They loved us in Istanbul. After a full days waitıng on the docks (for no reason other than to get another days demurrage out of us) , fifteen of us left the port boardıng a ferry to get back to the hotel.
Leaving at 6.30 pm (daylight) we quickly fragmented into groups of 2, 3, 4, 5 and tried to find our way windıng through the busy evenıng streets. Passersby were surprised by the sight of the first truck, amazed by the second and then getting the idea by the third.
They loved us cheerıng and laughing and wishıng us goodluck. It felt so good I wıshed we could've done another lap before entering the hotel carpark.
An obliging cabbıe personally escorted a lost John Hedges ın hıs Australıan Movable Cultural Heritage listed 1941 Ford utility, the oldest vehicle in the convoy.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
Hello From Istanbul!
ISTANBUL - STREETS LINED WITH TULIPS AND THEIVES!
Ocean liners bobbing in the glistening waters of the Bosphorus as we race in our TAKSI through the narrow streets of this ancient city.
Turkish Delights for breakfast at the Erboy Hotel.
Don't miss Istanbul with its easy access to bazaars , harbours and ancient mosques. Watch out for a friendly face, it'll want to sell or steal from you.
The local currency or LIRA on a par with the OZ dollar.
Bright, sunny, dry, 8 degree days to explore this magnificent battlement encircled city - A MUST SEE TOURIST MECCA!
Ocean liners bobbing in the glistening waters of the Bosphorus as we race in our TAKSI through the narrow streets of this ancient city.
Turkish Delights for breakfast at the Erboy Hotel.
Don't miss Istanbul with its easy access to bazaars , harbours and ancient mosques. Watch out for a friendly face, it'll want to sell or steal from you.
The local currency or LIRA on a par with the OZ dollar.
Bright, sunny, dry, 8 degree days to explore this magnificent battlement encircled city - A MUST SEE TOURIST MECCA!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Our Fathers As Soldiers
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CAN WE HELP?
As we were growing up, Dale and I were always very aware of our father’s roles in the second World War. Dale is in fact a War Baby and a natural spinoff from the undertaking of a trip as militarily significant as this one is to think about the difficulties experienced during the war. It has stimulated him to try to locate his biological father.
His name is Jean Baptiste Malfaison (born in Antwerp, Belgium) and as a young Free French Merchant seaman he met and married Dale’s mother in London in 1942. The marriage didn’t survive the war and in due time Dale’s mother met and married another former seaman, Cyril Oliver Barnard.
Great help was given to us last year by Tracey and the team from the ABC “Can We Help” programme to attempt to find the whereabouts of Jean Baptiste Malfaison. We didn’t find Jean, but we did find a person by the name of Rene Malfasion from Belgium whom we are looking forward to meeting up with in France.
As we were growing up, Dale and I were always very aware of our father’s roles in the second World War. Dale is in fact a War Baby and a natural spinoff from the undertaking of a trip as militarily significant as this one is to think about the difficulties experienced during the war. It has stimulated him to try to locate his biological father.
His name is Jean Baptiste Malfaison (born in Antwerp, Belgium) and as a young Free French Merchant seaman he met and married Dale’s mother in London in 1942. The marriage didn’t survive the war and in due time Dale’s mother met and married another former seaman, Cyril Oliver Barnard.
Great help was given to us last year by Tracey and the team from the ABC “Can We Help” programme to attempt to find the whereabouts of Jean Baptiste Malfaison. We didn’t find Jean, but we did find a person by the name of Rene Malfasion from Belgium whom we are looking forward to meeting up with in France.
Photo shows Myriam and Rene at the Arctic Circle in August 2008
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
The Making of Yankee Joe
Part I
WHICH VEHICLE WILL WE TAKE ON “The Trip of a Lifetime”?
We looked not only at the suitability of any in our own vehicle fleet but considered buying anything else. Barry Hodges took us to look at an old Blitz radio van at Laidley, but it turned out to be a 60’s unit which interestingly had been used by a previous Governor to go star gazing back then.
DODGE ½ TON 4X4 WEAPONS CARRIER
Initially we chose the Dodge ½ ton which we’d swapped through Prices, Dalby. Its’ previous long term owner was Dan Dennis and everyone knew that the motor was “always stuffed”. On a stopover in Dalby we included a visit to our old mate Neville Morris, and as luck would have it he agreed to sell us a replacement engine. Dale went back with the tilt tray whilst up at the Dalby Museum open days in May, and picked it up. Neville had picked me a large bag of prickly pear from which I made a treacle honey, which was passed onto Russell to deliver a bottle of it back to Neville.
CHEVROLET 2.5 TON 4X4
It wasn’t long after getting the engine home that we realized that I would be too exposed to the elements in the cab of the Dodge, with its lack of doors and canvas hood, so we switched back to Dale’s most favoured vehicle, the 1942 Chevrolet Yankee Joe bought from the Dubbo Military Museum auction sale in November 2006.
The Chevy which was little more than a running wreck, with its transplanted running gear, Ford V8 flathead engine and gearbox, after market RH steering conversion, collapsed seats, six shot tyres; there wasn’t any door linings! An enormous later model tray body had been dumped on its back, and the spray gun had gone right over it transferring it to camo desert tones, right over the windows, headlights and all!
Dale had a burst of enthusiasm, set himself an easy three months to completion and went at it hammer and tongs. His goal was to have it ready in time for the Canungra Rally and Swap October 2008.
AND SO BEGAN A NINE MONTH RESTORERS NIGHTMARE – NOTHING WENT TO PLAN, NOTHING WAS EASY, EVERYTHING HAD TO BE ESPECIALLY PROCURED OR REMADE, AND THE PRESSURE WAS ON TO HAVE IT READY TO BE CONTAINERISED BY FEB 21ST 2009.
After making the initial assessment we concluded that there was extensive panel work required to repair the back of the cabin which had holes all along the seam. The bonnet was badly dented, had lost its bracing and was all loose and floppy, windscreen repairs, there were no wipers, the doors had no guts in them, so there were no windows, brackets, winders, frames or any structure at all. We got a quote for the panel work for $5,000.
RARE UNITS
There seemed to be few around to compare ours with to enable us see what we were missing and how to go about it.
A spare civilian Chevy of the correct vintage acquired locally for a couple of cartons was snapped up! You may remember the picture of it with the concrete ballast for its crane under the seat!
We had hoped to be able to recover its’ engine for our project, but it wouldn’t turnover.
So, we were now also on the hunt for a new motor, Dale had been given a list of Chevy people to look up by Warren Kerle from the Military Jeep club. The first contact lived at Toowoomba, which we thought was too far away, so decided to meet up with another prospect, Gordon Buteux at Laidley. Gordon said he had doors and quite a bit of other stuff.
