M29

Thanks Pat for the compliment. Next comes the engine painting and reassembly stay tuned. Dan

Hello I believe the first step if one desires to produce original looking weasel tracks for the masses is just do it and bear the upfront cost like the guys from Prague did. They even tested them you can see them doing it on youtube. Conveyor tracks are laborious to put together but really not complicated. Most that do them never address the road pad issue though. Bad road pads means broken pads and other wear issues. In my view a conveyor track with original pads really looks good get the road pad issue resolved and your good. Just my 2 cents! DW

Here is a picture of the rubber strips sandwiched in wood In my previous post I did not mention the rubber thickness of the return rollers which is 1/8th inch with 1/4" being the thickness of the idler sprocket rubber. Dan

Hello Everyone The last week has been an adventure into rubber replacement on the T15 guide rollers, front sprockets and rear idler wheels. Here is a description of the process I used to accomplish this After learning that having my wheels vulcanized was going to cost around 1400.00 and I not wanting to spend that amount of money my only other options were to recast with urethane which I am sure is a good way of doing it or make up continuous rubber bands and apply them over my rollers sprockets and idlers. Due to the high cost of vulcanizing and time consumption of making molds etc for urethane I decided to try the reband route. For anyone wishing to try this I have outlined my way of doing it. The process began with finding an adhesive that would do the job. My local rubber supplier uses Rema Tip Top for their rubber bonding applications. Also the rubber vulcanizer here I had talked to on vulcanizing told me that Rema SC 4000 is the gold standard of adhesives for bonding rubber to metal Rema SC4000 was recommended. I also looked into Lord adhesives as well and was advised by Lord to consider Chemlok CB 203A/B available from McMaster Carr. Although Rema SC4000 is used for rubber to rubber bonding in addition to rubber to metal bonding. I did not use it for bonding the bands together at the ends for that part of the process instead I chose Q Bond a powerful grab super glue. I watched videos of its uses on Youtube and was impressed and did some tests and found it to work incredibly well. My wheels had already been previously sandblasted to near white and painted snow white. ( I recommend doing your painting first before gluing) The area that the rubber was to go was masked off leaving only the clean sandblasted portion. Rema makes a special primer for the bare metal that they want used for the rubber to metal bonding process so I purchased it as well as a quart of the cement with hardener. Cost for the Rema products was 130.00 plus the Q bond (I bought the large kit which was way more than needed)40.00. 80 durometer rubber in 1/4" thickness for sprockets Idlers and guide rollers was 60.00 so I was into all of it for around 230.00. A very important part of bonding the ends together is that the joints are cut very square and are very clean Toluene was advised as a cleaner solvent. Cutting the rubber and getting very nice square end joints is key to a good result. For this process I decided to use my chop saw to make the cuts. This required sandwiching the rubber between wood strips that were brad nailed tightly together. I not only had to cut the rubber pieces to length I had to cut various widths lengthwise as well. In addition to that the T15 idlers/sprockets have a radius on their metal outside edge and to abut a square cut strip against it would cause to much of a gap between the edge and the rubber strip for my liking. To deal with the radius meant the rubber would have to have a radius cut it into it the full length.This required the use of a wood router with radius bit to closely match the metal radius. Sandwiching the rubber between wood strips allowed for all cuts on the rubber to be done precisely both with the router, table saw and chop saw . Once you try cutting rubber with wood tools you will understand the purpose of the wood/rubber sandwich. In previous trial runs planning this reband project i experimented with different ways of wrapping the rubber around the wheels and ending up with a tight almost hidden joint. I tried wrapping the rubber around the wheels but found pulling the rubber tight with adhesive already in place was impossible and made you have to leave the rubber long and then cut the joint with a razor knife with crud results. Further the T15 rear idler wheel also has rivet heads from the spokes that even though they are low profile still stick up above the surface so that further complicated things. Therefore I decided the best way to get the best result was to stretch the continuous rubber band tightly around the wheel. Since the weasel sprockets with the raised outer lip are a larger OD than the flat portion that the rubber wraps around I made the rubber bands about 3/4 of an inch shorter than the measured circumference of the wheels. Stretching the rubber around the guide wheels was not easy to do once glue was applied to the rubber bands and the metal wheels. The first attempt was a disaster. The rubber has a very quick grab to it so if any of the rubber touched the metal it was not going to let go. The trick I found to resolve this problem was to first stretch the rubber band fully around the wheel dry with before applying adhesive, then roll the edge of the rubber down around the radius of the wheel so half the metal of the wheel was exposed then apply the glue to the metal and the rubber at the same time and immediately roll the lip back into place with the tip of a small screwdriver without touching the adhesive. This was then repeated on the other half of the wheel. Another thing to do is make sure before you do this that your bonded joint is very good because if it breaks while the glue is on the wheel and the rubber it could cause quite a mess to clean up The larger bands were easier to install. I found it best to fully cover both the wheel metal and rubber with the adhesive first then quickly place the rubber band with the joint portion first onto the wheel and let the glue immediately grab and hold the joint while stretching the rubber with two large screwdrivers around the ring of the wheel just like stretching a tire onto a rim. n conclusion only time will tell how good this method works. After a day or two allowing adhesives to fully cure the rubber feels very sold. The joint a tight so all should be well. Below are a series of pictures that show the process. I could not take pictures at the time of applying the glue since I work by myself so sorry about that. Dan

