M2 Half Track

Military vehicles other than M-151s that might be of interest to our members

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Re: M2 Half Track

Unread post by m3a1 » June 12th, 2021, 8:30 pm

It is ON!

But right now I have to skeedaddle over to a buddy's house to repay the labor.

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Re: M2 Half Track

Unread post by m3a1 » June 13th, 2021, 2:23 am

WELL! (huge sigh of relief) THE HEAD IS ON!

My recently retired police partner came over today after I labored all day to prep everything. It just seemed like the right time to wrap this up because as straightforward a job this might appear to be, final assembly wasn't going to be easy.

But before we get into that business, let's have a look at the old head gasket. It's a bloody mess, and you are seeing it in a far cleaner condition than what it looked like when I pulled it off. Think of setting a large flightless bird on fire and glueing its ashes all over the head gasket. Yes, I know that sounds odd but frankly, that's actually pretty accurate. I suppose the black, feathery st
uff that was coming off of it was the remains of the old gasket sealer.

Head gaskets on these things consist of a layer of asbestos sandwiched between two sheets of tin and all held together by copper rings crimped down at critical spots. Not exactly rocket science. The head gasket I took off had formerly been constructed in that way but, time and tide took a heavy toll. It was leaking...just not between critical areas. It was rusted through, permitting you-name-it to migrate to....well, wherever. This explains the variety of conditions that I found the head bolts in, ranging from kind of okay or, coked up or, rusty-crusty as a result of continued exposure to coolant. The fact that this head gasket was holding any compression at all is a complete mystery to me because I found the head bolts under such a variety of tensions when I removed them. Amazing.


IMG_6604.jpeg
IMG_6605.jpeg

So, how do you place a heavy block of iron on top of an engine whilst keeping the head gasket (which has been freshly coated in coppery head gasket sealer) in precisely the right place and unmolested while working in about 10" of overhead clearance? Well, the best option I came up with was placing a large piece of wood on the intake manifold to take the weight of the head at the beginning of the process. This head has to weigh in around 60 lbs and I ain't kiddin'. Probably more. We tried several well-thought-out plans which we nixed when they began to slide everything off into the proverbial ditch (because, again, there is the matter of keeping that gasket absolutely pristine and in place and that, friends, requires a one-and-done process that is executed perfectly.

Wanna know how the Army did it? They took the hood off and some guy with arms like Popeye stood over the engine with one foot on either frame rail and plopped the head straight down onto it...probably with at least one other guy steering it into place! So, now you're wondering why I just didn't remove the hood, right?

Have you ever taken a hood off a half track? No, of course you haven't.... because no sane person would. Only a person under complete duress (like an Army mechanic) could be compelled to do that job. Not only is the hood assembly unwieldy because it consists of five large, 1/4" armored panels, hinged by 12 different hinges on four different lines. It is also gawd-awful HEAVY. There are no shortcuts because the center section is the piece that is actually in the way and everything else hangs off of that. It's all, or nothing at all.

This is easy enough to deal with when you have a bunch of guys under orders to lift it....BUT...then there is the matter of three little 3/8 armor bolts obscenely placed riiiiight up over the radiator; bolts that (quite literally) require several hours of labor just to get to and, if you've never tried to undo even ONE half track armor bolt (or 'screw" if you are looking for absolute correctness in language) let me tell ya....it isn't work for the faint-hearted. Hang around for that job and you'll hear some language you've NEVER heard before. I am talking about oaths uttered by mechanics that would make a sailor blush; these are words that would make a professor of dead languages sit down and begin to take notes.

Friends, if you think I'm engaging in hyperbole, consider this... I own a Gama Goat.. Do ya think I don't know what hardship is?

So, we finally did what our British cousins would do. We rolled up our sleeves, closed our eyes, thought of the Queen, asked for the Lord's blessing through gritted teeth and then we went over the top and marched straight into the guns....and the mosquitos. Where the HELL did all these mosquitos suddenly come from?!!

Okay. So now you are asking what, exactly did we do?


(Test fitting the gasket before sealer was applied.)
IMG_6602.jpg


We indexed the gasket on that errant stud (the one that I had taken off during the original disassembly) and then we indexed the head on the same stud using the wood as a jumping off point. And then, from opposing sides we laid either on, or over the fenders and grabbed the head in a death grip, using several teeny tiny bosses at the bottom corners of the head as a place to gain some purchase on this giant block of steel, and facing one another with our arms fully extended we rotated the head off the wood and then took the full weight of it. This method can only be accomplished when both guys are pressing on their side of the head like maniacs.

