Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car - Project

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timsresort
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Re: Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car - Project

Post by timsresort » Sat Apr 01, 2017 6:44 pm

I have never been asked about a license light on any of my vehicles in CA, so Zeph's probably good to go. Liking the new plate location, the tag holder might actually fit on the lower right corner. Nice plates, too.
41 WC-16
41 Lavine Gear !-ton trailer
51 M37
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zepher11
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Re: Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car - Project

Post by zepher11 » Sat Apr 01, 2017 8:19 pm

Mark in Tucson wrote:Does Cali require a license plate light?
To get my stuff thru DMV here in AZ, I had to have one.
timsresort wrote:I have never been asked about a license light on any of my vehicles in CA, so Zeph's probably good to go. Liking the new plate location, the tag holder might actually fit on the lower right corner. Nice plates, too.
I think California is pretty good in allowing vintage vehicles to retain their look and original equipment. Other than they want to make sure they get paid annually for the month and year tag.
Zeph

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'41 Dodge WC16 Restoration Thread: CLICK HERE!

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Re: Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car - Project

Post by zepher11 » Sat Apr 01, 2017 8:43 pm

With the temp almost hitting 90 degrees today, I took the time to paint and blast some parts. It was a nice break from the constant rain, but not acclimated to the heat yet. Anyhoo, dinked around with the horn today:

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Ended up spending a few hours getting the darn thing to work. Finally pulled the horn button. Hmmm...look odd to anyone? Well, let's just say that metal conducts better than plastic. I used the Dremil tool and ground off and down the plastic to make an actual connection. Wasted a lot of time:

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Next, I made some preliminary measurements for the whatever I will need to do to make the rear door fit. The bow cast piece that has the hole for the upper door hinge is about 1.5" out of where it should be on the driver's side. The passenger side is about 1" off. Doesn't surprise me that it is off as almost everything on this rig has been off and needed modification. Not sure what type of extension I will build. Hopefully, I can get some time to work on it tomorrow. I would have had my doors done by now if it was like it should be, but not sure at this time what to do:

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Then with the weather blasted some items for primer and paint:

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Finished up the front plate mounting:

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As well as the rear plate. I made up some tabs for the month and year DMV tags and welded them to the bottom of the rear plate frame:

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Lastly, I scored a second hood prop and installed that. Although the half-tons didn't come with them, they sure are handy:

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Zeph

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'41 Dodge WC16 Restoration Thread: CLICK HERE!

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Re: Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car - Project

Post by superdave » Sat Apr 01, 2017 8:51 pm

Looking really good, Any chance of getting a ride in it at Petaluma :D i hope that the sun gods will be there.

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Re: Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car - Project

Post by zepher11 » Sun Apr 02, 2017 6:07 am

superdave wrote:Looking really good, Any chance of getting a ride in it at Petaluma :D i hope that the sun gods will be there.
Hey Dave,

Sure, no problem. I'm with you in hoping the sun gods will visit us down there. Last couple of years have had epic rain at Tower Park.

I'll see you down there.
Zeph

'42 Script GPW Restoration Thread: CLICK HERE!

'41 Dodge WC16 Restoration Thread: CLICK HERE!

timsresort
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Re: Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car - Project

Post by timsresort » Mon Apr 03, 2017 8:28 pm

Think positive on the ( we're not mentioning the R-word.) We can figure the door alignment problem out down there. Sure you're not parked on a hill?
41 WC-16
41 Lavine Gear !-ton trailer
51 M37
53 CJ3B
65 CJ5A
(2) 67 CJ5
46 Bantam T3-C #2376
67 M416
68 M274A5
MVPA #20343

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Re: Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car - Project

Post by zepher11 » Tue Apr 04, 2017 6:23 am

timsresort wrote:Think positive on the ( we're not mentioning the R-word.) We can figure the door alignment problem out down there. Sure you're not parked on a hill?
I'll bring the doors down and check for fit with your and the other other half-ton command cars down there before I do anything drastic. Pretty level in the garage. Plus if I install the rear door, the rear section of the door tilts upwards due to the upper cast part of the hinge being forward of the lower hinge mount. This tilt lifts the the catch plate on the door above the door catches. It may just be something simple I'm missing. Wouldn't be the first time...
Zeph

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'41 Dodge WC16 Restoration Thread: CLICK HERE!

