It is easy to sit here today and wonder why Europeans did not care to look after abandoned vehicles and gear, but the same thing happened here look at old CMP trucks and Universal carriers abused and Bubbafied to no end. Just the fact the car, motorcycle, truck or whatever has used (and no doubt abused) in its post service WWII life kept it around for future generations to step up save and restore. One thing that saved alot of schwimmwagens was cutting doors in them to make them more like a "car". While it buggered the "car" up and is difficult to repair, it made it far easier to climb in and out of so there was less desire to get rid of it. Post war Europe was short of everything except Wehrmacht/Luftwaffe kit all over the place, a farmer needs a vehicle to do a job I doubt he is going to think to hard about what the vehicle will be 70 years down the road. The same can be said for old No4 Lees back in the day, cheap and plentifull, nobody cared about there future appearance. What may look like wanton abuse today was just the realities of the day back then, but that said MAN-O-MAN I wish Euro bubba had taken better care of my kettenkrad.
The restoration of Kettenkrad 116714
- Thread starter XRCD011
- Start date
you mean like the thousands of brengun carriers that were used, abused, cut up, worn out, and eventually scrapped or left to rust away by farmers here? how about the numerous warbirds that were bought at auction, mostly for the fuel and then cut up and used as sheet metal? i remember coming across aluminum shelves and troughs etc with the bits of zinc chromate yellow still on them as a kid. shermans were cut down and made into cranes and logging skids.
Ok. I change my statement. #### FARMERS lol
What, this old thing.
Or this one?
WOW! thanks for that, it is my dream to own an MB or GPW, I am olive drab with envy!
Dark Alley Dan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Darkest Edmonton
That's gruesome. I've seen meth heads with better teeth.
Good catch getting that fixed.
maple_leaf_eh
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
THE TEARDOWN (PART THREE)
...
The bone yard, nothing is discarded as the rusted panels hold a metric ton of information and measurements. In time this fine pile of historic rust went to Alberta, Hi Darcy.
[/URL]
I like your M100 CDN "dumpster".
- Location
- Sudbury, On
I'm perplexed as to why the reverse gear eats itself so much. Poor engineering or maybe sloppy tolerances?
The Rear Foot Rest
When the kett came to me it had a jumble of "crap" tossed inside the body. In with it was the remains of the rear foot rest and more importantly the heavy formed section of the foot rest for the trailer towing hook. Using the residue of rusted footrest I pulled whatever details I could off them (not much was forthcoming) and using measurements off the CWM kett and looking at a lot of pictures had new sheet metal sections made by Pagen industries in Stitsville, Pagen did most of of my metal braking and put up with all my fussyness to detail.
The old.hat was left of the foot rest (the rusty pipe like thing with scuzzy rusted sheet metal attached) and starting the new werk.
When the kett came to me it had a jumble of "crap" tossed inside the body. In with it was the remains of the rear foot rest and more importantly the heavy formed section of the foot rest for the trailer towing hook. Using the residue of rusted footrest I pulled whatever details I could off them (not much was forthcoming) and using measurements off the CWM kett and looking at a lot of pictures had new sheet metal sections made by Pagen industries in Stitsville, Pagen did most of of my metal braking and put up with all my fussyness to detail.
The old.hat was left of the foot rest (the rusty pipe like thing with scuzzy rusted sheet metal attached) and starting the new werk.
The Rear Foot Rest
When the kett came to me it had a jumble of "crap" tossed inside the body. In with it was the remains of the rear foot rest and more importantly the heavy formed section of the foot rest for the trailer towing hook. Using the residue of rusted footrest I pulled whatever details I could off them (not much was forthcoming) and using measurements off the CWM kett and looking at a lot of pictures had new sheet metal sections made by Pagen industries in Stitsville, Pagen did most of of my metal braking and put up with all my fussyness to detail.
Starting to put things back together. No doubt trained welders will find fault with my welding, its perfectly in line with the crappy work done with slave labour during wartime conditions. I have saved a few choice examples of original werk done. Every kett owner I talk to says the same thing about welds, holes blasted in sheet metal, splatter everywhere, etc. Note my "high tech" restoration facility (two car garage with three jammed into it)
Trying to keep things straight.
Sheet metal installed, test fit of kett tow hook, old center piece installed on all new metal.
While I am at it here are the rear hand hold frames and sheet metal. I believe in saving as much "Kettenkrad DNA" as possible so I cut out the rusted sheet metal, tweeked out a bunch of bends and twists, and using new steel formed with the correct profile by Pagen I saved the pipe like frames and grafted in new sheet metal.
New pipe welded on the bottoms, gotta save as much as possible.
The restoration also called on making lots of small things that had rotted away over the decades. Here are the handles for the body drains being made, one totally new, and the other I cut off the top "savable" section and welded on new bottom to refurb.
More small details, the D shaped part where the exhaust passes out of the inner body to the muffler, the little tray like thing for when engine oils is drained (I even copied the pattern of original spot welds when I reinstalled the new tray) and the finished latches/handles for the body drains.
When the kett came to me it had a jumble of "crap" tossed inside the body. In with it was the remains of the rear foot rest and more importantly the heavy formed section of the foot rest for the trailer towing hook. Using the residue of rusted footrest I pulled whatever details I could off them (not much was forthcoming) and using measurements off the CWM kett and looking at a lot of pictures had new sheet metal sections made by Pagen industries in Stitsville, Pagen did most of of my metal braking and put up with all my fussyness to detail.
