Dodge WC16 Radio Command Car - Project

[zepher11]

G,Day Zeph . Ford Canada CMP,s used the same gears in there Blitz trucks .So that would explain the Ford gear that you found in your gear box . Ray

Hi Ray,

You know, the PO told me he bought the gear for the CC project as a replacement. I spent a bunch of time cleaning it and then when I went to install the Ford gear...it didn't fit! Go figure. Oh well. I chucked it in a metal scrap box and it will likely be scrap in twenty years or so. Doubt I could ever find someone that would wish to have it.

[Ray Edsall]

G,Day again Zeph . I am not sure if the 1/2 ton gear box is the same as the 3/4 ton wc .So I am still of the belief that the 3/4 ton gear box and the CMP use the same gears .Come on some one step in here and tell me if I am right or wrong .I wouldn,t throw it away just yet Zeph . Ray

[zepher11]

G,Day again Zeph . I am not sure if the 1/2 ton gear box is the same as the 3/4 ton wc .So I am still of the belief that the 3/4 ton gear box and the CMP use the same gears .Come on some one step in here and tell me if I am right or wrong .I wouldn,t throw it away just yet Zeph . Ray

The 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton gear boxes use the same gears. The Ford gear will not fit on the shaft, so had to go with the old one. It is in the metal bin with all kinds of other little metal parts and pieces that are good and bad, but no one wants. Not worth the shipping to for those that may want 'em. They'll sit around for 20 years or so, and then the kids will sell all my stuff dirt cheap.

[zepher11]

I've been noodling through replacing the hat channels of late. I have come to the conclusion that using heat vs. the relief cuts are the way to go when bending the hat channels into submission. It's a bit of work matching them to the curvature of the body, but it is actually enjoyable and satisfying work:





Sandblasted the areas where I will be welding in the hat channels:





Fitting in the section I made up for around the spare tire indent on the driver's side:



The interior area where the hat channel inserts past the floor:



Hole punched the hat channels in preparation for welding:



Coating everything with weld through primer:





Welding it in:





Moved on to the passenger side which has a lot of rusted out channels:



Wheel well section removed and checking for fit:



Also cut out the section between the passenger side wheel well and the battery box:





The interior hat channels were pretty far gone as well:



Fitting the replacement wheel well section:





Ready to remove the interior sections:



Gone:



Fabricating the interior section:



Had to remove the hat channel below the passenger door threshold as well and then bend up a replacement:





Of course, I am under strict supervision:



Today I was able to sandblast the areas in preparation of welding in the passenger side channels:





Next large project area will be replacing the rear quarter panel hat channels including the entire hat channel section below the tailgate. A couple of 90 degree bends required here:

[krisinwa.st.]

Nice work , did you make your own hat channel stock ? the rotisserie is
the only way to go , need to make one someday ... I've never heard of
or seen weld through primer before , it must be some tough stuff .where
did you get it at ? . Love your shop , mine still has a dirt floor and a few
leaks ... still its out of the weather . Kris

[zepher11]

Nice work , did you make your own hat channel stock ? the rotisserie is
the only way to go , need to make one someday ... I've never heard of
or seen weld through primer before , it must be some tough stuff .where
did you get it at ? . Love your shop , mine still has a dirt floor and a few
leaks ... still its out of the weather . Kris

Thanks Kris. I picked up the hat channels from John Bizal at Midwest Military. I thought about making, or having made, some hat channels; but when I saw John made them I knew that was the way to go. Very well made and an exact duplicate.

The rotisserie only cost me about $60. I just ran an ad on Craigslist with the picture of the Harbor Freight engine stand in the wanted ad section. Said I'd pay $20 for this stand. I had about 7 calls in two days. Folks buy them for a one time engine build and then they just sit around collecting dust and getting in the way. Takes three to make one rotisserie. I documented the construction of my rotisserie on my GPW rebuild thread on the G503. I wish I had one as nice as solid as Phil H., but I'm getting some mileage out of this one for now.

