M2A1 Halftrack Resto dialup beware

[vettes]

As I restore this 1943 White Motors M2A1, I will post pictures and info as I go.

I bought this back in May '2011. It was able to fit on a full size flatbed to get her home, as you can see in the pictures. As with most project half tracks, the rear armor is missing, but she has all the frontal armor. As a bonus it came with a new (1961 new) French engine still in a crate and never opened since it was sealed in early 60s. Once off the flatbed I started to pull it around with my bobcat. She rolled nicely, but after a time, snapped a track. I guess i cant complain as they are dated '43. I was able to get a pair of NOS tracks out of NJ that were made by the Israeli military for their half tracks just before they decommissioned them.

Dec I finally started to strip it, and i"ll tell ya that the armor is pretty heavy, lucky for my wife i have the bobcat to help remove panels. Shes not the hard labor type gal lol.

You will notice a BW picture (circa early 1970s) that was sent to me. They believed it was the same M4A1, but its not. The doors are though. Its kinda funny the door has Collene, but under that is Debbie. Also the right door (which is a match to left) has a bracket on it that I have only seen on m4 mortar carriers.

I'm hoping to have this done for the spring to use it in events and give rides around the farm

Will update pictures when I can!

Andy

 

[5440fight]

That is pure awesome!

 

[Paatz]

Man that engine must be a torque-monster, I love straight sixes!
Nice colour too, what did you paint it with?

 

[kaos]

Sweeet! Good luck on the resto- How is it to get parts for those? And a possibly dumb question, but are those street legal? Rubber on those tracks? Great project!

 

[Drewz]

Coolest truck post i have seen in a decade!!!!!!!

 

[vettes]

That is the same paint that it was painted back in 1961, i haven't touched it. The engine was sealed since then till this summer when I opened it. The previous owner didn't even bother to make sure he had an engine in the crate lol. That crate on the rear of the half track in the pic on the flatbed was the engine. The American color is grey for the engine, but in France they painted them green

Man that engine must be a torque-monster, I love straight sixes!
Nice colour too, what did you paint it with?

 

[vettes]

Parts are pretty easy, i have a ton of napa part numbers for brakes,engine etc. They used parts of the shelf as much as possible when building these.

They can be plated, i have seen them in BC plated. I talked to ministry of transportation here in Ontario and it is possible, but at 3mpg, and $1300/ track, and average 1000 miles a track on coarse surfaces, wont be invading Toronto too soon

Sweeet! Good luck on the resto- How is it to get parts for those? And a possibly dumb question, but are those street legal? Rubber on those tracks? Great project!

 

[Red Herring]

Subscribed!

 

[Coyote Ugly]

Nice project!

 

[Colin]

I think there was/is a company in Israel making tracks for them.

Here is an ex-Israel one.

 

[Dr.Lector]

That is the same paint that it was painted back in 1961, i haven't touched it. The engine was sealed since then till this summer when I opened it. The previous owner didn't even bother to make sure he had an engine in the crate lol. That crate on the rear of the half track in the pic on the flatbed was the engine. The American color is grey for the engine, but in France they painted them green

LOL. I was just going to ask you "who has re-built the engine?".
Good luck with your project!

 

[IMagius]

Very nice looking project!

 

[00Buck]

Looks cool.

 

[dan belisle]

Very cool. I recall one of these being brought to R. Angus Caterpillar many, many years ago for track rebuilding, it got "tested" a fair bit in the back forty. That one had a Chev 283 swapped into it somewhere along the way. Good luck with your new truck. - dan

 

[VooDooMan]

Very ###y unit Andy.
Thanks for posting your own thread.

Enjoy!

 

[vettes]

Few more pics.
All the bolts are coming off good. Only pain is they are slotted heads and using a screw driver with an impact gun can get exciting. Over all, the armor bolts are coming off great and haven't had to torch off one yet. I guess i'll have to invest in a plasma cutter to get all the welded crap that was put on after the war.
Once I get the frame cleaned up, will start on mechanical ie brakes, axles etc.

 

[IMagius]

Few more pics.
All the bolts are coming off good. Only pain is they are slotted heads and using a screw driver with an impact gun can get exciting. Over all, the armor bolts are coming off great and haven't had to torch off one yet. I guess i'll have to invest in a plasma cutter to get all the welded crap that was put on after the war.
Once I get the frame cleaned up, will start on mechanical ie brakes, axles etc.

Re: highlighted sentece:

BWAHAHAHAHA!!! : Aren't those oversized slot heads a joy! Just wait until you need to use a swivel to reach a couple ... Always fun guessing where the last bit ended up

Oh, by the way ... you're cheating! Forklifts take all the fun out of dropping heavy things on your helpers and buddies

Looking good so far, and good to see that msot is coming apart the way it was designed to.

 

[vettes]

On a side note,
On another site a previous owner contacted me. He stated this was used in a movie called " Day one" shot in Que about the atom bomb and also used in (but may have been hidden under a structure) captain power tv show both from the 80s.

 

[Caydel]

Here's the IMDB reference for 'Day One' - filmed in Montreal. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097159/

That's an awesome looking project. Can't wait to follow the progress!

 

[vettes]

I broke down and bought a plasma cutter as it would have killed me on gas to cut off all the frame reinforcement that was added. I believe it was modified as a crane. I was also able to find the episode that it appeared in on the 1987 TV show Captain Power that was shot in Toronto

[youtube]Dt-l-yXyN8g[/youtube]