Hi Scott Alaska The last frontier for weasel parts.

Between suspension repairs I removed the engine and transmission. I dismantled the engine. It looked really bad when first opened. Number one piston cylinder had the most damage to the cylinder wall. I took the engine to a local machine shop and had the block bored. Crankshaft was ok as well as connecting rod bearings which turned out to be babbit type. Engine was bored to 0.60 over. Valve seats were reground and valve guides replaced. Miraculously the engine block had no cracks from ice forming internally over the years from all the water collecting in the block.

The next project was restoration of the bogey assemblies. This part of the project involved dismantling the springs sandblasting and painting. The carriers were badly worn and sloppy and required boring and new bushings. The Bogie wheels were replaced with NOS wheels.

My T15 arrived from Alaska in July of this year. The first project in the restoration was the tracks. I cleaned up the old rubber original bands and added new conveyor belting to the outer edges of the track pads. This added much stability to the track.

My name is Dan Walsh and I am starting the restoration of a Studebaker T15 weasel. I will post pictures of my restoration as it progresses here on the site. A brief history about my T15 and how I acquired it. I first discovered the T15 in the early 1970's in Nome Alaska at an old remote mining site. While at the old mine I saw several weasels in different states of repair. there was an M29 and also a T24. Several M7 snow tractors were there as well. As I looked around at all the old equipment I noticed a strange looking track vehicle one like no other I had ever seen before. It was parked in a row of old broken down dodge trucks. It appeared to be in good shape other than some of the bogie wheels had been removed and were laying on the ground next to it. The body was in reasonably nice condition. I remember thinking how odd it looked with the strange looking V shaped bogey wheels. As I continued looking at it I thought about how nice it would be to get it running again. I wondered if the owner would sell it? Later when talking to the owner I asked him what kind of vehicle it was? He informed me it was a T15 Studebaker weasel and that it was his favorite of all the weasels he owned. He said it would pull a sled with cargo in the winter better than his other weasels. He said it was in need of suspension parts and that he hoped to get it going again "one of these days". I thought to myself about how long it had been sitting there broken down and imagined at least 10 to 15 years. In the summer of 2015 I had gone to Nome Alaska as I usually do each year to visit and do upkeep on my property there. While there I decided to take a trip out to revisit the old mine site to have a look around and see what was left of all the old military trucks and weasels I knew were still there. I also had heard that the new owner wanted to clean up the site and get rid of the old vehicles. When I got to the old mine site It was eye opening to see how much damage the years of sitting out in the open air had done to the old vehicles. The T15 now had huge holes rusted through the body around the engine and radiator area. The engine being exposed after many years of sitting outside was a mass of rust. The windshield had been shot at and now had two large bullet holes through it. Miraculously the large headlight had been spared. I decided then that I would try and make a deal with the new owner of the site to purchase the T15 and the other weasels an M29 and a T24. I was glad that the new owner was willing to sell them. The M29 and T24 were so badly rusted they were beyond repair and that stripping them of any salvageable parts was all I could do. The M7 snow tractors were long gone. Since the site was remote and across a river that could only be crossed by vehicles at certain times of the year while the water was low enough and was not frozen, time was of the essence to get the items removed before the river froze up as it was now late September. After a couple weeks of work all the items I had purchased including the T15 were removed. In 2020 I shipped the T15 out of Alaska to Washington. My plan to rebuild the T15 will be to start with rebuilding the engine and suspension parts first. Then move to wiring harness gauges, windshield etc.All peripheral items will be repaired, repainted before the body work will begin.

