have a shutterfly page with some information and photos from way back then. https://chevyg506.shutterfly.com/
The page is still there and has not been updated much; except to add additional files occasionally. I decided a couple of years ago that the time had finally come to either get busy working pn her, or let her go. I decided I had WAY too much wrapped up in NOS parts. With it completely dissassembled, I would likely have had a tough time getting much for her. My kids are all out on their own now, and owning my own company and working at home means I finally have time to devote to it.

About a month ago I hauled the frame and some other parts to a nearby body shop that also does sandblasting.
Here is the frame, finally separated from the bed.
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More room in the garage then I've had for years...
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Parts blasted and back in the garage:
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Kirk Gustafson
359th Infantry Regt. 90th Div. WWII HRS

1942 Chevy G506 1-1/2 ton 4x4 Cargo
1943 Ben Hur water trailer


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Re: G7113 - 1942 Cargo with winch (W-391408)

Post by Tonywan Kanobby » Thu Dec 10, 2020 7:04 pm

Hi Kirk,

I think it’s fantastic that you were able to make that choice. It looks like you are getting on a good roll.
I just checked out your Shutterfly pics. I remember those pics. It’s a cool truck. Looking forward to see her come together. :D

Tony

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Re: G7113 - 1942 Cargo with winch (W-391408)

Post by D.R.H. » Thu Dec 10, 2020 9:12 pm

KIRK !! Never, ever EVER give up man!! I am enthused that you started a thread. Now I can oogle at what you're doing to your truck. That bed of yours looks really straight and is that a frame extension I spied leaning up against them shelves?!! Nice :) !! I don't have to say but I'm gonna, once that you have collected all of them parts, You just gotta put the truck together. It is just a matter of cleaning, scraping, sandblasting and cleaning and scraping and sandblasting and priming and painting and more cleaning and priming and some blood and band-aids and a bit of foul language too, from time to time to help move things along :) , then the next thing you know, You're driving the darn thing down the street thinking to yourself, "MAN, I AM SOOOOO GLAD I KEPT THIS TRUCK!!" Don't stop moving forward my friend. I like to say to myself, just do 1 small thing today that will help move things forward and I usually end up wearing myself out by doing too much.
In Loving Memoriam: George R. Hancock. 20 Mar. 1938 - 11 Jan. 2017. U.S.A.F. 1956 - 1962. R.I.P. Dad.
In Loving Memoriam: Ann Hancock, 08 Mar. 1934 - 25 Sept. 2021. R.N. 1960 - 2005. R.I.P. Mom.
Thank You BOTH for always being there.

My YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaMKEv ... M3g/videos.

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Re: G7113 - 1942 Cargo with winch (W-391408)

Post by zippog506 » Thu Dec 10, 2020 11:31 pm

Yea Kirk, I will second that motion :D . Glad you decided to keep it. You have to many hours of researching, chasing down parts and just plain old time and money invested to let someone else be the caretaker and enjoy your fruits of labor. Once it is done and you take her for the first trial run it will all have been worth the time and effort. Then its just enjoyment and tinkering. My Chev resto took me longer than I had planned, and I walked away from it several times towards the last as it sometimes became overwhelming :roll: , but it is very rewarding in the end. Its not everyone that can do a resto on one of these trucks, But I know you bleed olive drab and will see it through to the end. There are alot of people on the "G" rootin for yah, so hang in there. Am looking forward to your future progress reports!

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Re: G7113 - 1942 Cargo with winch (W-391408)

Post by johnwaz » Fri Dec 11, 2020 5:52 am

I know all too well how projects get stalled. I'm glad you're finding time to get rolling on yours. I've got a little more organizing to do before my Chevy goes on stands, but I'm getting there. Good luck on getting yours put back together.

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Re: G7113 - 1942 Cargo with winch (W-391408)

Post by 42cargo » Fri Dec 11, 2020 1:10 pm

Wow, what a great amount of helpful info on that site! Really impressive.

Thanks for sharing it with us. I miss my truck, but have found other vices to keep my hand in things: https://www.thecj2apage.com/forums/1945 ... 44901.html

Sadly, COVID restrictions meant I couldn't get out to CO this year to bring the jeep back East, but hopefully next year.

John

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Re: G7113 - 1942 Cargo with winch (W-391408)

Post by forestry4evr » Sun Dec 13, 2020 4:14 am

Kirk,
Good to see you have finally come out of the inky darkness to show us your project! I look forward to seeing your build progress in future posts. One of the most consuming parts of this hobby is the acquisition of parts, and it sounds like you already have most everything needed for assembly. It is always great fun to start bolting OD green parts back onto the truck. Enjoy the journey!
Paul
1941 G4112 Chevrolet with Hercules dump bed

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Re: G7113 - 1942 Cargo with winch (W-391408)

Post by kelley » Sun Dec 13, 2020 2:36 pm

Hey Kirk,
Great to see some progress.
Time seems to be the single most elusive part required to bring one of these trucks back, I hope you continue to find more.
Thanks for putting this thread together.
Kelley
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Re: G7113 - 1942 Cargo with winch (W-391408)

Post by retro-roco » Sun Dec 13, 2020 3:44 pm

I dont think I have the gift of storytelling that some on this forum seem to handle so well. I've got lots of pictures of my project truck, but struggle with incorporating them into a narrative in what I feel is a reasonable amount of time. The recent changes affecting proofreading, editing and sometimes even deleting did not sit well with me. For a time even Surfacezero/g503 was " out of order" and virtually worthless. So much so that I took an extended hiatus from these forums and instead frequented a couple of G506 specific Facebook pages. I was hooked on the ease of snapping a few pics, typing a brief description, and sharing all from the comfort of my phone.

