Ford F30 30cwt truck questions!

[Gil Boyd]

Here is the Ford truck used in training the first SAS lads of L Detechment 1941 on how to roll correctly FYI by Lt Jock Lewes.

Information

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[Rusty_Old_F250]

If you haven't already, check out steelsoldiers.com Those guys know their stuff.

I've been surprised by the parts availability for the old trucks, they have a very dedicated following

Sam

[Bruce_in_Oz]

Those old Ford side-valve V-8s were made in the millions, starting in, I recall, 1932. Chevrolet had been outselling Ford for several years by introducing a serious six-cylinder engine to challenge Ford's fairly pedestrian four-cylinder job. Some makers tried "straight-eights", but they were difficult to make, required a ludicrously long and thus fragile crank-shaft, and had "cooling issues".

Ford's response was the classic "flat-head" V-8. It was cheaper, more powerful, ran smoother, and with a few "custom parts" could be made to go VERY fast.

They were eventually superseded by an overhead-valve engine in 1955, again playing "catch-up" to GM who changed the game with their "small-block" OHV V-8.

The old "flat-heads" were made in the US and Canada, with little if any variation, for all those years, so, there should be a few parts around for the old Ford "flat-heads".

[harry mac]

IWM Duxford also has a military vehicle group. You might get some leads contacting them. Some of the stuff they get running is old and/or obscure, so I'm sure pointing you in the direction of some lorry parts won't be too much of a stretch.
The DAS Military Vehicle Wing | The Duxford Aviation Society

[stencollector]

I have been an enthusiast and collector of the Canadian Military Pattern trucks for a number of decades now.

By the original poster's description about a center gas pedal, it means the truck is either a cab11 or cab 12 CMP. In December of 1941 Canada started to make the "all Canadian" Cab which used more North American design as opposed to the earlier cabs which were a hurriedly put together cab using British guidelines. If you have anything bigger than a size 7 boot, the early cabs were a bugger to operate the pedals, were extremely cramped, and the poor accessibility to the engine was also a factor in the upgrade to the Cdn Cab. The early cabs required removal of the complete cab in order to remove the engine or do certain jobs like head removal. The later cabs only required the removal of the nose, and later field modifications allowed the engine to be removed without any dis-assembly of the cab.

The British cabs may have been fine for the British 4 cylinder engines of the day, but putting either the Chevrolet inline 6 or the much wider Ford flathead into them was not a good match.

The 30cwt class of trucks were kind of limited by the time of the Cab13. Rather, the CMPs priimarily consisted of the 15cwt class, or the 3 ton trucks.

The best site for information on your truck is to go join up at MLU FORUM - Powered by vBulletin

[30Three]

Thank you very much for your reply.
I am currently still waiting for photos of the truck and to find time when the owner is available to inspect it.

[ArtioZen]

On the point of freeing the 95HP flathead V8 - these were stock Ford truck engines. I have a 1937 85 tilt bed commercial truck in for restoration - similar sit and seize story. I plan to pull the plugs and look for clues - add marvel oil or similar to the bores - I think mine is just piston ring pick up up and atmospheric moisture (iron on iron) - Both the 85HP and 95HP motors are an optional crank start - the crank was also the lug wrench. Being 300lbs I intend to lower my weight onto the crack to see if it pop free - observe the fan belts etc when you do this at home kids. If it does turn free - in with the plugs and fresh oil and compression tests after setting the valves. Worst case is a strip down - don't bother with partial - make it to the last nut and bolt and depending on what froze a 90%+ rebuildable engine - lots of ford V8 parts available.

[USGI]

setting the valves

That's easier said than done on a Flathead, but you probably know that. - Bob