A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

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kw573
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Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by kw573 » Mon Aug 02, 2021 10:49 pm

Hi all,

I took the opportunity to do some off-roading in the country behind the NRTHOF. We traveled on a winding track on the top of a ridge that went up and down, was narrow in places and steep at times.
Rick followed in his Jeep. The steepest section was scratching and scraping for the jeep but the Glorifier hardly slipped at all. The pictures show the country and the steepness.

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Here is where we lived for 3 weeks, comfortable except when a dusty wind sprung up.

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One of the last jobs we did was to move a Federal 604 tank transporter. We spent several hours on it but couldn't get it to start. It would fire on ether and had good oil pressure but we couldn't get the fuel from the PT pump to the injectors. So I just pushed it into place.

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We have now left Alice Springs and are making our way north. Tonight we are camping in Tennant Creek and heading further north tomorrow.

An interesting stop today was Devils Marbles, an unusual granite formation, sometimes seen in wartime pictures of convoys on the "track".

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Good fun!!

Until next post.

Have a nice week.
Sam.
1942 Script GPW (Daily driver).
MB-T trailer.
Diamond T 969. ('The Glorifier')
Diamond T 969, rusty, complete, for sale.
Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker x 2.
M2A1 white HT. ('Clarrie')
Light Recovery Trailer (Ford?).
3ton GS (Blitz) Trailer.
150gal water tanker trailer.
Air compressor trailer, 100c.f.m.


Stephen Davis
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Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by Stephen Davis » Tue Aug 03, 2021 4:44 pm

Hi Sam, I have not been on the forum for a while, reply to your question, the tires are a boom, "GOOD".
Yes, I to have done some Military Vehicle Convoy Trips in NZ. They are a blast, people, personality's, vehicles & places. Good times.
Looks like you are having a blast. :P Bugger about Covid :(
Keep the rubber side down & carry on!
Thank you for your posts.
Stephen
UNIMOG DOWN UNDER
1953 one ton GS trailer
1961 Mighty Mite M422A1
1986 Unimog 1300L
1971 Serries Skippy Land Rover, Son's drive.

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Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by Ian Fawbert » Sun Aug 08, 2021 5:27 pm

Here’s a video off Facebook of Sam and Glorifier on the current trip.

https://www.facebook.com/paul.vanbrugge ... 52138/?d=n

Hopefully it works/is accessible to all

Looks great Sam. So glad to see all the work and effort I. Getting your truck going being so gladly enjoyed!

Ian.
Australian Jeep Investigator
MB: 131175
GPW: 11730.
GPW: 225290.
Aust trailer: GMH 3- #211
http://www.vintageengines.net

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Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by 70th Division » Fri Aug 13, 2021 10:19 am

Hello Sam,

Great pics !!!
What a great expedition !!

What does NRTHOF stand for ?


Best Regards,
Ray

kw573
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Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by kw573 » Sat Aug 14, 2021 11:41 pm

Hi all,
Ray, it is the National Road Transport Hall of Fame, in Alice Springs.

We have been on the road again for almost 2 weeks and are now in Darwin, the Capital of Northern Territory in Australia.
Along the way has been lots to see, eg.,
a 'Blitz' 3 ton G.S. cargo trailer at a fuel station . . . . .

Image


. . . a visit and line up at Gorrie Air field, a large wartime repair depot. . . . .

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. . . where we found the remains of a large equipment handling machine with loading deck-like platforms and a nearby boom-like structure that may belong to it. For handling aircraft? Does anyone recognize it?

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Later we visited the very interesting Snake Creek naval munitions depot, where a rail line and sidings snake along a low ridge with bunkers and stuff dug into the hillside.
On the original north-south road entrance . . . .

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. . . and to the track that covers the railway tracks that serviced the storage bunkers.

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And the bunkers . . . .

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Also a C60X CMP refueler truck that the owner will not part with and is guarded by unfriendly dogs . . . .

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. . . and a M2 high speed tractor in a playground, again owner is not interested in selling it.

