Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car - Project

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rjbeamer
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Re: Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car - Project

Post by rjbeamer » Thu Sep 01, 2016 7:15 am

Good day Zeph. First thing that you need to do is ID the thread for the nut using a thread gage. That takes the guess work out of the equation. I have had to make some weird threaded nuts in the past by re threading a smaller nut with a tap. Google "SPECIAL THREAD HAND TAPS". You will see a Co. called ICS cutting tools. They show hand taps for 1/4" in 24,26,32,36,40 and 48 TPI. $7.46. You could use a 12-24 or 12-28 nut and re thread it as it is small enough ID wise for re tapping to 1/4". The wrench size would be 7/16" just like a normal 1/4" nut. You will be hard pressed to find a 12-24 or 12-28 nut in anything but steel at a local store but Fastenal has them in stainless steel. ICS is located in Wi. This might be the way to go.

Roger


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Re: Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car - Project

Post by zepher11 » Thu Sep 01, 2016 2:36 pm

rjbeamer wrote:Good day Zeph. First thing that you need to do is ID the thread for the nut using a thread gage. That takes the guess work out of the equation. I have had to make some weird threaded nuts in the past by re threading a smaller nut with a tap. Google "SPECIAL THREAD HAND TAPS". You will see a Co. called ICS cutting tools. They show hand taps for 1/4" in 24,26,32,36,40 and 48 TPI. $7.46. You could use a 12-24 or 12-28 nut and re thread it as it is small enough ID wise for re tapping to 1/4". The wrench size would be 7/16" just like a normal 1/4" nut. You will be hard pressed to find a 12-24 or 12-28 nut in anything but steel at a local store but Fastenal has them in stainless steel. ICS is located in Wi. This might be the way to go.

Roger
Hi Roger,

That is good to know. I wish I could find out 100% on the thread size, but no one around here has a thread checker greater than 28. I checked Fastenal and the other specialty bolt and nut place up here...no go.

I didn't know that 48 thread existed as well, so there is a chance that the amp stud is 48 and not 40 like I was now thinking. Of course, now I see 36 thread as well. I did find the ICS cutting tools site. Not a bad price for a tap. I'll need to figure something out here eventually. Only thing that is for certain is that if I buy a tap or different threaded nut it will be the wrong one.
Zeph

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Re: Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car - Project

Post by rjbeamer » Thu Sep 01, 2016 3:29 pm

Good day Zeph. In the case of 40 TPI you can take a small (Very common) 4-40 screw and lay it on the threads and see if they mesh or line up. Or with a caliper you can set it at 1 inch and count threads within the 1 inch of the caliper. I know that it's hard to do with small threads but. BTW. Yes it is a very good price on the tap even though you will never use it for any thing else again, except bragging rights as too having it.

Good luck, Roger

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Re: Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car - Project

Post by chibobber » Thu Sep 01, 2016 6:27 pm

Zeph,
If you have a gunsmith in the area,he will have a thread gauge that he can check your screw against.If not,he ain't much of a smith. Maybe even a clock maker might be able t check it. :D

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Re: Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car - Project

Post by zepher11 » Sun Sep 04, 2016 8:19 pm

rjbeamer wrote:Good day Zeph. In the case of 40 TPI you can take a small (Very common) 4-40 screw and lay it on the threads and see if they mesh or line up. Or with a caliper you can set it at 1 inch and count threads within the 1 inch of the caliper. I know that it's hard to do with small threads but. BTW. Yes it is a very good price on the tap even though you will never use it for any thing else again, except bragging rights as too having it.

Good luck, Roger


chibobber wrote:Zeph,
If you have a gunsmith in the area,he will have a thread gauge that he can check your screw against.If not,he ain't much of a smith. Maybe even a clock maker might be able t check it. :D


Thanks guys. Friday, I went on a little road trip and very nice gentleman had the correct nut for my gauge. It ended up being a 1/4 - 40 thread. All is right with the world.

I snapped this photo on the way down to the Napa area and thought it was interesting in that the road sign seemed to be indicating just the opposite for the balloonists:

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I also picked up a top bow set, rear seat frame, a dome light, glove box door and a spare tire carrier for my WC63 project:

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It was a nice trip and a nice time visiting, and I was able to see a lot of great artifacts. Today, I figured I would log a little time on the CC. I noticed the original brass fittings that were on the dash controls when I disassembled dash, so I thought I might see if I could rework them and fit them to the new controls. Maybe retain some of the old with the new. I'll see how it works out:

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I found another bezel this morning for the panel switch. I ground out the brass threaded stud, so the bezel would fit over the mounting nut. With that little detour completed, I figured I would start in on the wiring again. I installed the resistor to the fuel gauge so I don't fry it with the 12 volts:

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Then I got busy under the dash:

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Lots of ground wires on this harness. Each wire seems to have a corresponding ground wire. I assume it is due to the radio suppression aspect. I have two ground wire near the starter. One with the brake light switch wires, and one with the wire to the starter. The terminals connectors are for large bolts, so not sure where to attach them as the only one within reach of that size is the starter bolt...which would make sense to me... All the others mounting locationsss are small screws:

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If anyone knows where one can get a toggle switch like this that has the mounting holes 1 3/16" from center to center let me know. Most that I find have a single mounting post in the center where the toggle is located. I guess I can make a plate and modify one if nothing else. The toggle is long gone from this original one:

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Zeph

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Re: Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car - Project

Post by chibobber » Sun Sep 04, 2016 10:07 pm

Zeph,
If you can not locate a switch,try vintage aircraft switches.They almost always mount the way you show on your blown out switch.
Bob

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Re: Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car - Project

Post by zepher11 » Mon Sep 05, 2016 5:50 am

chibobber wrote:Zeph,
If you can not locate a switch,try vintage aircraft switches.They almost always mount the way you show on your blown out switch.
Bob
Thanks Bob. I found one on eBay yesterday that was listed as a B-11 aircraft switch. I sent a message regarding the mounting hole distance. Unfortunately, it was 1 7/8" center to center. I will probably end up making one until one pops up. I'm sure they are out there somewhere.