We simply became a couple of gorillas for the time it took to get the thing on there without bollocking up the gasket. Pure muscle pitted against the other fella's pure muscle, and both of us cursing the other and the mother who bore him (the same mother who failed to sew him in a burlap bag with a bobcat and drop him in the river to extinguish his miserable life).

Under this circumstance, you become sure the other fella isn't doing it right and he is no doubt thinking that you are intentionally making things harder than they need to be. Hatred makes you STRONG! And finally this huge chunk of metal was slowly and gently lowered into place and one head bolt laid in at the opposing corner of the head to keep everything from going all pear shaped at the last moment. After that, apologies were made, friends returned to being friends.....and there was much rejoicing when we were finally able to swat the mosquitoes.

I became an Ace in mere seconds after swatting five of the little b---ards....and a Double Ace in under a minute.

If you have any doubt about the friendship angle, who, other than a friend would accept a humble apology and begin to take pictures as I took a victory lap around the head screwing in head bolts when, mere moments before I was treating him so poorly? My buddy did. I rest my case. Sometimes the work isn't pretty and suffers from a definitive lack of grace.

You're a good man, Bill, and I fully retract my statement about the bobcat. Mosquitos, maybe, but never bobcats. :lol:


IMG_6606.jpg

After we gathered our wits together and wiped away the sweat and dead mosquitos, I snugged down all the head bolts. My buddy got the TM out and we began tightening the head bolts per the manual. I elected to go 35 lb-ft on the first pass, 55 lb-ft on the second and 75 lb-ft on the final pass. We Sixty six clicks later, I stepped back again to admire my work...

It was at this point, I realized I forgot two very important things. I forgot to lubricate the cylinder tops and walls and I forgot to turn the engine over to verify that my valves were still moving up and down. :shock: The lubrication business was the easy bit to correct but the valves? THEY were going to be the nail biter. Did I just screw this up? Were we going to have to go through this ALL OVER AGAIN because I'm a lame brain? :cry:

Collecting stamps would have been SO much easier.....

Sometimes, when there is no other way to go but forward, the decision to go forward becomes an easy one. So, we hooked up the battery and hit the starter button. Nuthin. By "nuthin" I mean the battery was D-E-D....dead. :roll: The suspense was killing me. I grabbed another battery and my chum hit the button and the engine happily turned over. With a thumb over each spark plug hole I found that every cylinder puffed nicely except for #5 which was lame, but still in the game. Terrific. I can work with that.

Houston, we have compression! And I'm betting with an oil change, and some of those new-fangled fuel additives, we might just get #5 back.


IMG_6603.jpg
Cheers,
TJ
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Re: M2 Half Track

Unread post by rickf » June 13th, 2021, 9:02 am

Can I ask a dumb question? Why didn't you make a couple of guide studs from bolts with the heads cut off? A couple of the old head bolts of similar would have been perfect. Hand thread them into the block at strategic points and they would hold the head gasket plus guide the head down in position. And if you had cut slots in the end of them you could remove them with a screwdriver bit.

Look at a valve job in an 80's E series Ford van with a big block 460 some time. Those heads are a bit over 100 lbs. each and a lot less room to work than you have there. Access from rear and a little front only. I used to do that job by myself using a pipe and chains to hang/slide the heads into position. I know how it feels.
1964 M151A1
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
12/1952 M100- Departed
AN/TSQ-114A Trailblazer- Gone

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Re: M2 Half Track

Unread post by m3a1 » June 13th, 2021, 9:38 am

The problem is, there really is nothing from which to attach the head to any sort of ac hoc handle. Any available bolt holes, such as the thermostat housing, or the spark plug holes are so off-center their use would be pointless and risk damaging what is, quite frankly, nearly irreplaceable.

I considered doing exactly that with the spare head bolts and did not because I was concerned about (a) scratching the bottom of the head in any way and (b) ruining original head bolts (which are so painfully difficult to find I may just have my ''seconds' mounted in an old Fire Alarm Box).

IN CASE OF HEAD BOLT FAILURE, BREAK GLASS

After giving the whole thing a great deal of thought I am guessing that anybody who dealt with this sort of thing often enough probably had some sort of device like those crafty lifting clamps that are used to pick up concrete jersey barriers. Think - ice tongs, and you'd get the idea. The long edges of the head have a very slight roll-under quality to them that would make that a snap. Sadly, a one-shot deal doesn't justify such extravagances.