We shot out there and couldn’t believe our luck. There was his old Chevy which he had owned for 20 years together with a recently imported one. He had parts stacked about the place everywhere. At first we started out by buying a bonnet, side panels and doors, and then came up with the bright idea to buy the whole vehicle and anything surplus to his needs. This would save us thousands of dollars on the restoration of the doors, give us a better cab and short cut the work no end. Also his was still left hand drive, whereas ours had been converted to right hand drive. Additionally, our chassis had an angle end on the chassis rails and was fitted with a Blitz tow bar set up.
So, with the deal done and Gordon now on side, we loaded up and headed back to Brisbane with Gordon promising to hand over extras as they turned up!
Back in the workshop though, it was a different story. We considered taking our cab off and replacing it with Gordon’s which had already been lifted off the chassis rails. But in reality Gordon’s had been stripped of so much that it was better to go with our own, and using his doors.
AUSTRALIAN ARMY CAB (DUBBO) VERSUS USA ARMY CAB (GORDON’S)
With the two Chevy’s together, suddenly we were looking at different windscreens, different locks and handles, vents, fuel tank locations, and RH and LH fuel filler holes.
GMH CAB
“What is unique to Australian Chevy’s, on the instrument panel you’ll notice the gauges are rectangular, while the USA has round dials and on the Oz the back lighting is built in, whereas with the American version the lights are down light stalks!” said Dale.
“Windscreen hinges are internal on the Australian cab and on the American one they are exposed on the outside,” he continued. “You’ll notice that the fuel tank is under the seat with a LH filler cap, whereas on the American one the tank is mounted between the chassis rails behind the transfer case at the back of the cab with the filler on the right.” “The advantage for the USA is that the seat vacuum becomes a tool box.” “Also, the Australian Cab has an exterior door lock fitted on RH side.”
Part II
PARTS FROM TOWNSVILLE MUSEUM
Whilst talking about the Yankee Joe at the South Coast Restoration Rally at Pimpama in July 2007, we were offered 2 pallets of Chevy leftovers from the Townsville Museum. It was shipped by McAleese and at the time little did we know how useful it was destined to be to us.
THE ENGINE
The decision to R & R the powerful Ford engine was one of the worst we made. Dale considered that as the Ford was too large for the engine bay, it would be difficult for him to work on it in the event of it’s failing whilst on the open road. He should’ve left it alone!
It seemed a pity to undo the Ford V8 Customline engine transplanted into it earlier and conversion to RH drive as well at the same time. The Engine bracket had been removed and adjustments made to fit the Ford into the engine bay, and this had to be reversed. Because of this conversion, it was considered to be too time consuming to try to start reversing the steering conversion, so he decided to leave the steering as it was.
Photo shows the two added engine mounts for the Ford engine and how the chassis has been cut around for the RH steering box (good job with its welded on bracket).
NONE OF THE MOTORS WOULD TURN
We expected to be able to build a motor out of the free Chevy truck we had picked up at Browns Plains, the 235 motor out of Gordon’s Chevy, and the ones in the Townsville parts.
Water had got into Gordon’s. It had no oil pressure and no compression. The head we’d hoped to recover from the concrete Chevy was sadly also water affected. Nothing was worth repairing with the limited time we had left.
CHEVY SLOPER 216 ON EBAY
In despair, on Thursday 24th July Dale decided to do a Landcruiser HZJ diesel transplant so we researched the internet to find a motor. To our shock we found we’d be looking at $4,500 - $8,000 range and with that Dale said, “just type in Chevrolet motor”. Wow, up it came, a 1939 motor with all the trappings out of a Sloper in Nowra. We want to here acknowledge the owner’s Sonja and Dave Clarke because they were put to a lot of inconvenience as far as packing and strapping, arranging for a crane, and the failure of the pick up to turn up time and again. They were rodding their car and were thrilled about our D-Day trip with the Yankee Chevy. The engine was, as they said, a beauty, turned over and ran as quiet as a mouse. The tiny 3 spd gearbox was sold to Lang Kidby. All we needed to complete the picture was a truck radiator. “Look, even the horn is hanging off it and it still works”, said Dale, “and best of all it came with an original large type starter button”. Dale reckoned he’d never seen one before.
MILITARISING THE SUMP
THE 235 MILITARY MOTOR V 216 CIVILIAN MOTOR
With the 216 and the 235 side by side, several differences were obvious. Apart from the length, the 235 has a deeper sump and is offset to clear the front diff.
The 216 car motor has a 2.5 to 3 L oil capacity only, whereas the militarized larger 235 has the larger capacity for lugging, driving for longer periods and coping with undulating terrain.
“My plan was to increase the oil capacity by deepening the sump to give me 6 Litres. I cut the sump off Gordon’s 235 and mig welded it onto the bottom of the car sump. Then by cutting a hole through the bottom of the 216 for the oil pump, I extended the pickup using a 235 oil pump which has longer gears.”
“By building a baffled sump extension it was a much improved set up for a splash fed system reducing the risk of oil starvation as was so common with the splash system,” said Dale.
Not only did Dale increase the depth of the trough, but he built baffles inside it to ensure that oil will always be available regardless of the length of the climb.
Dale likes to reengineer things if it can’t be noticed and it makes for a better driving situation.
LIGHTS AND ELECTRICALS
As per usual the wiring loom had been snipped right through in several places without being labeled, and so the tedious job of testing and eliminating began.
The original vacuum wiper motors were both missing. “They are known to be very inefficient especially going uphill, when the throttle is pressed, the wiper stops.” “I used a cut down two speed electric Daihatsu dual wiper assembly found at the Moore dump. Using two Morris Minor wiper arms and blades gleaned from a swap we now have a synchronized performance at a choice of two speeds with only one switch. It was tricky, I managed to conceal the entire unit inside the bulkhead you would not spot the difference.”
While the body was off it was an opportune time to fit a VH power brake booster and vacuum tank. Brake lines had been brazed up in places so all were replaced.
BRAKES:
The footbrake linings came off the old crane Chevy and they were brand new all round. The handbrake band assembly was missing and you wouldn’t know it, a brand new one was found in the Townsville parts, new linings, springs, pins, levers, everything.
“On 23 August 2008 I pulled the timing cover off to replace the timing seal and the timing gear fell off the camshaft. It was a fibre one which was loose on the shaft and had to be replaced, which I found whilst hunting up the back from the boxes of parts from Townsville.”
Part III
11 SEPTEMBER 2008 – THE TURNING POINT
“At last with the new brake lines installed all round I can start putting bits on and not just taking bits off,” said Dale.
ANOTHER SETBACK
“On 13 September 2008, Karen was helping me lower the newly painted and kitted up motor into the engine bay using the Coventry Climax ½ ton forklift bought from Reg Schuster’s auction at Pimpama. Extended to the full height of the mast, it got stuck. I climbed up, freed it, and got it working again, but suddenly it dropped a couple of feet crashing into the engine bay and on to the radiator couling. The engine slumped into the recess. Miraculously, it had only bent the throttle lever as it wedged itself against the firewall, making a slight indent in the cowling,” said Dale
THE GEARBOX
“The Ford gearbox was not compatible with the Chev so here I had another problem to solve. The Chev was too slow, so I gave it a bit of thought and decided on a Toyota Dyna 5 speed overdrive, which I plucked from gearbox stock. By fitting a Landcruiser lid I was able to have the gear lever through the floor in it’s normal position. Dyna’s have two side levers to operate the gears, which wouldn’t come through the floor. So a LC lid fitted perfectly and looks the part.
