M2 Half Track

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m3a1
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M2 Half Track

Unread post by m3a1 » April 19th, 2021, 12:12 pm

Coming soon, more on a moron with a M2 half track in his driveway...


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Cheers,
TJ
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Re: M2 Half Track

Unread post by m3a1 » April 19th, 2021, 12:33 pm

So here's the issue. My White half track ran when parked (no really, it did) and it ran well. I went to Afghanistan for four years and it sat. Then it sat for several more years because I was tired..... and I'm also easily distracted...

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In my defense, Afghanistan does leave one kinda tuckered out. The end result of all that sitting was some stuck valves in the track's big flathead engine.

No amount of trickery could get them to break free and the engine would not start, chiefly because the intake valves in two cylinders were stuck OPEN and as a result, there was no way to get the mixture right in the remaining cylinders in order to get them to pop off. Some times, in these old engines, getting it to run on just some cylinders will compel the valves in the dead cylinders to finally begin moving again. But, the White 160AX has a trick up its sleeve that most WWII engines do not and that is - hydraulic lifters. So all bets are off and it's time for surgery.

Part of the trouble with these old White engines is the valve springs are notorious for becoming soft and weak with age (just like me) so we can be assured that they aren't really in the best condition meaning...yeah...you guessed it. So this situation could go in ANY direction at a moment's notice.

My son and I are in the beginning stages of pulling the head and I'll bring you up to speed on that (with some pictures, of course) as things develop. I assure you, this isn't going to be all finless brown trout and giggles, but we'll get it sorted, sooner or later. What's better than having a half track? Having a half track that moves under its own power! :lol:

Cheers,
TJ
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Re: M2 Half Track

Unread post by m3a1 » April 20th, 2021, 12:08 pm

What will it be today? The Rack? The Iron Maiden? Thumbscrews? Chinese Water Torture? (I'm always a pessimist until I've had my first cup of coffee.) So here I sit, sipping away, waiting for my mood to change.

We wrapped it up yesterday by removing almost every impediment to the head coming off. ALL the head bolts gave up without much of a fight and judging by the low torque on several and the lack of washers on a few, somebody had been into this engine before. So they're all backed out by about 3/8" and prelubed with PB for today's final removal.

The temperature gauge bulb refused to come loose from the bushing (no surprise, that) and naturally, the tube thingy snapped off of the bulb, which I'm not too worried about. (I tried to save it, fellas...I really did.) There will be a few casualties along the way.

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Got the thermostat housing off without too much of a struggle. I simply cut the hoses rather than risk damaging the rather thin piping that plumbs things over to the radiator and explained to my son that sometimes it is wise to sacrifice a dime to save a dollar. I was not surprised to find that the thermostat was AWOL. The lack of a thermostat never manifested itself because the most I've ever done with this thing is the occasional parade and it never protested in the least.

Yesterday I cut some wedges out of 2x4 to assist in raising the head because in one corner there is a stud (naturally :roll:) and there is the matter of several valves sticking up soooooooo, the head is going to have to come straight up before coming all the way off.

The head isn't actually all that heavy but we are leaning WAY over some gloriously corpulent fenders and the hood is still on so the process does have the potential for being a little bit tricky so we'll sneak up on it and be extra careful.

Why not take the fenders off, you ask. It would be easy. I've had them off before and the fasteners are new(ish). I'm not taking them off chiefly because the fenders need a little work (yes, I have a plan for them, too) and I'd rather be somewhat encumbered by them than be distracted by them and being too easily distracted

669db27dc4436180a2a16e098cafef630807404ad07f31ef8f958a2951707517.jpg

is what got me into this pickle in the first place. Like an elephant, a half track is best consumed in small bites, even if it means a bit of inconvenience. We'll save the matter of the fenders for discussion some other day. We've got to get those valves un-stuck, and this engine running again, ASAP.

Cheers,
TJ
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Re: M2 Half Track

Unread post by halftracknut » April 20th, 2021, 7:48 pm

BE VERY GENTILE WITH STUCK VALVES....YES I thought 2 of mine were coming loose and they snapped off.....halftrack bit me back....you got to use plenty of liquid wrench and you can warm them with heat but do not try to move the valve while it is hot or it will twist off use small pecking hammer...good luck..
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Re: M2 Half Track

Unread post by m3a1 » April 20th, 2021, 9:34 pm

Great news! Every valve is moving again and everything that is supposed to go up and down is doing that too. I am torn between leaving well enough alone or getting in there and getting some new springs put on but as they say, when you are up to your ass in alligators it is difficult to remind yourself that the initial objective was to drain the swamp.

