1970 A2. One of three current projects

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muttguru
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Re: 1970 A2. One of three current projects

Unread post by muttguru » March 30th, 2016, 4:36 am

Hello Vin,
many thanks for the dataplate/tag details. I'm sure you will be delighted to know that the plate and the tag match.... it's rare to find an A2 with its correct original dash plate, but that's what you've got ! It's one of the second batch of Ford-built A2s....it has the "cutaway" front fenders which were adopted by Ford part-way through their A2 contract. The formal hood number is US ARMY 02HV 8270
Ken
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Always wanted - Details and pictures of M416 Trailer data plates & M151 data plates & body-tags for my research. Thanks!

Contact address - - muttguru@aol.com

Note for 2023..... Ken..."Less Stress - More Exercise!"

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Vzike
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Re: 1970 A2. One of three current projects

Unread post by Vzike » March 31st, 2016, 10:53 am

Thank you, Ken.... good to know information. Now I just have to find the engine I took out of it. It may have been the original.


Next on my agenda is to deal with those cut up back fenders. I got new fender tops and supports from Guy Loomis.... Many thanks, Guy, I think the parts are a perfect match.

Taking apart the rear fenders is not a quick fix. What I'm realizing is that these panels were all assembled in specific order, but you cannot disassemble the fender top in that order. Also, some of the spot welds are buried under other panels, which have to be removed before you can finish taking it all apart. Since I found this out the hard way, I have additional repairs to do.

To start with, I purchased a good quality spot weld drill bit set. At first I used a 3/8", but then tried a 1/2", since I kept missing part of the welds. I found it helps to center punch the spot weld, then use a centering drill bit to help the spot weld bit stay in the correct location. If the sheet metal has any bends or high spots, the spot weld bit will try to skate around the surface.

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I also find that using a sander on a 4" side grinder removed most of the paint, but usually leaves the sunken area of the spot weld. The welds are about 3/8", so finding that sweet spot middle and staying in it is important after you finish drilling out your pieces.

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Starting with the drivers side rear fender, I first removed the small bracket attaching it to the rear panel, just inside the bed. Its the curved panel with a footman loop used to secure the fuel can on the back. Once the piece is removed, you'll see all the rust between the pieces. Obviously, these were not sealed or meant to last as long as we are making them.

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Just to back up as minute... after you drill out the spot welds, you get the challenge of seeing if you got them all, and cutting away the edges of the welds you missed. I found an old 1" wood chisel in my tool box, and started using it. The steel is very good and it is thinner than metal working chisels, so the sheet metal is not so beat up.

Drilled out all the welds I could find, then tried to loosen the top. Several welds under the side piece the Frankenstein bolt is welded to prevented that, so I ended up prying it out to drill those out. I also drilled out the back panel where it attaches to the inside bed panel, so it could be bent back to remove the top.

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More to follow.
Last edited by Vzike on April 2nd, 2016, 4:31 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: 1970 A2. One of three current projects

Unread post by Vzike » April 1st, 2016, 9:01 am

More pictures after removal of the Drivers side rear fender.

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You'll notice in the last picture that the rear frame around the rear light was torch cut. I have a replacement for that piece to install while I do this.
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Re: 1970 A2. One of three current projects

Unread post by Vzike » March 14th, 2017, 11:00 pm

FLASH!!!!!

This project is now on the front burner. I believe I got it in the late summer of 2015. Stripped it down and started removing the damaged parts. It immediately got put on the back burner while I sorted out a M151 and then an M151A1. I sold both of those, and started on the M151A2 KSA (see the thread for that one). The last one is almost done, so the 1970 A2 is now on the rotisserie. I have the engine rebuilt and will start the full restoration on it next week. Here are the pictures as of today...

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The last pictures shows the location of the rod welded between the body and the rear suspension. They were located at all four wheels.

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Re: 1970 A2. One of three current projects

Unread post by Hambone » March 14th, 2017, 11:08 pm

Looks like a good start, don't see a lot of rust, how does that happen in Florida? :lol:

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Re: 1970 A2. One of three current projects

Unread post by Vzike » March 15th, 2017, 7:49 am

Hambone wrote:Looks like a good start, don't see a lot of rust, how does that happen in Florida? :lol:
Actually, it was a lot better when I brought it home from GA in Sept of 2015. It sat outside since, and water settling in the forward cross members did some damage that I will have to repair. The floors are in great shape. The big fix will be those back fenders. Guy Loomis made the parts I need to fix them, so I'm confident I can make this an exceptional A2.

I'm going to do this body differently than the others. I'm going to straighten the metal and fit up as much of it as I can before having it sandblasted. Once that is done, I'm going to prime it with either epoxy primer, or POR15. I'll remove the coating where I'm going to weld, then seal all the seams with body seam sealer prior to painting it. Living and working 300 yards from the ocean has some very unique corrosion issues that I'm going to try to overcome.

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Re: 1970 A2. One of three current projects

Unread post by Vzike » March 29th, 2017, 1:00 pm

As mentioned earlier, the rear quarters were torch cut out to remove the ROPS. I guess this is a common thing with some of these, so I'm going to post my restoration of the back.

To start with, I cut out all the pieces that had to be replaced. Guy Loomis (CMD) made the replacement parts, including the inside supports for both sides. Since the light bucket part of the frame was cut up badly, I obtained a scrapped rear and cut out the rear light buckets.

My process is to remove the damaged parts, leaving the light buckets in place. Fit up the sheet metal parts and align the parts to the existing holes for the rear bumpers, and the side rear tie down mounting holes. Once the sheet metal is fit up, I'll attach it using self drilling sheet metal screws. Then I can remove the sheet metal and cut off the damaged light bucket. I'll then fit up the replacement bucket, using the sheet metal to position it correctly (along with some fixturing), and weld up the light bucket. Once that is complete, I'll weld up the sheet metal and get the rear quarter sorted out.

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Here are the parts Guy made, along with the replacement bucket. The sheet metal got surface rust from our 300 yard distance from the Atlantic Ocean, so I sprayed them with Ospho. I'll have them sandblasted when the body is done

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I got the sheet metal fit up pretty well... I'll take those pictures later today.

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Re: 1970 A2. One of three current projects

Unread post by Vzike » March 30th, 2017, 9:50 am

Here is the initial fit up on the passenger side.

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