M3A1 AOP Scout Car Armour

[motto]

Darryl, the 8-13/16" dimension you wanted checked comes up as being 9-3/16"on the hull I looked at.

To give a further check I measured the distances from the outside edge of the body i.e. including the thickness of the side armour:- to hole centres:-

Distance to first pair of holes 3".

Distance to first group of four holes. (nearest holes in the group) 15-1/2".

Distance to second group of four. (Ditto) 26-1/2".

Couldn't measure to the centre group because they are covered by a welded plate mounting the stud for spare wheel attachment.

David

[John Mackie]

Hi Darryl. i restored my M3A1 srveral years ago and had to rebuild the comtlete rear bumper. I had the brackets for the taillights bent up from 6MM plate. The 2 triangles and the 2 5 sided brackets were straightened and new 2 1/4 X 1/4 steel found to repair as needed. the pice of checkerplate is modern but i had to join about 3" on one end. i made the lip about 1" wider than origional.I heve seen a different style of rear bumper, it was 1/4" chanel with holes for the taillights and ran fir the full width of tha vehicle. i have found 2 sketches of the parts to construct the bits for the bumper. I can get them photocopied and will post to you if you pm me an adress. I have taken detail plotos but need an ofsider to post them.

Good luck with the project it will reward you many times. John.

[Big D]

David,

Fantastic! That's great. That explains it all and it was surprising to see how many of the measurements on that sketch were wrong. Your meausurements now make it all add up!

Thanks for taking the time to check it out for me. Much appreciated.


John,

Thanks. The bumper will be the next step after getting all these holes drilled.

I will send you a PM.

Cheers all

Darryl

[Big D]

Gidday all,

I completed the drilling on the back panel yesterday.



I got hold of a mag drill and some cobalt drill bits and it powered through the job. It appeared to go without a hitch.

I'll give the metal a clean up today and fit the footman loops and handles. The skate rail holes will have to wait until I have more bolts but at least it is done.

Thanks to those that helped and especially David and John in the last few weeks.

Next job are the bumper mounts which are being made at present by a local engineering firm.

Cheers

Darryl Lennane

[Big D]

Gidday again,

The bumper mounts I was getting made up are ahead of schedule and are actually going to be ready tomorrow so I was wanting to fit them this weekend

Is there a scout car owner that can give me the measurements for the spacing of each of the bumper mounts please? I already have the dimensions for the holes on the mounts themselves and just need the measurements for where these mounts are spaced on the back armour.

From what I can see the outside mounts sit slightly over the screws that are situated on the edge of the armour but am unsure about the inner ones.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Cheers

Darryl Lennane