Yes, those half track valves are actually something quite special....I heard something about the exhaust valves having sodium centers or some crazy stuff like that....all related to heat management. And Sodium....PURE sodium will explode if exposed to water. Terrific. Either way, they're something quite different than 'normal' valves.

I used a mallet and what I call 'the limp wrist maneuver' to gently tap on my valves. This particular mallet is something I picked up at a yard sale. It is ALL plastic and is used for driving tent stakes (stakes like those measly little pieces of bent wire that come with those measly little China-made Walmart tents). So, the mallet is extremely light-weight but with a very generous sized head and you can tap on something until the cows come home and not have to worry about damaging anything. Perfect for reluctant valves, provided your aim is true and you're striking TDC. One valve fought me all the way down. The other went down on its own with a little pop that indicated the valve spring finally decided to become involved.

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So, with every bit back where it belonged, I turned the engine over while headless and everybody happily did what it was supposed to do. Lots of cleaning to do. By the way, PB blaster does a very fine job of melting carbon deposits.


I know I have new valve springs on the shelf and not much else. Then there is the matter of the manifolds which can be delicate and prone to cracking because with those in place there is gonna be no using the spring compressor and I have been informed that finding hydraulic lifters for the White 160AX is purty near impossible. What to do, what to do?

My bestest most warm-fuzziest feeling is to put her back together and plan on doing the valve job at a later date when I have all my ducks in a nice, neat row. Meanwhile, I'll change the oil for something with vitamins and minerals in it and hope the valves continue to behave for a while. I'm rather sure they will. The hang up was chiefly due to lack of use which is quite typical of L-head engines.

Plus, I don't think I am mentally or physically prepared for the full meal deal right now and there will soon be big goings on on the empty lot behind us which is the real fly in the ointment. Keeping things mobile around here is the only solution and adding an in-frame valve job to the business of getting the half track moving just isn't the way I want to go.

Think I'll sleep on it and I'll check the head for flatness tomorrow and hope that's good to go. Maybe I'll just spend the day running around and see if I can scare up some new head bolts and a bottom tap for the bolt holes. Baby steps, my friends. Baby steps.

Cheers,
TJ
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Re: M2 Half Track

Unread post by halftracknut » April 21st, 2021, 7:59 pm

they are sodium filled broke right off....If you put her back together DO NOT USE CORN GAS and always use marvel mystery oil in and the gas and oil....I always try to run mine at least 1 hour every 2 months....sounds like you have a good case of varnish around the valve stem shoot a couple cans of carb cleaner around stems and then turn her over shooting a full can liquid wrench... good luck
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Re: M2 Half Track

Unread post by m3a1 » April 21st, 2021, 8:30 pm

Good ideas. There isn't going to be a mosquito within 50 miles after I fire this thing up. Think of all the liquids down in that exhaust pipe already! Hoo boy!

By the way, I ordered a full set of valves today and I'll continue to order parts until I have a full set of everything needed for a full valve job later on.

Implication has been that White's 160AX shares some parts with the 150 and the 140. Have you any additional information on that?

Cheers,
TJ

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Re: M2 Half Track

Unread post by halftracknut » April 21st, 2021, 11:03 pm

sorry I don't...I do have a spare parts engine....and some of the gov. manuals...
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Re: M2 Half Track

Unread post by m3a1 » April 25th, 2021, 4:20 pm

Today was gonna be a handful. Cleaning up the head of the half track's engine (a White 160AX) was just going to be one of those Gilligan's Island jobs. You know what I mean. Three hours turns into a marathon session of work, work, and more work and one helluva lot longer than three hours, let me tell ya! It's just one of those jobs where you pull your neck in and just bull your way through it and work until the work is done or until you begin to feel like you're going to make a stupid mistake.

At the end of my work today, I looked like I had just stepped out of a West-by-God-Virginia coal mine after pulling a double shift. That carbon is just MURDER and it gets everywhere. I forgot to take a 'before' photo of the head, so I took an 'along the way' photo for ya. Sorry.

No, really. I AM sorry. It was pretty awful. But, if you don't like the service, fellas, you don't have to leave a tip.

I also forgot I had a great bloody huge shop fan behind me (which would have done yeoman service to blow a lot of that crap away from me). Naturally, I was through the worst part of the job before getting that fan into play. DUH.

