I even opened up the port on the carb that was probably meant for a fuel return line. No joy. Disgusted, I packed things up and walked away. I wasn't retreating. I was advancing in a different direction. I needed time to think. A day later, I had a plan. A 'Reagan Plan' that began with me trusting my own work, but verifying. That odds against having two carbs develop a stuck float were astronomical. So, I went back out, pulled off the tarps from the tractor and...
okay, why is my new carb weeping fuel?
I hadn't snugged down the last fitting properly and THAT weeping fuel meant that the carb's bowl was full. Trust....but verify. So I verified in the most optimistic way I could. I tried to start the tractor.
It fired right up, very happily. What began as a long-slumbering tractor, with a rotten, badly mangled fuel system and a power steering leak of epic, Olde Faithful proportions, was now ready to go to work, despite the fact that I had not yet hung the tin back on to hide the working bits. It was just a bit shy about transferring fuel from the tank to the carb. Apparently, these things take time.
The following day Señor Beel and I pulled the gloriously decrepit Jeep Willy's Scout Car / MB chassis out and with the help of my still-nude tractor and it's handy-dandy loader, we separated the leprous beast into a power pack and two axle groups and later, returned the roller wheels & tires to the other, MoBettah MB chassis. Friends, that disassembly was about as quick and easy as it ever gets. And a little action with The Death Wheel neatly reduced the chassis into manageable sized bits.
The frame was rendered unto Caesar and the spirit of 1945 MB number 411063 was rendered unto God. Fare thee well, mighty warrior! I thought it somewhat poetic (and a bit serendipitous) that this plucky little MB had been assembled by Ohioans in 1945 and made its way to Texas where a displaced Ohioan found, acquired and disassembled it, 80 years later, in 2025. Dust to dust.
As for Nickel, the malignant, much abused tractor that was conveyed to my care and tender ministrations with and by the transference of one wooden nickel and a handshake, well....
...it has already proved itself worthy of every penny I put into it.
Cheers,
TJ
Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
Moderators: rickf, raymond, Mr. Recovery
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
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Last edited by m3a1 on March 9th, 2025, 3:07 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
I have seen people pay ridiculous amounts of money for those frames. In much worse condition than that one. If you had advertised that on G503 I bet you could have covered the bill for most of what was spent on the tractor.
And when I say worse condition I mean rotted out bad. BUT' they still had that serial number for accuracy.
And when I say worse condition I mean rotted out bad. BUT' they still had that serial number for accuracy.
1964 M151A1
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
12/1952 M100- Departed
AN/TSQ-114A Trailblazer- Gone
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
12/1952 M100- Departed
AN/TSQ-114A Trailblazer- Gone
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
The space I recovered is worth more than the few bucks I might have gotten for the frame and space is in short supply around here. YES, it did have a good tag on it...which I have kept as a souvenir.
I can assure you, that frame was the proverbial 'village bicycle.' Everyone had a ride on it and it was JUNK.
Cheers,
TJ
I can assure you, that frame was the proverbial 'village bicycle.' Everyone had a ride on it and it was JUNK.
Cheers,
TJ
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
I wish I had pics of some of the frames and rotted WWII Jeep body parts my buddy has sold. A couple of those frames were over 1000.00!
1964 M151A1
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
12/1952 M100- Departed
AN/TSQ-114A Trailblazer- Gone
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
12/1952 M100- Departed
AN/TSQ-114A Trailblazer- Gone
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
I have two frames. One is a new reproduction, from way back when...when the dollar went a little further.
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
And now, boys and girls, we are back on Mister Bones, a 1942 White M2 Half Track.
Mister Bones is getting a new, mo bettah, electric fuel pump. And, since he's a frankentrack, he is equipped with the ammo lockers from an M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage. Now those lockers have been a minor annoyance since Day 1.....BUT (you know, the 'badonkadonk thing') I am going to put one of those lockers to work. It is where the mondo fuel pump will live, along with the mondo fuel filter...all to be neatly installed in a protected steel locker, well out of the way....and yet, so easily accessible.
Easy of accessibility? Wow, what a concept.
