Never ceased to be amazed by the deuce.

[dabtl]

My deuce has been moved once in three years. To my new smaller home after my wife passed.

It has been started once since 2015.

My son is running for political office and wanted to drive it in the parade tomorrow.

Brakes in good order. Check.

Batteries started the engine. Check.

Tires properly inflated. Check.

Air pressure good. Check.

Oil good. Check. (At least it has plenty.)

Drove out of the back yard ten minutes ago. Now getting fresh diesel. On to the car wash.

Tires need replacing, but that will be next week.

Happy days are here again, at least for a while.

 

[m715mike]

 

[dabtl]

I will post pics tomorrow with the M2HB on the machine gun mount.

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

 

[Scar59]

dabtl,
Glad you're back in the saddle (seat). Good luck to you're son's campaign. Driving a deuce w/ a M2 mounted will get him a A+ rating from the NRA. Happy Fourth of July.
JC

 

[broman78]

I just pull started my deuce that was sitting at the farm for 2 years or more, I just poured in a little oil into the crank case to lube what it could. Had my cousin put it in 3rd high and pulled with tractor, oh we had no service brakes but plenty of space at the farm. I forgot how addictive the roar is.

 

[Floridianson]

I just poured in a little oil into the crank case to lube what it could.

That brought back a old memory. I was working at a import shop and woman came in saying her MG was smoking bad. I checked the dip stick and it was way over full. I drained out a gallon of oil to get the correct level and set the car outside running to burn the oil out of the exhaust system. When she returned I asked her if she added oil. Why yes she said I looked in the oil fill on the valve cover and things looked dry in there so I added a little.

 

[frank8003]

Not a hijack but that reminded me of something from 2002....



And this is all that is left of my 65 MGB


And now I will let the Deuce sit for a while without running it every 10 and driving it every 30 days. It will be somebody else's Deuce one day, I was just trying to save it.

 

[rustystud]

I got a good one for you guys ! We had a new mechanic come over to our base (there are 7 bases at the Transit agency) and he was working in the inspection pit next to me. A few hours later he tried to start-up the Detroit Diesel he was working on. It wouldn't start at first so he gave it some ether. There was a black bloom coming out of that engine like I have never seen before !!!! Seems he had changed the engine oil and when refilling he left the handle on the oil gun "on" and walked away.

It completely filled the engine and was pouring out all over !!! Instead of draining out the oil he decided to "run" it thinking the extra oil would eventually come out !!! Well it did come out alright. Right out the exhaust and every where else !!!!

Oh course the fire alarms went off. People where running all over trying to find the fire !!! The firemen came (and we where fined of course !) and got a good laugh. Due to politics the mechanic who did this was not fired or even disciplined !

The engine had to be rebuilt. It had damaged rods and the blower was shot plus other parts destroyed. Can you say "hydro-lock" !
I always knew Detroit Diesels where a robust engine, but after this I gained a whole new respect for them ! I still cannot believe it even fired up ! I don't feel a four stroke engine would have fired up, but since it was a two-stroke engine it was able to "push" that oil out the exhaust. At least that is my theory.

 

[oboyjohn]

Hi Rustystud. I have a similar story. A long time ago (back in the mid `80`s) we received our new M35A2`s (MLVW to us Canadians) and after a bit of time, they started coming in the shop for servicing. I remember a newbie mechanic was given one of these trucks to service. He did the safety inspection, full greasing, and proceeded to change the oil. I think it may have been his first oil change ever. He drained out the oil, replaced the pan plug, changed the 2 oil filters and proceeded to `fill the engine with oil`. He filled it all right, right to the top of the valve cover. He then went to start it and hit the button. The engine made about 1/2 a turn and blew out just about every seal and both valve cover oil filler caps. So he now has a big mess to clean up, and explain why an almost new 8.2 litre Detroit Diesel needs to be rebuilt. lessons learned.

 

[frank8003]

The last two stories indicates it would be better to bring back apprenticeships.
Learning by doing by instruction is all it is cracked up to be.

 

[cattlerepairman]

When I got my Deuce roadworthy I had to go to a big rig shop to get it safety inspected. The mechanic looked at the drum brakes from the outside...from the back side...and then said "I wouldn't even know how to check brake linings on these."

I know...you actually need to remove one bolt and one cover (and I had made darn sure you could reach the bolt through the rim!).

"Wow", I thought. "What display of expertise!"

Same guy that wrote "Replace drag link" on the report. All it needed was a half turn on the adjustment screw. Did it right there; new cotter pin. He had never seen anything like it. I guess on the new rigs it's all "replace".

 

[CMPPhil]

Why some states stop inspecting vehicles after a certain age.

When I got my Deuce roadworthy I had to go to a big rig shop to get it safety inspected. The mechanic looked at the drum brakes from the outside...from the back side...and then said "I wouldn't even know how to check brake linings on these."
I know...you actually need to remove one bolt and one cover (and I had made darn sure you could reach the bolt through the rim!).
"Wow", I thought. "What display of expertise!"
Same guy that wrote "Replace drag link" on the report. All it needed was a half turn on the adjustment screw. Did it right there; new cotter pin. He had never seen anything like it. I guess on the new rigs it's all "replace".

Hi

What you encountered is one of the reasons NH stopped inspecting antique vehicles 50 years old and older. The inspection people just don't have the knowledge base to meaningfully inspect older vehicles. I attended the hearing when this change was made and even the state DOT guys had to admitt that they were challenged on older vehicles to say what had to be fixed. They said they could tell when something was wrong but not what had to done.

Now this was a good thing and a bad thing for us with antique military vehicles. It relieved us of having inspections done by people who didn't even know how to get at the brakes to inspect them. But it put the responsiblity squarely on us who own and drive them to make sure the are actually safe. The DOT or police can still pull over any vehicle they suspect of being unsafe for inspection they don't have to say whats technically wrong they just say loose steering, bald tires, non functioning lights, rust holes, bad brakes, what ever they suspect is wrong.

Having said that I drive three old MVs and the most I've gotten is the curiosity stops.

Cheers Phil

 

[rustystud]

The last two stories indicates it would be better to bring back apprenticeships.
Learning by doing by instruction is all it is cracked up to be.

I was one of the last mechanics to go through the old Washington State apprenticeship program which ended in the 1970's.
That was a great program. You had to work 8 hours every day and go to night school for 2 hours every night. Four hours on Friday. You worked with a 10 year plus journeyman for a month and then switched to another mechanic. We had 8 mechanics at IHC that I rotated with. During the four years of apprenticeship you learned a lot from those old mechanics. I was taught gears from a WWII vet who worked on vehicles in the war and then at IHC. That's all he did was gears. Another mechanic taught me brakes and another suspension and on and on. It was funny too. At school I learned from the books and on display equipment. At work I told the mechanics what I had learned the night before and then they told me how the books where wrong and then how to really fix something !