COE WWII ex Army 1943 Chevrolet 1 1/2 ton 4x4 COE Crew Build

Ever get that feeling that old trucks/cars can call out to you to save them?

Well here is the story of my COE....

I wanted to build a family camping/expedition vehicle for the longest time. i had a 1975 Ford F250 4x4 and was hanging out at Pirate4x4.com as a great source for off road tech. Before I knew it I had almost finished an excellent 1975 Ford highboy ROCKCRAWLER...wait wasn't that supposed to be camping vehicle?

OK start over, got a 1988 Toyota 4Runner and a 1KZTE diesel motor together...wait the smog czars are not allowing this swap anymore? ****..two strikes. Well the next one I will strike out or it will be outta the park, let's hope for the latter!

I Sell the Toy and list the rock crawler.

I sat down and examined what went wrong with the first two projects......The Ford had all the capability for off road, Dana 60 front, 70 rear, ***mins 6BTA, NV4500/np205..yadda yadda yadda...but I had cut the back of the frame off and shortened it so much that I couldn't carry anything more than my family..I could have pulled a trailer but couldn't use it for hauling anything, nor do I have the real estate to store said trailer. The 4Runner although it was interesting getting into the back seat, it had one, along with the top that is removable i.e. instant truck...but I was at the mercy of bureaucrats that measure cow farts in Bakersfield (a hotspot for smog!).

So this brought me to a crossroad and sat down and listed what the next vehicle had to be

1) preSmog
2) Diesel
3) Decent amount of bed that I can get a camper on
4) be able to park on the street and drive to work
5) be able to use for work/home depot/trash runs/swap meets

So I started searching Craigslist truck by owner, max year 1975. Click, click, click wait here is something 1940 Dodge 1 1/2 flatbed now that looks cool, a Chevy, another Chevy, a Ford, an IH. I found that the newest one I saved was 1952 and the oldest was 1939. I made a google maps itinerary that went from California City to almost San Diego...I was on the hunt!

Saturday rolled around and had my list of people who said they would be around or close enough to get to where they were stored at. I set off.

I get to the first one and give him a call....no answer, wait 15 minutes, give up, head to the next one. A 1940 Chevy flatbed, a good price but had roof damage. Still I wanted to check it out plus I saw he had a bunch of old trucks I might get lucky. Well I get there the roof was toast had been dented multiple times and was creased, it was salvageable but not at my payrate. The seller asked what was I looking for, I told him a truck that I could use as a truck, load a camper on and go anywhere. He smiled (note you should run when someone smiles like a lion who just saw his next meal, LOL!) I got just the thing for you..how much do you want to spend? was his next question. Not much I replied, the smile started to look forced...I don't know if it was a good or bad thing.
We get to another roll up door and it is filled with 1940's trucks, a panel, and a few COEs! Then I see it...............




to be continued...........

 

Welcome and Good Luck .

 

I don't mean to rob your thread or take it off track, but a Facebook friend of mine here in Utah build a COE specifically to camp in and it's INGENIOUS! If your plans aren't already set in stone consider this...

I'll leave the photos small so not to take away from your thread.

 

Well that is just plain awesome. Why have I never seen this before? If you have more pics with detail shots, please start another thread to share Daddio.

 

That is a beauty! Check out The American Truck Historical Society, www.aths.org for some more inspiration.

 