So, one takes the uphill route....both ways....in the snow. 8)

Cheers,
TJ

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Re: M2 Half Track

Unread post by rickf » June 13th, 2021, 5:49 pm

You mean like this?

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Steelman-Si ... cale=en-US

And as far as the bolts, could have been any bolt of the right thread. Cut the head off and grind a rounded surface on the top end, hence, no scratches and self aligning. I have quite a few of those in a box for odd jobs like these, somewhere. :roll:
1964 M151A1
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
12/1952 M100- Departed
AN/TSQ-114A Trailblazer- Gone

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Re: M2 Half Track

Unread post by m3a1 » June 13th, 2021, 7:49 pm

Due to the limited space I'm not sure those would actually do the job but close in terms of the idea of the thing.

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Re: M2 Half Track

Unread post by rickf » June 13th, 2021, 9:10 pm

On the E series vans I had to use pretty short pilot bolts, about an 1' and a half. I would get the head on and reach down the hole with a screwdriver and loosen the pilot till it was all the way out of the threads and then use one of those promo screwdrivers we all have, the little one with the magnet on the end, to reach down and grab the pilot and bring it out. They don't always have to be long enough to show out the top, just enough to hold the gasket and line up the head.
1964 M151A1
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
12/1952 M100- Departed
AN/TSQ-114A Trailblazer- Gone

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Re: M2 Half Track

Unread post by m3a1 » June 13th, 2021, 11:46 pm

Obviously, I have valves and lifters on my mind and, by extension I also have cams and timing gears and OIL DELIVERY on my mind. So, an oil change is on the to-do list beginning with the filter. It's the thing in the thing that does the thing to clean the thing that lubricates all those assorted and sundry things and brother, it's a mess. INTRODUCING....

The Sock Filter!

No really. That's what it's called.


IMG_6612.jpg
Wix 51011 or NAPA 1011 to be exact. It resides in a can surrounding a central tube with two holes about half way up and two more located at the top in the nut that fastens the lid to the can. Inside the can's lid is a strong dome constructed of perforated metal that nests over the top of the filter, holding it firmly down in the can.

IMG_6609.jpg

The top holes are for bypassing the filter should it become completely soiled and quite frankly, the whole thing has got to be about as efficient as a screen door on a submarine. And yet, we will soon see how much crud a sock filter can gather because I KNOW you want me to open it up.


IMG_6610.jpg

Those of you who have been at this sort of thing for a while are already smelling the odor that goes with this. Kinda 50% oil, 50% gasoline and 50% Odeur de Pneus Brûlés. Naturally, I'll be hunting for anything that suggests undo wear like metal and metallic paste.

To construct said filter, first you take a whole lotta shredded fabric and form it into donut shapes and stack them. Then you take a section of Eleanor Roosevelt's old hosery and stuff those donuts in there nice and neat and tuck the ends into the center hole. A perforated metal sleeve goes up the middle to hold it all together with a wire loop for dragging the poor dead thing back out of the can when it becomes time to give it a decent burial.


IMG_6611.jpg

Let's open it up!


IMG_6613.jpg

What we have here is six donuts all stacked up and pressed together tightly. Let's see what the insides look like, shall we?
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Re: M2 Half Track

Unread post by m3a1 » June 14th, 2021, 12:02 am

With the sock removed I take off the base..


IMG_6615.jpg

Then the bottom donut which is simply pressed up against the others...


IMG_6616.jpg

Which allows me get my hands on the center section to remove it...


IMG_6617.jpg

And with all the six donuts separated we find nothing shiny or metallic or pasty gray! That's good news but, oh boy...that's some pretty awful oil.


IMG_6618.jpg

Cheers,
TJ
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Re: M2 Half Track

Unread post by rickf » June 14th, 2021, 9:02 am

What? you didn't do this on the kitchen table in the AC? WUSS!!!!!!!

All things considered it is pretty efficient for the oil that actually goes through the media which is probably not a whole lot considering how tight it is. I would bet 75% goes through the bypass. I would be putting a more modern filter on there somehow. I am sure there are kits to do it? Or even a more modern canister filter insert.
1964 M151A1
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
12/1952 M100- Departed
AN/TSQ-114A Trailblazer- Gone

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Re: M2 Half Track

Unread post by m3a1 » June 14th, 2021, 1:16 pm

I did use the kitchen, Rick. What's where I go to cool off.... and, risking life and limb, I DID use momma's 'good scissors'.. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Yes, I'm absolutely sure there is a more modern canister filter insert (might be the Wix 51010, actually) but I'm not presently inclined to investigate that, chiefly because the half track sees such limited use and then, only on the street. If I were using it in the manner it was designed to be used then yes, I would absolutely find and switch over to the mo-bettah filter.

