Mobile locksmith shop, shelter conversion

[DDW]

I have a shelter, I've been recycling, any information about the age, manufacture, usage, would be appreciated.

 

[M813rc]

Don't have a lot of info for you, but those have been around since the late 50's-early 60's, yours seems to have survived a long time!
I got the attached pictures off the net a while back, but unfortunately don't remember what website, so can't give them credit here.
Cheers

 

[DDW]

I found it behind a abandoned building, the shell is in excellent condition, insulated is a factor, I repurposed it for my shop on wheels. Up here in Alaska, this is a real find, as everything has value.

This being abandoned, has been semi stripped inside, except for the items bolted down. I repurposed all of the electrical wiring, anything of usefulness, I had aluminum sheared for the holes, pop rivets everything in place, used trailer sealant, some great paint, and its close to being finished.

This will help me a whole lot, a service van is out of the question up here, I live in the woods, so this will work great. I have one stationary workshop that I have, my garage is my other workshop, and now, my workshop is on wheels. The great thing is it can be slid out and put into another truck if needed.

I fabricated a lot to this "shelter slide in" so it will be great to use for my purpose.

 

[DDW]

Some more photos. I used nut inserts, pop rivets, no screws used!.
Recycling the lights, fabricating a locking device that is strong.

 

[DDW]

And external 12V, 115V power supply. I repurposed the information plates as much as possible.

 

[Storm 51]

That looks like it was originally a telex radio shelter for the 3/4 ton dodge M37 trucks. I believe they were GRC46 series shelters (GRC46 A, B or C). I have one sitting in my garage awaiting restoration. They are Korean War era to early VN period with GRC-19 radio and telex capabilities.

 

[DDW]

That looks like it was originally a telex radio shelter for the 3/4 ton dodge M37 trucks. I believe they were GRC46 series shelters (GRC46 A, B or C). I have one sitting in my garage awaiting restoration. They are Korean War era to early VN period with GRC-19 radio and telex capabilities.

I saw photos somewhere that I kept.

 

[tobyS]

Like today's Geithner shelters are for the HMMWV. A fine dumpster digger nugget of goodness.

 

[DDW]

It was a great find, repurposed into a great workshop for my locksmith/safe business.

 

[DDW]

More rebuilding photos

Picture

 

[DDW]

Photos

Photos

 

[DDW]

Locking mechanism

Dead bolt lock, door latch assembly.

 

[tobyS]

Where are you at? I build high security pneumatic jail door locks.

 

[DDW]

Where are you at? I build high security pneumatic jail door locks.

I live in Meadow Lakes, near Wasilla, Alaska. It's a great place in the woods. I came to Alaska for my final place to reside, and due to the overwhelming response from the community, I have established a solid customer base, permanent clients, and I travel to Anchorage, Seward, Delta Junction, Keni, Denali, basically all over this wonderful state.

I worked as a master safe and vault technician for a decade plus, only working on safes and vaults.
Total years including locksmith work is 40 years. I worked all over the United States, so I'm pretty well rounded as a locksmith, safe technician.

I moved to Wasilla Alaska to work as a semi retired locksmith, safe technician, however serving the community of Alaska has become a full time job. I had to build a mini mobile locksmith shop to handle the customers needs, I all ready have my locksmith, safe shop, and my workshop.

The mini locksmith shop has to be mobile, if the truck needed to be replaced the shop gets moved easily and without any issues. Normally I drive only one ton extended vans, however living in the woods, a van would be obsolete due to the dirt roads, snow, muddy conditions, small trails for country roads. This took a lot of thought to get it the way I wanted it to work and everything went together as planned.

The;

Shelter has some great recyclable materials, electrical, conducts, screws, nuts, bolts, steel, a excellent door, insulation, weather proof, and it doesn't rust. The military's requirements for paint are a excellent under coating for the black paint I applied.

I fabricated a lock system that will last indefinitely, its bonded to the door, easily maintained, no Mickey Mouse cheap parts, just heavy duty parts and a two inch mortise cylinder fitting flush on the door (I fabricated the special two inch cylinder) preventing someone grabbing the cylinder and twisting or wrenching it out.

Five hundred plus rivets were used on the new aluminum repairs, everything that needed to be permanent. I used 1/4 20 nut inserts on the items that needed to be removed for some reason. I used RV sealant on all of the repaired sections making it waterproof, I sealed the inside panels before I finished attaching the aluminum panels.

I have a 20,000 heater inside for when it gets cold, and freezing outside.

Since I've had several vans in my old business down in the lower 48, I have plenty of quality tools for the mini shop.

In my decades of locksmithing I have a lot of experience not only in locks, safes, but fabricating, I have experience in welding parts, commercial doors and frames, I'm basically well rounded, not afraid to jump into a project and get the impossible done.

This is just another faze of locksmithing, safe work for me, I'm adapting to the different environment around me. I'm enjoying every minute of this adventure.

 

[DDW]

More work on the interior.

 

[Guyfang]

That looks like it was originally a telex radio shelter for the 3/4 ton dodge M37 trucks. I believe they were GRC46 series shelters (GRC46 A, B or C). I have one sitting in my garage awaiting restoration. They are Korean War era to early VN period with GRC-19 radio and telex capabilities.

You are exactly right. And they were used into the late 70's. In the 80's they began to appear in DRMO's, and units grabbed them up for storage. Paint lockers, jump field gear storage flammable storage and the like.

 

[DDW]

You are exactly right. And they were used into the late 70's. In the 80's they began to appear in DRMO's, and units grabbed them up for storage. Paint lockers, jump field gear storage flammable storage and the like.

Can you give me a date of manufacturer, and who makes them.

 

[Guyfang]

Was there a data plate on it? Or a Stock number? On the inside of the door, there were a bunch of data plates. I might be able to look it up and tell you something if I had a part number/stock number. The manufacturer should be also on one of those data plates.

 

[DDW]

I have a shelter, I've been recycling, any information about the age, manufacture, usage, would be appreciated.
View attachment 756780View attachment 756779View attachment 756778View attachment 756777

I posted it the first time here.

Was there a data plate on it? Or a Stock number? On the inside of the door, there were a bunch of data plates. I might be able to look it up and tell you something if I had a part number/stock number. The manufacturer should be also on one of those data plates.

 

[Guyfang]

NSN: 5411-00-752-9698
Cost: @ $3,900.00
Manufacturer: Radio Engineering Products, (or could be the firm that overhauled it the first time)
TM's TM11-5410-205-12P, -35P, -14

That's about all I could find. The van is much older then the NSN would lead you to believe. It looks like one of the ones I found in the net, from the 50's. It has been upgraded at least 3 times, hence, the NSN. In the 50's, there was no NSN, just Stock Numbers, (less the -00-) As the original Data plate is not there, due to loss, or when it was up graded, it got a new data plate. The NSN was issued to the van on 1-Jan-1962.