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

[David Dunlop]

Good Evening, Darryl.

Nice to see the progress on your project continuing. You are going to be purring around the neighbourhood in it in no time!

I was looking at your parking brake fittings and must agree, it does look a bit strange with such a high angle of departure of the cable from the clevis to the cable bracket. It would definitely be worth fitting up the other half of the system to the bell crank, to see what sort of clearances are available. If it looks like everything clears each other, if the parking brake cable were to run horizontally, with the parking brake full on and full off, then you are on the right track and something is amiss.

I would start by checking the bell crank on the bench first.

Find a good smooth flat surface and make sure it is dead level. Then place the bell crank on that surface, resting one end of the large pivot on the surface. It will probably want to tip over towards the end of the large arm so you may need to place a small weight on the top of the pivot end to hold it in place. What you then want to do is measure the distance from the horizontal centerline of the crank arm to your work surface at the end of the crank arm, closest to the pivot casting. Do the same at the tip of the arm at the clevis fitting. Those two measurements will be the same if the bell crank arm is not bent.

While you have the bell crank on the bench, you may need a second pair of hands to check a second measurement. Have your assistant firmly hold the pivot end of the crank to the surface you are using and then you place a spirit level across the top of the pivot opening. See how close to level you get. Then do the same thing with the spirit level on the clevis fitting at the end of the crank arm. The two level readings should be a very close match. If the level reading is off, at the end of the arm, then the arm is twisted and will need attention.

If the bell crank checks out OK, and even if it does not, you should take a look at the large mounting bracket for the bell crank, on the cross member. The upper and lower arms of this bracket should both be 90 degrees square to the vertical face of the cross member. If they are, then place a small spirit level on the top face of the bracket, oriented parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. It should be reasonably horizontal, assuming your shop floor is reasonably horizontal. If the level reading indicates high to the rear of the vehicle, then the vertical face of that cross member may be twisted somewhat. Only a couple of degrees will make a big difference when transferred out to the end of the bell crank arm.

Keep up the good work!

David