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1941 Dodge WD21
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The inspiration; A T116 engineering code WD 21 one ton 133" panel truck made for the Canadian army. This is the only known example with the 1941 pattern front sheetmetal and outboard headlight position, but still with the 1939 / 40 six lug disk wheels. Two wheel drive, of course, but doesn't it look vaguely VC-ish to you? Note blackout lights and towhooks |
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The plan; Take a 1939 / 47 lwb panel truck and outfit it with a 1940 miltary driveline plus front and rear sheetmetal, bumperettes, etc STOP PRESS Yes, you're quite right - it need a half ton military WC front winch too. Need to be done sympathetically though as the front of the chassis is fairly light. and more... a set of Fairmont Hy-Rail equipment would be nice - if there's room to get it on there. |
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The Raw material - 1 A 1941 T116 panel van found in California - thanks Paul ! It had already been used as a donor vehicle, so it was missing a lot of components and would build up easily as a modified truck - no need to pull a good original apart. |
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The Raw material - 2 A genuine VC 1 Command Car chassis, cracked and rusted beyond reuse. The front axle was wrong (WC half ton) and the bumperettes and front bumper went on my VC 3, but this provided transfer case, transfer case crossmember, and look at that bent propshaft - ideal for cutting and lengthening |
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The Raw material - 3 This is my spare WC 36 Carryall chassis. It is currently under conversion to an ordinary 4 x 2 military pickup, so it wont need that special rear dropped crossmember and bumperettes which were designed to sling under the rear end of the full Carryall (or panel) body.
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The Raw material - 4 Paul Christensen also sold me a set of special 4.50 x 16 rear dual wheels for the WD21 rear axle, and the correct differential with a 4.89 ring and pinion set on to match the VC front axle. Note that every second hole has an outward-facing bevel to lock these duals together. |
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The Raw material - 5 Lee K, on the east coast of the US, kindly sold me a military VC front axle. These axles are considerably lighter than the half ton military WC axles, though of course not quite as durable. |
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The Raw material - 6 My VC 3 came with a spare cab, seen here on the back, but also with a couple of extra wheels, a spare nose, and a VF front brushguard. The extra cab went on my little pickup project, and the spare nose was marginally better than this one, so this nose, two wheels, and the spare VF brushguard are available for the WD 21 panel project.
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The Raw material - 7 A set of Fairmont Motors Hy-Rail equipment, now delivered to Paul. |
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The Raw Material - 8 Half ton WC front chassis sections from David DeWeese, complete with the special front spring shackle mounts for the winch model |
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The Raw Material - 9 a Braden model MU half ton winch, courtesy of Steve at Dallas Autos. For some reason the input shaft is on the wrong side but I can turn that. |
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The Raw Material - 10 ... and finally, if I do get the rail adapters on this thing I'll need something to tow - a Nolan single axle 2 ton TT-100-8 rail trailer from Hugh in Virginia, with the able assistance of John Heimerl who did pretty much everything to get it to me. |
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2006 Progress - ... back of the chassis now modified to accept the military fuel tank, military bumperettes and tow hook, and a set of brackets made up to mount the rear Hy Rail adapters. I might still have to mount the tow hook on a spacer to move it back a couple of inches or the towing eye on the trailer will hit the adjusters for the rail gear. The rear underpanel is from a different truck so I had to position it quite carefully - still needs a final check. |