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Re: Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car - Project

Post by zepher11 » Sun Apr 09, 2017 5:52 pm

Well, the glass shop came through and only charged me $100 to remove and replace the windshield glass. I thought that was pretty reasonable. They met me half way which is cool. I had to rework the weather stripping a bit as they had to cut it to R&R:

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With a break in the rain, I drove it out to the front yard for a quick photo. We have a short window of green grass around here before it's scorched by the heat:

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Zeph

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'41 Dodge WC16 Restoration Thread: CLICK HERE!

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Re: Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car - Project

Post by superdave » Sun Apr 09, 2017 9:00 pm

Very very nice, Love it when you are at the end of a project and can enjoy the fruits of your labor. Will be nice to see it up close and personal, just over a week away :D

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Re: Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car - Project

Post by zepher11 » Mon Apr 10, 2017 6:55 pm

superdave wrote:Very very nice, Love it when you are at the end of a project and can enjoy the fruits of your labor. Will be nice to see it up close and personal, just over a week away :D
Thanks Dave. Yes, hard to believe that the show is just over a week away now. See you down there!
Zeph

'42 Script GPW Restoration Thread: CLICK HERE!

'41 Dodge WC16 Restoration Thread: CLICK HERE!

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Re: Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car - Project

Post by Dozerman51 » Wed Apr 12, 2017 8:33 pm

Beautiful job Zepher. I like the way you mounted the hood props on the front end of the radiator support rods. I did the same thing on my WC-12. By locating them there both hood 1/2's are higher in the air than if mounted to the rear of the RSR's. Much more room to service the engine. Say, are you going to install the front lower and upper brake hose support springs? It really finishes off the front of the truck with those. Again, great job on the restoration. Say, if you want to get a bit more speed out of the CC, I know where a set of post-war 8-3/4" 4.30 ratio third members are which could be for sale.

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Re: Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car - Project

Post by zepher11 » Thu Apr 13, 2017 5:55 pm

Dozerman51 wrote:Beautiful job Zepher. I like the way you mounted the hood props on the front end of the radiator support rods. I did the same thing on my WC-12. By locating them there both hood 1/2's are higher in the air than if mounted to the rear of the RSR's. Much more room to service the engine. Say, are you going to install the front lower and upper brake hose support springs? It really finishes off the front of the truck with those. Again, great job on the restoration. Say, if you want to get a bit more speed out of the CC, I know where a set of post-war 8-3/4" 4.30 ratio third members are which could be for sale.
Thanks Man! I have the lower brake hose springs and clips installed, but I only have one clip for the uppers. I just shot a photo of the one I have to see if anyone has an extra. Do you have any extras?:
Brake Line Clip.JPG
Brake Line Clip.JPG (101.23 KiB) Viewed 2461 times
I hadn't thought about the gears as I really haven't had the opportunity to really drive this at any speed yet. I almost drove it down to the store a few miles away last weekend and then I remembered I didn't have it insured yet! Just insured it today. I was optimistic and told them $25,000 for the value to get full coverage. $250 deductible and $58 a year premium to insure. A bit higher premium than my other WWII rigs, but I did tell them I would drive this one a lot more than the others. So I can see why.

Thanks again!
Zeph

'42 Script GPW Restoration Thread: CLICK HERE!

'41 Dodge WC16 Restoration Thread: CLICK HERE!