“At this time I decided to pull apart the transfer to check it out. The gears looked perfect. The bearings are so tiny that I rebearinged and sealed the transfer which came with the vehicle just in case we had a bearing go on us to eliminate the risk of bearing failure.”
The transfer hangs off a crossmember under the seat independent of the gearbox.
A VISIT FROM NIGEL WARD
It was the last Friday before Christmas. “I’m at my wits end. I’ve been trying for hours to fit the rear cab window rubber and inset.” “Every time I get it lined up the whole assembly pops out the other side. I’ve had it,” declared Dale. So with Nigel working on one side and Dale on the other a couple of hours later “and twenty bandaids” said Dale, it was installed.
THE CHRISTMAS FAIRY
The savings we were going to make by switching cabs didn’t bear out. When the panel beating doubled from the earlier quote, we got done what we could afford to pay for, and then fell into despair.
A friend came along and offered to finish off the bonnet, doors and mudguards in return for mechanical work after the trip – we were back on the trip!
TRIP TO FRANKLINS
It was the Sunday before Christmas, 21st December 2008, on its’ maiden voyage, to set up a photo shoot and get our friend to witness the signature on Dale’s pommy passport. Everything ran beautifully, except on the first hill the transfer case popped out of high range. Hoping it was only a once off, we tried again, with no such luck, the transfer had to come out again. Dale performed a quick backgrind on high range, the gear which had looked perfect!
CUPPA’S WITH MIKE O’SULLIVAN
January 2nd 2009 – Fresh vegemite and cheese rolls over tea and coffee to sustain us. Mike too was feeling the financial pinch due to the world economic downturn. He was so inflated with enthusiasm about the trip – said he’d flown over parts we were visiting.
Mike was on his way to his hanger at Watts Bridge and provided the post New Year’s break we needed from the daily ritual “work on the Chevy”, “work on the grass cutting.”
Looking around Mike concluded, “The risk of having too many trucks is like my friend with his plane collection, he never gets to fly them.” Wow!
Seeing Mike’s “little” Chevrolet Blitz winding its way up our summer green driveway was inspirational. It was fun to compare the ride each of us would have. Mike with his “no frills” machine with the engine between him and Karen, nothing overhead, just the hoops and canvas; yet a better measure of comfort with his modern fit out including high backs - pneumatic suspension seats!
Mike was impressed with our Chevy, the cabin was tidy, its wind up windows!
THREE BODIES TO CHOOSE FROM
Once again we took the opportunity to seek an outsider’s opinion on which of the three bodies to go with. Unanimously, we voted in the 1950s Toyota troop carrier body. It would need to be cut down the middle and brought in 8 inches to fit the narrower chassis rails of the 1942 Chevy.
YOUR OWN WRECKING YARD
Dale just loves to go to his own parts supply and pick out something which can be slightly modified and used again without having to go to the wreckers. Time and time again he would proudly tell the story about how he had kept something which would now do the job. Like the mudguards for the rear wheels which came out of a scrap yard years ago, perfect fit!
BENDIX WEISS KNUCKLE JOINTS
Two faster diffs had been supplied by Warren Kerle and John Hill (deceased) and we put the best one in the back with new bearings and seal for reliability. There was no rear diff and the front diff was a slow ratio.
“I changed the front diff when I did the brakes,” says Dale. “I cleaned John’s diff and adjusted it and fitted a new seal.”
“When I pulled out the front axleshaft to check the front diff I wanted to show Karen the old way CV joints were made for trucks. The Bendix Weiss knuckle joint is a constant velocity joint, with 5 constantly loaded balls at all angles. Brilliant design, smooth and very hardy due to the large surface area around the balls, compared with modern CV joints that only have three moving parts for cheap production (limited life span).”
BUDDY NUTS
“I’ve decided to put extra wheel nuts on the front rims, not only do they look good, but they are handy to stand on when looking under the bonnet. They are on the back to carry the second dual wheel.” Buddy nuts on the front allow the fitting of a second rim as an option for extreme snow or mud conditions.
PINTLE HOOK
You can see from the photo of the rear of Yankee Joe and the one we got from Gordon that our chassis has been cut at a 45 degree angle which makes us think ours was a tipper dump truck. Also, you’ll notice that it was once fitted with a Blitz spring leaf type tow bar as compared with the Chev GMC pintle hook. Dale converted it back into Chevy specs.
WANTED ADS
Email: On the 12th January a challenge went out to convoy members to find us engine side covers and bumperettes. Ray Ward was one who kindly replied directing us to our old mate Russell Price! Herman Pfaulter also obliged by ensuring us that we would pick them up in France whilst on our travels! Wanted ads bring an unusual response – everyone looking for the same part ring you up wanting to buy them off you!
THE BED
After traveling all over town to look at an unsuitable bed, we found just what we needed at the recycling centre. The old style angle iron frame with mesh with the webbed slats from a later type laid in the frame and we had a base. Dale installed the legs to give us enough height to allow for our storage containers to go underneath.
TWO CONVOY TRUCKS HERITAGE LISTED
It was both flattering and frustrating to have Yankee Joe come under the scrutiny of the “Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act 1986”. The second truck was the 1941 Ford 4x2 Ute V8 1 ton. We had to continue with our truck restoration right up to February 10th, not knowing if the truck were going to be allowed out of the country.
ALLORA RALLY JANUARY 17TH – 18TH
The ultimate road test was to get it up and down Cunningham’s Gap. There was no need to worry, it had good power, ran cool, good brakes, a comfortable 90 kph road speed, but developed a wheel wobble in the front which is common for old four wheel drives. So Dale installed new tie rod pins and bushes and retracked the steering with his measuring stick. With my help he then rechecked his work with a plumb bob line. A hydraulic steering damper completed it, perfect.
Without Les Turner’s help finishing off lights etc we wouldn’t even have had it ready for Allora. The Toyota body was not ready for pickup at the upholsterers, so we had to install a replacement to give us a sleeping compartment for the weekend. Les Turner helped us install the temporary body we picked up from Wanless.
COMMISSIONING OF YANKEE JOE - VALENTINE’S PARTY – FEB 14TH 2009
We held a great send off party for the Brisbane contingent. It was a shed opening party and birthday party for Lang and others. I was able to practice my selection of songs I’d been practicing to “entertain the troops with” whilst on convoy.
The finishing touches were now going on. We tricked it up by adding a yellow water tank, made stencils and copied its Australian Army number. We made up a unit number 85 and a divisional platypus sign, which was my father’s 9th Division Cavalry Regiment badging.
LOADING INTO CONTAINERS AT HEMMANT
Tuesday 21st February, loading in holding yard.