Thanks Guys for the posts,
Daddio I am thinking along those lines, removable like that, but a WW2 vintage look.
As far as the story, the condensed 2nd half is it didn't go as agreed or planned. Motor was hopelessly frozen, as I couldn't leave it in the driveway, seller agreed to let me take the cab off at his place so I could put it in my garage, but had to be moved by the 15th. So I took a few days off and broke ALOT of bolts. Saturday he was making a Banzai run to Utah to pick up a 54 'Burban and wouldn't be in. Sunday the 6th rolls around me and Thing 1 break more bolts and fight the door hinges got it stripped and the cab on the bed. I loaded it on the UHaul trailer and let me tell you there is no way to redistribute the weight on a trailer that is already 1 foot shorter than it should be! Luckily the seller's son stepped up and offered to haul it to my house on his dad's trailer! I filled up his tank and away we left with an empty Uhaul behind my Dakota and following the beast back for a bit. I sped ahead, dropped Thing 1 at his house to bring his ***mins over to yank the Valiant out of the garage and put it on the street. As we get it out the COE shows up, we get it in the driveway. I generously grease the palm of the son and send him home. We slide the cab off the bed into the driveway with 2 sheets of 3/4 plywood as a ramp, get the truck pushed back and find it had raised 3 1/2 inches on its journey to my house probably lost alot of rust on the spring packs. We shove it into the garage and tie the door to the bumper get the Valiant in the driveway and covered. At 1 AM we call it a night. The next day get the shelf cut and shove it back and have an 1 1/2" clearance to shut the door. End of prologue Yeeah. Let the build begin!

 

Looking at the ***ets, I have a couple of early Hemis, leftover parts to a 1975 HighBoy, some Rockcrawler parts and a Bridgeport Series 2 to sell. 1550.00 in project cash.

Parts that I have that could be used on this is:
P-pumped ***mins 6BTA with a HX40 turbo
NV 4500 with mated Ford driver's drop New Process 205 transfercase
A divorced Ford NP 205
A 10,000 pound Baden winch that once resided in a Dodge weapon's carrier bed
A NV 4500 PTO with hydro pump
a NP 205 PTO
Chevy Dana 60 front spindles out setup
Chevy 1 ton Suburban Hydrovac setup

The only thing I would like to change is the ****** to an Eaton 6 speed if I find it reasonably priced.

Put ingredients in pot, stir to a simmer............

 

There are a few companies making adapters to run the Allison 5 and 6 speeds behind the ***mins. I don't know about an adapter for an Eaton, though. Don't know if that helps at all.

 

Hey Gentry , any chance you could show the braces for the front fenders and running boards . I got a pile with my cab and a lot of them I'm sure are for a different truck or car . Thanks , Blue

 

Daddio,
Some Allisons are SAE 3 (smaller) but most are SAE 2. The SAE 2 is the one I need, and I could use the Allison one , just looking for the right price.

Blue,
I got the running board pics, the fender pics might be this weekend. Here you go

Rear cab supports

 

Thanks for the pictures. A little different than the 42 ? I guess that's because of military contractor. Will be interesting to see what the fender braces are like . Happy Holidays , Blue .

 

Blue,
Here are your picture this is the only brace for the fenders...mine are a little more trimmed than the civilian models and I guess they felt they didn't need more..

And Daddio I am sooo jealous of your cab mine sat under a vineyards sprinklers for all the years it was in civilian hands and Chevrolet was stopped painting the undersides of the roofs in late '42!

 

Ok Dream with me....
Here are some trucks/trailers I am using for inspiration and ideas ...
I want it to work and do anything I ask of it:

And carry my family.....

Look ready to take on the world...

And look like a period piece from WW2 to Korea (the times it was still active member of the military, even being a completely redone/fabbed piece....

This is the closest to an actual vehicle to what I am envisioning (except only one rear axle)....

Stage 2 camper/trailer stage a looonnnng way down the road

 

Some pics from Saturday 2.6.16
Please note: Nary a transplanted redneck were harmed greatly in this endevor.. well not too much...don't do this at home...



I think I need to adjust the hoist to lay down some more . Any hoist experts out there? I will also rebuild the box and set it on the frame like original.
Not the same..but close ... something like this

If somebody has a pic of a Federal 4X2 2.5 ton with the hoist up please post it.
Another note paint on Hoist light Olive drab color first, USN Battleship grey next with a post war semi-gloss OD on top,

 

Some pics from 2.7, removed locked up 235, shoved it up the hill that's my driveway and steam cleaned the **** out of it. Sooo tired of desert sand getting in my eyes while working on it.





And here is where I'm at now...

And that's the way it is....

 

Mini update,
Got my steering box solution on it's way, got a down payment on an Eaton FSO-6046A (they are removing it).