Starting to put things back together. No doubt trained welders will find fault with my welding, its perfectly in line with the crappy work done with slave labour during wartime conditions. I have saved a few choice examples of original werk done. Every kett owner I talk to says the same thing about welds, holes blasted in sheet metal, splatter everywhere, etc. Note my "high tech" restoration facility (two car garage with three jammed into it)
Trying to keep things straight.
Sheet metal installed, test fit of kett tow hook, old center piece installed on all new metal.
While I am at it here are the rear hand hold frames and sheet metal. I believe in saving as much "Kettenkrad DNA" as possible so I cut out the rusted sheet metal, tweeked out a bunch of bends and twists, and using new steel formed with the correct profile by Pagen I saved the pipe like frames and grafted in new sheet metal.
New pipe welded on the bottoms, gotta save as much as possible.
The restoration also called on making lots of small things that had rotted away over the decades. Here are the handles for the body drains being made, one totally new, and the other I cut off the top "savable" section and welded on new bottom to refurb.
More small details, the D shaped part where the exhaust passes out of the inner body to the muffler, the little tray like thing for when engine oils is drained (I even copied the pattern of original spot welds when I reinstalled the new tray) and the finished latches/handles for the body drains.
Last edited:
Your dedication to detail continues to be jaw-dropping ..... truly, a work of art, your welding skills notwithstanding .... ;>)
I held an oxy-acetylene pressure vessel welding ticket for most of my working life and would love to have had the opportunity to work on such a project.
I held an oxy-acetylene pressure vessel welding ticket for most of my working life and would love to have had the opportunity to work on such a project.
I agree its some evil things done to old vehicles way back then but everybody was getting in the act. Here is a picture of the Babiole Tractor, post war the French company Babiole converted many Ex-Wehrmacht kettenkrads into this tractor like machine. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Babiole_Kettenkrad_farm_tractor_1.jpg Essentially they turned the vehicle around so everything was backwards, while a nightmare to look at Babiole by making ketts into tractors (that Euro farmer could use down on the farm) kept more available to be restored back into kettenkrads, I personally know of two ketts that where "reconverted". Another pic of a "backwards kettenkrad" Babiole tractor.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Babiole_kettenkrad_farm_tractor_2.jpgXRCD011 said:
http://shusharmor.livejournal.com/778864.html PS: if anyone can PM me on how to take a pic straight off thenet and post without having to do a link I would be very gratefull, thanks in advance.
Last edited:
Mating the lower front and rear portions together
Two Victoria Days ago I had the front and rear portions completed and ready to be joined together again. The first pic shows the inside of the front portion new made floor and all the various fitting for seat mounts, drains and the inside laminated skin, plus the fitting for the steering brakes and final drive covers.
To totally ensure I get the fit, lengths and geometry of the vehicle right I bolted the drive train back together and used that as the jig to get it right, the first time. On the rear body portion is the diamond shaped engine mounts and on the front portion are cresent shaped differential mounts as long as everything fits in I have about 1/2in adjustment I could work with.
The first of about 50 test fits, a whole day was spent test fitting trim off replacing and removing drivetrain, etc. Note on the side of the engine block you can just see the cast date of 1 D44
Test fits galore.
Starting to come together around lunch time.
DONE ! tons of finish welds to do but front and rear are now one unit again.
And now the real work will start in earnest. Next up will be the reconstruct of the upper half of the body (and what felt like a couple thousand other things to attend to). Note the stack of restored kettenkrad track layed out in groups of ten, which is about all one can carry with getting a hernia.
That day was what I consider a big day in the restoration because it means my ideas on putting ol rusty back together where working out. More nasty suprises where in store but at this point I was feeling pretty good about things.
Two Victoria Days ago I had the front and rear portions completed and ready to be joined together again. The first pic shows the inside of the front portion new made floor and all the various fitting for seat mounts, drains and the inside laminated skin, plus the fitting for the steering brakes and final drive covers.
To totally ensure I get the fit, lengths and geometry of the vehicle right I bolted the drive train back together and used that as the jig to get it right, the first time. On the rear body portion is the diamond shaped engine mounts and on the front portion are cresent shaped differential mounts as long as everything fits in I have about 1/2in adjustment I could work with.
The first of about 50 test fits, a whole day was spent test fitting trim off replacing and removing drivetrain, etc. Note on the side of the engine block you can just see the cast date of 1 D44
Test fits galore.
Starting to come together around lunch time.
DONE ! tons of finish welds to do but front and rear are now one unit again.
And now the real work will start in earnest. Next up will be the reconstruct of the upper half of the body (and what felt like a couple thousand other things to attend to). Note the stack of restored kettenkrad track layed out in groups of ten, which is about all one can carry with getting a hernia.
That day was what I consider a big day in the restoration because it means my ideas on putting ol rusty back together where working out. More nasty suprises where in store but at this point I was feeling pretty good about things.
Last edited:
Dark Alley Dan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Darkest Edmonton
That's the cat's ass.
Sorry, had to say it.
So I'm assuming this story's being told in past tense, yeah? if you're walking us through this in real time, dude, you're a machine.
I continue to be very impressed with your attention to detail and the quality and care with which you're tackling this job. Very well done, mate. I'm enjoying this immensely!
We are witnessing an unparallaled demonstration of retro "Deutscher Ordnung" in action - the re-creation of a classic, through dogged determination, skill and sheer audacity.
I've read several stories about the resurrection of classic aircraft, sometimes to 'static display' status, others to full airworthiness. This project is in the latter league.
I've read several stories about the resurrection of classic aircraft, sometimes to 'static display' status, others to full airworthiness. This project is in the latter league.
