Otter LRC CM4647296 comes home

[Jordan Baker]

Todays job was to remove the engine hand crank hole cover plate. Only one of the bolts had to be cut. The nut had been crudely welded in place and the force of the impact driver had snapped the weld. Due to the weld blob I was unable to get a socket on it. So I resorted to zip cutting the head and cold chiseling it off. The original bolts were those dome headed counter sunk ones anyway. So I wasn’t concerned about cutting an original bolt.

[Jordan Baker]

The other bit accomplished today was removing the two engine cover panels and hinges. These were all held in place with the domed countersunk bolts. Thankfully they all came apart easily. Much easier thanks to the use of the course thread than the BSF thread as used on Universal Carriers.

I modified a slot attachment for the impact gun by grinding it down thinner to fit the slot on the bolts snug. Using a socket or wrench on the nut side I was able to use the impact driver and get them removed. On some I used an old broken screw driver to hold the screw head side and impact gunned the nut side.

There were four hinges to remove and 16 bolts. All will be reused on assembly. It was also great seeing he Hamilton Bridge part numbers turn up on the hinges after sandblasting.

[chris vickery]

Hi Jordan
I’m all for originality but does the structural integrity not concern you when reusing 70 year old fasteners? I can see using them
in areas where there is little stress or minimal force but I would never use them on any area requiring them to perform to engineered specifications.
Even leaf springs can be questionable, as spring steel grows weak and brittle, especially once it is pitted. Ask me how I know…
Thoughts?

[Jordan Baker]

Good points Chris.

Safety is always a top concern when it comes to putting a vehicle on the road. I do evaluate all my fasteners when I’m doing the rebuild. Anything questionable is replaced. In the case of these boss head (domed countersunk bolts) there is many of them and they have all been in great condition. When I rebuilt the CMP I found one of the steering knuckle bearing cap screws had a split down the length. It likely had been that way from almost new. Had it caused a problem? Probably not however it was replaced.

One interesting bit I’ve found on this vehicle is that Hamilton Bridge seems to have used the oversized or heavy nuts on pretty much everything.

[Jordan Baker]

All four of the hood hinges were sandblasted last night. The hinge pins were all nicely worked back and forth while soaked in brake cleaner. Now all the hinges move back and forth effortlessly.

[David Dunlop]

Hello Jordan.

This item has me wondering since it strikes me as a very odd item.

Is it an original factory designed item or a simple blanking plate item retrofitted later in the life of the Otter?

If the former, I could see it being 'hinged' on one end and slotted at the other to be secured with a wing nut to help keep dirt from plugging access for the crank. If the latter, it would suggest a hand crank became redundant at some point in the Otter production, but then why go to all that trouble?

Interesting what one can find on an 80 year old vehicle sometimes.


David

[Jordan Baker]

Hi David

The blanking plate for the hand crank hole is a factory item. It shows up in a lot of period pictures. The C15TA also used the same plate. I’ve included a few pictures. Some are factory shots and others are from the field.

It is a cumbersome item to remove as one of those boss head bolts need to be totally removed and the other loosened. Then the plate can pivot. I suspect that is why there is also a number of pictures of these plates missing. The Otters in Sicily with 4th PLDG all seem to have the plates removed.

As for hand cranks being redundant, sure the technology had come a ways in terms of reliability, however, I can’t think of any Canadian WW2 vehicles that didn’t come with one?