But, I am happy to report, the results are good, and though I have not quite yet achieved the level of cleanliness I want, I am definitely 'in the neighborhood' of CLEAN. The level I am looking for is, VERY CLEAN. Fact is, I could probably put this back on as-is but the difference between a good job and a great job is an unusually small amount of extra effort so, I'm gonna park this thing for the day, clean myself up, give my clothing a Viking Funeral, and come back to this job tomorrow.

The head was pretty nasty on the outside and three times that on the inside.


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Most of the carbon was off with the first few passes with the wire wheel that was chucked up in a drill but some stuff really hung in there, requiring some judicious chiseling and scraping with a sacrificial screw driver.


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Eventually, with perseverance, every little pile of crud was gone and checking this with a straight edge revealed a nice, flat head. HUZZAH!

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The top of the head was the easy bit as the nasty stuff fairly well leapt off of it (not too much to worry about there) but it was also the hard part...what with all the little nooks and crannies. Just a lot of wash, rinse, repeat kind of activity. Boring? Oh, BOY, was it! Couldn't even listen to music what with the fan and the drill going.

It is still not quite where I want it to be but with a little judicious acid etching here and there I'm sure I'll find a reasonably cheerful level of cleanliness. It's going to be a shame to put a nicely painted head back on that ugly old block. My long-time half track policy has been and will continue to be - No One Needs To See Under That Hood!


Image

Cheers,
TJ

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Re: M2 Half Track

Unread post by fowlercal » April 25th, 2021, 5:04 pm

TJ,

If these last few pics are 50% reduction ones, they now are 50% smaller on the screen and advertisements on the top and bottom of the picture. The test on size in the Hillbilly P 2 thread didn’t do that.

Is everybody seeing that, or just me? I didn’t know if you knew that.

Cal

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Re: M2 Half Track

Unread post by Mark » April 25th, 2021, 10:02 pm

Same here too
mark


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Re: M2 Half Track

Unread post by m3a1 » April 25th, 2021, 11:54 pm

Okay, I'm using postimg at the moment. Haven't gotten comfortable with reduceimages.com yet.

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Re: M2 Half Track

Unread post by m3a1 » May 5th, 2021, 12:07 am

FINALLY got back in the saddle with this durned half track. One LOOOOONG week with just really crappy weather to contend with. If you will recall, I had removed the head from the engine and gotten as far as doing a fairly in-depth tidy-up on it, and found out that my thermostat housing had a hairline crack (a NOS one made a perfect Father's Day gift and it arrived today) so that's one less thing for Momma to have to worry about.

I had put metal prep on the top of the block and wrapped it with a tarp, then put an additional tarp on the hood with 25lb weights...(Weights are for exercising? Really? i thought they were for holding stuff down)...and the outer tarp was necessary because believe it for not, a half track's hood wasn't designed to keep rain out. Not even one little bit.

So, the days and days of rain, high humidity, more rain (the kind that drives any loose bit of detritus straight out of the trees and makes every horizontal surface outdoors even MORE outdoorsy; well, THOSE days were coming to an end. The weather man made a bold claim. A string of sunny days was on the way so I went out on Sunday with the leaf blower and a rake and cleaned the place up.

Monday morning, by every accounting, indicated that the weather was indeed going to be absolutely stellar. But Monday was my 26th wedding anniversary and my wife's one day off (after pulling a night shift).

No. I did not do what you're thinking I might do. :lol:

What I DID do was go out and remove the outer tarp over the hood with the idea that whatever might be going on under the hood on Monday would fare far better if it had a chance to air out before I jumped in on Tuesday. Then, I made myself and my suburban ready for a nice, enjoyable day out with my bride.

The wife's Doctor Car was in the shop for service and she had a loaner in the driveway...another Mercedes of some flavor (I can't keep em straight and they all look the same to me) but as it turned out, the previous person who had the loaner was a vicious smoker and the car smelled like the bottom of an ashtray (and how did we EVER get along when everyone smoked?)

So, we took my ratty old Suburban on our outing. We drove all over the map and ended up back in San Antonio, some 20 miles away from the casa, in order to stop at a jewelry shop and pick up Momma's anniversary present before going to dinner. When we came out, there was a mean storm brewing over San Antonio...a really nasty looking pop-up storm. That's the kind where a bunch of little storms come together to create a kind of giant mechastorm.

So we hustled northward, up the freeway (at freeway speeds) to get away from that and have a nice dinner, unfettered by the storm....but when we got out of the car, the same storm was already upon us. Wow. She's a goer! I grabbed an umbrella and we hustled into the restaurant and I phoned The Kid and my old police partner and gave everyone a heads up that troublesome weather was on the way.

How little did I know...