The weld through primer is great. I figured that since I have sandblasted the metal underneath, it would be a good idea to use it. It is suppose to add some protection, but only the guy restoring this after me will know. Here is a link to the site I purchase it from: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/smm-4 ... fgodW4EGpw

Yes, still pinch myself every time I go out to the shop. Only took me 53 years to save up for it!

[krisinwa.st.]

Hi Zeph , Thanks for the information about your rotisserie ,
I'll check it out .Midwest is definitely the way to go ,I have a
shopping ( and wish ) list to fill , that's were I'll be getting all
I need when I start my 21 project , hopefully soon , just made
a major move and still getting things organized . Keep posting
pictures of your project ,they are always inspiring and have
ideas that I wouldn't have thought of . Have fun and take it easy,
Kris

[zepher11]

Well, my Ralphie boy is turning into quite the garage dog. Now he is learning how to supervise my activities in comfort!



Had some time today and fitted this lower hat channel section into position. It was sort of a chicken or the egg dilemma. If I fit the "below the floor hat channel", which needed to be welded in place first, I couldn't really get this interior section in place due to the intersections of the other interior channels:



I finally just had to do it. My plug welds are looking a lot better vs. that first section I installed:



I finally was able to get it back in there, but it took some doing:





Lower view of the section between the wheel well and battery box welded in. One can see the interior section to the left with the plug welding holes already punched and ready for welding:



The wheel well section is ready to go after final fitting. I should be able to weld it in tomorrow:

[zepher11]

It has been nice to have a couple of extra days off due to the TG holiday. I started working on the smashed up rear part of the quarter panels as well as the section below the tailgate that is in sad shape. Quite a few deep dents in these areas. The metal will need to be worked and shrunk as it is stretched in many areas.

First up was cutting out the hat channel in these areas as well as the one that runs the entire length below the tailgate. This is the passenger side quarter hat channel that has to go:



This is what most of the section below the tailgate looks like:



Cutting out the hat channel in the rear corner:



Pictures do not really show the damage in this area. However, removing the hat channel will allow access for some hammer and dolly work:





Getting the hat channel out is not easy in this area. My air tools don't quite fit in there very well. Just need to wing it. One can see that the metal is torn a bit as well:



I used this arrangement to push the metal back into some resemblance of a rounded corner where it used to be many years ago:



One can see by the open gap where the floor is caved in now that I pushed the corner out. I will need to fix the floor next:





After I tired of working on that area, I moved to the passenger side wheel well that was also crushed in from getting hit in the rear corner. The edge of the wheel well is dented in, so I had to push that out. A little hard to see here:



I used this arrangement to push out the 8 to 10 inch section of the wheel well outer lip that was bent in. Additionally, the entire quarter panel is bowed in and "oil canned" in that area. When I push on the side of the quarter panel from the interior, I can push out the entire quarter panel with an audible pop with my finger. Then it looks almost like the other side in curvature. However, when I release the pressure the metal pops and dents back inward. I will need to shrink the metal here to get it back in shape:



The repair to the dent along the wheel well edge where the fender mounts actual turned out pretty good:



Now the section below the above repair will need to be fixed. There is a nice crease along here that has the lowest part of the quarter panel bent out quite a bit:





The fender mounting point looks a lot better than the fender that still retains the curvature of the original damage:



I think once I get that lower part of the quarter panel, the section to the right in the photo, corrected somehow it will look pretty decent:



Continued working on the body some more yesterday. Hammered, bent, tweaked and heat shrunk the passenger side quarter panel area where the fender mounts. Actually, turned out pretty good. I was a little worried, however, when I tried to take out the oil canned area on the large flat quarter panel area by heating and shrinking the metal...I have been reading up on that process. I actually made it worse by denting it in quite a bit...about a 1/2 dent. Stressed me out a bit. Had to heat shrink the area a number of times using the torch, hammer and dolly method then applying cold water. Finally, after quite a few attempts, I was able to get it back into position...at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it:





Spent the majority of my time yesterday hammering and working the lower valance area below the tailgate. A lot of hammer and dolly work in some tight areas. It's pretty straight now. Good enough to be sandblasted in preparation of welding the replacement hat channel back in after removing the original to gain access for the repairs. Sort of hard to see the vast improvement in the photos:





