On the way to get a WC-63

[Ferroequinologist]

I REALLY want one of those someday! very nice find!

 

[zout]

Hey Stan - I have been know to work on stuff for even less than that - being able to sleep on someones rag pile overnight was a treat.
WOW - if they threw in a BBQ I would have felt like I had gone to heaven.

PB would not even think of letting me at least tie the cab on the top of my VW Jetta so I could bring it home and play with it - them fellas
down there are a tough bunch.

 

[lacoda56]

Wow! Most of my restored stuff doesn't look that good!

 

[scottgs]

Thanks for all the encouragement. Today I took my first ride in it - Right off the trailer and onto the gravel lot, a whopping 25 feet. I noted the ride was remarkably smooth.
After spending a few more hours with it today, I feel even better than I did yesterday, and this truck is very restorable. I believe the biggest challenge will be the bed, which is the early all metal version, it does have a few little dings here and there. The photos are somewhat deceiving, and I believe it will require significant sheet metal fabrication. But, it's mostly flat and simple looking, and... well body work is pretty much superficial stuff anyway.



I plan to fire it up tommorow, hopefully I will know a lot more about it then. Today's assessment has revealed a lot of small stuff that is missing, like all the lights, except the main headlamps, wiper motors, switches, fuel pump, tail gate, break lines, air in the tires... The parts list is growing by leaps and bounds. But I love this truck already.

Anyway, the wife saw it today, and I'm still here.

Garret

 

[GatorDoc]

Very Nice. I bought the WC-51 that was sitting right beside your 63. You got a nice truck and a fun project.
G

 

[jvandal]

Dude! That is Freaking Awesome!!!

But I still think we could have recovered it in Brutus!

 

[scottgs]

It's alive! Started it today, seems like the engine works, but with a few details to tend to. Ran pretty smoothly, and I was pleasently surprised to see the generator generating, and the oil pressure reading about 40 PSI. Unfortunately, I forgot to un-bypass the ballast resistor on the temporary spark coil and it either 1) burned up the points, or 2) burned up the coil, or 3) all the above. Next step is complete new ignition components. The 1/4" of grunge caked on the distributor cap was probably not helping anything. Other good thing is that the cooling system held the coolant well, and it was nice and clean looking. Notice the past tense verb usage here...

Pretty excited, but will be more so once it's running well enough to drive. And yes, it probably would have fit in the M923, but getting it on the bed would sure have been fun!

Garret

 

[scottgs]

Frank, I stopped in at NAPA today, and they claim to have a new production fuel pump that looks pretty much like the original. Part number Airtex 587. Any idea if this is actually like an original, or is there a better option?

I know on the rebuilds that there are some alcohol tolerant parts out there, at least for some vehicles. My Land Rover has an AC fuel pump that looks just about exactly like the photo of the Dodge's pump, other than the priming lever is solid steel on the Land Rover, instead of wire like on the Dodge. I rebuilt the Land Rover pump it in 1995, and it's done well since. I can't help but wonder if the AC rebuild kits would work on the Dodge pump, but I probably know better than to even think that!

Thanks for the help.

Garret

On the fuel pump, that has "gone missin". That is easy why it is gone, the past owners got tired of rebuilding it or could not find a rebuild kit for it. With todays fuels, the fuel would eat up the diaphragm in the fuel pump. ... One of the few, Frank USMC RET

 

[scottgs]

Thanks for the advice Tinwoodsman. I gave up on seperating the rim for now. I think I'll take it to a tire shop and see if they can remove the tire, and then I'll beat on it some more.

Something else I'm wondering about: I read in TM 9-810 that there are supposed to be bead-locks in those combat rims. If they are in there, will that prevent the tire from being removed without seperating the rim?

Garret

 

[Tinwoodsman]

Mine did not have bead locks but I did end up cutting the tires off before I could separate the rims. Some were not salvageable. Use some antisieze on the surfaces when you put the back together. As for the fuel pump, it will work but you will require some modification to the fuel pump heat shield upon installation.
16 ga. sheetmetal will be a part of your life for awhile as you repair the cargo box. Good luck

 

[Wolfen]

Nice Truck!

 

[scottgs]

Ok. not such a good day. Decided to replace most of the ignition components, cause it didn't seem to run too well the other day, and the points were burned up pretty badly, and the Armee Francaise coil just looked rather suspicious. So... I figured I'd go ahead and rebuild the carb just for good measure. Well... now I know why it was running so poorly!

Anyone got a rebuildable ETW1 carb they want get rid of?

 

[Wolfen]

You could always get a re-built one from VPW or MWM.

 

[scottgs]

That's probably what'll I'll do. Of course this core is not rebuildable, and it's not an ETW1, but an E7T2.

What amazes me is that it ran at all! About half the passages are blocked, and one has apparently had water in it and then frozen and split. both the acceleration and power jet plungers were rusted and frozen in place. When I tried to take the main jet out, the casting just crumbled like dirt. Same thing when I tried to clean out some other parts. But then it did pretty much just run on idle only.

 

[Tinwoodsman]

Too bad Garrett. Here is a video showing a E7T2 restoration:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QnMHGvgm7Y

Here is a potential source for you:

http://www.allcarbs.com/detail.php?pid=1149&mfgn=50&ctgn=10&stt=0&gb=2

 

[jvandal]

ok Garrett, I know the purist like you and others on here are about to pass out.... but..... I can help you with fuel injection.... or a diesel repower!!! heheheheheeee Mulhahahhaha

 

[scottgs]

ok Garrett, I know the purist like you and others on here are about to pass out.... but..... I can help you with fuel injection.... or a diesel repower!!! heheheheheeee Mulhahahhaha

Don't think so... Last thing I want to be doing is looking down in the engine compartment of my World War II truck and wondering if it's got a bad computer or sensor... I want my trucks to be working restored examples that I can enjoy - not lab experiments. And yes, my head is about to explode just thinking about it!

 

[scottgs]

IT'S ALIVE!!!

I took the ruined carb, blew it out with air, cleaned it up a little, milled out a new place for the main jet (more or less...), crammed the jet in with teflon tape, spread out the old leather accelerator cup, put it back together with the old crappy gaskets, and Viola! He came to life instantly! Motor ran very well. Nice and smooth, just purred away, a good 40 PSI oil pressure, even once warmed up. Then we went for a short test drive around the lot. Drive train seems to work well, even the winch worked!

I can't say how excited I am! Just like a teenager, 30 years ago back in High School when we'd get our old bombs going on a none-existant budget.

Extra thanks to Steve (Hpwr) for the assistance and faith. Especially the part where he stood on the running board and held the temp fuel tank up high to gain fuel pressure as I drove the truck around.

Here it is. Hopefully this will work.

http://scottgs.dynip.com/pictures/WC-63_recovery/Its_Alive_04JAN13.avi

Garret

 

[scottgs]

TWM, thanks for posting the video. I forgot to mention that it did help, and the truck is still running fine with the rusted, crubmbled, 2-screw carb. I think I'm going to JB Weld the main jet in there to improve reliability. That was JVandal's suggestion, and well it's a lot cheaper than a new carb!!

Garret

 

[jvandal]

I believe my suggestion was first fuel injection or diesel re-power.... but then and only then... if you continue to hold out... JB Weld.... I have fixed old ones that way before...