Chevrolet 1533X2 30cwt LRDG truck mini articles

[Grant Bowker]

It sounds like the gauge was designed for a non-pressurized cooling system that used plain water as the coolant. That system woild boil at 212 or less, depending how high an altitude you are at. In such a system, if you saw the gauge approach 212 you would know that you were getting close to boil-over and should take immediate actions to avoid losing your water (in a desert where it might not be easy to replace.....)

[David Dunlop]

Aren’t most automotive gauges serving this function marked ‘TEMP’? I cannot recall ever seeing an automotive gauge set up like this before. As Grant suggests, it certainly draws ones attention to the importance of the commodity in a desert environment.

David

[Charlie Down]

Major Ralph Bagnold, pre-war desert explorer and creator of the LRDG, used condenser cans on the side of the truck to recycle steam/ boiling water. Copied on SAS jeeps and incorporated into later designs of military and postwar civilian vehicles.
Lovely photos of the gauges, thank you for posting them.

[Bob Carriere]

Thanks Charles for the clear distinction of the round versus flat gauges.

I have a 1940 Chev 1 ton with the rectangular gauge cluster ..... and Philippe J. has a 1939 Chev one ton with round gauges..... ........ not sure if his instrument cluster is on a flat panel or a curved dash.

Philippe can you shed some light.

According to what I have read Major B. had access to 38 or 39 seperate vehicles some unsold from dealers some from GM...... From the pictures I have seen of the early handmade conversions, the curved windshield was cut at about 8 inches and the remaining post used to mount various machine guns........ I assumed that the good Major converted some flat dash models and some curved dash models to suit is needs.....and some were short wheel based of possible 3/4 ton ratings......

However, I think it is safe to assume that all Windsor LRDG produced had the flat dash/cowl with the square windshield frame......... I have never seen a factory picture of the Canadian Made LRDG with a factory made water condensation can. By the way GM did sell, at the dealership, a skinny water condensation can, grey in color, to be mounted on the firewall under the hood....may have started in the late 1937 era. They do come up on Ebay at nearly $400 when NOS.......

Have you seen the article in a EU magazine, about 5 years ago, about the trial and tribulation of a French collector who built an early LRDG from parts of 3 or 4 other Chevs of the period.....? very worth while reading.....

Cheers


Water was such a rare commodity that the true LRDG troops never shaved (or washed ) and dressed very differently for the occasion....unless back in Cairo where proper military dress and clean face was the "rigueur".......

[Charlie Down]

My Updated LRDG 1533X2 dash information page.
Thank you everyone for helping out with the outstanding information. Nice to have all the information on one page.

DashB.jpg

[Philippe Jeanneau]

Those are the exact gauges on my 39 (1.5 ton) Chevrolet truck... The instrument panel is flat... Is that considered a (FFC) or flat face cowl?

DSC_6787 - Copy R.jpg DSC_6704 - Copy RRR.jpg

[Charlie Down]

Hi Philippe, Your truck doesn't have a Flat face Cowl. It has a cab with a split window windscreen which is angled, not flat. The FFC was designed so that buyers could fit their own cab, or not. The front frame of the door is angled forward, whereas a FFC would be vertical. Hope that helps.