New (to me) M29C

[Radiogeek99]

So at the end of April, I brought home this m29C. Been using the production info to find out what year it may be. This isn’t my first military vehicle so I was trying to find out what I could about it. There is no serial number plate or hull number, so that just makes it more interesting. Also the registration and unit numbers on it are also incorrect, they were numbers the owner put on to honor a unit he was in. I have sanded some paint and found what are most likely unit numbers from when it was in service. What I am interested in is where the registration number should be on the side on the weasel. I have seen pictures of the numbers in many positions. Is there a standard where it could be?

[Patrick Tipton]

Nice machine - congrats!

To your point, there is a lot of variability in where these vehicles were marked.  Looks like you are on the right track - taking your time and working thru the "likely" areas.

AR850-5 is the Army Markings guide...and it suggests where to mark the Weasel.  Given the colors, it looks like your vehicle was a USMC Weasel - 13th Division...which participated in the assault on Iwo Jima....and later the occupation of Japan. 

Patrick

[OZM29C]

Further to Patrick’s learned comments I have the measurements necessary to find your USA number's on the hull sides, if they are still there????Unfortunately I will be away from my PC until this weekend. 

[Radiogeek99]

 I also managed to stretch out the cover to see how it fits. It was rolled up in a ball when I bought it. Some mouse holes and the plastic windows are bad, but all there. 

[OZM29C]

@Radiogeek99 As promised, you may be able to find your Blue drab USA # using these dimensions if you open this link posted by Jim Gilmore, a learned weasel scholar;

 

 

[Radiogeek99]

So I started sanding in the area as suggested. Sanded thru a layer of OD green and a layer of red primer. Hit a layer of yellow that is so thick it is almost structural! 2 more layers of red primer and landed on a layer of green, not OD green, more like a Marine Corps green. Sanded a little too hard in one spot and hit white markings. Followed the marks around and it looks like a large hand painted 5. The 5 is in between 2 layers of the green paint. I stopped there to see if anyone has any thoughts?

[Radiogeek99]

Forgot to mention that this weasel was in service with Michigan Fish & Wildlife prior to the previous owner buying it. That may be where the yellow came from.

[Patrick Tipton]

That is cool archeology!  I also see several letters...E or F...and parts of several others.  The Marines definitely used Weasels so it is possible. I think any Marine Weasel would have come via the US Army so it still would have a registration number under there.

@Jim Gilmore will hopefully show up and add to this discussion.  He knows a lot about this stuff.

Patrick

 

[OZM29C]

@Radiogeek99👍Keep going, this dig is becoming more interesting every post. I have in the past used a sharpee to outline what I have uncovered.

This can make it easier to decipher the exposed text.

I have attached two photos from my weasel to best illustrate this.

[Radiogeek99]

Thanks for the advice, I do the same thing with markers, (see post above). I do enjoy finding as much history as I can about the vehicles I have. I bring them out to a lot of events and it's interesting when veterans come up and start telling stories about when they drove or rode in a similar vehicle. They also enjoy hearing the history of the vehicles.

[Radiogeek99]

So I kept sanding and found a 7 in front of the 5. Nothing in front of the 7. Sanding beyond the 5 I found “USA”. I found nothing below the USA, but to the right where there might have been numbers it looks like there are 3 layers of paint missing. Like someone before the yellow paint sanded an area about the size of the numbers down to bare metal. Quite a set back, but I will check the other side now that I know where they should be. I was hoping to at least find the registration number as all the tags are gone.

[Radiogeek99]

No joy on the right side either. Same thing, where the numbers should be it is sanded to bare metal. Even on the front where there may have been unit numbers. It’s like it has been erased from history, how sad. Well I am going to clean up the sides and front where I sanded and give her a coat of paint. At least I can put the stars back on.

