Otter LRC CM4647296 comes home

[Jordan Baker]

The task….remove the remains of the 5/16-18 screws that had the heads cut off. I could have ground them down flat then drilled out and re-threaded them. However they can lead to problems if you get your initial hole off centre. So in this case I tried the old school ways of welding on a nut to the end of the threaded bit sticking out. This works great as welding puts a pile of heat right into the stud and also gives a nut for the impact gun and socket to remove it. Most of the studs came out nicely. I had one stubborn one that would not come out and the welded on nuts kept snapping. So did the next step and welded on a flat washer to the end of the stud. Then welded a drilled out larger sized nut to the washer. This time the impact gun won and the stud came out. A quick run through with a threading tap and all the threads were good.

[Jordan Baker]

Some detail shots of the fuel tank enclosure. This “box” is just under 4’ in length to give an idea of the size. It’s quite heavy due to the size of the steel plate and all the angle iron. One interesting bit is that the welding on the plates to the angle is continuous the entire length. The rusting is heavy in place but everything will still cleanup nicely. One interesting point to note. I’m finding that a lot of these parts were bare steel and then installed together then painted. There is no evidence of paint between the joining surfaces. The floor plates were the same when bolting to the body. 80 plus years later there is a bit of rust and corrosion.

[Jordan Baker]

One of those moments to be grateful for. Last week a fellow vehicle restorer who’s been in the hobby for sometime reached out to me. He had a shift plate and wasn’t sure what it was for. Well wouldn’t you know it….it was for an Otter. Today it arrived in the mail. It will need to be restored as at some point it has been over painted with red primer. The other picture is what it should look like NOS and also a line drawing from the Otter manual.

Thanks Brian.

[Jordan Baker]

Had some time the past couple of days to get this shift plate restored. I had it soaking in lacquer thinner for a while and I was able to scrub off the red oxide primer. Once this was done I buffed up the plate as best as possible. The main goal was to get the text as shinny as possible. Some careful making of the long straight lines and then I airbrushed on some lacquer of appropriate colour. Once dry it’s time to carefully scrape and sand away the paint on the raised letters. Next up will be an enamel clear coat. This will help protect the plate from chips and scratches and also help keep the brass shining away.

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[Jordan Baker]

These two flat springs were used for securing some equipment inside Otter. Both originals had suffered from rust. New ones were made up from spring steel. I had to anneal the steel so it could be bent. Holes were punched out using my hydraulic punch press. Next up will be tempering the metal so that it becomes spring steel again.

[Jordan Baker]

Wire guards for under the fenders. These protected the wires for the side lights mounted on the front fenders. I had one original and needed a second one for the other fender. A simple press die was made up from some scraps of metal. I welded up two pieces of 1/8” angle iron to a piece of steel plate. The metal rod for the other side of the die was welded to another piece of steel plate. Quite pleased with how this turned out. To flare out the end of the stamping, a tapered punch was clamped in the vice. I then used my ball peen hammer to work out the ends of the flare. The mounting holes were punched using my hydraulic press punch, although I need to get some other dies that match the original shape of the holes.

[Jordan Baker]

Fuel tank straps, interior bins and some brackets all painted up today. I ended up having to replace five of the six square u bolts for the tank straps. The originals were badly rusted and most of the had nuts that snapped the threaded portion off when trying to remove. Some replacements were found online at 0030hrs and arrived the same day via Amazon around 1100hrs. A simple job to hear up one bend and straighten them out then place into the strap and reheat and bend back down.

The interior bins were in decent shape with only a few spot welds needing to be redone. From left to right they will hold, drivers view port glass block, bandolier of rifle ammunition and the WS19 spare tubes box. A web strap will still be required for this bin, but I’m still working out which buckle was used.

Lastly are the under the fender wire covers for the side/tail/stop and headlight.