May 2006

May was another productive month. I took some time off with the Memorial Day weekend and got a lot done. I needed to if I was going to have the truck done for the 4th of July.

With the bedsides now in primer paint, I was able to go back to work on the knuckle rebuild. My 8-year-old daughter Genet helped with cleaning grease off the hubs. (My wife wants me to point out that the knee-less jeans are Genet's "garage" clothes.)

Again, I had to use heat to pull the old inner seal and bushing. I wasn't at all sure it was going to come out even with the heat… here you can see how badly bent the thick washers were from the pounding I put on them with the slide hammer.

The rear passenger side hub got water in it at some point and was a mess. The bearing and cups had to be replaced on this hub. I used a piece of ¼ inch steel cut to fit the cup to press the inner race out, but it wouldn't budge. I just ended up bending the steel. I got advice from Manny C and others on Joe's Powerwagon forum to just use a hammer and drift to pound the cups out. The idea is to tap a little on each side, working your way around the cup to avoid binding. This method worked fine and I quickly had the cups and bearings replaced on the hub.

The on-line forums are terrific. Knowledgeable, friendly folks willing to share tips and experience.

Brakes… well I pulled the master cylinder and cleaned out almost solidified brake "fluid" from it. I used a circular piece of scotch bright mounted on my drill press to lap the inside of the master cylinder and a Napa rebuild kit (Napa part number 1. Really, #1.) to replace the innards. I added fluid and bled it on the bench, then installed it again on the truck.

I repeated the cleanup, drill press lapping, and rebuild kit install for all the wheel cylinders. All was going well, when I lost the bolt that goes through the brass manifold at the back side of the hub, highlighted here. I looked all over for it, but no luck. (I'll note here that I found the bolt sitting inside the top spring mount casting three months later… but at the time, it was a show stopper.)

Next day I broke out my "barrels-o-parts" and routed through trying to find a brake back plate I thought I remembered seeing in there. Well, at the bottom of the third barrel I found the back plate and it still had the wheel cylinder with needed bolt through the brake line manifold. I pirated it and finished the brake install. All the cylinders cleaned up nicely. I installed all new flexible lines from Midwest Military, bleed the system, and happily found no leaks.

Then it was on to the dash wiring, again from Midwest Military. I get a kick out of un-wrapping these 50 year old "New Old Stock" packages. The wiring harnesses are always bright and pliable, stored air tight for all that time.

Wiring was a little tricky, since the color codes on the harness wires don't always match the manual… most do, but a multi-meter and some pre-fits to check wire lengths help it all come together. I was able to use all the original gauges, except the temperature gauge. The bulb end was stuck solid to the head and could not be saved. I'm using a modern gauge for now, but will find a reproduction or rebuild the original someday.

The horn kit was straight forward enough… but the center of the steering column was full of 60 years worth of dirt, so it took some hard work with a long screwdriver and stiff wire to clear it all out. This done, I was able to run a wire through it and set up the horn. The horn we are using is not the correct WWII era, but more of an ArrUga style… but it will do until I find a correct WWII one.
Rear bumperettes… one of which is really tweaked and I haven't been able to straighten it out. One more thing to keep my eyes open for.
Steering was a little sloppy. I found the front joint on the steering connecting rod assembly was loose. Tear down found a broken spring in there. My barrel-o-parts came through again with a spring from another connecting rod assembly.
Keaton took on the job of grease monkey. Not a fun job, but he stuck with it, changing the fluid on the axles, transmission and transfercase for me. We found a leak on the transfer case, but it wasn't too bad. I while I ordered the seal for it, I still haven't put it in.
You remember that big dent in the back of the bed? Well, I'm guessing when that got put in, the entire bed side tried to move forward, bending the underlying supports. These are long, thick steel and not easily bent. The only thing I had in the garage longer and even harder to bend was the frame of the truck. With a little trial and error with chains and bottle jack I was able to un-tweak the bed supports. Primed and painted, they were soon mounted to the truck and ready for the bed sides.
The front bed panel needed help. The rolled top edge was badly dented and bent, but by driving a steel rod (actually a scrapped aircraft landing gear piston) through, I was able to clean it up pretty good. The base had rusted badly, and while sandblasting had removed all the rust, I wasn't going to try and fabricate a new bottom end for it. I decided to use it as it was. Someday I'll replace it with a new one… or maybe try and graft a new lower section to it… we'll see.
The tailgate is a French built one and needed a little repair of the lower frame tube, otherwise it is straight, solid and a good stand in until I find a good original.
The bedsides got a final coat of paint and I used the engine hoist to place them back on the truck.

Since time was sort I decided to use a sheet of good ¾" plywood for the bed. Keaton and Brian helped prime and paint it.

That finished up May… a busy month. There was still a lot of work to do before the 4th of July.