• Steel Soldiers now has a few new forums, read more about it at: New Munitions Forums!

  • Microsoft MSN, Live, Hotmail, Outlook email users may not be receiving emails. We are working to resolve this issue. Please add support@steelsoldiers.com to your trusted contacts.

1963 Popular Mechanics Article

clinto

Moderator, wonderful human being & practicing Deuc
Staff member
Administrator
Super Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
Supporting Vendor
12,596
1,131
113
Location
Athens, Ga.
Great story-

Amusing that they used a gasser to illustrate a story about the multifuel.
 

coolnick73

Member
135
0
16
Location
Grand Meadow. MN
Interesting read. Even our old army trucks engines were state of the art at one time. I didn't realize the gassers were that much less efficient than the multi's
 

1stDeuce

Member
351
15
18
Location
Farmington, NM
I would think it possible that during development back in '63, the Multi may have been running the gasser muffler and side exit exhaust... Didn't all the early multi deuces come with side exhaust?? Most of the deuces I've seen have a torched hole in the fender where the stack is... Seems to me none of them came with stacks from the factory. Or am I missing something??

So what I find interesting is that the cutaway engine has what looks to me like the twin cyl compressor that I thought was the later of the two... Guess it was actually the earlier, as I don't think there are many multi's earlier than this '63 article... It also looks like the FDC is missing from the injection pump... Right? Tractor engine?

And if back in '63 they thought it was going to have a turbo, why did so many of the trucks not get them in the early days?? Kinda interesting.

Very cool article anyway. Anybody know what "C1" Fuel is?? Must be nearly gasoline, judging by the economy chart...

C
 

clinto

Moderator, wonderful human being & practicing Deuc
Staff member
Administrator
Super Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
Supporting Vendor
12,596
1,131
113
Location
Athens, Ga.
I would think it possible that during development back in '63, the Multi may have been running the gasser muffler and side exit exhaust... Didn't all the early multi deuces come with side exhaust?? Most of the deuces I've seen have a torched hole in the fender where the stack is... Seems to me none of them came with stacks from the factory. Or am I missing something??

And if back in '63 they thought it was going to have a turbo, why did so many of the trucks not get them in the early days?? Kinda interesting.


C
The early multis do have the rear exit exhaust, but all multis have the intake mushroom on the passenger side hood panel, which this doesn't have.

I think all the 427's (the subject of this article) had a turbo, whereas the 465 was made as non turbo and turbo.
 

stumps

Active member
1,700
12
38
Location
Maryland
... Most of the deuces I've seen have a torched hole in the fender where the stack is... Seems to me none of them came with stacks from the factory. Or am I missing something??
My '69 came with fenders made for the upright exhaust. I think it is only the much older deuces that needed the fender cut out for the exhaust pipe.

-Chuck
 

WillWagner

The Person You Were Warned About As A Child
Super Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
8,530
2,735
113
Location
Monrovia, Ca.
That should be posted as a sticky!! Good visuals.

My fender is cut and the truck still has all the mounts and straps on the bottom side for the N/A exhaust. It is a 1968.
 
Last edited:

skinnedknuckles

New member
216
1
0
Location
Janesville Wisconsin
WOW, I didn't realize that they actually put old issues of Popular Mechanics online like that. My dad and I have been saving these old issues since wwwaaayyy back. They are a great read for projects and to see what thoughts that they had back then about how it would be today. Well I had better get back on my nuclear fusion powered water injected air recycling speeder and get back to my cosmos radiation heated garage :-D
Paul in Janesville,Wis. where it is 18 degrees out and snowing
 

saddamsnightmare

Well-known member
3,618
80
48
Location
Abilene, Texas
December 28th, 2009.

GENTS:

We need to link this to the earlier discussion last week in "Conversations" and or the "Deuce" as to what makes a Multifuel Engine a Multifuel versus just a common diesel....
I always suspected that these trucks were fairly sophisticated for the time they were built, and so they were. I guess that's why they survived over thirty years in service... let's see if the FMTV will be able to do as well.

Cheers,

Kyle F. McGrogan:-D
 

wdbtchr

New member
883
3
0
Location
St. Louis, MO
305,388.21 was the high bid and the ride was extra. Most was sold as parts. Wayne
I remember seeing the article about the Shermans when it came out(does this give away my age? I was 13 at the time) I wanted one sooo bad I could taste it. I heard there was a lot of interest, until he mentioned shipping was around $1000 minimum and most people lost interest. Doesn't sound so bad now does it?

This probably when I got infected with "Green Fever" although my dad had a '42 MB at the time, wish I had it now but he traded it for a new '65 CJ5 and never stopped complaining how he wished he had the '42 back. He only did it because he was afraid it would break and he wouldn't be able to get parts for it. Back then one of the few places that advertised parts, believe it or not was Sears! Who knew forty odd years later you could find parts so easily?:roll:
 

glcaines

Well-known member
3,914
2,593
113
Location
Hiawassee, Georgia
As Clinto mentioned, I believe all the early multifuels all had the rear side exhaust. When I was in the Army (1970-71) there were gassers and multifuels both in service. Many of the 5 tons were also still gassers. Some of our trucks were from the early 50s. Some of the Deuce's were being converted to the vertical exhaust. and holes were cut into the fender. New Deuces with vertical exhaust had factory cut holes in the fender. I was told that this was because the multifuels produced such large amounts of smoke. Troops in the rear had to breath all that black smoke and with the side exhaust it tended to go right into the cargo area and get trapped by the canvas. Many of the side exhause Deuce's were left alone, depending on the primary use. If they were primarily used for hauling cargo such as ammo, rations, etc. they were left alone. We had a lot of Studebakers with side exhause. As Clinto mentioned, I believe all the 427s had turbos. Virtually all of the 465s had turbos, but a few didn't. The only difference noticed was that turbos produced a lot less black smoke, although they also produced black smoke. I was told that the only reason that turbos were added to 465s was to cut back on smoke produced.

One other memory from that era was that most Deuce drivers did not like the multifuels as they were much less reliable that the gassers. The gassers started easier, especially in cold weather, didn't smoke as much and didn't tend to spontaneously destruct. We had many many Deuce's that had engines disintegrate for no apparent reason. We also had many that blew headgaskets. Coolant would get in the oil. Some of these were obviously abused, but I believe the vast majority were treated well. Most of us driving Deuces really took pride in them, had our names and rank on the windshields and kept them in good shape. I remember seeing one Deuce (465 turbo) that was idling outside the mess hall. Suddenly, the engine RPMs started increasing spontandously. Our First Sergeant prevented the mess driver from getting near the truck to shut it down due to danger. The engine RPMs increased until the engine completely disintegrated. It was spectacular! One piston was found about 200 feet away. I have no idea what caused the problem, but I was told that this wasn't the first time that had happened in our unit.
(Recollections from 1970-71 HHC 2/36th Inf 3rd Armored Division Ayers Kaserne, Kirch Goens, Germany)
 

glcaines

Well-known member
3,914
2,593
113
Location
Hiawassee, Georgia
One other thing I just remembered is that Deuce drivers complained about Deuces with vertical exhaust wet-stacking and blowing black oil and crud all over the truck, which they then had to clean off. Deuces tended to sit around idling for extended periods of time.
 
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website like our supporting vendors. Their ads help keep Steel Soldiers going. Please consider disabling your ad blockers for the site. Thanks!

I've Disabled AdBlock
No Thanks