“Driving ie reversing the truck in was easy enough, but then as the day went on, I was working under the truck in unbearable heat like I’ve never felt before, no air, no circulation, putting the chains and straps around the axles,” says Dale. The container cleats were so small we couldn’t get the chains or tie down straps through them, so Nigel had to find a store to buy a bag full of shackles before we could even start.
Everything had to be done under the diffs on the back or belly, you couldn’t stand up to do anything because there was only 50ml clearance all round the truck. Lang couldn’t get under his Chev which was in front of ours. He had to jack it up on blocks of wood under the axles to give him the clearance to tie it down.
We had a five week break from the Chevy to complete the two Kaisers in time to take them to the Clubs Canungra Rally and Swap October 18 and 19th. Another week was taken up visiting Dale’s new grandson in Sydney in November, and then it took another few days to pick up our Chamberlain MKII Industrial tractor in Bargo. Apart from this, and Dale’s Jury Duty stint, we can’t remember a day going by without working on the truck.
WHICH VEHICLE WILL WE TAKE ON “The Trip of a Lifetime”?
We looked not only at the suitability of any in our own vehicle fleet but considered buying anything else. Barry Hodges took us to look at an old Blitz radio van at Laidley, but it turned out to be a 60’s unit which interestingly had been used by a previous Governor to go star gazing back then.
DODGE ½ TON 4X4 WEAPONS CARRIER
Initially we chose the Dodge ½ ton which we’d swapped through Prices, Dalby. Its’ previous long term owner was Dan Dennis and everyone knew that the motor was “always stuffed”. On a stopover in Dalby we included a visit to our old mate Neville Morris, and as luck would have it he agreed to sell us a replacement engine. Dale went back with the tilt tray whilst up at the Dalby Museum open days in May, and picked it up. Neville had picked me a large bag of prickly pear from which I made a treacle honey, which was passed onto Russell to deliver a bottle of it back to Neville.
CHEVROLET 2.5 TON 4X4
It wasn’t long after getting the engine home that we realized that I would be too exposed to the elements in the cab of the Dodge, with its lack of doors and canvas hood, so we switched back to Dale’s most favoured vehicle, the 1942 Chevrolet Yankee Joe bought from the Dubbo Military Museum auction sale in November 2006.
The Chevy which was little more than a running wreck, with its transplanted running gear, Ford V8 flathead engine and gearbox, after market RH steering conversion, collapsed seats, six shot tyres; there wasn’t any door linings! An enormous later model tray body had been dumped on its back, and the spray gun had gone right over it transferring it to camo desert tones, right over the windows, headlights and all!
Dale had a burst of enthusiasm, set himself an easy three months to completion and went at it hammer and tongs. His goal was to have it ready in time for the Canungra Rally and Swap October 2008.
AND SO BEGAN A NINE MONTH RESTORERS NIGHTMARE – NOTHING WENT TO PLAN, NOTHING WAS EASY, EVERYTHING HAD TO BE ESPECIALLY PROCURED OR REMADE, AND THE PRESSURE WAS ON TO HAVE IT READY TO BE CONTAINERISED BY FEB 21ST 2009.
After making the initial assessment we concluded that there was extensive panel work required to repair the back of the cabin which had holes all along the seam. The bonnet was badly dented, had lost its bracing and was all loose and floppy, windscreen repairs, there were no wipers, the doors had no guts in them, so there were no windows, brackets, winders, frames or any structure at all. We got a quote for the panel work for $5,000.
RARE UNITS
There seemed to be few around to compare ours with to enable us see what we were missing and how to go about it.
A spare civilian Chevy of the correct vintage acquired locally for a couple of cartons was snapped up! You may remember the picture of it with the concrete ballast for its crane under the seat!
We had hoped to be able to recover its’ engine for our project, but it wouldn’t turnover.
So, we were now also on the hunt for a new motor, Dale had been given a list of Chevy people to look up by Warren Kerle from the Military Jeep club. The first contact lived at Toowoomba, which we thought was too far away, so decided to meet up with another prospect, Gordon Buteux at Laidley. Gordon said he had doors and quite a bit of other stuff.
We shot out there and couldn’t believe our luck. There was his old Chevy which he had owned for 20 years together with a recently imported one. He had parts stacked about the place everywhere. At first we started out by buying a bonnet, side panels and doors, and then came up with the bright idea to buy the whole vehicle and anything surplus to his needs. This would save us thousands of dollars on the restoration of the doors, give us a better cab and short cut the work no end. Also his was still left hand drive, whereas ours had been converted to right hand drive. Additionally, our chassis had an angle end on the chassis rails and was fitted with a Blitz tow bar set up.
So, with the deal done and Gordon now on side, we loaded up and headed back to Brisbane with Gordon promising to hand over extras as they turned up!
Back in the workshop though, it was a different story. We considered taking our cab off and replacing it with Gordon’s which had already been lifted off the chassis rails. But in reality Gordon’s had been stripped of so much that it was better to go with our own, and using his doors.
AUSTRALIAN ARMY CAB (DUBBO) VERSUS USA ARMY CAB (GORDON’S)
With the two Chevy’s together, suddenly we were looking at different windscreens, different locks and handles, vents, fuel tank locations, and RH and LH fuel filler holes.
GMH CAB
“What is unique to Australian Chevy’s, on the instrument panel you’ll notice the gauges are rectangular, while the USA has round dials and on the Oz the back lighting is built in, whereas with the American version the lights are down light stalks!” said Dale.
“Windscreen hinges are internal on the Australian cab and on the American one they are exposed on the outside,” he continued. “You’ll notice that the fuel tank is under the seat with a LH filler cap, whereas on the American one the tank is mounted between the chassis rails behind the transfer case at the back of the cab with the filler on the right.” “The advantage for the USA is that the seat vacuum becomes a tool box.” “Also, the Australian Cab has an exterior door lock fitted on RH side.”
Part II
PARTS FROM TOWNSVILLE MUSEUM
Whilst talking about the Yankee Joe at the South Coast Restoration Rally at Pimpama in July 2007, we were offered 2 pallets of Chevy leftovers from the Townsville Museum. It was shipped by McAleese and at the time little did we know how useful it was destined to be to us.
THE ENGINE
The decision to R & R the powerful Ford engine was one of the worst we made. Dale considered that as the Ford was too large for the engine bay, it would be difficult for him to work on it in the event of it’s failing whilst on the open road. He should’ve left it alone!
It seemed a pity to undo the Ford V8 Customline engine transplanted into it earlier and conversion to RH drive as well at the same time. The Engine bracket had been removed and adjustments made to fit the Ford into the engine bay, and this had to be reversed. Because of this conversion, it was considered to be too time consuming to try to start reversing the steering conversion, so he decided to leave the steering as it was.
Photo shows the two added engine mounts for the Ford engine and how the chassis has been cut around for the RH steering box (good job with its welded on bracket).
NONE OF THE MOTORS WOULD TURN
We expected to be able to build a motor out of the free Chevy truck we had picked up at Browns Plains, the 235 motor out of Gordon’s Chevy, and the ones in the Townsville parts.
