Halftrack door Armor

[Speedwoble]

In WWII, My grandfather was a tank mechanic. After the war, he bought a surplus halftrack and used it on the farm. They removed most of the armor on it and some was cut up and welded into other equipment. However, we just found both doors intact and complete, though the hinges are rusty. What is a set of doors worth? Trying to figure out if it is worth saving them from the scrap and hauling them back to PA with me.

 

[rosco]

I bet you can get better then scrap prices for them!

 

[68t]

I would buy them if the shipping will not be very high, but if you can sell at a good price i will take them, send me a pm for price, I don,t know what they worth eather, They will bring a much better price that scrap. I own 4 halftracks, and going to start resto on another one. so hang on to them.

 

[NDT]

Worth at least $250 ea.

 

[Speedwoble]

Thank you for the info. I will try to make room on my truck for them.

 

[captain-crank]

It looks like there is other armor laying there also.

Save it.

 

[neil halliday]

I'm interested in buying the doors. If there's any other armor plates there you should save them, they're worth more than scrap value. Please contact me at neil.halliday1@gmail.com I live in Ohio so I could pick them up in person and you won't need to bother w/ shipping. Thanks, Neil

 

[maddawg308]

Can't do better than this deal above, man.

See? Always good to post your finds on Steel Soldiers!

 

[TedG]

I am always impressed with WWII steel/armor. It can sit outside for 60 plus years and is not even pitted! Thanks for saving them and the other pieces in the pile.

 

[waayfast]

Half tracks are high on my list of favorite vehicles---------- some day maybe I can end up with one!

Which brings me to the thought that SOMEDAY this stuff will be so rare (and I will use the example of the WWII warbirds) that we will be wishing we would have saved every last tattered little bit of these no matter how small or what kind of shape.

I know of a little pile of bits and pieces of "track" armor and will do my best to talk the owner out of them. Looks to be chunks of windsheild/cowl area cut up in small pieces---but hey they got the funny little screws------

 

[Wolfen]

I know a guy who has a 1943 White M16 Halfreack for Sale. Runs good, complete Armor, with Power Steering. He also has a M45 Quad Mount on a M55 Trailer for sale. And he has a 1943 3/4 Ton Dodge Command Car for Sale. Send me a PM if interested.

 

[Speedwoble]

Firstly, I wanted to appologize for saying the "s" word (scrap). I would not let these get scrapped, but the information about the need for these parts does help convince my parents, the farm owners, to be careful with them.
Attached are more pictures of the front and back of the doors, and the other armor. Unfortunately the other armor has been torched in half, and welded into storage racks of some sort. More armor is rumored to be buried under the driveway, and lastly, some may be incorporated into a chop saw stand.

Can someone identify the other piseces in the photos?

 

[NDT]

Picture 6 is one half of the windshield armor. The pieces with the 4 bolt holes cluster spaced every several inches are rear armor plates where the machine gun trolley ring was attached. If the pieces are torched (it will be obvious) in my opinion they are scrap. Check with Gary Hebding though (Halftracks.com).

 

[natem]

Pic 5 looks like the piece that goes on side behind door. I agree with NDT on pic 6.

Any armor is worth saving, the nickel content makes it "special".

Nate


Edit: My grandson pointed out my spelling error. (don't trust spell-check)

 

[Wayofftrack]

The pieces with the 4 bolt holes cluster spaced every several inches are rear armor plates where the machine gun trolley ring was attached. If the pieces are torched

Pretty sure they were torched, i think they should be a little longer.

 

[Speedwoble]

Found the pictures of the halftrack back in the day:

 

[NDT]

Wow. M2A1. Who knew back then that that would be a valuable vehicle one day.

 

[M215]

Looks like it was originally a M2 updated to M2A1. Pic #2 of the armor pile shows the mounting holes for the early skate rail. Pic #1 of the complete haftrack shows evidence of the pulpit mount above the windsheild armor. Early style rear idler tension springs and fender mounted head lights. Wow, great pics and story, thanks for sharing.
I paid $500 for the set of doors on our halftrack, that did not include any hardware, just the stripped armor.

 

[littlebob]

I wish I had more property, I could have saved some other vehicles and parts till they went up in value. I've learned anything older than me has a value to someone. The internet makes it a little easier, but we didn't have it at the time.

 

[halftrackkid]

I payed $500.00 for my set of doors in good shape!
www.olivedrabdrivers.com