Regards,
Zeph

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Re: Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car - Project

Post by zepher11 » Mon Sep 05, 2016 7:29 pm

Seem to learn something new on this rig each time I work on it. As I have been working on the wiring, I kept trying to figure out what was mounted between the amp gauge and the volt meter gauge. Also, I was wondering where all the instrument panel bulbs were going. Seemed like I had an extra bulb/socket with no home. Well, it dawned on me today that there is a light bulb between the two gauges. I looked in a bag of parts I had removed during disassembly and found a rotted piece of sheet metal with a hole in it with a couple bends.

I thought to myself: what the heck would a light bulb be doing in between these two gauges? How would it light them up in the driver's compartment? Well, after sticking my head back behind the dash, I noticed there is a little slit on the inward side of the gauges that would allow them to be lit by the bulb. Never noticed the slits before, and it answered my question as to the installation of the gauges. Should they be mounted on the inside of the dash, as I did, or on the outside of the dash like other radio cars I have seen. Well, to me the slit would be partially covered by the dash, so I think mounting the gauges from the inside is the way to go. I made a replica of the bulb holder out of some aluminum:

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The bulb holder mounts between the gauges where the two holes are. One can see the indents in the dash beads where the amp gauge mounts. I first thought that it as flattened to allow the gauge to mount on the outside of the dash vs. the inside as I did:

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One can see the slit for the light in the amp gauge here. I have a flash light on the outside shining in to light it up. The gauge in the foreground is the volt meter gauge:

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Obviously, I'm a little slow on the uptake, but I finally figured it out. The original wiring diagram makes no note of this gauge light, nor of the dome light in the trunk...so my wiring harness didn't come with a wire harness for the dome light. I also pulled the charging circuit filter canister today and rewired it as the wiring harness came with replacement wires. However, the wires were cut too short, and I had to splice them with non-period wire. Had to make some modifications to get the wire with the splices back through the steel braided wire covers and fittings. Took me a while to get this task completed as I didn't have any of the real thick gauge wire required for the canister.
Zeph

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Re: Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car - Project

Post by rjbeamer » Wed Sep 07, 2016 3:19 pm

Good day Zeph. For that toggle switch look at Mac's auto parts. # 32-13124-3. The screw holes appear to be 1 5/32" c to c. That's very close or maybe the same to your size.

Roger

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Re: Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car - Project

Post by zepher11 » Wed Sep 07, 2016 7:17 pm

rjbeamer wrote:Good day Zeph. For that toggle switch look at Mac's auto parts. # 32-13124-3. The screw holes appear to be 1 5/32" c to c. That's very close or maybe the same to your size.

Roger

Roger, that looks very promising! The area around where the toggle mounts looks really similar to the original. How were you able to determine center to center measurement?

It has some odd connectors, but I think I could work with them:

[attachment=0]Switch 1.JPG[/attachment]

I appreciate the tip!
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Switch 1.JPG
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Zeph

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Re: Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car - Project

Post by rjbeamer » Wed Sep 07, 2016 10:07 pm

Zeph one of the applications that this switch fits is a 1933/4 Ford dash light switch. I measured the hole spacing on one of my dash boards. Ford used this switch all the way to the late 30's in other uses also.

Roger

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Re: Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car - Project

Post by zepher11 » Thu Sep 08, 2016 5:51 am

rjbeamer wrote:Zeph one of the applications that this switch fits is a 1933/4 Ford dash light switch. I measured the hole spacing on one of my dash boards. Ford used this switch all the way to the late 30's in other uses also.

Roger
Very good Roger. I think I will get one of these switches. Looks very much like the original.

Thanks again!
Zeph

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Re: Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car - Project

Post by DannyP » Thu Sep 08, 2016 6:02 am

I can measure my switch for you this weekend Zeph. That's the same instrument panel light switch used on my GP. It's just not in my shop till Saturday
Danny
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Re: Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car - Project

Post by rjbeamer » Thu Sep 08, 2016 10:39 am

Good day Zeph. The odd connectors that are on this switch are for use with a male bullet terminal. They just push in the hole. It needs to be the larger size bullet than is in common use today but they are available. I think they are .180" dia.

Roger

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Re: Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car - Project

Post by zepher11 » Tue Sep 13, 2016 5:14 pm

rjbeamer wrote:Good day Zeph. The odd connectors that are on this switch are for use with a male bullet terminal. They just push in the hole. It needs to be the larger size bullet than is in common use today but they are available. I think they are .180" dia.

Roger
Hi Roger,

I'll have to check the bullet connectors out. I can cut off the stock connectors on the new wiring harness and splice those on if I can find some.

I spent all this past weekend on the CC project. The tire shop removed all the tires from the five wheels I took in to them. Sounds like they had quite the battle to remove the tires. I managed to blast clean one wheel and ring. I picked the worst one, so they get easier as I go. It was a bad one and took me quite a while to get it ready for primer and paint.

The rest of the weekend I managed to make two wiring harnesses as well as string the one wire for the BODL. Here is the short harness for under the dash to the junction block. The other harness contain the same wire, but is longer and runs from the junction block to the rear of the vehicle along the frame. These three wires are for the trailer receptacle and the dome light. I almost forgot that I need a resistor box for the trailer wires to step down to 6 volt:

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Zeph

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