rear brakes and booster

Every time we do a resto, we of course pay particular attention to the braking systems, knowing that these components, even though they may look perfect, are hovering around the 75 year old mark

We are very fortunate to have at our disposal here in the Ottawa area, some terrific specialist rebuilders, and in the case of brake and suspension work , we deal specifically with Malmberg Truck

www.malmbergtruck.com


They have an Historic Truck branch that can do rebuild and fabrication work on all kinds of vintage and hard to find / repair hydraulic systems

Our very first job that we sent to them 10 years ago, was the complete hydraulic system ( brakes, power steering and two full cross over Hydrovac systems ) for a T-17 Staghound that we were getting into running order for the Royal Canadian Dragoons Historic Troop . In case you were scratching your head on why two full systems.... the Staghound is a twin engine Armoured Car, and you can run both, or left or right  !

The Staghound is still running strong today, and importantly, still stopping on a dime when it needs to

Fast forward to our M3 Project, and Malmberg once again rebuilt everything fast, and inexpensively !

Here are some reassy pic and the finished rear brakes

the last shot is a before and after of the brake cylinder to shoe pivots......

electric brake controller detail

Finished up the overhaul and install of the "advanced for its time" electric brake controller. We found a production date of May 20 1943 on the inside of the cover, pointing to that being replaced a year after manufacture. This makes it that much more interesting in terms of the damage that was sustained to the front drivers side, as the front suspension and steering system show evidence of depot replacement  parts, as well as repaired damage. This unit is pretty far back and is under the drivers seat, so its questionable if this was replaced at the same time, although, it hangs pretty low on the outside of the frame rail

finally, before and AFTER pictures !

well, we've turned the corner and now stuff is getting put back on to our freshly painted frame !

here are a few "before and afters"

We've been idle on the project yes while the frame was out for prep and paint , but not the Society, as we get ready for spring, we are running though our fluid checks, and pre-start checklists in earnest !

we have a few spring activities planned, such as new tires for the Society's M35 A2 , and we are giving a nod to new tech, out go the NDT Bar Tread, on go some tidy XZL's !


but, more of that later !

framed !

a big happening today as the frame was loaded up by our friends at D and M tilt and load for its trip to the sandblasters and then to our sponsors auto body shop, at Star Motors of Ottawa for a black primer coat to be followed by a OD Flat !

reassembly will start right after its back with a new wire harness and NOS track rollers !

the" repilcants !"

some of this stuff is made of "unobtainium"....so, our only recourse is to make the missing bits!

case in point

the scarce non milspc 1930s speedo gage, with the face rusted , we could have tried to weld a small piece of tin...but then

lets just make a new one and add new artwork !

seldom seen...the inside of the HT gages

these need a full resto as well, and I'm happy to say that ive gotten them to function, so now its clean up, rebuild and paint !

its the little things that count !

so, as we are cruising along with the M3 part, we have gone from big armour work to some of the smallest details, such as the instrument cluster rebuild.

these gages are complete "Unicorns" and impossible to replace. Luckily they are in great mechanical shape, so a quick check is in order, then, the application of gage decals to freshen up the sun faded faces!

more on that later, but here are a few inside shots , The gages are inset into the round case in two half moon backing plates , making removal for service "easy" !