Water had got into Gordon’s. It had no oil pressure and no compression. The head we’d hoped to recover from the concrete Chevy was sadly also water affected. Nothing was worth repairing with the limited time we had left.
CHEVY SLOPER 216 ON EBAY
In despair, on Thursday 24th July Dale decided to do a Landcruiser HZJ diesel transplant so we researched the internet to find a motor. To our shock we found we’d be looking at $4,500 - $8,000 range and with that Dale said, “just type in Chevrolet motor”. Wow, up it came, a 1939 motor with all the trappings out of a Sloper in Nowra. We want to here acknowledge the owner’s Sonja and Dave Clarke because they were put to a lot of inconvenience as far as packing and strapping, arranging for a crane, and the failure of the pick up to turn up time and again. They were rodding their car and were thrilled about our D-Day trip with the Yankee Chevy. The engine was, as they said, a beauty, turned over and ran as quiet as a mouse. The tiny 3 spd gearbox was sold to Lang Kidby. All we needed to complete the picture was a truck radiator. “Look, even the horn is hanging off it and it still works”, said Dale, “and best of all it came with an original large type starter button”. Dale reckoned he’d never seen one before.
MILITARISING THE SUMP
THE 235 MILITARY MOTOR V 216 CIVILIAN MOTOR
With the 216 and the 235 side by side, several differences were obvious. Apart from the length, the 235 has a deeper sump and is offset to clear the front diff.
The 216 car motor has a 2.5 to 3 L oil capacity only, whereas the militarized larger 235 has the larger capacity for lugging, driving for longer periods and coping with undulating terrain.
“My plan was to increase the oil capacity by deepening the sump to give me 6 Litres. I cut the sump off Gordon’s 235 and mig welded it onto the bottom of the car sump. Then by cutting a hole through the bottom of the 216 for the oil pump, I extended the pickup using a 235 oil pump which has longer gears.”
“By building a baffled sump extension it was a much improved set up for a splash fed system reducing the risk of oil starvation as was so common with the splash system,” said Dale.
Not only did Dale increase the depth of the trough, but he built baffles inside it to ensure that oil will always be available regardless of the length of the climb.
Dale likes to reengineer things if it can’t be noticed and it makes for a better driving situation.
LIGHTS AND ELECTRICALS
As per usual the wiring loom had been snipped right through in several places without being labeled, and so the tedious job of testing and eliminating began.
The original vacuum wiper motors were both missing. “They are known to be very inefficient especially going uphill, when the throttle is pressed, the wiper stops.” “I used a cut down two speed electric Daihatsu dual wiper assembly found at the Moore dump. Using two Morris Minor wiper arms and blades gleaned from a swap we now have a synchronized performance at a choice of two speeds with only one switch. It was tricky, I managed to conceal the entire unit inside the bulkhead you would not spot the difference.”
While the body was off it was an opportune time to fit a VH power brake booster and vacuum tank. Brake lines had been brazed up in places so all were replaced.
BRAKES:
The footbrake linings came off the old crane Chevy and they were brand new all round. The handbrake band assembly was missing and you wouldn’t know it, a brand new one was found in the Townsville parts, new linings, springs, pins, levers, everything.
“On 23 August 2008 I pulled the timing cover off to replace the timing seal and the timing gear fell off the camshaft. It was a fibre one which was loose on the shaft and had to be replaced, which I found whilst hunting up the back from the boxes of parts from Townsville.”
Part III
11 SEPTEMBER 2008 – THE TURNING POINT
“At last with the new brake lines installed all round I can start putting bits on and not just taking bits off,” said Dale.
ANOTHER SETBACK
“On 13 September 2008, Karen was helping me lower the newly painted and kitted up motor into the engine bay using the Coventry Climax ½ ton forklift bought from Reg Schuster’s auction at Pimpama. Extended to the full height of the mast, it got stuck. I climbed up, freed it, and got it working again, but suddenly it dropped a couple of feet crashing into the engine bay and on to the radiator couling. The engine slumped into the recess. Miraculously, it had only bent the throttle lever as it wedged itself against the firewall, making a slight indent in the cowling,” said Dale
THE GEARBOX
“The Ford gearbox was not compatible with the Chev so here I had another problem to solve. The Chev was too slow, so I gave it a bit of thought and decided on a Toyota Dyna 5 speed overdrive, which I plucked from gearbox stock. By fitting a Landcruiser lid I was able to have the gear lever through the floor in it’s normal position. Dyna’s have two side levers to operate the gears, which wouldn’t come through the floor. So a LC lid fitted perfectly and looks the part.
“At this time I decided to pull apart the transfer to check it out. The gears looked perfect. The bearings are so tiny that I rebearinged and sealed the transfer which came with the vehicle just in case we had a bearing go on us to eliminate the risk of bearing failure.”
The transfer hangs off a crossmember under the seat independent of the gearbox.
A VISIT FROM NIGEL WARD
It was the last Friday before Christmas. “I’m at my wits end. I’ve been trying for hours to fit the rear cab window rubber and inset.” “Every time I get it lined up the whole assembly pops out the other side. I’ve had it,” declared Dale. So with Nigel working on one side and Dale on the other a couple of hours later “and twenty bandaids” said Dale, it was installed.
THE CHRISTMAS FAIRY
The savings we were going to make by switching cabs didn’t bear out. When the panel beating doubled from the earlier quote, we got done what we could afford to pay for, and then fell into despair.
A friend came along and offered to finish off the bonnet, doors and mudguards in return for mechanical work after the trip – we were back on the trip!
TRIP TO FRANKLINS
It was the Sunday before Christmas, 21st December 2008, on its’ maiden voyage, to set up a photo shoot and get our friend to witness the signature on Dale’s pommy passport. Everything ran beautifully, except on the first hill the transfer case popped out of high range. Hoping it was only a once off, we tried again, with no such luck, the transfer had to come out again. Dale performed a quick backgrind on high range, the gear which had looked perfect!
CUPPA’S WITH MIKE O’SULLIVAN
January 2nd 2009 – Fresh vegemite and cheese rolls over tea and coffee to sustain us. Mike too was feeling the financial pinch due to the world economic downturn. He was so inflated with enthusiasm about the trip – said he’d flown over parts we were visiting.
Mike was on his way to his hanger at Watts Bridge and provided the post New Year’s break we needed from the daily ritual “work on the Chevy”, “work on the grass cutting.”
Looking around Mike concluded, “The risk of having too many trucks is like my friend with his plane collection, he never gets to fly them.” Wow!
Seeing Mike’s “little” Chevrolet Blitz winding its way up our summer green driveway was inspirational. It was fun to compare the ride each of us would have. Mike with his “no frills” machine with the engine between him and Karen, nothing overhead, just the hoops and canvas; yet a better measure of comfort with his modern fit out including high backs - pneumatic suspension seats!
Mike was impressed with our Chevy, the cabin was tidy, its wind up windows!
