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

[Lynn Eades]

Rick, The few companies I have used over the years have had trestles to put large items on for blasting. I'm guessing the problem is transporting the hull to the blasters.
Darryl I have taped and wrapped assemblies in the past in preparation for blasting, only to be amazed at how far and how much that sand gets in. A bit like A.P. ammo worms its way into mechanical assemblies, if you have ever seen the results.

[Big D]

Hi Rick and Lynn,

Yes, I was looking at it more from the perspective of the added expense and hassle of having to use a truck with a crane to get it there and back. The blasters do have a seperate yard where they can put the hull on trestles, so the access to it will be good.

It's not a big deal in terms of a change in my plans. I will still go ahead and complete all the axles and spring assemblies. Then they will be ready for when the hull comes back and I can mount the hull straight onto them.

The blasters actually do my painting as well so what I'll do is get the hull fully completed with floor etc done, so that it can be blasted, primed and painted in one go.

Thanks for the ideas. Several heads are better than one and it certainly helps you get your plans right.

[Big D]

Hi all,

Attached are a few more photos of some work done in the last couple of days, as well as some parts I need to blast and paint. I’m at the point where in between other jobs I need to get some of these parts painted in their final colour so that they can be bolted in once the hull is back from blasting and painting.

I don’t think I’ve seen it anywhere else on these forums but I’m after confirmation of the paint colour on the various hull parts and internals on the M8. I have accumulated many photographs of restored M8s and have noted quite a few differences in paint colour on various items between different M8’s. As an example, I have an uncut 37mm gun mount which I was told came out of an unrestored M8. However, it appears to have original white paint on it and I haven’t seen any others with a white gun mount.

This is the list I’ve come up with so far and the colours and variations I’ve noted. You’ll see that I have seen both olive drab and white colouring on some parts:

• hull inner walls - white
• hull floor - olive drab
• turret inner walls - olive drab
• turret seats - olive drab?/white?
• turret seat frame - olive drab?/white?
• turret hold down roller covers- white
• traverse gear - white
• 37mm gun - olive drab
• 37mm gun mount - olive drab?/white?
• 37mm gun parts - olive drab
• 37mm ready racks - olive drab
• 37mm spare parts box - white
• .30 cal spare parts box - white
• oddments container - white
• binocular container - white
• grenade boxes - white
• flare box - white
• turret support rollers - white
• ring gear - olive drab?/white?
• water can - olive drab
• fire extinguisher bracket - olive drab?/white?
• Driver and co-driver seats - olive drab?/white?
• water can bracket - olive drab?/white?
• hydrovac - white


Does anyone have any comment either way on what I’ve recorded so far? I’d like to get the paint colour right first time.

Thanks.

[Big D]

The rest of the photos.

[lynx42]

Hi Darryl,

Seems to be a lot of parts for sale overseas. Try this link for many parts up for auction.

https://www.troostwijkauctions.com/u...2-22698-23047/

Regards Rick.

[Big D]

Hi Rick,

Thanks for that. Yes, I have a contact over there who is going to the auction and will bid for me. It is just my luck that I only need a handful of items in one lot, a few in another lot and one or two parts in the third lot!

I'm not sure how far the finances will stretch but we will see.

It would be fantastic to be present at this auction and the tank museum auction in Normandy.

[Big D]

Hi all,

Just a quick update showing some work done in the last few weeks.

I am still awaiting the axle housings to come back from the blasters. I have new diff carrier bearings, pinion shaft oil seals and bearings, and axle oil seals to go into the housings.

All the hubs have been cleaned up and primed. Interestingly, there was a mix of original US, French and Italian wheel bearings. One of the US ones was a little rough but I think I will get away with it considering the limited use this vehicle will get. The torsion bar, torque rods and steering U joints have also been cleaned up and are ready to fit/paint.

In between time, I have fully restored the turret seats. These were painted white on OD and the remnants of the black lettering for ‘CARBINE’ was still there under the white paint. The seat towers required some new spring retainers at the bottom of the towers which I have fabricated. All the rollers were locked up so I had to heat them up to get them off. All roll freely now. The seat pans were corroded so I removed these and replaced the corroded pieces of metal. I need to make up the padded seat bases and backs now.

With the exception of the spring I need for the sliding gear, the traverse mechanism is all set to fit. The gun mount has been cleaned up and painted, albeit in a shade I am not happy with yet. I’ll tidy that up later.

I have started work on the hatches. The hull has one of the front hatches fitted and I have two hatches to choose from for the other side. I started removing the frozen visor parts off these today and I am still working out which hatch to fit. One is rougher than the other one but has some hinges on it that I think I can work with. The other one is tidier overall but needs both hinges fabricated.

The visor assemblies need to be completely rebuilt on both the front hatch already fitted and the one I am going to fit. What a battle to get those little nuts off that had corroded. I need to fit new studs and spacers for the straps and fabricate the locking pin assembly.

At some stage, someone has stripped the hull of its original top hatches by cutting a square around each hinge. I have two top hatches to replace the missing ones. One of these has been removed from another hull by cutting horizontally right across the width of the hatch under both hinges, so I can shape the metalwork around the hinge mounts on this one to fit the cut outs on the hull fairly easily. The other hatch has been really knocked around with the mounting plate and hinges all twisted. I had to cut the hinges off that and will have to straighten them or rebuild them before I can fit that hatch.

I have a few questions about the hull and the hatches.

• I will need to fabricate new visors and straps for the side ports on the hull. Are these side visors and straps etc, all the same size as the port assemblies in the front hatches?

• Has anyone rebuilt the locking pin assembly for the visors? Alternatively, has anyone stripped one and has photos?

• Has anyone rebuilt the rotating handle on the top hatches? This seems like it would have had some sort of spring loading in the mount and an indent on the end so it would lock in the folded up position and in the 90 degrees position. Am I correct with that? Mine just have the remnants of the handle rusted into the mount so I need to start from scratch with them.

Thanks.