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Re: Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car - Project

Post by Dozerman51 » Mon Apr 17, 2017 10:54 am

Hello Zepher11,
Sorry I don't have any spares. The ones I have on the truck I purchased at a MVCC swap meet about 28 years ago when it was still held in Patterson CA. They are very similar to the one you show, but have the rounded top instead of the squared top. They are military I am sure, but not the "Correct" ones if you are doing a complete 100% restoration on your vehicle. I can take some pic's if you like with my I-Pad and private message them to you. I'm not good at posting pic's on forums. Are you going to bring the RCC to this week's swap meet? My brother and I will be there on Thursday. Hope to meet you and talk Dodge. Have a safe trip down. :D
Joe

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Re: Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car - Project

Post by zepher11 » Mon Apr 17, 2017 11:40 am

Dozerman51 wrote:Hello Zepher11,
Sorry I don't have any spares. The ones I have on the truck I purchased at a MVCC swap meet about 28 years ago when it was still held in Patterson CA. They are very similar to the one you show, but have the rounded top instead of the squared top. They are military I am sure, but not the "Correct" ones if you are doing a complete 100% restoration on your vehicle. I can take some pic's if you like with my I-Pad and private message them to you. I'm not good at posting pic's on forums. Are you going to bring the RCC to this week's swap meet? My brother and I will be there on Thursday. Hope to meet you and talk Dodge. Have a safe trip down. :D
Joe
Hi Joe,

Yes, I'll be bringing the CC down. Hope to get headed down to Petaluma early Wednesday morning. I'm not sure if that clip is exactly original on the brake line in the photos. The two I have installed now on the low side of the brake line are rounded on the ends and they look fine. I can probably make some or find something suitable. I don't recall where I found the other two.

I'm in the cabins. There will be another WC16 that will be coming and is next door, so shouldn't be too hard to find us. Stop by and we can chat.

See you there!
Zeph

'42 Script GPW Restoration Thread: CLICK HERE!

'41 Dodge WC16 Restoration Thread: CLICK HERE!

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Re: Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car - Project

Post by zepher11 » Wed Apr 26, 2017 6:55 am

Had a couple days off this week, so it was either yard work or work on the command car...hmmm...tough decision...NOT! 8)

First up was to take a look at my rear window in the command car. The holes for the window screws when I received the top were a little large and rugged to start with, and then when the top was about 5 inches too short, I hung on it trying to get it to fit in order to install the lift-a-dots. Wasn't until later I realized that the canvas around the frame had issues. It appeared that it was starting to rip, or come apart. Here's a few photos before I removed it yesterday:

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All disassembled. Not ripped as bad as I thought. The larger holes at the bottom had ripped:

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Took the top to a local canvas shop and they dropped everything and worked on it right away which was nice. He suggested using awning material which is very durable and highly rip resistant. I used brown to simulate leather. He sewed a complete patch over the top of the existing window hole. He then said I should install the top, and at its tightest, install the window and frame. Here's the patch:

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Outside view with the patch:

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I had a hard time reaching the twelve feet around the canvas top to hold the window frame on the outside as I tried to hold the window and internal window frame whilst trying to align and install the screws. I then decided to screw in some tapping screws into the canvas and patch to get an idea where the holes would be needed for the screws:

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Using the screw holes I made, I punched some nice round holes in the canvas/awning patch:

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I installed the window/frame with the screws loose and reinstalled the canvas top. I then tightened the window frame screws:

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I then trimmed out the internal section of the patch with an Xacto knife. Didn't turn out too badly. Have to admit I was a little worried it would look bad or get ruined. Overall, it turned out pretty decent and is super tough now and won't pull out at the screws now if the top shrinks more. If I ever get another top, I think I would do this very thing before installing the rear window. Another lesson learned:

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With a little spare time I also made a foot starter pad. I used a carriage bolt and cut the threaded section off leaving the square section under the head. I then drilled the square section to allow the stater foot threaded rod to insert up into it after I welded a nut on the square section that would allow it to screw on. I also ground the head into an octagon like on my 3/4 ton weapons carriers. Not sure what the original half-ton foot starters had as a pad. At least I can get a 1 1/16" wrench on it:

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Also used my new crimping tool to install some snaps on the canvas top flats that fold under the top bow side bars. These are the driver and passenger side rails on the top bows:

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Zeph

'42 Script GPW Restoration Thread: CLICK HERE!

'41 Dodge WC16 Restoration Thread: CLICK HERE!


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