[Jim Gilmore]

All Studebaker Weasels that were not painted white w/ black camo were delivered in Lusterless Olive Drab paint . No Weasels were delivered in MC Green and all would have had US Army Registration numbers in Blue Drab paint. Upon delivery to the USMC most were used by them in the as-delivered OD. Some were repainted in MC green but most Marine Weasels in combat areas were painted in a camouflage scheme . These were brush painted by hand.

All Weasels painted white w/ black camo had the US Registration number painted on the bulkhead behind the driver's seat in gray paint when delivered.

Sometimes you will find Weasels in OD that had their Reg. number painted behind the driver as well.

Here is a photo of Kevin Hess's M29C that had the number painted there.

RG99.....Try sanding this area on your vehicle to see if there is anything painted there.

If you can send me your Motor number from the side of the block I can check my list to see if I can get you close to a date for it.

 

OZ man...thank you for the credit for my "finding the numbers" post from long ago...greatly appreciated!

Jim Gilmore

Jim Thorpe, PA

jgilmore@ptd.net

[Jim Gilmore]

 

Here is an example of USMC camo .....Other photo is of the colors that  were used on the USMC camo........photo from when I was working on the Movie "Flags of our Fathers" in Iceland....right before they blew me up....!! Objects on the front of the LVT were explosive charges.

[Radiogeek99]

So the engine number is 13753. Let’s see what that leads to. @Jim Gilmore

[Radiogeek99]

Haven’t had a chance to sand behind the drivers seat, just too hot in the barn today.

[Jim Gilmore]

If your motor number is T-24 13753 then this is the M29C previously owned by T. Welshans in Illinois.

Looking at my Weasel number database I have a listing for a M29C with a motor number of 13758, Hull # M29C-6535, Serial/ORD  # unknown.

Comparing that to known Hull/Serial numbers your Serial/ORD number would be between 1098? to 1100? ( ? = unknown number )

USA # would be around 401954?? .

 

Jim Gilmore

Jim Thorpe, PA

jgilmore@ptd.net

 

[Radiogeek99]

Thanks a lot! I did buy it from his estate. I am happy to have some more info on the weasel. I will sand behind the seat, and if I find any info I will report back.

[Radiogeek99]

Oh well, nothing behind the seat either. Sanded down to original paint, but no numbers. 

[Jim Gilmore]

Don't stop looking for the numbers......some Weasels repainted postwar had the numbers here .

It looks like you were using a DA sander on this...if so...don't. Too easy to go right through the numbers if there.....use a hand sanding block.

If you look at the close up of the photo you posted you can see some letters and numbers....there is a E , and a 1 or I

 and to the right of that what looks like an U followed by an S.....?

The "75" on the side looks like a lot number from the Govt. auction where it was sold.

Jim Gilmore

Jim Thorpe, PA

jgilmore@ptd.net

[F-D Zernia]

That sanding slow by hand is no joke. I accidentally found lettering on the front drivers side and thought I was sanding right with a block. The metal is not flat so high spots get erased before the entire letter is exposed. I have not sanded any more for over a year now to think of a new method. I was thinking of a piece of sandpaper on a pencil eraser after a letter first appeared  I hope the other side has the same markings  
Fred

[Radiogeek99]

So the scratches in the paint are in the paint. I did not use a sander, I was using 400 grit paper. This weasel has a lot of layers of paint. Starting at the top is a coat of OD green, then red primer, then a thick coat of yellow enamel followed by more red primer, then a coat of orange enamel, then the original OD paint and primer. The 75 that I found and the “USA” was under the orange paint. Those other letters were on the orange paint and mostly sanded off. Where the registration numbers could have been, next to the “USA” or under it was completely sanded down to bare metal under the yellow. So when this unit went into state service, or at one point when they painted the yellow over the orange, the numbers were sanded off. I sanded the entire side to see if there were any other markings, the front and back where there might have been unit numbers, was also sanded to bare metal. I don’t know why they sanded the numbers off, I have found numbers under layers of paint on every other military vehicle that I have owned. Even now, the military just paints over the numbers when they dispose of a vehicle.