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A few oil leaks have been seeing my attention, with mostly mediocure results. As the gear shift tower continues to leak small amounts of oil, I decided to try a small dam made from the top of a small beans tin so that it would not cut the rubber boot.

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It has been a couple of days and seems to be working. Not so much success with the rear diff which continues to leak despite repeated attempts to get it to behave.

As I will be heading out of Darwin tomorrow and again into remote areas, my ability to make posts will again be scarce for a week or two. Mataranka/Roper Bar/Boroloola/Lawn Hill/Quamby/Mt.Isa will take a week or more depending on conditions and distractions! That is about 2000kms. We'll see.

Have a nice weekend.
Sam
1942 Script GPW (Daily driver).
MB-T trailer.
Diamond T 969. ('The Glorifier')
Diamond T 969, rusty, complete, for sale.
Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker x 2.
M2A1 white HT. ('Clarrie')
Light Recovery Trailer (Ford?).
3ton GS (Blitz) Trailer.
150gal water tanker trailer.
Air compressor trailer, 100c.f.m.

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40 Chevy
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Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by 40 Chevy » Sun Aug 15, 2021 8:47 am

Sam;

The "leak" at the shifter is where the transmission "vents" it will always be moist, hence the warmer the warmer the gear oil, the "wetter" it will be.
do not seal it off.

John
1940 G4112
1942 G509 969A
1942 G116 series 2
1944 G116 series 5
1942 Sterling HC 165 tractor
1944 Autocar U7144T

kw573
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Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by kw573 » Mon Aug 16, 2021 11:42 pm

Hi All,

Hi John,
I suspected that it was the breather as there was none other to be found. Worry not! I have not sealed it, just created a 'dam' to contain the overflow. Seems to be working fine. But thanks from the comments.

Well, things became a bit interesting yesterday as we set out from Darwin. We heard a rumor of a lockdown, so quickly bought some food and headed south straight away. About 50 kms down the road we had lunch, confident that we had avoided the lockdown, but another 20kms further south was the road block to check that it was being complied with. After some questioning, the officer realized that we had been outside the lockdown area, having lunch, when it came into effect. Thankfully, the roadblock north of Katherane, also in lockdown, issued us with a 'transit' permit so we were able to continue our journey. Tonight we are camped at Mataranka and tomorrow we set out eastwards into more remote regions again. I expect to take 6 to 8 days to get to Mt.Isa.

We visited an old station dump that had some MV bits, but not much left now. See below.

Image

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I have added a better picture of the M2 High speed tractor to the previous posts..

As usual, The Glorifier is chugging along without problems beyond oil leaks.
Until next post,

Have a nice week.
Sam.
1942 Script GPW (Daily driver).
MB-T trailer.
Diamond T 969. ('The Glorifier')
Diamond T 969, rusty, complete, for sale.
Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker x 2.
M2A1 white HT. ('Clarrie')
Light Recovery Trailer (Ford?).
3ton GS (Blitz) Trailer.
150gal water tanker trailer.
Air compressor trailer, 100c.f.m.

70th Division
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Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by 70th Division » Tue Aug 17, 2021 7:08 pm

Hello Sam,

Thanks for the update !!
Looks like a great adventure that many of us would have liked to have set out on as well 😁😁😁😁

Did you get to "liberate" those old items like the pioneer tool rack and spool ?

Those took racks are getting pretty expensive these days !
That one looks pretty good!


Best Regards,
Ray

kw573
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Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by kw573 » Mon Aug 23, 2021 2:40 pm

Good morning virtual travelers,

I am now in a town with good internet reception and so can make an update.
Ray, the parts were rusty enough for me to not grab them. The tool rack is a post WW2 one, I think.

After traveling south, we turned east at Mataranka and drove to Roper Bar in the Gulf country. This picture is crossing Roper Bar, which we did just for fun.

