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1941 1.5 ton, full resto project - to V3000 german
Hi all,
I just picked up a 1941 1.5 ton, high low rear end, almost entirely stock, but almost nothing works, and a good amount of rust, and lead seal to roof broke on both sides
So I'm looking at a full rebuild. Billion questions.
#1: are the rims split rims for the tires? Are they really 34"?
Planning on staying with the flathead (my first ford, tons of GM cars in my past), and I know a small block gm fits pretty readily, but the flat looks so simple mechanically, and I've heard REALLY good things about the motor for long term running. Have to do a full rebuild. Also on the Holley. It has heat!
Lots of the glass is broken, split window front.
I'm sure I should go through the tranny, being a manual I've rebuilt those too.
#2: how is the high/low rearend for reliability/rebuild?
As I do a frame off on it, I'm sure I'll have a ton more questions. Anticipating a 1.5 year rebuild.
Post some photos, seems like an interesting project. Stu or some of the other guys can answer your rim/tire questions however they will need a bit more info. including maybe close up photos of the tires and rims.
Flathead 8's and 6's for that matter are pretty tough. Does your motor spin free or is it locked?
The 2 speed rear ends are very tough and in most cases don't need to be gone through depending upon mileage and or usage. If they do you can find some parts from Chucks Trucks or on ebay depending upon the kind of rear end.
Add my welcome. Interesting project. Are you restoring the truck to be a tribute/clone of a WWII German military Ford? I guess there would be strong family similarities between the two.
Pictures of the wheels will be needed to tell you for sure what you have, but most likely you have two part locking side ring style wheels that were original to the truck. The most common style have a Firestone “RH” type having a solid/unbroken ring on the face side of each wheel. Diagram below. If you find something different we can help you sort out what they are. Likely that you have 20” wheels and tires that will be taller than 34”, but some trucks of the era had 18” wheels with 6.50” or 7.00” tires that would be about 34” tall. Again, good pictures will help.
The two speed rear rear axle is probably an Eaton, maybe a model 1350. Some from that era had a separate shift lever in the left footwell for the axle. The truck could also have a vacuum actuated shift mechanism. A remote possibility would be that the truck has a Timken-Detroit two speed double reduction axle. Again, pictures are needed. Stu
Mine has a vacuum actuated eaton. There are two ratios in this axle. Slow and SLOWER. I just leave it in the 'high' range... SLOW. Thankfully I live on a pretty remote island where the highest speed limit is 40 mph. I can do that. Good luck, and pictures please!
On the left of the cab is the HighLow shifter, and there is a big unit in the frame on the passenger side for it to shift the back.
I'll be building a wood walled "cargo" bed for it, as that was the most common type I can find pictures of from WW2 in Europe.
As to Truckdogs Question, the US are almost identical to Euro models. Netherlands made the split window, and apparently other areas made a single window version. They are listed as a V3000. Even the wheels are the same. It's kinda mind boggling how much money Mr. Ford must have made on both sides of the Atlantic.
I do WW2 reenacting and the 251 halftrack doesn't carry enough men for the unit, and I am getting into this for $1100, so, I figure, even with $2,000 in sheet metal, and probably a few thousand more on engine, tranny, and various other things, I'll be incredibly money ahead.
I have a shop with lift, esab, wirefeed, airtools, and a full pro body and paint tool set, sanders, paint guns, etc.
I anticipate doing 100% of the work myself.
I'll get close ups of the tires in a couple of weeks when I get the truck to my place, and start to disconnect the cab and lift it off the frame onto a trailer.
Great starting point. We’ll be following your progress.
I can see from your pictures that the front wheels are the originals, probably RHs and I’m guessing 20”. But the rear outer duals are widow maker Firestone RH-5° style that are not original to the truck - not even the same era since they came on market in 1948. You should replace them, and others like them. And please invest some Google time reading about their safety issues. The outer duals are the most at risk because the shiny galvanized side rings would exit into your face. Let the air out before messing with them.
When you get to the point of working on the rear axle I have some Eaton and Timken literature that might help. Stu
Holy crap... that style looks intensely more difficult than the rim edge ones. Chains and a remote airvalve it is! What would be the correct wheels for this dually setup?
Others like on your front. Might be similar from an effort point of view to change tires, but more prone to come apart. MN yards will have others, or some of us here have them too. Finding out what the originals are would be the starting point. Likely they are Budd products and will have Budd numbers on the concave side flat of the center discs, or on the rim lips. Find numbers and I can probably look them up in the books to give specifics. Stu
I dont seem to find wheel #'s. But I do see the difference on the Rims. If I'm going to do split, I'd much rather have the narrow ones like on the front.
I can double or triple chain it and do that. So, is it the air pressure of the tube itself that holds this wheel together?
You won’t find numbers on the face sides of the front wheels. Given their age I’ll guess the numbers are on the flat surfaces of the concave side center discs. You’ll have to pull them to find the numbers. They are probably the 4.33” wide Firestone RH style rims. The rings mount by squeezing them over the base rims using the pictured indentations on each side of the rim as pictured. Stu
macfelon, This is going to be a very interesting project. I have seen a lot of '41 and earlier 1 1/2 ton Ford trucks in German film footage and books on WW2. As Stu noted, the last wheel that you show in your post would be correct for your truck. You need to examine those wheels very carefully when choosing wheels for your truck. Not only does the ring groove in the rim and the ring need to be in good shape, but these wheels are really bad about rusting between the inside of the rim and the center that is riveted in. If you look at the wheel in your photo there looks like a bead between the inside of the rim and the center. There should be a pocket or groove there about an inch or more deep that fills with dirt over time and can cause rust. That bead you see could be dirt and grease build up or very thick rust. If rust, that wheel would probably be scrap. I hope this all makes sense.
Great project, keep us posted, Mark
Here is a photo of a sectioned wheel to show the area I was talking about.
You will notice the rust pit on the center that is almost half way thru.
This is an extreme example, the rim is rusted completely away. They will rust deeply enough on that area that the rim will separate with air pressure.
Mark
Exactly, Stu. I've had a couple the looked almost that bad. Looking at the OP's wheel pic again, that is rust we are seeing. You can actually see the rivet flange swelled and broken thru the hand holes on the wheel. I would say that wheel is toast. Good wheels are hard to find here, I bet they are almost impossible to find in the rust belt.
Mark
02-19-2019, 10:23 AM
