White M3A1 AOP Windshield and Door armour

[motto]

Good upon you Ghostly Robert, the photos are exactly what was needed and were a problem for me to supply.

Darryl, The only door upper armour I have has been modified along the upper edge but I will give what dimensions are useful.

The lower edge is 33-3/8" long the same as the upper edge of the door itself.
The view port is 8" X 3-1/2" and is at an angle of 18 degrees from the horizontal (as best as I can measure).
If a line is extended from the lower edge of the opening in both directions the rear extension will intersect the lower edge 19-1/8" from the forward corner. The forward extension will intersect the sloped forward edge 6-1/8" up from the forward corner.
A line drawn through the centres of the aft block guide mounting holes measures as being 1-1/8" aft of the rear edge of the opening with the hole centres 1-11/16" and 6-11/16" up the line from the lower edge.
Forward guide mounting hole centre line is 1-3/4" forward of forward edge of the opening with hole centres 4-3/8" and 10-1/2" up the line from the lower edge.

There is not much more you may need that I can give you Darryl but don't hesitate to ask.

David

Oops, need to locate view port in fore and aft direction!

[Big D]

Hi David,

Thanks for that confirmation on the cross brace. I hadn't noticed it myself until I began looking at how to straighten the front bumper, and then it just didn't look right.

That is obviously a problem area then. I'm just not sure about the merits of trying to remove it and straighten it. Is there an easy way to get those hot rivets(?) out short of just cutting the heads off?

Trying to make up something to replace them that looks like them to could be a problem. I guess a bolt head could be ground to make it look original. Overall it looks like it could be time consuming removing that piece, straightening it when I'm not sure it has a great effect on the look of the vehicle.

Any thoughts?

Thanks to for the door measurements. That is fantastic and much appreciated. I'll start getting a plan together and see if it all makes sense.

Hi Robert,

Thanks to you to for the photos. That does indeed help. I couldn't quite get my head around how it was shaped and this puts all of David's description into perspective.

Many thanks.

[David Dunlop]

It was not unusual for farmers over here to use CMPs to push over trees on their property, which eventually takes its toll on front number and sheet metal. Could the Scout Cars have been used for similar work out your way?

[motto]

G'day Darryl, here's a bit more info on the upper door.

A scribed line projecting each of the ends of the view port opening downwards will intersect the lower edge of the plate at a distance of 6-1/2" for the forward end and 14-7/8" for the rear, measured from the forward corner of the plate. The ends of the opening and therefore the scribed lines would be inclined rearwards at an angle of 108 degrees or 18 degrees aft of vertical.

Two Footman loops appear to have been attached to the door, both being 3" up from the lower edge to the centres. The aft one has the centre of the rear hole 13/16" forward of the rear edge of the plate. The forward one is 1-5/16" from its centre to the forward edge of the plate. This measurement is taken AT RIGHT ANGLES to the forward edge of the plate.
The holes and therefore the Footman loops are 2-1/4" between centres.

In regards to the distorted brackets on the apron armour support I would normally chisel the rivet heads off and punch them out if they are accessible. For replacement I would simply bolt them back in place. That would also be an advantage if you ever had to remove the brackets again.

It's quite possible David that pushing down saplings could have been what did the damage particularly if the roller had been removed as was often the case.

David

[Big D]

Hi David

Fantastic. Thanks for that. I am currently in Queensland doing a bit of holidaying so am keen to get back and get the drawings finalised and get these bits made up.

Cheers again.

[Big D]

Hi David

Thanks for all those measurements. I have the first template finalised for the passenger door upper armour and it all looks good. I will get this off to the steel suppliers as soon as possible and get it made up.

Will post the photos once it is done.

Thanks.

[Tim Bell]

There's a chap on the White Scout Car Appreciation group on Facebook who's in Norway and advertising a lot of armoured parts for sale - his photos suggest he has at least 10 chassis with various parts attached.

I can see if he's happy to share an email address - or post on here - if anyone's interested?

Tim