DonM

One question we have is do you guys have suggestions about how to recreate that “bend” in what looks like a stamped section of the hull lower side. Where the bend is under that forward most hat channel.

It's been awhile since our last update but we have been making progress. We've done a lot of patching on the lower right side hull especially on the corners of the bottom edge. We have also installed the "J" channel and blind nuts on the right side. We have also started fitting the floor and trimming as needed. Hopefully will start welding this weekend.

What did you do for coolant on your test stand?

Opened up the unit and I think it is in great shape. One of the drums has absolutely no ridges and the other has barely noticeable ridges. My only concern is some minor pitting which may be a result of from a small amount of water in the case. The brake bands looked almost brand new to me. My guess is it was not used much since its last maintenance.

Fun in the shop today…..started diving into the final drive unit. Looking over the housing we noted a casting number and a tag. See photo. Don’t know if there is anything meaningful there. There is also a tag from what I assume is a repair shop in Lyon, France dated exactly 67 years ago. See photo.

As an aside, Patrick as an aviator might appreciate this. I’m doing my work on a shop stool from the Curtiss-Wright plant in Buffalo. It’s where the famous P-40 and C-46 aircraft were built during the war when the Weasel was being built in Southbend.

Work on the hull is progressing a bit slowly due to other pressing issues but we are making progress and gaining experience. We have pretty much patched all the holes in the aft end. Small fender washers worked well for filling the large round holes after I soaked them in vinegar overnight to get the zinc plating off of them. The first photo shows the aft end prior to patching with a very large cutout and numerous holes from rivets and who knows what else. The second photo shows our progress with just a couple holes remaining. It looks funky as we haven't polished the grind marks yet but it is quite smooth. We're getting much more comfortable with welding. Not pro by any means but not bad. We also have some radiator support hat channels coming from Alexander in Norway. We'll be getting started on the floor soon. We also checked in with the shop working on the engine. So far things look good. They "hot tanked" the block and it cleaned up good. See photo. They will magnaflux the block, cam, and crank as well as inspect the rod bearings which are babbit. Hopefully they are ok. As soon as they get me the tolerances I'll order the overhaul kit. It may be awhile as they are quite busy. They've got engines from everything there from tractors to boats to locomotives.

Looking around my barn, I think #10 flat washers might work.

Quick update.....gaining proficiency with the MIG. Filling and patching holes at rear of the hull. Filled 31 small holes and and patched a massive 12" x 9" cut-out. Still need to polish the welds up but it's working out great! Now there are larger four 1/2" diameter holes (for who knows what) that need to be filled. What is the best way to fill them? Should we try to fill with weld material or weld in little patches? I thought about patching in slices from a 1/2" bolt but maybe that's dumb. Also I want to thank Patrick for the excellent recent ShopTime videos about the drive unit differential. I feel a lot less intimidated about digging into ours as we wait for the engine to come back from the shop. It is interesting to note that our drive unit case has a tag from a repair shop in Lyon, France.

Quick update…..we picked up the metal for the right side floor and hat channels. We will start our welding small, patching holes and cut-outs using some smaller sheet stock to get proficient before going big.

Just a quick update…. Things are really starting to move! The engine is the shop now (Caledonia Diesel) for cleaning and inspection and magnefluxing. Initial assessment is pretty good. They’re pretty backed up getting farm equipment ready for spring so it may take a few months before we get it back. Exciting nevertheless! Generator and starter are in a shop for cleaning and repair as needed. Metal for floor and hat channels should be ready next week so we’ll get started with welding. Thanks again guys for all your support and advice!

Thanks OZ and Pat, will make sure to margin my dimensions. Getting ready to go to the shop soon. Sounds like they can turn things around in a couple days. They figure about $400 to do the right side floor and hat channels. Now looking at the hat channel cross sections I have attached a sketch of what I measured. Are these consistent with what you have seen?

Getting ready to order metal for the right side floor. We removed a full length section with a cut up the side of the hull 3.25" and down the inside wall 1". Question is when ordering the metal should I specify the exact dimensions or add an extra 1/8" or so on each edge for margin to trim off later to allow for variation in the cut lines? I think the cuts are pretty good so may be not. How big a gap can we reasonably deal with using a MIG unit?

Also sad to say that I got a bit too aggressive removing the crank pulley😢 Looks like cast iron…..is it possible to repair or should I look for a replacement?

Here are photos of the rod bearings with the “pits”. Interesting to note that the defects are all on the rod side of the bearing. The cap sides were all ok.

Correction….episode 193. I’m glad I didn’t have any broken head bolts!

Thanks Patrick, I’ll post pictures. I look forward to the video. I watched episode #194 (I think) with great interest. I’m anxious to see what you did prior to taking the engine to the shop!

Thanks OZ and M29C for your insights and suggestions. I think M29C might be right as I measured the bores and they were all 3.000 (+0.003 -0.000) as far as my cheap mic could tell so basically at factory. Keeping in mind my micrometer can only measure at the top of the bore and not below any ridge that may be there. I'll keep looking for stampings as I clean up the block. Regarding the rod bearings, they are babbit type. Some have some "pits" in the bearing surface. Are these fatal to the bearing? If new rods are needed, my question is if I order new rods with the 2 piece bearing inserts from the Studebaker parts place, will they be compatible with my original cast iron pistons? Thanks OZ for the suggestion about the seals, I also see the Studebaker parts site has the AL camshaft gear you mentioned some time ago.

Engine teardown progressing well. Got it free and turning……it’s a beautiful thing! Found some stampings at the top of the block which may indicate prior work maybe reboring. The numbers were next to each cylinder 0 0 05 1 05 05 maybe these are rebore numbers ie 05 = 0.050? if so the “1” would be 0.100? That seems big to me for rebore.

More tear down today. Couple of stuck pistons but they came out eventually. Most of the valves are pretty stuck. Other than that, everything looks quite good. Again no signs of breakage and only minor corrosion. I’m guessing this engine had a relatively easy life. (Not so much the hull) Did not find any date stamps by the exhaust ports. They probably added that in later production units.

Dropped the pan and we were very happy to see just dirty oil but not a hint of water or debris. No obvious signs of damage to the crank or block upon cursory inspection. Will have better assessment tomorrow. Have a shop lined up to magnaflux and dress up the block, crank and cam shafts. Tried to locate date stamps on exhaust port but nothing so far….more cleaning will tell!

Starting our engine tear down. The stamped SN is T-24 815 the casting number is 194322-4 A there is also a riveted tag with W 9 9 The serial number is pretty low so I assume the casting was made in 1943. Is there any other information I can extract from these numbers?

This is great……very similar to our situation. Still need to clean up, measure and get metal. Very inspiring!

Merry Christmas! Thanks for all your advice!