Patrick Tipton

I am way past excited about this. Just picked up a set of original 15" T-24 tracks. Overall, they are in great condition for being 77 years old. As you can see, they have been modified with an additional motorcycle chain band and can be run as is....I bought them on the basis of pictures so this is the first I am really getting to inspect them. So far, I am very happy with what I am seeing. More to follow.

Looks fantastic and you certainly put in the work. The motor looked nearly unsalvageable - turned out beautifully. Did you keep this one or sell it on? Patrick

Appreciate it Byron - that is very kind of you. I am just tickled that I even get to play with this T24. Regards, Patrick

Grease makes sense for most of us....I may run mine in some measure of cold, but not that cold. In my originality search on the T24, it appears that the earliest T24's may not have had oiling caps on the controls. Not sure how they would have been lubricating them....they were bronze bushed...maybe they were just planning to soak the bushings and let it go at that...

That is exciting John - looking great.

I am a few hours away from being ready to install the side. I ended up drilling lots of holes and will plug weld them up. It is faster to spot weld, but I don't have a lot of faith in the process with old & new metal and my equipment. The good news is that the process of plug welding ends up looking darn close to a spot weld - the key is going hot with the MIG/TIG and moving quickly. These holes are a little larger than I would prefer, but I used the spot weld cutter and they go quickly. The holes are more or less located where the original spot welds were located...so not perfect at all but should be a largely indistinguishable repair. I am going to use the panel bond on the lower hull seam and on the front and back sections where there is a decent amount of pitting. I will wire wheel all of the primer because the seam sealer is made for bare metal.

Sounds good Kevin. For what its worth, the Harbor Freight hydraulic press is about $150 and goes on sale regularly. Great thing to have in a shop and while it is not a great unit, it does work fine for these types of applications. Patrick

TM 9-1772 says use a 3 leg puller to remove the impeller. You will find the carbon washer, seal and seal spring on the inside of the impeller - held in place with a lock ring. I am personally leery of pulling impellers because they are fragile little beasts and they have often been on these shafts for decades. I like to use a puller to remove the pulley (not sure what that pin is in your picture - not shown in parts manual). My puller was made by @Rob W and threads into the fan mounting holes....then presses the shaft so the pulley pops off. From there, remove the clip in the weep hole in the last picture and you can press out the shaft and impeller. Then you can press off the impeller. It takes longer to write than it does to do. Regards, Patrick

Appreciate it John. I have a decent amount of fussing to do on the hull - repairs to the center bulkhead and coaming and just overall making sure I like where things are. I am planning on taking the finished hull to a local media blaster, then having a buddy epoxy prime it - I am not equipped to spray those type of paints - then it will go into storage for a bit. I love the idea of the drain plug/access port. That seems like a pretty glaring omission by our friends at Studebaker doesn't it? I guess the intended use suggested that oil changes would not be happening. I will definitely add one - the access panel seems like a great solution and will be largely invisible. I am still a newbie on the mechanicals so I need to spend a little time with the final drive. My plan is to tackle the mechanicals after the hull is finished. My final drive looks super clean. I have to do the whole motor too....and the transmission and rebuild control pushrods and then the tracks....o yea...the tracks. I managed to find and buy a set of 15 inch tracks that are runable as is but need to be rebuilt. They will arrive next week and I can start thinking about that project. I am pretty happy with my progress but I don't think I am in any danger of finishing this project any time soon 😂

Do you have a serial number for the engine?

Looks great Porter. Love seeing this Weasel in the wild where it should be. Nice!