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South from there the road deteriorated significantly with corrugations varying from 40kph to 10kph. Ah, Australian corrugations! Do you have them in your country? They are the dirt ridges that develop on dirt roads from the action of vehicles using the road. We constantly weave across the road looking for the least-worst part of the road. And they seem random about where on the road they are and how big they are. The smaller ones can be glided over at high speed, but then you hit a section of bigger ones and shake the teeth out of your head, and parts off your vehicle. Cracked trailer draw bars are common. The pictures show some of the worst ones.

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These lead to many a vehicle or trailer failure. We saw several mudguards and other former vehicle attachments lying on the side of the road. One morning, we came across a young lady who had the sense to stop when the temperature gauge went up. She had been there overnight and we were the first to pass her. She had been driving way too fast, as a result of poor advice, and had worn a bolt head into her radiator tank. After removing it, we glued it up and sent her on her way with better advice on how to treat these difficult conditions.

Along the roughest road, when camping at Little Towns River, . . . .

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. . . Barry noticed a fuel leak, about a litre/hour from the fuel tank. When we arrived at Cape Crawford Roadhouse after 150kms of very rough road, down to 10kph in places, the tank came out . . . .

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. . . and epoxy glue was applied to a crack near the bottom of the tank. After a day to dry properly, we've had no further trouble with it.

Image

Currently we are in Mt. Isa and are heading toward Duchess Pub later today after washing clothes, etc., then on to Winton.
Getting there.

Have a nice week.

Sam.
1942 Script GPW (Daily driver).
MB-T trailer.
Diamond T 969. ('The Glorifier')
Diamond T 969, rusty, complete, for sale.
Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker x 2.
M2A1 white HT. ('Clarrie')
Light Recovery Trailer (Ford?).
3ton GS (Blitz) Trailer.
150gal water tanker trailer.
Air compressor trailer, 100c.f.m.

Stephen Davis
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Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by Stephen Davis » Mon Aug 23, 2021 5:05 pm

Hi Sam, Yes, very much virtual travelers, in NZ, the hole country is lock down, due to the, global population, thinning virus.
Very much enjoying your post's, traveling with you. We do see corrugations in NZ, but no where near as deep. No big, long truck & trailer units traveling our gravel roads. May be on forestry roads when they are logging, but we don't get in there & if so only going slow due to being windy & single lane. Have founds some up the Coromandle, but only from cars with camper trailer, so our Mog is smooth as aired down like you. Going slow but.
That fuel tank crack, looks to be at one of your baffles, no?
Looking forward to your next up date Sam. :wink:
UNIMOG DOWN UNDER
1953 one ton GS trailer
1961 Mighty Mite M422A1
1986 Unimog 1300L
1971 Serries Skippy Land Rover, Son's drive.

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Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by motto » Mon Aug 23, 2021 7:29 pm

I would guess that the pioneer rack is in fact WW2 vintage. The post war ones that I am familiar with use angle iron for the main frame whereas the earlier ones used folded sheet metal which this one appears to have. I think that this type of frame would indicate U.S. manufacture if nothing else
Some Americans refer to corrugated roads as 'washboard roads'. They are not unknown in the U.S.
In Australia it is said that when they are real bad the kangaroos lay in the shade at the bottom.

Dave

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Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by 70th Division » Tue Aug 24, 2021 4:05 pm

Hello Sam,

A great update, a nice rescue of the girl stranded out there !!!

What a great adventure !!


We have what are called washboard roads , as Motto has said.
Many roads of late have been paved, so that is a great improvement.
I will tell you, that Interstate 10, through Louisiana , that I drove across a few years ago, was the worst section of an " allegedly" maintained federal highway I have ever seen !!
It was a concrete road bed, that had big crumbled holes and gaps between each section. It created a washboard effect. I was pulling a heavy equipment trailer behind my truck, and it slammed at every concrete joint, bam,bam,bam, for almost the whole length on the way to Texas.
I think the state politicians stole all the federal money to use "elsewhere" !
It was, and may still be, a national disgrace !

