john piercey
New member
- 26
- 0
- 1
- Location
- Perth Hills, Western Australia
Hi guys,a bit of info etc required hopefully. In the last 12 months I have purchased and transported home a steel cab 43 stamped tanker project, in a sad but sound condition.
It doesn't actually have f3 stamped on chassis rail but ends with -2 ,which i understand may have been a truck waiting for a specialty body. It's stamped 4/43 on build plate but i assume a 42 contract vehicle going by some fittings and frame No etc.
The truck was in RAAF service until about 1958 probably after being transferred from USAAF at wars end, all suposition on my part as the orig green had been resprayed with the dark grey/blue of the period plus an old RAAF tanker maintenance book with tanker No 209369 on the cover and last written entry dated 1958.
Having stripped down the cab/chassis/tank and cleaned and repainted chassis and mechanical parts i have been pleasantly surprised to find nearly Everything to have very little wear,including motor which had exactly 130psi on 4 cylinders( but blown head gasket between 2-3 ) and 50 psi at idle (had not run in last 20 yrs).
After removing the sidecover and head the block has no sludge buildup and almost no wear/lip in the bores and the oil was still clean.so new head gasket to be fitted and hopefully all should be good.
I am hoping someone may have bumper markings for Australia/Sth Pacific tanker specifically,i have ascertained 80 is the first in numbers on the bonnet/hood and then a serial No. but in the event of not getting (proper) markings , I was thinking of something along the lines of a 380th bomb group vehicle who operated out of Australia and to which my father was attached , Australian crews being trained for our own B24s.
Pics up when i can get my son to load them
It doesn't actually have f3 stamped on chassis rail but ends with -2 ,which i understand may have been a truck waiting for a specialty body. It's stamped 4/43 on build plate but i assume a 42 contract vehicle going by some fittings and frame No etc.
The truck was in RAAF service until about 1958 probably after being transferred from USAAF at wars end, all suposition on my part as the orig green had been resprayed with the dark grey/blue of the period plus an old RAAF tanker maintenance book with tanker No 209369 on the cover and last written entry dated 1958.
Having stripped down the cab/chassis/tank and cleaned and repainted chassis and mechanical parts i have been pleasantly surprised to find nearly Everything to have very little wear,including motor which had exactly 130psi on 4 cylinders( but blown head gasket between 2-3 ) and 50 psi at idle (had not run in last 20 yrs).
After removing the sidecover and head the block has no sludge buildup and almost no wear/lip in the bores and the oil was still clean.so new head gasket to be fitted and hopefully all should be good.
I am hoping someone may have bumper markings for Australia/Sth Pacific tanker specifically,i have ascertained 80 is the first in numbers on the bonnet/hood and then a serial No. but in the event of not getting (proper) markings , I was thinking of something along the lines of a 380th bomb group vehicle who operated out of Australia and to which my father was attached , Australian crews being trained for our own B24s.
Pics up when i can get my son to load them
![[thumbzup]](https://www.steelsoldiers.com/images/smilies/icon_smile_thumzup.gif "Thumbs Up [thumbzup]"){kind=icon}