Dinner was uneventful (albeit a bit loud with all the storm going on outside) but we took our meal in a leisurely fashion and when we went out to the car to go home, the rain had passed leaving only a few dark spots here and there....but when we got home....Oh boy. Let's just say the place looked like a bomb had gone off....and I mean that in a very literal way. The trees were missing half their leaves and which were all over the ground. Other than a bombing, there is only one thing that strips leaves that thoroughly and drops them straight down on the ground.

Hail.

And the stinky Mercedes Benz loaner car had gotten a good dose of it. You may recall, the Doctor Car had gotten hail damage on the 22nd of May and is, as yet, un-repaired. So now we have TWO cars to make hail claims on. Fabulous....but according to the State Farm folks, we weren't the only ones. We've had three hail storms in as many weeks. How lucky can ya get?

TODAY I got outside and (once again) raked leaves until the place looked copacetic....and then I spent the next 8+ HOURS leaning over a half track fender to get into the engine compartment in order to do a detailed cleaning of the top of the block and then chased out all the holes for the head bolts in order to get things ready for a fresh, new head gasket. The guys on this forum who have bad backs will tell you being in this type of long, protracted position is NOT a pleasant experience but rather like some kind of thoroughly messed up medieval torture.

Tomas de Torquemada, Grand Inquisitor of Spain, certainly would have given his seal of approval. It's not quick and painful like kissing the gunner's daughter, where they strap you over a cannon and give you the lash and then it's over. No, this particular endeavor brings a certain deep, protracted pain, not only to the back, but also to the buttocks, the backs of the thighs and calves and, oddly enough, to the Achilles tendon, along with the neck, the shoulders and the forearms from running a bottom tap down through 22 very cruddy head bolt holes. Ugh. I feel like I've gone a few rounds with Mike Tyson. But, the worst of the job is done and things are looking up.

Perfect.

But, it's gonna be a looong night. It's gonna be a TYLENOL night.

Cheers,
TJ
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Re: M2 Half Track

Unread post by rickf » May 5th, 2021, 8:49 am

Tyson huh? You still got both ears? :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :twisted:

Know all about the back problems and the description is pretty spot on.
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Re: M2 Half Track

Unread post by m3a1 » May 5th, 2021, 12:01 pm

As a matter of fact, I DO have my ears. They don't work very well (thanks to The Taliban Brothers) but I still have 'em. I can assure you those two Taliban dudes don't have their ears...nor do they need 'em anymore! :lol:

There is a matter that came up yesterday; something I'd like to give everyone a heads up on. Not gonna be bashing anyone's product. Just gonna lay it out for you to think on.

I bought two bottom taps for this job and I'm glad I did. I ordered one from Home Depot and that took almost a week to arrive. The same day I ordered it I had the vague notion that I might get lucky and get on this job sooner than later and so, I sought one out at NAPA who had it for me by the end of the day.

As you know, the rain persisted and it took me a bit more than a week (almost two weeks, actually) to get to the work so, the delay in Home Depot delivering my purchase really came to nothing. Now, the half track has 22 head bolts. That's a lot of holes needing to be chased out and they WERE buggers. The ones that were coked up (where oil gets baked until it turns to carbon) were the most trouble; while the rusty ones were the least trouble.

I began with the NAPA-supplied tap, figuring if there was any real quality difference between the two, NAPA's tap would likely be better. It also had slightly wider lands with correspondingly narrower flutes. Well, after 12-14 iterations, it began to behave like it had lost its edge. So, I switched over to the other no-name tap and finished the work with no issues.

I was running one of the head bolts down into each cleaned-out hole (to ensure uniformity and that each hole was fully clean) and noticed that the few on the end of the work performed with the NAPA tap provided a lot more resistance and so, assuming the NAPA tap had lost its edge, had to go back over those few with the no-name tap. I'm not a metallurgist. To be entirely fair, this circumstance is far from being a fair, scientific test of tap longevity. I'm not sure how damaging carbon is on a tap but in this case, the NAPA tap didn't hold up as well as I expected it to. Yeah, there are a lot of unknowns here and taps DO get tired and worn out.

And with that, yet another old axiom WAS proven once again. Two is one, and one is none.

Buy one of anything and you'll often find out you really needed two. Embracing that has served me well over the years (especially in Afghanistan). I even practiced it in matrimony. But, I didn't expect to need two taps for this job but I'm sure glad I had 'em. What will I do with the NAPA tap? Put it back in its container, mark it as being worn, and toss it in the drawer. Maybe I'll find some use for it in some other, less important project.

Cheers,
TJ

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