When I checked the tow hitch in Waco, Texas it was bent downward in the heavy duty receiver.
I had to get a local welding shop to reinforce the entire hitch with boiler plate welded onto it to re-enforce it for the return trip.
Hopefully the highway has been re-paved !!!

So I know what the corrugations will do , so stay safe out there !!

Best Regards,
Ray

kw573
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Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by kw573 » Thu Aug 26, 2021 2:10 am

Thanks for the replies Stephen, Motto and Ray,

Stephen,
To be specific, when the tank was repaired, the fitter soldered a 1/4" rod into the pressed rib which locates the baffle across the base of the tank to reinforce it. I then laid the tank on a pad of silastic so that this very problem would not occur. See page 46. Two problems happened. Firstly the reinforcing rod sat proud of the tank such that on a flat surface it contacts the ground first. Then I erred when laying the silastic bed by not spacing it, so that as it settled before going hard, the rod came into contact with the mounting bracket. Couple that to hard roads and I got this . . . .

Image


After the glue dried, we cut some ratchet strap webbing and glued it to the chassis brackets to isolate the tank from the brackets. So far, all good.
Here is a typical camp we have and I am becoming a bit used to it. To the extent that when staying at a mates place in Mt. Isa, I slept in my swag on the lounge room floor despite there being a bed available. Not to mention having a solid roof between me and the stars!!!

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We have been stopping at some interesting places and one, a rail stop and pub called Dutchess, had this familiar tool box laying in the grass. Very similar to the Glorifiers' battery box. From a Brockway??? Anyone recognize it?

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Another milestone was the speedo rolling over 20000mil. It was 12000mls when I bought the truck in 1997. Yes, I stopped, rolled forward a few meters and took the picture!

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We have had a recurring and annoying problem in that the Glorifier would occasionally not start in the mornings. A quick prime of the lift pump and away it would go. But today it was the second morning in a row and it wouldn't start. And on a remote road. After 3/4hr and much stuffing with the lift pump/chassis filter and shutoff tap, I bypassed the filter/tap with a bit of fuel hose and then it would prime but not start. All the while I was very aware of the limited battery power available to get it started!! Finally an injector bleed and it started. What a relief!! Below is the offending (I think) part. I suspect that the gland packing in the tap has hardened and will not seal on the shaft. We tried some cloth strips as packing with limited success.

Image


Tomorrow will be the test to see if it will start in the morning.

Barry has taken a few videos of crossing northern creeks, and a particularly interesting video of crossing a large patch of bulldust. When I get home, I hope to edit them and post links here to them.
Tonight, we are in Winton at a caravan park for showers and the electricity to run the computer, amongst other things.
I guess we have about 4 days to go, depending on how many diversions tempt us.
Getting there. There were several Jeeps from our event in this park yesterday, missed them by half a day.
Have a nice day.
Sam.
1942 Script GPW (Daily driver).
MB-T trailer.
Diamond T 969. ('The Glorifier')
Diamond T 969, rusty, complete, for sale.
Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker x 2.
M2A1 white HT. ('Clarrie')
Light Recovery Trailer (Ford?).
3ton GS (Blitz) Trailer.
150gal water tanker trailer.
Air compressor trailer, 100c.f.m.

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Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by 70th Division » Mon Aug 30, 2021 6:07 pm

Hello Sam,

Thanks for the great update !!
It is as if we are riding along through the vastness of Australia !!

Did you get a picture of Mount Isa ?

That would be nice to see !


Safe travels to you and your crew!!


Best Regards,
Ray

kw573
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Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by kw573 » Thu Sep 02, 2021 4:00 pm

Good morning MV viewers,

Ray, I didn't take a picture of Mt. Isa. It is a large town that has grown up around the mines there. They are very short of workers, 200 vacant jobs in the mining sector there, plus the town jobs available, I'm told!

The test of the fuel filter bypass repair came at the caravan park at Winton. With apprehension, I hit the starter in the morning. She started up like there had been nothing wrong! We've had no more trouble with it since. I am aware that the tap did not receive any repairs when I built the Glorifier, and it was one of the few problems we had. Lesson learned.