Half Tracks are really just a collection of small, hard to reach spaces, with lots of hard, unforgiving corners and sharp edges...and, when the sun is out, all that metal is like having a hot iron against one's skin. So, having important, working bits where they can be gotten to is something of a rarity for a half track. ANYHOO, today we culled the old fuel pump out, made some adjustments to the existing fuel line and made all the necessary holes for mounting the filter and pump. Heck, I even cleaned up the mounting surfaces a bit and primed 'em. So, tomorrow, we will continue by actually putting the working bits in and then look into how best to run the wiring.
Yummy!
Cheers,
TJ
Mister Bones is getting a new, mo bettah, electric fuel pump. And, since he's a frankentrack, he is equipped with the ammo lockers from an M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage. Now those lockers have been a minor annoyance since Day 1.....BUT (you know, the 'badonkadonk thing') I am going to put one of those lockers to work. It is where the mondo fuel pump will live, along with the mondo fuel filter...all to be neatly installed in a protected steel locker, well out of the way....and yet, so easily accessible.
Easy of accessibility? Wow, what a concept.
Half Tracks are really just a collection of small, hard to reach spaces, with lots of hard, unforgiving corners and sharp edges...and, when the sun is out, all that metal is like having a hot iron against one's skin. So, having important, working bits where they can be gotten to is something of a rarity for a half track. ANYHOO, today we culled the old fuel pump out, made some adjustments to the existing fuel line and made all the necessary holes for mounting the filter and pump. Heck, I even cleaned up the mounting surfaces a bit and primed 'em. So, tomorrow, we will continue by actually putting the working bits in and then look into how best to run the wiring.
Yummy!
Cheers,
TJ
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
After a yesterday of hauling my fat tukkus up and over the side of the half track, TODAY my shoulders and arms are screaming. I'm out of shape. WAY too much winter hibernation, I reckon. I must have looked like a fat raccoon struggling to get into a dumpster. And a fat raccoon struggling to get into a dumpster just happens to be my spirit animal.
Now, thinking back on my previous post, I realize that ammo lockers and M16 half tracks might not be something that many of you are familiar with. Just imagine a whole bunch of shoe boxes and assorted other sized boxes all hot glued together and kind of neatly arranged into a great big cube which is situated in between the frame rails of the half track, right behind the aft bulkhead of the driver's compartment. The M16 is always hungry for ammo. How my M2 came to have 'em is simple math. The museum that formerly owned this rig had 3, maybe 4 half tracks which were made up of a variety of half track parts not original to their build. Mine, being the hindmost, got leftovers, like the red-headed step child it was/is.
Now, because I needed a highly accessible fuel pump and equally highly accessible fuel filter, not small (like those itty bitty 'will it run?' YouTuber mechanic filters) but BIG, like the ones that actually belong on a machine of this size (think. race car fuel filter and you'll have it) I decided to use that unused locker space to my advantage and put all that fuel delivery business in the large, center locker.
Run-on Sentence Badge - AWARDED!
What a concept. A fuel system that is under foot, yet NOT 'under foot'! But it is below and very close to the fuel tank, which is most desirable.
Double Entendre Badge - AWARDED!
My goodness! Two badges in one post!
TWO Badges In One Post Badge - AWARDED!
All of this to avoid having to pay a WHOLE lot of money for a fuel system styled after the original design which would be a very princely sum. But I was soon to find out that M16 ammo lockers are....
...wait for it...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
ARMORED.
Yes, despite their rather thin sheet metal, these lockers are, like everything else, good, American, face-hardened, WWII era, Square-Your-Shoulders-And-Face-The-Hun, top quality steel. And what happens when you face-harden a sheet of high quality steel that is only about 3/16" thick? Well, fella, it becomes hardened all the way across. How did I find that out? Because I had to drill holes in the darned thing in order to route fuel lines and wires out of it. It took about and hour and half to do two ding-danged holes! Now imagine doing all this monkey business whilst twisted into a very uncomfortable, Cirque du Soleil, can't breath cause I'm fat, contortionist pose because...well, just because. Trust me. That's what it took and if there had been an easier way, I would have done it.