Good stuff Kennedy: When I don't have spark, I always do the following. 1. Check for voltage at coil. You should have 12 volts. You may need to work from the battery to the various switches in this case to make sure you understand your wiring and are turning the ignition on when you think you are. 2. Pull the main coil wire and hold close to engine while cranking. You should get a nice spark. If you don't, then you have isolated to distributor. There is some chance it could be the coil, but it is slight so I would rule out for a bit. 3. If no spark from main wire, turn ignition on and use a screwdriver to "short" the points. You should get a nice spark. If no, then check wiring from coil to distributor and find the short/break. 4. If you have voltage to points, then your problem is either the points or the condenser. Take a little 240 grit or finer sandpaper and hold the points closed gently while pulling the sandpaper through them to clean them. I am not worried about the points at this point, just trying to isolate the problem without changing anything and making the whole process more complicated. 5. After you have cleaned points, replace cap and see if you have spark coming out from main coil wire. If yes, then reinsert into distributor and check one spark plug wire. If yes to spark there, she should run. If no...continue 6. If you don't have spark at main coil wire after cleaning the points, suspect a bad condenser. In my experience condensers either work or they don't. The older ones seem to nearly never fail - new ones are often junk so the fact that you might have recently replaced it does not mean much. If you change the condenser, go back and check the main coil lead after reassembly.....you should have spark. If not, then you missed something in one of the steps above. 6. If you have spark at the main coil wire, but nothing to the spark plugs, then your problem is cap/rotor/wires. Most likely cap/rotor because wires can be awfully bad and still work. I usually start by cleaning the center button and rotor contact bar....again we are not trying to "fix" at this point - just get it working and then figure out whether we need to replace or can rehab parts. Hope that helps.

I finished installing the hat channels and did a final test fitting on the new side. I need to finish drilling a few plug weld holes and it will be time to do the final install. There are lots of things to check and it needs to be installed in a certain order (I am thinking) to ensure a great fit. I resorted to writing up a checklist.

I think that train has left the station John 🤣 I only have 1,729 left to go....but who's counting? Patrick

I got the driver side passenger seat hat channels installed. I was able to salvage the footman loops and the seat catches. I had to make new seat belt brackets for the rear. Driver seat & control cluster are next and then it will be time to install the side.

My machine shop guy says fill with silicone sealant..... On the Willys G503 motor, there are two rubber "dowels"....all serving the same purpose. Patrick

Thank you! On the MIG - I would guess you don't have the welds clean enough or something is going on with your shielding gas? My shop is pretty modest so I am making some and having folks make some. I didn't have a big enough brake so I went to a local shop and "supervised" while they bent up a complete new side. @Rob Wsells hat channel kits that have the seat hat channels, inner hat channels and the "45 gusset" hat channel - they are beautiful. I also have a little 21" press brake that fits in my shop press that I have used to make everything from small patches to seat belt brackets. I have TIG, MIG, Arc & gas welders and a decent assortment of hand tools. I will get you a picture of my less than organized work area.

The only way to become experienced is by doing the work. You have started that journey - awesome! Download or purchase a set of manuals and start learning the part names and study how the machine was built and intended to be serviced - that knowledge will make it easier for people to help you. There are great resources on Youtube and otherwise to learn how to fix motors, take out dents and some very experienced folks on this board. Keep us posted!

Looks complete - very nice! What are your plans - full restoration? Get it running?

I am impressed. Good for you! I am heading to the shop to weld hat channels. I am getting my T24 hull painted by winter....and running out of time!

I finished making the new seat belt attachment brackets and got the rear hat channels ready for installation. The tool looks embarrassingly ugly, with the MIG wire etc., but works pretty well. I need to clean that up🤠 I have to do final work on drivers seat and controls - welding on the seat belt brackets and retaining clips, footman loops, seat "posts" and the control cluster bracket, adding joggles to all of these hat channels and then weld the final hat channels in. Other than a little more prep work on the hull, I am getting close to the installation date for the new side - big milestone!

Greetings Bryon and welcome! That looks like a great project - looking forward to following along. Patrick

Thank you for the insights. I am going to use the 3M product in two spots - a line where the upper hull overlaps the lower hull and one up near the top where the coaming hat channel attaches to the side. It is probably overkill and making my life more difficult than it needs to be, but I sorta have it my head that I want to use it. I am going to be plug welding plenty so the product's job is corrosion protection and sealing more than structural. Thanks again. Patrick

I test fit the side again to verify measurements before I weld in the control cluster mounting plate and seat hat channels. I am very happy with the fitment. I spent a good bit of time planning the assembly, which I think needs to be done in an order (to be finalized) in order to get all of the seams and hat channels tight. I am going to write up an assembly checklist because there are so many things to weld and the possibility of welding one area and pulling another one out of place that a checklist will give me peace of mind. I may drill a couple of holes in the lower hull hat channels and use bolts to pull those sections flush, but otherwise I think I have good access and clamping methods. I am still planning to use a 3M panel sealer in a couple of places to try and provide better corrosion protection and additional structural support. I am going to plug weld most of this (MIG and TIG) and then will use my spot welder in order that it look original.