Back at Dutchess, amongst the rubbish laying around was this boom, near the military-looking battery box. It looked in reasonable condition and after a bit of looking at pictures, I think it is from a Quick-way E-55 crane originally mounted on a Coleman 4ton 4x4 truck from WW2.

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Another unexpected surprise was the very beautiful scenery on the Boulia-Winton road, an ancient ocean coastline, we are told. Australia had a large inland ocean millions of years ago. (I don't know, I wasn't there.)

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One of several vehicles on a vehicle dump in a remote area near Winton, it is a Number 11 ("Monkey face") CMP, a.k.a. "Blitz".

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Continuing on our trip home, we are using back roads when we can. So, east of Tambo we found Hoganthulla Rd. which is quite long, and an interesting drive on minor narrow dirt roads. The picture below shows a blacksoil section where gravel has been side-tipped ready to 'sheet' the road so it becomes a gravel road, overall a much better road. Not much in roadworks signs out here, you are expected to work it out yourself. Fair enough too, if you can't, why are you driving out here???

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There was a rain squall ahead of us moving in roughly the same direction also. Then it happened, we came to where it had crossed the road, at a black soil section. For those who are not familiar with black soil roads, they are very good dry weather roads, they hardly deterioate, don't form corragations, and remain good speed roads. . . . . until they get wet. Then everything changes.
They become soft, very slippery and very sticky. So sticky that vehicles have been known to become bogged in their own mudguards!! Yes, the mud is slung up by the wheels into the mudguards until they are full and rub on the wheels, to the point of stalling the wheels, effectively bogging the vehicle in its' own guards! Fortunately for us, there was not a lot of rain but enough to be slippery with the Glorifier going sideways a couple of times! Barry later told me that he thought ' . .I'm about to find out if Sam knows how to drive on wet blacksoil roads . . ' Apparently, I passed the test. The down side is that drying-out mud has been falling off the Glorifier for days and if I pressure blast it clean, it'll make a huge mess in the yard!! Also, socially, I have left furrows in the road which the local farmers will have to endure until the road is graded again. Poor country etiquette on my behalf. Would have made a great video if we had seen it coming, though!

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Another problem we had was matching the roads to the maps. I find paper maps much better for this type of travel. Well, necessary actually, as there is no internet access for most of the time. Anyway, twice, the roads were very different to the map, once a 'T' intersection was actually a '+' intersection. After being helped by a passing cattleman, we found out that the extra road was a private road! No signs at all! Later, about half way along a 40km section of Hoganthulla Rd with no intersections was, . . well, . . an intersection!! :?
It was a terminating 'T' intersection which none of our maps showed. We had no clue. The signs were only vaguely helpful. We eventually worked out that it was not a 'T' intersection, but a tight bend in the road to the left at the same place that a property access road turned to the right. But get this, they were all graveled, graded and rolled exactly the same, making it look like a 'T' intersection. Good grief! :?

At Injune, I finally got to the end of a Bren Gun Carrier lead I had been chasing for years, but it was a wild goose chase. Then to Taroom for the last fuel up and off the Cracow via the very interesting Nathan Gorge road. It was there we saw rabbits and feral pigs (whimper whimper). We camped just east of Cracow, bush camping as we usually did.

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It was then an easy run home, arriving at lunchtime on Monday.

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We reconciled before Barry headed off home on Tuesday morning. I have, since then, done very little. Barely a few hours unpacking and cleaning a day. Lots of resting.
I plan a 'wrap-up' post sometime, an assessment of sorts.

Until then, enjoy.
Sam.
1942 Script GPW (Daily driver).
MB-T trailer.
Diamond T 969. ('The Glorifier')
Diamond T 969, rusty, complete, for sale.
Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker x 2.
M2A1 white HT. ('Clarrie')
Light Recovery Trailer (Ford?).
3ton GS (Blitz) Trailer.
150gal water tanker trailer.
Air compressor trailer, 100c.f.m.


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