[UST-24-50 Hull Repairs]

I referenced a weasel hull that was 'Skinned' in another thread so here is the story of this T24's hull repairs. This weasel is owned by a friend of mine and I did an 'Econo' job on the hull repairs for him. In the end the final repairs turned out a lot better than I expected. The material I chose to use was 1.5mm Zinc annealed mild steel sheet. No spot welding, just plug welds. Here are some before shots of the hull. It was in a sad state to begin with. This weasel came from Daryl Besinger https://www.dlbensinger.com/ back in 2000 Note the early Hull number UST-24-50

[1943 T-24 Restoration Thread]

Patrick, BZ on your efforts to rein in the corrosion and panel damage. 👍👍 Just an observation here is that I have noticed that the sides of the T24 hull appear to be a lot straighter out of the factory as compared to an M29C ????

I repaired a T24 hull that had (at a guess) in the past been through a post war rebuild programme and the solution to repair damage and corrosion to that side was to 'Skin' it.

[Your Numbers Wanted !!]

Jim, I don't think I have sent you this one in the past. This weasel is located here in Oz. No hull tag, but Letterkenny ORD plate. This weasel was recovered from Antarctica.

[Weasels Used by USMC and USN]

I have got only the two photos of USN weasels but unfortunately they are postwar. I will post them anyway for reference.

[M29C Front Float Tank Repairs]

Just got home from a 1500km round trip to pick up my track aprons and front float tank. My panel beater offsider has worked his magic on them and now they look a million dollars. Next job is to rub them down and get some OD on them.

[Transmission Overhaul]

When I rebuilt my weasel T84 transmission I incorporated a few modifications that I hope will help to extend the life of this transmission. I fitted high capacity bearings front and rear. I substituted the pilot rollers between the main drive gear and the main shaft with a bronze floating bush. I fitted an oil seal to the front bearing retainer cap in lieu of the cork seal and then fitted viton o rings retained by nylon collars to the selector shafts. I posted previously about using a generic metric seal for the transmission output shaft. I was unable to source a weasel cluster gear so I have fitted a standard MB/GPW Jeep cluster gear. I machined a thicker thrust washer to compensate for the difference in the overall length between the two cluster gears. The Weasel cluster gear is the longer of the two. I also fitted new synchro blocking rings and a selector shaft detent ball assembly. The true test of my work will come later this year. Cheers. JW

[Rebuilding seat back hold down latches.]

Jesse, this company over your way has a large inventory of springs to search through.

https://www.centuryspring.com/

 

[Finding Your USA Numbers]

Jim's advice is absolutely spot on, my photo shows the 'USA' uncovered on my weasel hull using the location dimensions provided by Jim 👍👍

[M29 WW2 Olive Drab Color]

[M29 WW2 Olive Drab Color]

Dan, rather than the 3M product, why not use the OEM Alumilastic that is readily available over your way?

[M29 WW2 Olive Drab Color]

Dan, I am not an authority on what shade of OD paint a weasel rolled off the production line with but here are some happy snaps of the Gillespie version of OD. There may be a paint code on the can that your paint store can use?????

[Long Lost Floater Weasel]

Interesting to see that it was fitted with the Engine heater kit. There is a trailer load of weasel jewellery that can be removed from that Hull. I did the same thing to an Amphibious Jeep many years ago and I remember that an Axe and Oxy/Acetylene cutting torch made the parts removal job easy. Shame that weasel has already been cannibalised as I am cruising Alaska next year and I was trying to work out how I could get this weasel back onboard without attracting too much attention😀😀 😀

[Return Roller Modification]

I was outbid on Fleabay years ago for a set of these return roller plates pictured below. I have not seen these plates come up again for sale.  Was this a modification that was planned but not implemented due to the War ending? Can anyone share any info on this mod?

[M29C Floater Splash Shield Hold Downs]

The retainers are indeed different. First photo shows the surfshield hold down. Note the 90 degree bend and the second link photo shows a seat hold down, straight shaft; https://www.ebay.com/itm/SEAT-BACK-HOLD-DOWN-M29-M29C-WEASEL-NOS-REPLACEMENT/233002853403?hash=item36400d641b:g:h58AAOSw8Etdi3RT

[Weasel Wiper and accessory sockets]

I can vouch that the wiring sockets are spot on. Rob sent my set over to Vintage wiring of Maine where they were incorporated into my weasel wiring harness.

[Bogey Seals and Bearings]

You only have two options for Bogey seals. Find a supplier of NOS seals that are getting harder to find and more expensive nowadays or use the CR (now SKF) 12391 seal.

https://www.skf.com/au/products/industrial-seals/power-transmission-seals/radial-shaft-seals/productid-12391

 

[Stencils, Hull tags and ORD plates]

Fortunately I found my USA number on the hull side which helped identify my weasel. Apart from the USA number, all other data plates and hull tags etc were missing. On the old weasel forum I posted my USA number and was surprised to find that Jim Gilmore had the sister to my weasel. That gave me the ORD number for mine and I had to take a guesstimate on my Hull tag. As my weasel was a Letterkenny rebuild I opted to use a NOS post war ORD plate and I had Robert at Data Plates 4 U https://dataplates4u.com/ make a replacement Hull tag. I also had my stencils made by this company in the UK. https://www.axholmesigns.co.uk/

 

 

Weasel Stencils - Final draft.pdf

[M29C 7333 Rear Float Tank Repairs]

The rear float tank has been finished off by a professional panel beater and is now in primer ready for a final coat of paint.

[M29C 7333 Rear Float Tank Repairs]

I also had to replace the rear of the tank in its entirety. I could not resist test fitting my NOS rudders.

[M29C 7333 Rear Float Tank Repairs]

I then cutout, rolled and fitted/welded more patch panels into the tank.

[Replacement seal for transmission out shaft]

53 minutes ago, Jeff Jensen said:

What is the OD. and width of that  A-307453 seal, Is it 2.457 inch. Is the shaft size 1.562 inch

Jeff

I don't have the old seal anymore to measure the OD but the shaft is 38.1mm

[M29C 7333 Rear Float Tank Repairs]

I then set about repairing the corroded hull/tank mounting sections

[M29C 7333 Rear Float Tank Repairs]

I then fabricated a new lower section for the tank. I used zinc annealed mild steel sheet to help preserve the interior of the tank.

[M29C 7333 Rear Float Tank Repairs]

The following photographs and comments describe how I repaired the rear float tank. I started work on this tank in June 2014 and finally finished the job in 2018.

The first job was to cut out all of the rusted sections of sheet metal.

[Replacement seal for transmission out shaft]

When I rebuilt my weasel T84 transmission I was unable to find a replacement seal for the transmission output shaft. I decided to modify the transmission to accept a generic off the shelf common metric Viton oil seal. In the time since I did the modification a fellow Aussi ex pat now living in the US of A found a replacement OEM style seal. Here is a copy of his post from the G503 forum;

The seal is used in the 1939-1947 Studebaker overdrive unit.
Nobody lists this seal as a transmission seal
Studebakerparts.com carry this seal in stock
Their part number
198975 Or GRS020
Same seal
Different areas on their website use the different numbers
Seals are $20.00 each
Seal is excellent quality and their service is excellent
Hope this helps