December 25th ‘08  A quiet Christmas.

The flu made it’s appearance this year in force. The whole family has been sick with it and I was in bed for a week. It is only now work is beginning again.  Before the flu arrived progress was still going on. I learned the hard way that the threads on the driver’s side wheel lugs are left hand threads. After much cursing and one broken breaker bar, I asked some questions on the www.cckw.org forum and was reminded of the left hand threads. Fortunately only my ego was bruised. The other side was jacked up and with a bit of rocking back and forth the stuck brake shoe let go. I found 2 broken return springs and 2 stuck wheel cylinders. After some soaking the cylinders seem to be ok. They just need cleaning, honing and polishing. I still have to examine the rear axle for broken springs.

I took the opportunity to back the truck out and take some pictures. I then used Photoshop Elements to overlay some original photos on top of the pictures of my truck. I am very happy with the results. The rail of my truck seems to be a bit high but mostly everything else lines up. This did allow me to correct the line of the hood.

The first engine side panel is done and the hood is coming along. I want to close in the engine next.

December 8th ‘08  The rear deck is almost complete.

The rear deck is complete. The fenders are formed and in place. The rear frame extensions are cut and welded into place. This has stabilized the back end immensely. Work on the sticking brake drum is still stalled. The acquisition of a really large screwdriver did little to remove 3 countersunk bolts holding the wheel hub to the brake drum. So we broke out the fire wrench and used heat to loosen the bolts. The drum is still stuck on the hub. I am going to have to try some more heat to loosen it.

Next up is a return to the front end. The cowling has been secured in place so the hood and side panels are next. I want to take it out for a drive but I want to get the hood complete first. I guess I will have to come up with a jig for making louvers..

November 30th ‘08  The work on the box has begun.

The steel for the floor of the radio van has been cut and welded together. The middle section of the wood deck has been framed and put in place. I have framed openings in the floor to be able to access the drive shafts from the top. I plan to do the same for the hydrovac. The driver’s side rear fender is under construction right now. I took a pair of trailer wheel covers and cut them into four pieces. With the use of a shrinker/stretcher, we were able to make the radius of the wheel wells match the photos we have. I was busy welding in the filler piece when the power went out in the neighborhood. (No fault of ours) So work switched to examining the sticking brake drum. We were defeated by time and the lack of a really large screwdriver to remove 3 countersunk bolts holding the wheel hub to the brake drum. A new screwdriver was acquired but no luck so far. I will be working on the fenders this week.

November 22nd ‘08  An easy job turned out to be more.

Go figure! In moving the gas tank, we noticed the inside was filled with what appeared to be rust but turned out to be just sludge. Taking no chances, I decided to do a full clean and prep of the tank. Muriatic acid was used to clean the tank. Water and baking soda neutralized the remaining film. Phosphoric acid was used to help protect the steel from rusting and then a final rinse of the tank with naptha made it ready to go. The fuel level sensor was corroded and covered in gunk. This was disassembled and cleaned. The tank is now in its’ new position forward about 10” and down 6” to fit under the box van. It had to be moved forward to leave room for the side door. The project cost another unexpected $50 but it was less than the $155 the radiator shop wanted to dip it.

The back deck has been cleared of all obstructions and the frame for the box floor can be started. I have been looking forward to this part for a while now.

November 20th ‘08  I have a license plate and title!

My title application was accepted and I was issued former military license plates.

All it took was:

A checklist from the previous clerk showing EXACTLY what I needed.
The title application form.
A notarized bill of sale.
Confirmation from the Missouri DOT that no title existed under my number.
A reissued TxDot rejection letter.
A statement of physical inspection.
A copy of the TXDot rules showing prior to 1955 the engine block number is the VIN no.
Proof of insurance.
A reissued bond.
A pencil rubbing of the engine serial number.
Photos of said serial number.
Photos of the truck.
Former military vehicle plate application form. (The clerk didn't even know these existed)
Payment of sales tax and plate fees.

Woohoo!

November 16th ‘08  A helper has arrived.

My Dad arrived this week and has helped me do a few jobs that are difficult on your own. We moved the battery box to the other side of the truck. A brief moment of panic set in when the truck wouldn’t start again and I couldn’t remember if I had hooked up the wiring right. Fortunately I went back and looked at earlier pictures and confirmed the wiring. A combination of bad grounding and a completely dead battery were the culprits. A new battery was installed and she ran just fine until I baked her down the driveway. The rear brakes had locked up. So that job will have to be moved up the priority list.

November 8th ‘08  A few maintenance details done .