And, because of all this, Arthur Itus came to see what I was up to and to remind me that, unlike Elvis, Arthur will NEVER leave the building. So, I am presently gulping down Ibuprofen and Tylenol the same way fat kids eat M&Ms. Goodbye liver. Sayonara. It's been nice knowing ya.
However, because I come from hardy European stock, I never say die and yes, those two lousy holes eventually got drilled.
We cleaned up the mating surfaces, primed them with rusty metal primer and eventually coated that with whatever color of Rust-oleum that came to hand the quickest. After that dried, I bolted in all the new goodness, plumbed the plumbing and then called it a day. As a sort of reward, I am looking forward to some Granny Smith's Dutch Apple pie tonight (Happy Pi Day, by the way..because the date is 3-14. Get it?) and that pie, along with a good stiff cup of coffee, fortified with Blanton's single barrel straight bourbon whiskey should help....
...or perhaps the other way around, with the whiskey being fortified with some coffee. Why?
Because I earned it. Every drop.
Cheers,
TJ
Now, thinking back on my previous post, I realize that ammo lockers and M16 half tracks might not be something that many of you are familiar with. Just imagine a whole bunch of shoe boxes and assorted other sized boxes all hot glued together and kind of neatly arranged into a great big cube which is situated in between the frame rails of the half track, right behind the aft bulkhead of the driver's compartment. The M16 is always hungry for ammo. How my M2 came to have 'em is simple math. The museum that formerly owned this rig had 3, maybe 4 half tracks which were made up of a variety of half track parts not original to their build. Mine, being the hindmost, got leftovers, like the red-headed step child it was/is.
Now, because I needed a highly accessible fuel pump and equally highly accessible fuel filter, not small (like those itty bitty 'will it run?' YouTuber mechanic filters) but BIG, like the ones that actually belong on a machine of this size (think. race car fuel filter and you'll have it) I decided to use that unused locker space to my advantage and put all that fuel delivery business in the large, center locker.
Run-on Sentence Badge - AWARDED!
What a concept. A fuel system that is under foot, yet NOT 'under foot'! But it is below and very close to the fuel tank, which is most desirable.
Double Entendre Badge - AWARDED!
My goodness! Two badges in one post!
TWO Badges In One Post Badge - AWARDED!
All of this to avoid having to pay a WHOLE lot of money for a fuel system styled after the original design which would be a very princely sum. But I was soon to find out that M16 ammo lockers are....
...wait for it...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
ARMORED.
Yes, despite their rather thin sheet metal, these lockers are, like everything else, good, American, face-hardened, WWII era, Square-Your-Shoulders-And-Face-The-Hun, top quality steel. And what happens when you face-harden a sheet of high quality steel that is only about 3/16" thick? Well, fella, it becomes hardened all the way across. How did I find that out? Because I had to drill holes in the darned thing in order to route fuel lines and wires out of it. It took about and hour and half to do two ding-danged holes! Now imagine doing all this monkey business whilst twisted into a very uncomfortable, Cirque du Soleil, can't breath cause I'm fat, contortionist pose because...well, just because. Trust me. That's what it took and if there had been an easier way, I would have done it.
And, because of all this, Arthur Itus came to see what I was up to and to remind me that, unlike Elvis, Arthur will NEVER leave the building. So, I am presently gulping down Ibuprofen and Tylenol the same way fat kids eat M&Ms. Goodbye liver. Sayonara. It's been nice knowing ya.
However, because I come from hardy European stock, I never say die and yes, those two lousy holes eventually got drilled.
We cleaned up the mating surfaces, primed them with rusty metal primer and eventually coated that with whatever color of Rust-oleum that came to hand the quickest. After that dried, I bolted in all the new goodness, plumbed the plumbing and then called it a day. As a sort of reward, I am looking forward to some Granny Smith's Dutch Apple pie tonight (Happy Pi Day, by the way..because the date is 3-14. Get it?) and that pie, along with a good stiff cup of coffee, fortified with Blanton's single barrel straight bourbon whiskey should help....
...or perhaps the other way around, with the whiskey being fortified with some coffee. Why?
Because I earned it. Every drop.
Cheers,
TJ
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