Darn!

I"m sure you will find out as you tear into it Dan

Hi Larry Holes are approx 3/16ths or 0.176 square. Looks more like a square screen not expanded metal. Larry does your T15 have the diluter tank on it? Mine does not have it and would like to get some pictures to show the detail both in and out so I can look into fabricating one. dan

Does anyone have a NOS thermostat with the spacer that you would sell. Let me know Dan

Hi Everyone I am working on restoring my T15 weasel. I am missing a few parts that I would like to acquire one being the oil diluter canister that mounts on the top of the engine. Does anyone know anything about this part what it was used for etc. If anyone has one they would sell please let me know.. If anyone can provide a detailed picture and some measurements I might be able to remake one. Any help would be appreciated. Dan

sorry larry did not know you were in Canada

Larry I just looked on ebay there is one for sale NOS for 125 + 20 shipping

Hi Larry sorry for taking so long to get those measurements for you on the front gun mount. I took some pictures with some measurements hopefully they help you out

looks kind of bastardized. maybe if you grind some flats on the edges of the tapered part you ca get a better grip with the pipe wrench. the whole thing looks very odd.

Hi Larry I do have both mounts. I have a muffler I got from Dave Yamulla. He has a supply of them. http://www.militaryvehiclesupply.net/ I will get you the measurements. I do have a muffler guard and can make so measurements as well. Dan

Hi Larry The large hole is for the Trippe Speedlight headlight. The hole around it and toward the rear are for the light wires. The two odd looking holes toward the front I am not sure about. I will check tomorrow and let you know Dan

nice to see you on the site laurent

Looking forward to seeing it completed Dan

Call Accurite at 559 292 6933 ask them about them. Dan

Hi Larry The spacing's where they bolt to the pads are 1" off 1/2 " each side. That does not mean it can't be done but will take more effort. Guides would be affected as well. I looked at your belt installation. A couple suggestions I would make is you try to keep your track as straight as possible when bolting on the belt. I used fender washers once on a weasel track to bolt on the belting. The problem I had was they were so thin they would cup when tightening them and then later after use come loose. Not sure from the pictures if those are fender washers. A good gardening pad (looks like you have one) or knee pads will go along way to helping your knees. Figure many hours drilling way slower than plasma piercing. Those plates are super hard and are very hard to drill. The way I did mine was as follows I pierced all the track plates first using a 3/16 plate X 3ft long hole jig. I would place the plasma tip into the hole a hit the switch and the hole would just about be perfect a couple more quick piercings and a 1/4" bolt fit almost perfect. After all holes were in plates I built a wood fixture the length of the track with cross members notched for the center guides. This kept the track straight.. I flipped the track over so the tack pad cleats were up ,you can see this in my previous post. I then cut 3/8" thick Mdf the same width of the belt 3" and inserted it under the pads just as if it were the belting. Keeping it tight against the inner bands rivet mounts. I then used a 1/4" forstner bit to drill the holes in the mdf strips. This was done by drilling down through the plasma holes in the pads The mdf strips were 8 ft long and were inserted the full length of the track just like the belt would be. When these holes were drilled they were an exact copy of the holes in the pads. Now these holes are 1/4" and a belt punch is like 25/64ths so I drilled the holes larger so the belt hole drill would fit snug in the hole . Then I removed the track from the wood mount and rolled out my 3" wide belt. on the wood mount I then placed the wood strips on top of the belt keeping the inner edge of the mdf template and the belt flush ,this will be the side that goes against the inner band rivets. I then used a brad nailer to nail both together so there would be no movement of the two parts Important!! Make sure you don''t wind up with your belt joint in the same place you band is cut. I spaced my joints about 4 pads away from the band cut. You need to leave your belt long beyond the end of your track or you will have both joints match which you don't want. In my previous posts I have pictures of the system I used. Dan

Hi Everyone I thought I would post a picture of one of my completed T15 tracks and one being finished. The additional bands on the outer parts of the track have made the track much more stable than original. Dan