I reinstalled the new master brake cylinder and partially rebuilt the hydrovac. The Hydrovac parts have been cleaned and repainted. They just await reassembly I went to replace one of the differential seals but discovered the leak is coming from the driveshaft yoke seal. This is going to be significantly more work. The roof structure is complete and tarpapered over. I need to make the drip edge and cover the roof with a metal skin.

October 30th ‘08  A little behind on the write up.

I am a little behind on writing the progress report. The steel frame has been finished and put back on the truck. The wood beadboard has been applied and the roof framework completed. I have finally been able to establish the line of the new cowl and the rear edge of the hood. I have begun making patterns for the hood top and sides. I am still not quite sure how I am going to make the center hinge. I also need to reinforce the radiator frame and partially rebuild the front cowl. It is too flimsy as it is.

This weekend I plan to clean up some niggling little details I have been avoiding. I need to reinstall the new master brake cylinder and rebuild the hydrovac. Then I can bleed and test the brakes. I want to take her out for a drive again. It has been sitting too long. I will need to change the oil and replace one of the differential seals but that won’t take too long.

October 14th ‘08  A very productive week.

It has been a productive week. I finally got the steel for the new construction. In order to establish the final lines of the hood, I needed to set the edge of the new cab. So I have built the skeleton of the new cab. The steel is just tack-welded. The cage is in two pieces and bolted to the existing cab so it can be removed for final welding, sandblasting and painting. The wood was added to get an idea of the final lines and proportions. There is rain in the forecast so I want to finish the roof.

The rebuild kit for the hydrovac and the new master cylinder are here so the overhaul of the brake system can be finished. Building the cab is much more fun!

October 1st ‘08  Recovering from IKE.

Hurricane IKE rolled into town September 20th. We faired ok, losing only the back fence and some shingles. We had a little water damage. There were branches and debris everywhere so a lot of time was taken up with cleaning. The power was out for 6 days and the cable for 8 days. It was quite the experience, but we were very lucky compared to a lot of people in town.

Visibly nothing much has changed. I have been overhauling the brake system. A rebuild kit for the hydrovac has been ordered and a new master cylinder is on the way. Things have slowed down a little due to budgetary constraints. Unfortunately fences and such take precedence over hobbies.

September 9th ‘08  A week in review.

The last week has been very productive. The radiator frame was moved up and forward. This matches the longer nose and limited slope of the hood. The first piece of sheet metal, the radiator cowl, is also the most complicated piece on the whole truck. It is needed to establish the lines of the hood. It is still rough but the shape is done. The seams have been spot-welded but they still need filling in.

In order to establish the rear end of the hood, the firewall needs to be modified. In order to modify the firewall, I needed to remove the cab walls. The side walls are now gone and the back wall has been moved back 10”. As I thought, the seat backs were just resting up against the back wall of the cab. So some sort of support is going to have to be made to keep them upright.

Rather than cantilever the back of the cab, I decided to move the entire support rail back along the frame. Unfortunately this partially blocks access to the Hydrovac. A “U” channel will be needed to join the floor and two “C” channels will have to be made to extend the supports.

It is really losing its’ CCKW appearance now. 

August 30th ‘08  A busy weekend

This weekend was a busy one. I finished tearing down the front end. The radiator, radiator frame and extra cooling tank were removed temporarily. I finished the removal of all the gunk on the engine. It is squeaky clean now. I also removed the extra anchor plates from the radiator frame. It is ready to be put back into the truck.

I discovered the mechanical fuel pump had been bypassed and a new electric pump had been installed at the gas tank. Unfortunately the fuel filter has been bypassed too. I need to remedy that quickly. I also discovered this truck was a radio suppressed vehicle and is filled with extra ground straps and capacitors. These aren’t necessary for this rebuild so I am removing them and cleaning up the look of the engine compartment.

August 25th ‘08  Another round at TXDOT

This time the lady at TXDOT was a little more helpful. I can’t find anyone who is licensed by TXDOT who will appraise my vehicle. So TXDOT has given me a letter to indicate they are formally rejecting my application. This allows me to go to the courthouse and have a hearing. The only drawback to this is it can only be done at the downtown courthouse.

I decided to break down and go buy “real” size tanks for my oxyacetylene torch. I got to work cutting off the front platform and bumper. The extension plates for the bumper will be used to extend the rear bumper 11” to match the Kfz 72. 

August 20th ‘08  The rain impedes progress.

The gates turned out heavier than I thought so I had to get bigger hinges and some wheels to make them work right. It does look a whole lot better and I can leave work in progress. The rain slowed down progress so I just rearranged the work area and got ready to demount the fire pump. I took measurements and compared them to the drawing of the Krupp truck. It is remarkably close.