Surface zero seems to be working better, though it is still a bigger hassle then it should be if loading more than 5 pics at once. I decided to give these forums another try. I really like the ability to post a thread and continue adding to it over time. Thats something that seems better than FB.

We will see how this goes!
Kirk Gustafson
359th Infantry Regt. 90th Div. WWII HRS

1942 Chevy G506 1-1/2 ton 4x4 Cargo
1943 Ben Hur water trailer

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Re: G7113 - 1942 Cargo with winch (W-391408)

Post by retro-roco » Mon Jul 26, 2021 6:38 pm

Can't believe my last update to this thread was December! I'll have to post a few pics...
In these pics, I am removing the front winch extensions. Reasons for doing so include getting my frame to the sandblaster and allowing easier repairs to the extensions themselves. My truck was involved in the front end crash sometime in its past. This was apparent from the mangled inner fender panel on the driver side. It also served time as a pusher truck.

Rivet removal:
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More rivets:
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All rivets are out:
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Prying the extensions from the frame:
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Finally free:
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Stay tuned for more!
Kirk Gustafson
359th Infantry Regt. 90th Div. WWII HRS

1942 Chevy G506 1-1/2 ton 4x4 Cargo
1943 Ben Hur water trailer

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Re: G7113 - 1942 Cargo with winch (W-391408)

Post by retro-roco » Tue Jul 27, 2021 6:01 am

Starting with the same picture as last post; here you can see the passenger side winch extension with the channel web cut out.
Image

This is the driver side extension, before web removal and straightening. The whole assembly is upside down on the concrete. The extension is only about 24 inches from the shock mount to the bumper end, and there is over 1-1/2 inches of deflection!
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This is the passenger side, after straightening the upper and lower flanges. The whole assembly is upside down on the concrete. Notice no more droop!
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This is the passenger side with the web welded back in place. I never said I was a good welder! :lol: If you look closely, you can see the driver side web has been cut out, but it has not yet been straightened.
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This is the driver side, with the web welded back in place, and also identifying the 7 rivet locations per side.
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Final picture showing extensions straightened, welded, ground and primer painted.
Image

Stay tuned!
Kirk Gustafson
359th Infantry Regt. 90th Div. WWII HRS

1942 Chevy G506 1-1/2 ton 4x4 Cargo
1943 Ben Hur water trailer

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Re: G7113 - 1942 Cargo with winch (W-391408)

Post by D.R.H. » Tue Jul 27, 2021 5:10 pm

Kirk, My Man!! This is awesome. I have a frame extension that I saved from the scrap metal yard. It is bowed down a bit on the driver side. I found a place in Seattle that can straighten it, but I don't want to cut all of the rivets out AND now that I'm older, the darn thing seems to weigh a lot more than the first one I had when I was 40 years old. Go figure.
This posting of yours IS brilliant because now I know how to straighten mine out by my self. Thanks for this, I never would have thought about cutting the web out of the extension. Keep up the great work Mister!! P.S. I'm not the best welder either. We'll leave THAT up to the Boys over at Kelly Welding!! :)
In Loving Memoriam: George R. Hancock. 20 Mar. 1938 - 11 Jan. 2017. U.S.A.F. 1956 - 1962. R.I.P. Dad.
In Loving Memoriam: Ann Hancock, 08 Mar. 1934 - 25 Sept. 2021. R.N. 1960 - 2005. R.I.P. Mom.
Thank You BOTH for always being there.

My YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaMKEv ... M3g/videos.

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Re: G7113 - 1942 Cargo with winch (W-391408)

Post by retro-roco » Tue Jul 27, 2021 5:23 pm

D.R.H. wrote:
Tue Jul 27, 2021 5:10 pm
Kirk, My Man!! This is awesome.... Thanks for this, I never would have thought about cutting the web out of the extension. Keep up the great work Mister!!
Dave, you are MOST welcome! Thats what these online communities are best at; the sharing of information, tips, tricks and supporting each other. Hope this helps you and possibly others too.
Kirk Gustafson
359th Infantry Regt. 90th Div. WWII HRS

1942 Chevy G506 1-1/2 ton 4x4 Cargo
1943 Ben Hur water trailer

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Re: G7113 - 1942 Cargo with winch (W-391408)

Post by forestry4evr » Sun Aug 01, 2021 6:41 am

Kirk,

Great to see you making progress on your project. Man, you are deep in the weeds now!

Cutting out the "webbing" is a pretty cool way to pull out distortions in heavy metal. Something like that never occurred to me before your demonstration. In my opinion, the frame horns on the Chevys, be they winch or non-winch, are relatively weak. It is not uncommon to see a truck recovered from the wild that has tweaked frame horns. Your demonstration has provided another technique to get things done, thanks for taking the effort to share your experience.

An experienced welder once told me "one has the choice to become a good welder or the choice to become a good grinder". With more experience my welding is getting much cleaner and better both aesthetically and structurally but in the learning process, I have become real awsome with a side grinder!

Paul
1941 G4112 Chevrolet with Hercules dump bed

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Re: G7113 - 1942 Cargo with winch (W-391408)

Post by retro-roco » Mon Aug 02, 2021 12:47 pm

Thanks Paul, for the encouraging words! Have decided I really need to focus on completing projects I already own, and stop picking up any new "projects". Making some progress in that regard!
Last edited by retro-roco on Mon Aug 02, 2021 6:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Kirk Gustafson
359th Infantry Regt. 90th Div. WWII HRS

1942 Chevy G506 1-1/2 ton 4x4 Cargo
1943 Ben Hur water trailer


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