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

[Big D]

Hi all,

Things are progressing with the engine assembly and my plan is to get this running before it goes into the hull.

I initially had the engine on some wooden blocks but now have it on a stand which we’ll run it on for a test before it goes in the hull. Yes, I know the engine mounts are upside down in the early photos…it was just easier…

I ran out of time to remove some broken manifold studs before I sent the block in for machining so I have now done that. What a pain in the butt job it was removing them. I’ve also drilled and tapped the new holes required at the ends of the block for the longer manifold used on the M8 versus the Scout Car.

I’ve fitted the water pump, oil filter, fan pulley mounts, coil, manifold and starter motor. I had to fabricate the generator mount stay and the bracket that holds the coil.

I was about to fit the fuel pump I had but realised the mount was wrong. I rebuilt this pump several years ago thinking it was for an M8 and had it stored away until now! I have since been told it is actually for a White halftrack. The correct fuel pump is now on the way to me….

The timing cover on this engine didn’t have a plug in it for blanking off what would be the oil filler hole on the scout car engine. What I did was to use a 1.5” frost plug, clean up the circumference a bit as it was fractionally too big, and tap that into place in the timing cover.

The dipsticks for the M8 and scout car are obviously different in length. Is the length of the handle the only difference? I know the sumps are slightly different but I wondered if it was just the handle being a bit longer for accessibility in the hull.

I have a NOS distributor on the way along with some water pump parts I still need. I actually wasn’t aware until now that the distributor cap for the M8/M20 uses an acorn type connection for the leads. The thread diameter is ¼” UNF. Has anyone seen these connectors commercially available?

I fabricated the small adjustable rod for the automatic choke. I modified the design a bit and included a locknut on the end of each leg to hold them onto the centre piece. I understand the original had grub screws securing the legs. I will need to go back to the forum thread where I got the dimensions and photos for this though to confirm the weight of the rod joining the two legs. I imagine that will have an effect on the operation of the auto choke….

That is all for this week…