WC53 Carryall Restoration Entry #3 & #4

From: Chris (cdavis@webworldinc.com)
Date: Sun Mar 11 2001 - 21:56:59 PST


Ok, someone must have removed the front fenders at SOME point because they
went way too easy. I was looking at my schedule and saying to myself, “I'm
going to have this thing done a month early.” But, it was just a cruel
trick of the restoration gods. Allow your victim to develop a false sense
of security and then WHAM, hit him with the rear fenders.

12 little, easy to reach bolts. That’s all that holds a rear fender on the
Carryall. Piece of cake, right? Ha! Somewhere in the spirit realms there
is a group of old Dodge designers and engineers who gather every time one
of us poor unsuspecting souls decide to take the rear fenders off a WWII
Carryall. They quietly laugh and nudge each other and say things like
“Look, he’s about to figure out you CAN'T get at the back side of those
bolts! Golly boys, but that was a masterful piece of engineering! I never
get tired of this gag!” Oh yeah, that’s rich. I hope it’s a warm spot in
the spirit realms.

Kind of like a submarine, the Carryall has a double hull. There’s the
inner panel that you see when you are inside, and the outer skin you see
on, well, the outside. 7 of the 12 bolts exit BETWEEN the two walls. You
can't get at that threaded side to hit it with WD40. So, they start to
come out hard, and just get worse. Got the first one out, broke the second
one, got the third one out, broke the fourth one… not a good ratio.

Finally I hit on the labor intensive (anyone see a pattern here) method of
backing the bolt out a half turn or so, hitting it with WD40 and tightening
it back up again to get the penetrating oil into the nut. Then I'd back it
out a full turn, oil again, tighten up, back out 1-1/2 turns… you get the
idea. I didn't break any more bolts, but the fenders took about an hour
each to remove. During the last half-hour I started considering creative
financing options that might allow me to get a big air compressor and air
tools, but the banks were all closed and there might not be enough cash in
the drawer at the 7-11.

I went to bed committed to a fresh start Saturday. I started late in the
morning on the running boards, not too concerned about breaking bolts in
this case because you can get at both sides to replace them. Passenger
side first, four bolts hold the board to its supports, no problem. Then I
went to pull the running board off and found there wasn't enough clearance
between the running board supports and the body of the truck to pull the
board out. Interestingly, the clearance was fine towards the back of the
board, but got thinner and thinner as you moved forward until the forward
edge of the cab was nearly setting on the running board.

I re-examined the front body mount point. It looks like some sort of
spacer went between the body and the mounting point on the frame. I'm
guessing a long since rotted away piece of wood. The bolt that would have
held this block is still there. I can measure the length of that bolt and
make up another block, but I'm hoping someone out there has actual dimensions.

I jacked up the body and put a piece of 2x4 in for now. Out came the
running board. The rest of the day was spent on removing the other running
board, the support brackets on both sides, battery tray, and starting in on
the front bumper. I know, it’s pitiful. I'm out of WD40, and I've taken
enough band width with this long-winded post. Things have got to get
easier… right?

Chris Davis
MVPA# 20000
Lake Forest, CA
’42 WC53 Carryall



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