THREE BODIES TO CHOOSE FROM
Once again we took the opportunity to seek an outsider’s opinion on which of the three bodies to go with. Unanimously, we voted in the 1950s Toyota troop carrier body. It would need to be cut down the middle and brought in 8 inches to fit the narrower chassis rails of the 1942 Chevy.
YOUR OWN WRECKING YARD
Dale just loves to go to his own parts supply and pick out something which can be slightly modified and used again without having to go to the wreckers. Time and time again he would proudly tell the story about how he had kept something which would now do the job. Like the mudguards for the rear wheels which came out of a scrap yard years ago, perfect fit!
BENDIX WEISS KNUCKLE JOINTS
Two faster diffs had been supplied by Warren Kerle and John Hill (deceased) and we put the best one in the back with new bearings and seal for reliability. There was no rear diff and the front diff was a slow ratio.
“I changed the front diff when I did the brakes,” says Dale. “I cleaned John’s diff and adjusted it and fitted a new seal.”
“When I pulled out the front axleshaft to check the front diff I wanted to show Karen the old way CV joints were made for trucks. The Bendix Weiss knuckle joint is a constant velocity joint, with 5 constantly loaded balls at all angles. Brilliant design, smooth and very hardy due to the large surface area around the balls, compared with modern CV joints that only have three moving parts for cheap production (limited life span).”
BUDDY NUTS
“I’ve decided to put extra wheel nuts on the front rims, not only do they look good, but they are handy to stand on when looking under the bonnet. They are on the back to carry the second dual wheel.” Buddy nuts on the front allow the fitting of a second rim as an option for extreme snow or mud conditions.
PINTLE HOOK
You can see from the photo of the rear of Yankee Joe and the one we got from Gordon that our chassis has been cut at a 45 degree angle which makes us think ours was a tipper dump truck. Also, you’ll notice that it was once fitted with a Blitz spring leaf type tow bar as compared with the Chev GMC pintle hook. Dale converted it back into Chevy specs.
WANTED ADS
Email: On the 12th January a challenge went out to convoy members to find us engine side covers and bumperettes. Ray Ward was one who kindly replied directing us to our old mate Russell Price! Herman Pfaulter also obliged by ensuring us that we would pick them up in France whilst on our travels! Wanted ads bring an unusual response – everyone looking for the same part ring you up wanting to buy them off you!
THE BED
After traveling all over town to look at an unsuitable bed, we found just what we needed at the recycling centre. The old style angle iron frame with mesh with the webbed slats from a later type laid in the frame and we had a base. Dale installed the legs to give us enough height to allow for our storage containers to go underneath.
TWO CONVOY TRUCKS HERITAGE LISTED
It was both flattering and frustrating to have Yankee Joe come under the scrutiny of the “Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act 1986”. The second truck was the 1941 Ford 4x2 Ute V8 1 ton. We had to continue with our truck restoration right up to February 10th, not knowing if the truck were going to be allowed out of the country.
ALLORA RALLY JANUARY 17TH – 18TH
The ultimate road test was to get it up and down Cunningham’s Gap. There was no need to worry, it had good power, ran cool, good brakes, a comfortable 90 kph road speed, but developed a wheel wobble in the front which is common for old four wheel drives. So Dale installed new tie rod pins and bushes and retracked the steering with his measuring stick. With my help he then rechecked his work with a plumb bob line. A hydraulic steering damper completed it, perfect.
Without Les Turner’s help finishing off lights etc we wouldn’t even have had it ready for Allora. The Toyota body was not ready for pickup at the upholsterers, so we had to install a replacement to give us a sleeping compartment for the weekend. Les Turner helped us install the temporary body we picked up from Wanless.
COMMISSIONING OF YANKEE JOE - VALENTINE’S PARTY – FEB 14TH 2009
We held a great send off party for the Brisbane contingent. It was a shed opening party and birthday party for Lang and others. I was able to practice my selection of songs I’d been practicing to “entertain the troops with” whilst on convoy.
The finishing touches were now going on. We tricked it up by adding a yellow water tank, made stencils and copied its Australian Army number. We made up a unit number 85 and a divisional platypus sign, which was my father’s 9th Division Cavalry Regiment badging.
LOADING INTO CONTAINERS AT HEMMANT
Tuesday 21st February, loading in holding yard.
“Driving ie reversing the truck in was easy enough, but then as the day went on, I was working under the truck in unbearable heat like I’ve never felt before, no air, no circulation, putting the chains and straps around the axles,” says Dale. The container cleats were so small we couldn’t get the chains or tie down straps through them, so Nigel had to find a store to buy a bag full of shackles before we could even start.
Everything had to be done under the diffs on the back or belly, you couldn’t stand up to do anything because there was only 50ml clearance all round the truck. Lang couldn’t get under his Chev which was in front of ours. He had to jack it up on blocks of wood under the axles to give him the clearance to tie it down.
We had a five week break from the Chevy to complete the two Kaisers in time to take them to the Clubs Canungra Rally and Swap October 18 and 19th. Another week was taken up visiting Dale’s new grandson in Sydney in November, and then it took another few days to pick up our Chamberlain MKII Industrial tractor in Bargo. Apart from this, and Dale’s Jury Duty stint, we can’t remember a day going by without working on the truck.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Anzac Convoy Group Email
6.30 am THIS MORNING
Mobile call from Cameron McFadyen, “Ha, Ha, Karen I think you had better check out your blogsite?” Karen, “Why?” “Well, when I opened on the link in your email it opened up on a live chat sex site!” said Cameron.
My reaction was one of disbelief and then denial, how did this happen, why me?
I’ll never know how long had lapsed between Cam opening on the blog address and the time he rang to kindly notify me, but he was wondering how the rest of the mail recipients were waking up to my newsy email?
He tried cutting and pasting the link to another computer and the link worked properly. Cam does a bit of editing on the Heritage Truck Association club website and he could see that I had corrected a typo in the web address when preparing the email. Those cheeky devils had picked up on the error and had redirected 107 emails on my friends list, to one of those sites “you know are there, but are never game to click on them”.
Cameron told me I’d have to delete my web site and start again, get in touch with Norton’s and Bigpond etc. Whilst he was thinking about it, I rang my daughter who had the computer unplugged, Toly Kijaska who was sleeping the night shift off, then Lang Kidby who got very excited about it, wondered why Bev hadn’t told him about it, and quickly set about investigating it for himself. Lang confirmed that yes he had entered another website, and because he seemed extremely jolly about his predicament, it buffered the shock I was experiencing.
I’d sent the email to my friends in every organisaton, the church, celebral palsy, the fruit club, Marburg dancing partners, truck and tractor clubs, politicians, friends and relatives local and overseas, government organizations, the press – I was becoming deliriously panic stricken.
A quick check on my mailbox confirmed that early risers had also gone into shock and instantly tried to inform me of the folly of my ways. How was I going to cope with the flack I was going to get from this?
