How To: C8A restoration in Holland

[8threcce]

Please see the pictures of the hatch lever that is located outside the hatch and inside the slide rail (a simple U profile)
You can see that the ball part has extensive wear and is flat on one side.
All levers on the hatch I have are having this flat spot which indicates to me that these ball didn't roll but just slide .....is this correct or should they indeed roll which seems obvious to me ...did any of you ever made new levers ?? I'm wondering with what I should replace this ball, seems to me that it's hard to make or to obtain as a ready made part......any suggestions welcome

Many Thanks

Pieter

[Maurice Donckers]

yes i have door locks , and other parts

[8threcce]

Originally Posted by Maurice Donckers

yes i have door locks , and other parts

Would be very interested can you pm me on ptbergman@kpnmail.nl

[Phil Waterman]

Note Pieter had sent be an e-mail, Re: Hatch question I'm sharing my response to the thread with additional question.


Hi Pieter

Yes the bronze ball wheels were intended to turn, but it never seemed to have worked very well. I have never seen a HUP hatch where some of the balls are not flat spotted.

Some of mine are flat spotted in more than one location. My long ago fix for this problem was to smear grease on the rails which does make the hatch slide much easier.

The bearings would need to be pretty small and rust proof.

I still have to fit the new roof hatch on my HUP when I did the restoration ran out of time even though I have new track and new hatch all fabricated just didn't have time to get them fitted so put the old hatch back on.

The lever ball unit unbolt on mine to be removed so I think the first step will be to remove all four and drop them in a bucket of acitone and automatic transmission fluid to see if they will loosen up and turn.

- My additional questions:
The bronze used on my late production HUP, June 45, seems to extremely soft was this the case on early HUPs?

The end of the shafts on my lever arms are swedged to the keep the balls from falling off was this the case on all? Seems like they would only be lost prior to installing the hatch on the vehicle.

Cheers Phil

PS If the spelling is off in this post, the spell check on my tablet seems to have stopped working.

[8threcce]

Originally Posted by Phil Waterman

Note Pieter had sent be an e-mail, Re: Hatch question I'm sharing my response to the thread with additional question.

Thanks Phil for the info.

[8threcce]

added some hatch lever drawings for any one who might need these in future

[8threcce]

Originally Posted by 8threcce

added some hatch lever drawings for any one who might need these in future

Also jpeg added

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Originally Posted by 8threcce

Please see the pictures of the hatch lever that is located outside the hatch and inside the slide rail (a simple U profile)
You can see that the ball part has extensive wear and is flat on one side.
All levers on the hatch I have are having this flat spot which indicates to me that these ball didn't roll but just slide .....is this correct or should they indeed roll which seems obvious to me ...did any of you ever made new levers ?? I'm wondering with what I should replace this ball, seems to me that it's hard to make or to obtain as a ready made part......any suggestions welcome

Congratulations on getting the body back on!! It's a big step and all 'uphill' from there.

Going back to the sliding roof hatch in this earlier post, this is where I am now, remaking the tubes and levers. You had asked whether the bronze ends should roll noting the flat worn side. I think they should roll but were probably very quick to rust solid being where they were. Did you ever sort out for sure if they were meant to roll? I can't get mine to move no matter what and will have to drill them out and replace the rivet/axle if so.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Hi Pieter, congrats on the important milestone of the "marriage" of body and chassis.

I love the fact that it was done on the side of the road - just like the RCEME would have done!

[Gordon Yeo]

Originally Posted by Bruce Parker

Congratulations on getting the body back on!! It's a big step and all 'uphill' from there.

Going back to the sliding roof hatch in this earlier post, this is where I am now, remaking the tubes and levers. You had asked whether the bronze ends should roll noting the flat worn side. I think they should roll but were probably very quick to rust solid being where they were. Did you ever sort out for sure if they were meant to roll? I can't get mine to move no matter what and will have to drill them out and replace the rivet/axle if so.

Bruce

I have an early 1942 HUP that has the rollers with the flat spots. I think the original roller was bronze and quickly stops turning I had a good friend turn me up some brass rollers for replacements. The truck was finished about three years ago and is always in a dry well ventilated building. I just went and checked to see how free the rollers were and I think its a design flaw. There isn't much "leverage" on the roller to make it want to move and they will probably end up with flat spots any way

Gord

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Originally Posted by Gordon Yeo

Bruce

I have an early 1942 HUP that has the rollers with the flat spots. I think the original roller was bronze and quickly stops turning I had a good friend turn me up some brass rollers for replacements. The truck was finished about three years ago and is always in a dry well ventilated building. I just went and checked to see how free the rollers were and I think its a design flaw. There isn't much "leverage" on the roller to make it want to move and they will probably end up with flat spots any way

Gord

Thanks Gord. My 'new' uninstalled hatch has three of the four arms and bronze rollers (one had snapped off) and of course were round. The fourth one that I pinched from my original (and well used) HUW hatch had that characteristic flat spot. I think I will grind off the backs, punch out the axle pins and replace, perhaps leaving a little more clearance. Oh, and oiling them daily.

[m606paz]

Great Job Pieter! Thanks for sharing!

[David Herbert]

How about using stainless steel for the pins so there is no question of corrosion. It might be possible to find stainless bolts with compatible dimensions.

David