M29

Hi Larry here is a quick shot of what your needing for the T15 pintle hitch Dan

That looks like the correct one Dan

One thing I will add to the French track rebuild idea. I had forgotten about this but 40 years ago my brother and I took an old worn out set of french tracks and removed the old rubber links and belted them with conveyor belt. Not sure the thickness of it but was about 5/8 thick. It was easy to do just had belting to drill no rivets to bust out etc. We tested the weasel with the tracks done that way and after about 5 to 6 miles of use the bogie wheels were a mess. many had loose bearing some the bogie wheel had come off bearings and all. Turns out the grouser spacings being farther apart than the regular track and caused the bogies to strike the grouser hump in the belt as it passed over it. This caused much wear on the bogies and springs to. It was a bunch of work that turned into a fiasco. This is why INMO the french built that track with thick roller chain belt. If you go this route make sure you use heavy enough belt to soften the approach for the bogies to ride over those narrow pads. The only good thing about belting the french track was we put the idea to use on the regular weasel track and never had a problem with bogies etc. Yes it was more work but the result was much superior to the french track.

I got mine at kaiser willys

hi larry i have not forgotten about the ski rack measurements i will get them to you. the wiper looks correct the original was made by american bosch i am told. the hooks on the window frame are for the cables on the canvas top dan

Super nice Rob. Thanks for the pictures! Dan

I have been awaiting a solution was going to use an O ring but may try the way Jesse recommends Dan

Engine color gray James Di Giovanni replied to F.Janssen's topic in Headquarters For the t-24 through M-29-C I like to use Rust-Oleum light machine Gray. This matched up to the original gray i found Items that where gray as follows. Drive line, fuel tank. Black symbolized a replacement part. But i believe that the exhaust was black, also top and bottom of... October 7, 2020 8 replies engine & accessories dan

I see on a google search Machine Gray is still available online. Lowes carries smoke gray they use to carry machine gray. I have used both and not much of a difference if any between the two IMO. dan

Rustoleum machinery gray now replaced by smoke gray dan

Check out my T15 restoration at this link https://forum.portrayalpress.com/topic/313-dans-t15-restoration/ I am not sure the shape of your tracks but I was able to add reinforcing belt to mine. PM me if you want more detailed info. As to the Mike Howard bands my understanding is they are in testing phase . Not sure how much they will be but probably expensive. It would be great to see some pictures. Dan

I did not say re-banding would not work. I just never gave it any serious thought as it does not appear economical to do so and have a good result. If it were me and I wanted french tracks I would get a set that is good enough to use as is. Just take it easy with them and they may be just fine. Maybe Patrick will sell you a set. I have used conveyor belt on several weasels over the years using the original track. Other than the time consuming job of busting out the old rivets it is a reasonably straight forward proposition. I don't know what the cost would be for a set of old original tracks with somewhat decent pads so that is a factor. Anyway the weasel hobby is expensive these days and it is getting more so. Maybe you could look for a donor weasel like some do and make one good one out of two? Don't get discouraged just become informed and make your best decision based on what you learn. Dan

The issue with the french track for what your planning is the grousers are narrow in width and are designed for the thicker heavier french track rubber with embedded roller chain between them. This allows for a smooth surface for the bogie wheels to roll on. I think the french track is a very strong track and is easier to get on and off the weasel. It is less prone to jumping off during turning. The downside to the french track is the weight and they slow the weasel down. I had a set once on a weasel and could never get the weasel to run much over 12mph where with the original track the weasel would go 25+. These are the conclusions I came to from owning a good set of both types and actually using them. As a matter of fact the french track weasel is still in operation today. So basically if you can rebuild the french track like it was originally you would have a good long lasting track. Today much of the rubber from that era is cracked and water has gotten into the roller chain and rusted it out so unless you have several tracks to swap rubber from which it sounds like patrick does you are facing the same problems that all original weasel tracks suffer from. Dan

Why not get the regular style weasel track and reband them with conveyor belt like so many others have done. Using the french track grousers on a new track system I don't know?? Dan

I sent you a PM

I have an extra Brass recast one I would sell. It will be very hard to find an original. Dan

Its different more like M7 small brass knob etc Dan

Your track bands look like new

model 1828 will also work Dan

Thanks for the kind words Pat and John. John the T15 could float in testing but .......are you thinking about the drain plug mod?? Dan

Latest T15 happenings.... It has been awhile since I last posted....but a new surge of weasel fever has struck so I have started working on the T15 again . I have already repaired most all the drive train but the final drive which I am repairing now. The final drive was really a mess full of rust. All the gears looked good after cleaning except the pinion ring gear. Apparently throughout the years water was able to get into the housing and pool around the lower part of the ring gear. This caused lots of pitting from rust on the ring gear teeth and the steering band drums. The pitting on the drums was really bad. To repair this I put them in my lathe and turned them down about 0.20 which took care of the deep pitting and the remainder of the pits I filled with JB weld. The drums are nice and smooth now and should be OK. I had to remove the final drive spider gears to pull the ring gear to repair the rust damage on the teeth. John Wilson sent me a article written by Gary S from the old weasel site. It is an excellent depiction of the removal teardown process of the weasel final drive. Currently the drive housings are all cleaned of old debris rust and oil. One thing I am doing is zinc plating all the moving parts on the outside of the final drive like the shift levers bushing etc. I will still paint them white but hopefully they wont rust when the paint inevitably chips in those areas from use. With the final drive all apart it made sense to replace the bearings so new bearings are being installed. I am deciding if I will drill a hole for a drain plug for future oil changes without having to open the case. I made a new addition to my shop equipment that I am excited about I bought a spot welder. It is made here in the USA by AIM Manufacturing in Spokane Washington . They carry all the parts for the welder so that is a plus. This welder is very unique however in the fact it gets its welding power from 4 12volt truck batteries. It can spot weld two layers of 12gauge steel so should have plenty of what it takes to handle any spot welding on the weasel body. The machine only needs 120 volt to operate so can plug into any 120 volt outlet. It has numerous tongs both large and small that are with it. It is a very robust and solid machine and as I get it set up I will test it and post the results. I have included a link to a video showing it in operation. Dan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0joJmq2v0A

John Great idea for the spring repair. D

I am wondering if anyone has riveted new steering band strips on the metal steering bands. Would like to know what type of rivets you used. Dan

I am wondering if anyone knows where I can locate the tapered seals that go around the steering band shafts 900677 on the weasel differential also the tapered seals that go around the 4 steering band bolts that are located on the differential housing. Mine just fell apart. I was thinking maybe a rubber o ring would suffice. Any thoughts?? Dan

John really nice job! Dan