I think your assessment of 75% bypassing the filter at any one moment is probably spot on. This is exactly the same filter as can be found on Dodges and IHCs well into the 50s so apparently everyone was pretty satisfied with it. I reckon the designers of these vehicles probably were more concerned about oil starvation than having super clean oil. It is hard to fathom wether or not they were right about that since most of those old-time vehicle's engines never, ever survived to reach the number of miles our present-day vehicles do.

My guess is that answer has more to do with the quality of formulation found in our present day motor oils; far superior to the motor oils of the old days. New oils just hang in there a heckuva lot longer. I'm not sure the metallurgy in engine components has changed that much though obviously the design of the mechanical bits have and they still require lubrication of some sort.

As for the oil, that would be an interesting question to pose to our member....who is it?....Raymond? If you will recall, we used to change the oil in our cars and trucks so frequently it seems ridiculous by today's standard. I worked at an old-school gas station and I can tell you that changed the oil on the same cars over and over again; always at least two times a year and usually, more than that.

In any case, I have another, "correct" sock-filter on the way and SIX GALLONS of straight 30 weight motor oil (for diesel trucks) sitting on the shelf and waiting to get in there. Yes, straight 30wt is what the manual calls for. Once things get going on this engine, I'll run it, drain it, and have a look at what comes out. I know for a fact that it has been bored over so another question is, what else was addressed in the engine when the work was done?

Earlier we were speaking of overhead clearances and the difficulty removing the hood (which makes me grind my teeth just thinking about it) I bought a valve spring compressor (from one of my fellow half track owners) that is compact and would allow the valves to be redone in-frame....just in case it ever comes to that. THAT job would also involve removal of the whole right side of the dog house just so I can cozy up to the work. (Leaning over the fenders is strictly for a young man) But again, there is nothing quite so difficult as removing armor bolts, screws (WHATEVER!) even when they can be easily accessed. Hopefully, I have dodged that particular bullet....for now.

All this I'm doing now amounts to nothing more than conservation. I just don't have any justification to bring this half track back to absolute perfection. Its only job is to drive parade routes and that (plus wrenching on it) is chiefly where I get my enjoyment out of it. Compared to a M151, a full restoration project of anything like a half track is really another story altogether. That's not a bold claim. It's just a fact. BIGGER means needing more of everything. More work to do, more money spent, more equipment needed, more time dedicated, more space required, more patience from a spouse, more favors from friends...more, more more. But, it IS fun....mostly.

Cheers,
TJ

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Re: M2 Half Track

Unread post by rickf » June 14th, 2021, 2:16 pm

Last I heard a set of tracks cost more than the average 151. IF you can find them.
1964 M151A1
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
12/1952 M100- Departed
AN/TSQ-114A Trailblazer- Gone

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Re: M2 Half Track

Unread post by m3a1 » June 14th, 2021, 10:27 pm

Oh, I know where a set is.....

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Re: M2 Half Track

Unread post by m3a1 » June 16th, 2021, 1:41 am

I took an enforced day away from the half track today. No long hours of reaching into the engine bay. This business of leaning over fenders is terribly hard on my poor old back. But yesterday, I cut out a new gasket and re-installed the oil filter canister after ensuring the passages below it, going into the engine, were indeed open.


IMG_6621.jpg
What I did do today was return to check that the gasket hadn't settled in any way and did that by re-torquing the original bolts which I installed with new lock washers. With that done, a coat of paint was laid on, to ensure my carefully cleaned bolts did not begin to rust again....


IMG_6622.jpg
...and I removed that temporary fuel line in anticipation of routing a new fuel line in a somewhat more permanent way. Since I won't be using the original fuel tanks, I'm pretty much free to lay the new plumbing wherever it is most advantageous. Things are starting to look a little more businesslike in there!

By the way, I actually whittled this canister and base out of a block of dirt-impregnated dried grease. Nice work, eh? 8)

Cheers,
TJ
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Re: M2 Half Track

Unread post by rickf » June 16th, 2021, 8:38 am

So why aren't you using the original fuel tanks? Rotted out? Aren't they more or less a rectangular tank? You could replace that with a tank sourced for a boat probably. Or a fuel cell if you wanted the safe route.
1964 M151A1
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
12/1952 M100- Departed
AN/TSQ-114A Trailblazer- Gone

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