1942 dodge ambulance resto

[jake neville]

a coupleears ago now i purchased a WC54 ambulance from Ray edsall. i have finally begun stripping it down for a full ground up restoration.
so far i have had the chassi and axles striped down blasted and painted. new suspension bushes/pins, brakes are currently being done and just waiting on parts to arrive from vintage powerwagons to start rebuilding the front and rear diffs. new bar tread tires arrived earlier this year from the states.
plan to have it back on it's wheels in the not too distant future and begin work on the running gear.
i've had the chassis number checked out with the chrysler museum and they tell me this ambo is one of a contract of only 410 ordered and built early in 1942. i have also managed to uncover the original numbers painted on the body.

[Bob Carriere]

...obviously not your first try from what I could see of the other Dodge in the brackground.

Congrats.

Bob C.

[Lynn Eades]

FORD I'd say, Bob.
Nice project Neville. Chassis looks very good. Keen to see the progress.

[jack neville]

Originally Posted by Bob Carriere

...obviously not your first try from what I could see of the other Dodge in the brackground.

Congrats.

Bob C.

The Dodge in the background is a Ford/Marmon Herrington. The other truck under the canvas is a Fordson WOT2H. Jake did a substantial amount of work on both of those. The Jeep he did no work on except play with spanners in the back as a baby (my version of baby sitting), and pretend to drive. He actually did learn to drive in it when he was four. Jake is one 26 and keen to give the jeep another make over soon.

[Ian Fawbert]

Looking good! It will be a nice vehicle to see out and about at events- not to mention the camping abilities!!!

The numbers you mention, are they USA or ARN or both? I only ask as i was interested in the history of the vehicle- whether it was found here or an import?

I remember hearing of one imported a few years back up here- was seen on the docks by an AMVCS member but i doubt this was it.

Cheers,
Ian.

[jake neville]

after months of not being able to access MLU i can now update my work so far on the dodge. thanks to hanno spoelstra for fixing things up for me.
heres a few old pics and some recent ones of the restoration as i have no idea where the old post is.

[jake neville]

a few pics of the disassembly. wasn't much to do as it came pretty bare. just the body on a rolling chassis.

[jake neville]

chassis, springs and diffs. sandblasted and painted

[jake neville]

both front and rear diffs stripped and rebuilt, new shackle pins, bushes, brakes, bearings, seals etc.
because this is an early 41 model ambo it has the smaller diff. so to speed the old girl up a bit i purchased 2 complete half ton dodge diffs from jim harris and have fitted the 4.89 gearing into the back diff.
currently doing the front. has all gone together well so far. thanks to robin mawson for his time in showing me how to do it all.

[jake neville]

rear diff installed. nice to finally see some green paint back on it. wheels and some new rubber on the back. time to attack the front.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by jake neville

after months of not being able to access MLU i can now update my work so far on the dodge. thanks to hanno spoelstra for fixing things up for me.
heres a few old pics and some recent ones of the restoration as i have no idea where the old post is.

Jake, glad we got it sorted, sorry it took so long! Merged your new thread with your old one.

That's quite a project you have there, the Dodge Ambulance must be quite rare in Australia?

Hanno

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by jake neville

. so to speed the old girl up a bit i purchased 2 complete half ton dodge diffs from jim harris and have fitted the 4.89 gearing into the back diff.
.

I think 4.89 is the standard diff ratio in 1/2 tonners . Bevan Fenner fitted 4.1 ratio diffs in his 1/2 ton dodge ,( he sold the truck to Graeme Kerslake , then it went to QLD ? ) maybe you could ask Bevan where he sourced the 4.1's from ? Mike

[jake neville]

hi mike

i beleive the 4.1 diffs that bevan used came out of a post war dodge delivery van. from memory he said it would do about 70mph. which would be hair raising to say the least on a truck chassis i would imagine.
hopefully the 4.8's with the bigger 251 engine should move it along ok though.

hanno i dont know exact numbers for WC54's in australia. i know of one complete driver in queensland and 4 others including mine in various stages of restoration. but fairly rare out here i would think.