Hammered the floor in the trunk area back into shape:



I also need to fix both of the interior side support hat channel uprights. They both need attention where they mount to the wheel well:



This one had a chunk torn, or rusted, out and needed a little help. I ground up a custom piece to weld in to the missing area:





Finally removed the last piece of the hat channel at the quarter panel. Tough to get in there to grind/cut it out where it inserted into the trunk area. Now I can finish forming the 90 degree hat channel replacement:



Today I welded up the side support uprights. Let's just say that it is good these are covered by the rear seat:





I also cut down the hat channel section that I previously made into a 90 degree bend. It took a bit of time to fit as I didn't want to cut it too short as I was trying to fit it in there. The finished size actually fits pretty well. I had a heck of a time getting it back out of there, however. I hope to squeeze in some sandblasting of this area tomorrow:



I noticed that there were at one time two fuel/water can holders over the battery box, so I need to determine if I want to keep those. In order to get an idea if the doors would close with cans mounted, I test fitted a couple of mounts and cans. Well, that answered that question...no the doors would not close if the cans were in the mounts. Now I just need to decide if I should weld the holes closed or mount the can holders. The cans could always be removed if I were to mount the doors:



Shot a little panorama of the garage today just because:

[Phil H]

I love your shop. Great work on command.........

[zepher11]

I love your shop. Great work on command.........

Thank you Phil!

[zepher11]

Started installing the hat channels for the quarter panel and the lower part of the body below the tailgate:



The inside portion of the hat channel fit nicely inside the trunk area.



Fitting the hat channel below the tailgate. Needs a little more adjustment, but is shaping up nicely. It will be monumental to get this one welded in. I think it is the last one to be replaced!

[zepher11]

Actually was raining today! Started last night and was really getting with it there for a while. Nice to see. Ralph took the opportunity this morning to find a good spot in the garage before I started on some rust repair on the CC. He's a smart one:



Needed to finish up a few more rust repairs today, so I dinked around with the cowl. There are a few holes and sections rusted out. I had to remove the bolts that hold the upper front section of the front passenger compartment doors. Just getting the bolts out was a bit of a project.

Where the side of the cowl meets the upper side section of the cowl, there is an some sheet metal areas rusted out behind the bolt. Then just above the bolt, there is a large open area that has been rusted out. I slipped in a section of hat channel to see if I could get a piece of sheet metal in there:



One can see where the sheet meta is rusted out just above the lower bolt hole. Kind of shaped like a quarter moon. If one pushes in on the side of the cowl the sheet metal can be pushed in here:



Same thing here on the driver's side:



I cut some sheet metal and shaped to the curvature of the lower cowl sheet metal. I had to leave it a little long so I could heat the metal and shape and mold to the curvature for welding:



A little welding. The sheet metal is pretty thin here, so one has to be a bit careful to not blow holes through the metal:



Ground down and shaped:



Shot a little weld through primer on the area just in case I need to revisit this section later for some reason:



There was quite the gap on the driver's side, so I had to spend a little more time getting and shaping the patch to fit:



Found some other crackage to the right of the repair that I had to deal with:



Including a nice long one right on the upper cowl corner:



A bit of grinding:





Should be good enough for Government work! All these upper cowl section repairs should be covered by the windshield supports, so it really doesn't matter how nice they look:



I think I have three more areas to repair rusted out sections. A small hat channel section below the floor, the golf ball size hole in the cowl shown in the second photo from the top, and I found a rust hole in one of the wheel wells. Then I would like to get the whole body sandblasted and then deal with the floor and floor support hat channels.

I have really tried to make sure I kept the body in alignment as I have progressed. So far it is looking good:

[superdave]

Coming along nicely, Still on target for the convention in August ??

[zepher11]

Coming along nicely, Still on target for the convention in August ??

I hope so superdave. Only having 5 or 6 hours to work on it per week keeps the progress slow. I figured I'd take it for a display finished or not...at least that's the plan at the moment. If only I had a larger trailer...I'd take a few WWII Dodge down there!

Good to hear from you!