[T24 ARN139999 Hull rebuild]

Time to fit some caster wheels to the hull

[T24 ARN139999 Hull rebuild]

The original front cross tube was beyond redemption and had to be removed. Unlike the M29C, a T24 front cross tube is welded in position which makes for an interesting time to remove it.

[T24 ARN139999 Hull rebuild]

The first tasks at hand was to remove both the Bubba engine and the scrap metal that adorned the hull.

[T24 ARN139999 Hull rebuild]

Here are some photos we have of this weasel in the early days

[T24 ARN139999 Hull rebuild]

Back in 2009 Steve and I recovered the other Australian T24 from a rubbish dump near the snowfields. Unfortunately none of the original data plates survived and the Australian Army only catalogued it as a 'Studebaker Lorry ARN13999'. This weasel belongs to Steve so I am only going to post in this topic my involvement in it which was to rebuild the hull. There are many photos and it will take time to upload the full story. This T24 had a similar fate to the T24 I wrote about in another topic. The pictures better tell the story.  The first photo shows this T24 as found

 

[Last T24 built ORD1002]

G'day All,

Here we go again. Thanks Patrick for stepping up to the plate and creating a new dedicated weasel forum that is more user friendly. I thought I would start off and post some info on a weasel that I recently recovered here in Australia. This T24 was one of only two T24 weasels imported and trialled by the Australian Military in August 1945. The weasels were deemed unsuitable for Jungle warfare (I will post a copy of the trials report later) and were quickly disposed off. The two T24's ended up on the snowfields (yes we do have a little bit of snow here in Oz:) as ski tows. When chair lifts were built, both T24's were then converted into tracked garbage recovery trucks. This particular weasel ended its days in the early 70's and sat on a property down in Victoria until discovered early last year. The owner of the other Australian T24 was contacted by the owner of this T24 after he had read the restoration blog. A deal was done and after a 2000km round trip to recover it, I have this weasel at home. I am not sure what the future of this weasel will be but the priority was to recover it so that it did not go to scrap. This weasel is the last of the T24's to be built carrying the ORD plate of 1002. Here are some photos of it. What you see is all that is left. The final drive was cannibalised for another vehicle and unfortunately nothing remains of any internal sheetmetal.  Cheers JW