[Lynn Eades]

The WC54 (3/4 ton) originally had 5.83:1 diffs.
I believe a few 1/2 ton Dodges were built with 4.89:1 diffs (ambulance?), but most were still 5.83:1.
(I have a couple of 4.89's in storage) I did have a 3/4 ton dodge on 7.50x16s on 1/2 ton wheels with 4.3:1 diffs. Yes it would run up to about 70 (guess) but ran out of legs in low gear on a steep hill.

[Keith Orpin]

Hi Lynn,
Your absolutely correct with the axle ratio's. Many years ago, a friend of mine changed his 3/4 ton carryall ratios to 1/2 Ton spec axle ratio's, and it was a real b*tch to drive !, slightest incline and you were changing down, and you had to use 1st gear to pull away. My 3/4 ton Dodge retains it's factory spec ratios , and will sit happily at 45-50 mph all day, and still pull like a train up any incline, even leaving Series 3 Landy's behind.
Will continue to watch this thread with great interest
From a wet and cold (5 Degrees Celcius UK)
Keith

[jake neville]

finished overhauling the front axle this weekend. new brakes, bearings and seals. bit of mucking around to swap the diff centres over. The axle splines are different between the 1/2 and 3/4 ton dodges, i had to pull the crown wheel and pinion out of the 1/2 ton diff and set them up on the 3/4 ton case to take the bigger axles. the rear axle was easy as you can just install the whole pumpkin and use the 1/2 ton axles aswell. it all went together nicely after that. installed it this afternoon and will give it a lick of paint next weekend.

[jake neville]

finished painting the front axle on the weekend. fitted the new wheels and tyres. pulled apart the shock absorbers. all still had fluid in them and were in very good condition. refilled with oil and bolted them on.
the 2 pintle hooks i had were pretty buggered and had a lot of slop in them. i pulled the two apart and with some new pins/ spring and some welding and grinding managed to put one good one together. nice and tight now.

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by Hanno Spoelstra

That's quite a project you have there, the Dodge Ambulance must be quite rare in Australia?

There were quite a few of those Ambos here during the war, but just about all of them left Australia when the US forces moved Northwards .

Leo Shackleton ( or his brother ) were VMVC members years ago , they were young teenagers in Melbourne at the time the yanks were here and one of them snapped a pic of a Dodge Ambulance driving along Sydney road, Coburg or Brunswick . The pic appeared in a VMVC newsletter many years ago . Mike

[jake neville]

hi mike

would love to try and dig that photo up if anyone has a copy. might be able to recreate it one day when the trucks finished.

[jake neville]

time for a dodge update

i have commenced stripping down the 2 engines i have to see which one is suitable for a rebuild.

both appear to be in reasonable shape. i picked them both up for $300 from a deceased estate in melbourne. the guy i dealt with was unable to tell me what they came out of. some kind of car based on the clutch and bell housing that were attached to one of them.

they are both the larger capacity engine, 2 inches longer than the T214 it should have in it. i am after a bit more grunt to help with the diff's i have put in it.

i have been doing some research in an attempt to figure out what size they are but am not really sure by the numbers i'm looking at. everything i have searched on the net hasn't been much help as these things were built for decades in a large variety of sizes.

the engine number is :P2018114C
and has :K260 cast in the bottom of the block
L20 cast in the head

anyone familiar with these engines please fill me in, the only engine i can find listed on the net with 260 was a straight 8?? confused i will attempt to attach some photos if this thing lets me.


this is the one i plan to use, seems to be a bit more modernized with an automatic choke and a few other minor differences. hopefully more power??

the other has 231 in the side of the block and :E131

[jake neville]

here's the pics from engine 1, this is the one i plan to use. if anyone can give me some more info on identifying the year, power output etc i would greatly appreciate it.

