How To: Restoration of Ford M8 armoured car US Ordnance number 7373

[Big D]

Hi all,

Here is another update.

I finally got the fuel cell out of its enclosure. The screws and nuts holding the panels at each end of the shroud are a bugger to get out. I had to use vice grips on the head of each screw as a screwdriver was just not going to do it. The cardboard inside was for the most part still in one piece but there was lots of loose rust inside. The sheet metal on my enclosure was obviously not as good as I thought and I think the paint was the only thing holding some of it together. There was also some fibreglass repairs, presumably done by the Italians?

The cell itself had obviously hardened over time as it was an absolute pig to get out of the enclosure. As you can see by the photos, I had to resort to creative ways to get it out of the shroud and all up I must have spent 4 hours mucking around with different methods to try to drag it out. In the end, I finally got it out of the enclosure far enough where I could remove the filler cap and then I put the crane hook on the cell itself which really got it moving.

The cell itself still looks in reasonable condition but I won’t be using it. The idea of taking that out again if there is a problem makes me cringe! I will opt for a stainless steel tank option I think.

The courier dropped off a nice package the other day. Lots of electrical conduit including the elusive junction box that sits on the engine cross member. I had not seen another one of these around so many thanks to Reg for these.

I have a number of engine blocks to drop off to the reconditioners to see what they can do with them. All need lots of work but I’m sure they can make one good engine out of this lot. I have new pistons and sleeves and now need to order the right bearings etc. It looks like one of the blocks had some service with the Greeks.