M216 Cdn Australian restoration

[Ken S]

My P52 engine oil filters turned up today, I bought 4 as they will fit my Studebakers and my Diamond T, if they become really hard to get I don't want to be stuck with out any. It was $120.00 AUS for the 4 I thought that was fair enough. Actually might even buy some more.

The problem with the M211 dash grab handle not fitting the M216 is sorted. I bead blasted the bar and undercoated it, straight away I could see that the bar had the slightest bend in the middle which was bringing the two mounting brackets closer together. This bend didn't show up at all when it was all rust and flaky paint.
I worked out a grand scheme to straighten it carefully in the press at work. I didn't get time and was a bit annoyed, so I put the grab handle between the rear wheels on the M216 and gave it a tug, I was really surprised how easily it bent straight. No marks or kinks on the bar and me happy.

I put the bar up to the dash and both mounting bolts went straight in. I have put it on in the low position, it has to come back off to be painted and I will make a decision which way it will finally go on then. Really in the grand scheme it is a insignificant which way it goes.



Thanks to Steel Soldiers for the info on the P52 filter number, when the supplier came up with that number I was able to confirm immediately that it was correct, as he wasn't sure.

Ken

 

[m1010plowboy]

M216 Australia

Did you find those oil filters locally? Do you have any of those 8 year old kids around with a snappy smart phone that will take the start up video, do a little walk around maybe and post it online? Youtube is still easier to access than faceoffruby. "Early Deuce start up".

That's a real purdy blue in the door jam, somebody really loved that deuce to color it up like that. That isn't an 'in-service' Australian color is it? I recall a Robin egg blue in some of our early photos so one never knows until one knows and even then.......

I know a brilliant little lady that detailed new homes and she used a product called 'goof off'. We would wet a 4" area on the dash with it, wait half a minute, then scrub like
crazy. The original paint was designed to be chemical resistant and goof off just polished it. Your dash looks worse than mine and you might be planning to paint it already



What's next? Windows? We've got a thread! The sizes are a bit wonky so measure your old glass. Gunfreak25 and I had different sizes. The M35 rubber fits into the outside groove and "glass setting tape" is what Glen the glass guy used around the glass, inside the frame. The best luck we've had is to blast them complete, then strip down, then blast the inside channel. There is an L bracket that bolts inside the corners. I've had to tap, fudge, fab, fold, fill and file to get it out and in. They tend to rot just like the row of screws that holds them to the top of the cab.

Keep it up and let us know how what you need.

 

[rustystud]

That "Blue" paint looks just like mine on my 1954 REO which was an ex Air-force unit.

 

[Ken S]

m1010 the filters were local, but I waited 8 working days for them as I got them in a stock shipment, so that I didn't have to pay freight from Brisbane. I could have got them overnight if it was urgent.

The blue paint is just a civilian, shiny, oily, version of what all the outside was when I first bought the truck. Thankfully over the last 20 years of hot Queensland sun the blue has slowly disappeared. The blue paint is only in the right door jam, not in the left, and it is really stuck on. Plus there is paint in a few places that doesn't get a sun tan that are still a faded blue.
I saw in your posts the mention of goof off, and I was impressed.

Windows are high on the list, we have a very classic vehicle friendly, windscreen glass supplier, window glass cutter in town. He has been looking after a windscreen I bought off him 14 years ago for my classic car, every time I go in there for work, I remind him of the fact. I bought the screen as a just in case, he sold it to me cheap to get rid of it as he thought there would never be a demand for it, as it turns out that type of car has become very collectable and now there is a bigger demand for the windscreens.
I have read a lot of G749 posts on Steel Soldiers about windscreens and with your help and ideas I am hoping the repairs will be easier.

rustystud, it is just a civilian paint job with a reasonable amount of runs. I have had to have a rethink on previous owners of the truck, because of the blue paint.
The niece by marriage of Bill Ramage a previous owner, has said that Bill didn't waste money on anything and I am guessing he didn't paint it blue. Ramage Brothers is painted on the original army green paint, the blue is painted over the top.
The blue is also painted over the bolt holes where the mounting brackets for the exhaust were removed, and also over the bolt holes in the right hand door jam where the passenger seat mounting bolts originally went through.
So painted blue after conversion to right hand drive, and after ownership by Ramage Brothers. I am guessing that Ramages did the right hand drive conversion as their name is only on the right door.
This is probably confusing but I have really been caught up in trying to work out the history of this truck.
So 4 previous owners maybe,
1 Canadian Army
2 Ramage Brothers (post 1965 for sure)
3 Who ever painted it blue
4 The collector (who I got it off)

Ken

 

[Ken S]

Here is a question that only you guys will know the answer to.
When I removed the passenger seat from the M211 today to get it ready to fit to the M216 I found that the M211 has a different mounting bracket closest to the door.
I checked the holes in the rear of the cab on the M216 in case the seat bracket had been modified during the conversion to right hand drive. The rear of the cab hadn't been modified.
The US Navy M211 bracket is heavier than the M216 bracket, so Canadian versus U.S. manufacture, or early versus late production.
A couple of photos to help explain.



Note the difference in the brackets the M216 is larger and the bolt holes offset.
It was funny how the seats posed themselves. I had wondered how I could get them both in the same photo and the M216 seat literally fell into the position it is in, so I just poked the M211 in behind and posing problem solved.
I am looking forward to your thoughts, on the brackets.
I have to use the M211 seat mounts as the M216 brackets have been ruined in the right hand drive conversion.

Ken

 

[m1010plowboy]

Seat mounting brackets

That's interesting. I'll eventually check our CDN M211. She's a 55' so it might tell a story.

Let's go after the manufacturing date angle. USMC008 has done a pile of work on the G749 parts sheet and started this database. Someone close to him needs to give him a big Canadian hug and we should all follow up this thread to document the trucks into 2019. https://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?134364-G749-VIN-amp-Military-Registration-Database We should be able to throw a reasonable month and year to your 211 if the frame stamp is still there.
The XM211's were experimental and chasing the changes from the first one out the door in late 1951 to the last one in the fall of 1956 is a G749 story all by itself. I'll bet many of the more experienced gents here could talk about all the changes. Side mirror upgrade and rear view mirror removal are two.
I will find time to ask how the 216 got over there. We're working with the Canada War Museum and they have people, great people. The early deuce rides beside our Civil Defence story and is one of the transporters of our nuclear age. I should not have looked at Pine Gap and the possibility the 211 worked on it. The joint operation between Australia and the United States did not mention Canada. If anyone asks, we were never there. lol.

 

[Ken S]

The M211 doesn't have a chassis, except for the one I sat the cab on last weekend so I could get it up off the ground to make it easier to work on. It is an old WW2 Australian army trailer converted from 18 inch wheels to 20 inch wheels.

Time line tells on the M211 are, no jump start plug on the right side and it only had the early mirrors plus the bigger seat mount plate.

I did find that the US Navy had a big base on the West Australian coast at Exmouth, something to do with submarines. It would be funny if it came from there, as the last person to sit in the cab was a ex US Navy sailor who was with with a similar outfit in England. I have a photo some where that I took of the sailor in the cab, but that would be 20 years ago. We did the photo as a bit of fun.
The base is still there, closed down, it is a good read on google. It is also an awesome picture on google maps.

The M211 cab is a bit rusty and I suppose Navy vehicles would mostly be around a salt air environment.



The M211 cab now mounted on the trailer chassis, is so much nicer to remove parts from, than down on the ground.

Ken