My first priority is the repair, mounts and modifications to the frame first and get it painted it seems that the dirt was protecting the rust!

Trying to source frame channel...7 1/4" x 2 1/4" x 3/16 and 8" x 2 1/2" x 1/4(ish maybe its a little rusted but seems more than 3/16") Any suggestions? I'm going to ask on the main board also. Starting to map out placements.

Anybody have an idea of the minimum cooling area needed for a ***mins 6BTA? with the steering box right there I need to change the radiator I have for a narrower one, same for the intercooler. So sad I have a 2005 Ram all aluminum one that is as *****in' as it is HUGE!

 

2.12.16 update:
The steering head I am going to use came in on Monday!


I think this type of head would only be useful to the guys who want to run large military tire and haul stuff around, Otherwise its just overkill.
Well the FSO overdrive 6 speed I bought mutated in shipping to a 6 speed direct, don't know how this is going to work out, it came from Idaho and it isn't a return to sender thing.
Heres a picture comparison to the NV4500


I can save one YEAHHHHH! Pintle is done only the clasp part is salvageable

Here is the frame, removed the gas tank cradles that Dino welded on for me have a little more cleanup left on the inside of the frame. Hopefully I will have an answer soon on my crossmembers!

 

Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

 

Went to the Ultimate photoshop thread and the gurus there gave me these pictures
James D

The Moose

Are these guys talented or what?
Gotta build my body jig and make this a reality!!!!

 

Moose rules!

 

Moose did my rendering too . He's the man!

 

That's Beautiful!

 

Got the biopsy started on the rusty cab, will post pics this weekend of this and the start of the MASTER Delux mods. Started with bracing, I wish the guy I got it from wasn't staraving..he started to cutting out the rusty floor so he could sell it after I told him I was coming out the next day !!!!
But I did get my tires that I needed to keep my RPMs @ 2200ish @ 75 mph


What a difference 6 inches makes!
More pics this weekend (hopefully)

 

Now your just bragging!

 

Have been working on the body, not much postable progress, but today was a good day! I got wind of a heater for my truck in the middle of the desert (go figure) 2 hours from my house. Went to check it out and off the dirt road I saw a wall of hub caps and rusty tin. I had the place! The guy is our type of guy for sure. He led me through the various treasure houses of 50s/early 60s hot rods, parts and few customs thrown in for good measure. The heater was the one I needed.

even has a bit of OD green on it still!
Got to talking about the junk at my house, Do you have any 1940-1946 COE parts, he said I had two that I made into one, I'll show it to you. He had a bagged ramp truck. Asked about the bumper Blue is looking for he said I think I do and leads me around back. On the rack was the twin ribbed bumper he is looking for. Took a pic but lost it somehow, turned around and on a trailer overloaded with rusty tin I spotted another jewel for me!

also picked up a regular cab door panel that I will cut for the fender cutout. Great Guy and a Great Haul!

 

Nice drivers side well .

 

A place for OldSchool to find his 39 chevy rear fenders, perhaps??

 

I will check, might be awhile, will be going back to check out the bumper for Blue the next time I am an hour away from his house. I don't have high hopes for OldSchool as I didn't any usable fenders that weren't already on a car/truck.
I did see this, it's a 39, but he'd have to buy the whole truck....
http://sacramento.craigslist.org/cto/5655318961.html

 

Went out and finally retrieved (after looking at soo much over priced rusted s**** (east coast heavy rust, not the normal dust rust here in the west)....

Unloaded and unframed

Let me tell you pushing a 1 1/2 ton frame sideways up a slope is a B*tch!
Got it in the garage after 2 1/2 hrs it looked like this

 

"Dust rust".... What a great term.... Yeah, you west coast guys would just shake your head and walk away from the **** we go ahead and fix here in New England.... I think I still have more sheet metal that came with the cab than the stuff I've replaced, but I'm surely getting close. Do the floors count since there really weren't any except a couple small 12x12 boards in 1941?

Seriously, if I ever have it to do again, I would bump a Southwest trip a little higher on the list of possibilities.