Following Cameron’s advice, I cut and pasted my web address and quickly redrafted a new email correctly pointing out that you would only click on the blogspot address in my previous email if you wanted one thing only!
Thanks to Cameron McFadyen, Graeme Person, David Freeland, Leo Caunter, Tony Wright, Tony Butt, Arun Chacko, Becky Carroll, for their timely feedback. Luckily the church replied “I do not know you please remove my address from your book”, and I’m happy to remain anonymous.
Setting up my blogspot has been a huge learning curve, I am having all sorts of editing dramas and are not at all happy with the presentation. I do not have HTML knowledge. I had wanted it all to be perfect before informing you all that I was up and running. Last night at midnight, I thought, “well, this is it, time to go for broke, fes up, and get some feedback from you before I leave!
Honestly, I’m sorry, how will I ever live it down? Seeing is believing!Happy computing, Karen Bracken
Mobile call from Cameron McFadyen, “Ha, Ha, Karen I think you had better check out your blogsite?” Karen, “Why?” “Well, when I opened on the link in your email it opened up on a live chat sex site!” said Cameron.
My reaction was one of disbelief and then denial, how did this happen, why me?
I’ll never know how long had lapsed between Cam opening on the blog address and the time he rang to kindly notify me, but he was wondering how the rest of the mail recipients were waking up to my newsy email?
He tried cutting and pasting the link to another computer and the link worked properly. Cam does a bit of editing on the Heritage Truck Association club website and he could see that I had corrected a typo in the web address when preparing the email. Those cheeky devils had picked up on the error and had redirected 107 emails on my friends list, to one of those sites “you know are there, but are never game to click on them”.
Cameron told me I’d have to delete my web site and start again, get in touch with Norton’s and Bigpond etc. Whilst he was thinking about it, I rang my daughter who had the computer unplugged, Toly Kijaska who was sleeping the night shift off, then Lang Kidby who got very excited about it, wondered why Bev hadn’t told him about it, and quickly set about investigating it for himself. Lang confirmed that yes he had entered another website, and because he seemed extremely jolly about his predicament, it buffered the shock I was experiencing.
I’d sent the email to my friends in every organisaton, the church, celebral palsy, the fruit club, Marburg dancing partners, truck and tractor clubs, politicians, friends and relatives local and overseas, government organizations, the press – I was becoming deliriously panic stricken.
A quick check on my mailbox confirmed that early risers had also gone into shock and instantly tried to inform me of the folly of my ways. How was I going to cope with the flack I was going to get from this?
Following Cameron’s advice, I cut and pasted my web address and quickly redrafted a new email correctly pointing out that you would only click on the blogspot address in my previous email if you wanted one thing only!
Thanks to Cameron McFadyen, Graeme Person, David Freeland, Leo Caunter, Tony Wright, Tony Butt, Arun Chacko, Becky Carroll, for their timely feedback. Luckily the church replied “I do not know you please remove my address from your book”, and I’m happy to remain anonymous.
Setting up my blogspot has been a huge learning curve, I am having all sorts of editing dramas and are not at all happy with the presentation. I do not have HTML knowledge. I had wanted it all to be perfect before informing you all that I was up and running. Last night at midnight, I thought, “well, this is it, time to go for broke, fes up, and get some feedback from you before I leave!
Honestly, I’m sorry, how will I ever live it down? Seeing is believing!Happy computing, Karen Bracken
Normandy Route as of 10th March 2009
Article written by Lang Kidby
DATE FROM TO DISTANCE HOURS NOTES
May-01Istanbul Gallipoli 270 5.5 Starting from Selimpassa Camp to Gallipoli National Park camp site.
2 Gallipoli Day in Gallipoli. Can take 15min ferry to Canakkale and Troy and return if desired.
3 Gallipoli Alexandropolis 187 3.5 Enter Greece
4 Alexandropolis Thassos 1 2.5 Get 30min ferry from Keramoti. Stay in one of several beachside camp grounds.
5 Keramoti Day off on rugged island of Thassos. Spectacular views and great seafood.
6 Thassos Thessalonika 230 4.5 1hr ferry to Kavalla then on to the pretty second city of Greece.
7 Thessalonika Volos 222 4.5 Via magnificent scenic route past Mount Olympus
8 Volos Athens/Piraeus 292 6 Board Ferry to Crete at 2000. Arrive Iraklion 0630
9 Iraklion Chania 125 2.5 Lunch at Rethimnon. Outdoor café dinner on ancient harbour wall.
10 Chania Sfakia 95 2 Morning Maleme airfield/war graves then mountain drive to south coast evacuation point.
11 Kastelli Chania/Suda 105 2 Walk up spectacular gorge, winding drive to Souda (Main Crete war Cemetary.)
12 Souda Iraklion 125 2.5 Explore ancient harbour town and lost city of Knossos
13 Iraklion 2100/ Piraeus at 0630.
14 Piraeus/Athens Korinthos 60 1 Day exploring Athens then short drive over Corinth Canal to camp site.
15 Korinthos Patra 120 2.5 Relaxed coastal drive. Visit ANZAC evacuation ports. Board ferry at 1700/ Ancona 1300.
16 Ancona Arrive 1300 rest and explore. Meet up with Italian Military Vehicle Club members.
17 Ancona Scarperia 200 4 Cross Italian mountain spine to Scarperia. Picturesque Tuscan village 20km from Florence.
18 Scarperia Pisa 82 1.5 Sight seeing Florence and Pisa.
19 Pisa Garlenda 268 5.5 One of the most beautiful coastal drives in the world. Garlenda village welcome.
20 Garlend Turin 180 2.5 Pretty drive to probably the nicest big city of the whole trip.
21 Turin Feriolo 160 2.5 Drive up the picture postcard Lake Maggiore. Camp ground on lake waterfront.
22 Feriolo Day off to catch up on washing, shopping, sightseeing and swimming.
23 Verbano Seelisberg 200 5 Winding Semplon Pass, Furka underground railway, Seelisberg mountain-top lake camp.
24 Seelisberg Mulhouse 160 3 Three great museums - Automobile, Firefighters and Railways.
25 Mulhouse Verdun 250 5 Enter France
26 Verdun Day off - The Citadel, visit untouched WW1 battle sites and French National War Memorial
27 Verdun Bois de Bologne 270 5 Night visit to Paris if desired.
28 Bois de Bologne Paris day. Drive or catch the train. Visit French Military Vehicle Club large workshops.
29 Bois de Bologne Bagnoles de l'Orne 170 3.5 Beautiful small spa town nestled in forested hills.
30 Bagnoles de l'Orne Pontorson 80 1.5 Straight on to Mont St Michel (9km) for day before returning to camp.
May-31 Pontor Periers 60 1 Nice drive to Peter Tombs' farm. Clean-up, look at Peter's collection, barbecue.
Jun-01 Periers Etreham 50 1 Join British MVT at campground.
2 .