During the rain breaks, I manage to negotiate a deal to trade the surplus body panels for some brake parts. I am also doing research on Norwegian tires for the truck. They are post war and less than desirable for CCKW restorers but look a lot more German. I am trying to track down some good used ones.

August 18th ‘08  Back to the Tax office.

Monday morning I head back to the tax office, confident I can get my 30 day permit. I plunk down my proof of insurance on the counter. What the other lady failed to tell me was my truck was too big for a 30 day permit but she could sell me a 72 hour permit for $25. I was less than impressed. So I told them since I don’t have an appointment for an appraisal, I would wait. They also told me that it was up to TXDOT to set the price of the bond. It is usually 1.5 times the price of the appraisal.

Back at home, and armed with the appraisal form, I begin calling appraisers. I get variations on the same story. Texas has changed the law and now only a licensed insurance adjuster or a dealership of the same make can do the appraisal. They can appraise it for insurance but not TXDOT.

To cut a long story short, the dealerships won’t touch it and my insurance company won’t touch it. One piece of good news, my insurance agent will adjust the amount of the bond. Now I need to get the auto theft division of the Sherrif’s office to come and verify the serial number. I feel like a dog chasing its’ tail. 

August 16th ‘08  The HOA chimes in.

The mail brought a letter from the Home Owner’s Association. It seems they don’t like the big red vehicle in the driveway. If I want to keep it there, I will have to keep it hidden from the street. So I have to rework the fence and put a gate across the driveway. I was planning to do this anyway but not in August. 3 new posts and 4 panels later, I now have a work area that is hidden from the street. 

August 15th ‘08  The registration hoops are lined up.

I went to the Texas DOT office. According to the lady there, I need to fill out a number of forms. The things I need to do are:

1. Contact the local Sheriff’s auto theft division and get them to verify the serial number on the frame.
2. Contact a local Insurance appraiser for a statement of value.
3. Buy a surety bond.
4. Complete a statement of fact form.
5. Complete an application for a lost title.

So I go to the county tax office to get a temporary tag to drive the truck to the storage place. I can’t get insurance until they see the truck inside a locked storage unit. I can’t get the tag until I provide proof of insurance. So off to the insurance agent’s office. I manage to get them to issue a 14 day policy pending the submission of pictures. They also sell me a surety bond for the purchase price of the truck. We drive to the storage unit anyway and take the pictures. One down..

August 11th ‘08  The inspection begins.

I spent Monday trying to determine the registration numbers of the truck. Sanding the paint off the hood revealed multiple sets of numbers so it will be impossible to determine which unit the truck was assigned to during the war. The truck had been built as a cargo truck but converted to a fire truck in March of ’45.

The Ordnance Depot that did the rebuild ‘X”ed out the serial number on the data plate. I checked online and was told to sand off the paint on the frame above the passenger side front tire. This revealed the model number and serial number (478 714) This makes the date of manufacture December ’44 or January ’45.

The engine is a GMC 270 straight 6 that seems to be in pretty good shape. It appears to have been rebuilt in 1954. So any wartime abuse has been remedied. It has also been converted to 12 volts.

July 28th ‘08  The truck arrives.

After waiting several weeks for a trucking company to make good on their offer of a $500 delivery, I gave up and rented a trailer. In order to offset fuel costs, I signed up on a website called uship.com . I managed to arrange to take 2 cars up near where I had to go. I got $440 for each car going up. The trailer rental was $396 so I didn’t do too bad in the end.

I picked up the truck in Columbia Missouri after dropping one car in St. Louis and the other in Columbia itself. The seller brought the truck down and met me in the Home Depot parking lot. He drove the truck off his trailer and on to mine. This was a good sign. The drive back was interesting as I drove straight through. It was just shy of 2000 miles in 48 hours. On the way up, a unit member was good enough to let me crash at his place on Friday night. For the record, 5 hour energy drinks work like a charm. However I would not recommend taking 6 in 2 days.

When I got back from dropping off the trailer, I decided to take the truck for a spin around the block. She started up and ran like a top. The brake system needs overhauling but the hand brake works fine. My daughter, our dog, and I took it for a spin around the neighborhood. It ran without any hiccups at all. My daughter, who is 13, convinced me to let her give it a try. She managed to reverse it, then shift it into second for a quick drive down the road. I think in it's 65 year history, it may be the first time the driver was driving wearing pink flip-flops.

June 30th ‘08  The Ebay Auction is concluded.

The seller posted in his listing that if somebody showed up with $2500 in his driveway, he would sell the truck and end the auction. I decided I didn’t want to let another truck get away so I sent him $2500 via paypal. Not quite in his driveway but just as fast.