[jake neville]

today i stripped down the transfer case. not in great shape at all. water has gotten in at some point and done it's thing.

if anyone has some spares i'd greatly appreciate it. it's the only one i have

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by jake neville

they are both the larger capacity engine, 2 inches longer than the T214 it should have in it. i am after a bit more grunt to help with the diff's i have put in it.

i have been doing some research in an attempt to figure out what size they are but am not really sure by the numbers i'm looking at. everything i have searched on the net hasn't been much help as these things were built for decades in a large variety of sizes.

e block and :E131

Can you measure the bore and stroke of one cyl. to work out the capacity and then multiply X 6

The early long blocks were first used in the local 1941 army utes and sedans with the TJ Richards bodies , these were Canadian made engines ,with a 3 and 3/8" bore X 4 and 1/16" stroke . The two 1941 military Plymouth De Soto utes I had both had those engines . P in the prefix is usually for Plymouth .

They later went to 3 and 7/16" bore and a variety of strokes .

Many years ago a guy in Sydney, Col Conyard, had a lot of NOS weapons carrier parts . I bought NOS transfer case shafts from him . He died, I dont know what happened to his stock of parts .

[David DeWeese]

Hi,

This may help with the engine identification:

http://t137.com/registry/help/othere...herengines.php

David

[Lynn Eades]

Really you should be looking for a T214, a T215, or a T223 engine for your ambulance. The T214 is correct with a 3 and 1/4 bore and a 4 and 5/8 stroke (all these three engines are the same at 230 Cu.in.They all have 8 bolts holding the flywheel to the crankshaft. These 8 bolt cranks have extra counterweighting to run at governed revs for long periods (to suit a hard working truck)
The T215 was from a half ton WC dodge and the T223 was from the WC62 and 63 6x6 Dodge. These engines are great engines and are very reliable.
I would make sure the water distribution tube is in good condition. It goes into the block behind the water pump and delivers a good flow of water to the exhaust valve seat areas.
The 4 and 6 bolt crankshafts are generally from cars and light duty engines.

The bigger block engines are in the same bracket, being a very reliable engine of that post war era.
The bigger block engines will require modifications with regard to the radiator. either a new rad. with different tanks or moving the original forward which I consider pretty ugly. Just my thoughts.

On the Diffs, there are two sizes of driving heads one (8 1/2"?) mounts on a 3/8 dia. stud the larger, later diffs mount on a 7/16" stud. You have the small one. These were improved as time progressed. Your one pictured, being the weakest, with the cast carrier, triangular holes, and had two spider gears.
They made a stronger carrier(still 2 spider gears with round holes in the carrier) and then the third one which was heavy duty with 4 spider gears.

As you said, the half ton axles (half shafts) were smaller dia. so the up grade was to change the side gears to take the 3/4 ton axles.

A note:Many of the gearbox internals are interchangeable with the Ford 4 speed truck box.
Nice project! Keep posting.

[Mike K]

I agree with Lynn

You should go for a T214 engine . Fussy collectors know what's what and the vehicle will be worth more. You are going to a lot of work, it will look fantastic when it is finished so may as well put the correct engine in it .

If you do want a long block , look for a 250 ci post war engine. People used to call them KEW engines , I think named from the Chrysler factory in KEW UK .

Bevan F used to have new piston sets for the 250 3 7/16" bore engine , might be worth asking him what he did with them .

Hughes in Sydney road Coburg had the 3 1/4" piston sets for years , but thats long gone .

BTW at one of the early Corowa events, early 1980's a WC 54 turned up, it was imported from New Caledonia ex French army . It was in very good cond.

Mike

[lendlease]

Ross Prince in Queensland has an extensive range of NOS Dodge WC parts. Give mhim a call...or email.

[jake neville]

pulled the block out of the hot tank today. then a dip in the acid to etch it ready for painting.
to get the dreaded water distribution tube out i bronzed a large drill bit to a peice of 12mm rod and put it in the drill. chewed it to peices in no time and blew it out with the compressor. having a small flexible inspection camera came in handy to make sure i got it all.
will send off for machining once the new engine parts arrive.

[jake neville]

hi guys.

i'm looking for a bell housing to complete my engine rebuild. if anyone knows of a spare anywhere....help

[jack neville]

Since Jake has moved his ambo chassis to another location it has freed some space to do some work on the body. Whilst being relatively straight on the important rear box sides except for a small section around the fuel filler, there is rust in the roof section and a bit of damage around the front windscreen. The cab front left floor section and rear cab floor are also rusty. It cannot be saved without picking it all apart to tackle the rust.