3
4
5 Normandy Activities
6
7
8 Etreham Dieppe 220 4.5 Via coast road and outstanding scenery.
9 Dieppe Villers-Bretonneux 1 2 Australian National War Memorial
10 Villers-Bretonneux Amiens 13 2.5 Ancient cathedral town. Many war cemetaries and museums enroute.
11 Amiens Eiper/Ypres 180 3.5 Canadian Memorial Vimy Ridge, tunnels. Last Post/ Lowering of Australian flag Eiper Menin Gate.
12 Eiper/Ypres Zeebrugge 60 1 Loading, customs etc. Expected 1-2 days before train to Brussels or Paris etc for trip home.
DATE FROM TO DISTANCE HOURS NOTES
May-01Istanbul Gallipoli 270 5.5 Starting from Selimpassa Camp to Gallipoli National Park camp site.
2 Gallipoli Day in Gallipoli. Can take 15min ferry to Canakkale and Troy and return if desired.
3 Gallipoli Alexandropolis 187 3.5 Enter Greece
4 Alexandropolis Thassos 1 2.5 Get 30min ferry from Keramoti. Stay in one of several beachside camp grounds.
5 Keramoti Day off on rugged island of Thassos. Spectacular views and great seafood.
6 Thassos Thessalonika 230 4.5 1hr ferry to Kavalla then on to the pretty second city of Greece.
7 Thessalonika Volos 222 4.5 Via magnificent scenic route past Mount Olympus
8 Volos Athens/Piraeus 292 6 Board Ferry to Crete at 2000. Arrive Iraklion 0630
9 Iraklion Chania 125 2.5 Lunch at Rethimnon. Outdoor café dinner on ancient harbour wall.
10 Chania Sfakia 95 2 Morning Maleme airfield/war graves then mountain drive to south coast evacuation point.
11 Kastelli Chania/Suda 105 2 Walk up spectacular gorge, winding drive to Souda (Main Crete war Cemetary.)
12 Souda Iraklion 125 2.5 Explore ancient harbour town and lost city of Knossos
13 Iraklion 2100/ Piraeus at 0630.
14 Piraeus/Athens Korinthos 60 1 Day exploring Athens then short drive over Corinth Canal to camp site.
15 Korinthos Patra 120 2.5 Relaxed coastal drive. Visit ANZAC evacuation ports. Board ferry at 1700/ Ancona 1300.
16 Ancona Arrive 1300 rest and explore. Meet up with Italian Military Vehicle Club members.
17 Ancona Scarperia 200 4 Cross Italian mountain spine to Scarperia. Picturesque Tuscan village 20km from Florence.
18 Scarperia Pisa 82 1.5 Sight seeing Florence and Pisa.
19 Pisa Garlenda 268 5.5 One of the most beautiful coastal drives in the world. Garlenda village welcome.
20 Garlend Turin 180 2.5 Pretty drive to probably the nicest big city of the whole trip.
21 Turin Feriolo 160 2.5 Drive up the picture postcard Lake Maggiore. Camp ground on lake waterfront.
22 Feriolo Day off to catch up on washing, shopping, sightseeing and swimming.
23 Verbano Seelisberg 200 5 Winding Semplon Pass, Furka underground railway, Seelisberg mountain-top lake camp.
24 Seelisberg Mulhouse 160 3 Three great museums - Automobile, Firefighters and Railways.
25 Mulhouse Verdun 250 5 Enter France
26 Verdun Day off - The Citadel, visit untouched WW1 battle sites and French National War Memorial
27 Verdun Bois de Bologne 270 5 Night visit to Paris if desired.
28 Bois de Bologne Paris day. Drive or catch the train. Visit French Military Vehicle Club large workshops.
29 Bois de Bologne Bagnoles de l'Orne 170 3.5 Beautiful small spa town nestled in forested hills.
30 Bagnoles de l'Orne Pontorson 80 1.5 Straight on to Mont St Michel (9km) for day before returning to camp.
May-31 Pontor Periers 60 1 Nice drive to Peter Tombs' farm. Clean-up, look at Peter's collection, barbecue.
Jun-01 Periers Etreham 50 1 Join British MVT at campground.
2 .
3
4
5 Normandy Activities
6
7
8 Etreham Dieppe 220 4.5 Via coast road and outstanding scenery.
9 Dieppe Villers-Bretonneux 1 2 Australian National War Memorial
10 Villers-Bretonneux Amiens 13 2.5 Ancient cathedral town. Many war cemetaries and museums enroute.
11 Amiens Eiper/Ypres 180 3.5 Canadian Memorial Vimy Ridge, tunnels. Last Post/ Lowering of Australian flag Eiper Menin Gate.
12 Eiper/Ypres Zeebrugge 60 1 Loading, customs etc. Expected 1-2 days before train to Brussels or Paris etc for trip home.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Anzac Convoy Jeeps and Trucks
The Brisbane Group lined up for a photo shoot with their vehicles in the background on Valentines Day 
The Sydney contingent on container loading day
Michael Jericevich (owner) and Graeme Person's 1944 Willey's. They've got everything covered!
The Sydney contingent on container loading day
Michael Jericevich (owner) and Graeme Person's 1944 Willey's. They've got everything covered!
Sam and Lorraine Cutejar's US6 Studebaker
From this to this. Expedition Leaders Lang and Bev Kidby's Chevrolet Utility
Nigel and Lisa Ward's 2 vehicles going, the 1942 Willy's and the 1942 Chevrolet Blitz 3/4 ton general service vehicle 4x2. Nigel's taking his Mum and Dad, Bob and Anne Ward, to keep an eye on him
.
A New Zealand truck owned by Ray and Jennifer McKinney's 1/2 ton Dodge
John and Fiona Hedges – 1941 Ford utility 4x2; V8 85 hp 1 ton
From this to this. Expedition Leaders Lang and Bev Kidby's Chevrolet Utility
Nigel and Lisa Ward's 2 vehicles going, the 1942 Willy's and the 1942 Chevrolet Blitz 3/4 ton general service vehicle 4x2. Nigel's taking his Mum and Dad, Bob and Anne Ward, to keep an eye on him
.
A New Zealand truck owned by Ray and Jennifer McKinney's 1/2 ton Dodge
Meet Jim and Sandy Sewell of Perth. This gives you an idea of how far seriously they took their 1942 Chevy Blitz radiovan restoration
.
Hans and Anjolien Spranger's Jeep
Mike and Karen O'Sullivan's 1944 Chevrolet Blitz C15A 4x4 Utility
John Neild's 1942 Harley Davidson's motorcycle. This is one vehicle to keep your eye on.
Others:
.
Hans and Anjolien Spranger's Jeep
Mike and Karen O'Sullivan's 1944 Chevrolet Blitz C15A 4x4 Utility
John Neild's 1942 Harley Davidson's motorcycle. This is one vehicle to keep your eye on.
Six Chevrolets, five Willy’s Jeeps, a Dodge, a Ford, a Studebaker and a Harley Davidson constitute our Convoy.
Others:
Dave and Maggie Mottram – 1942 Chevrolet 3 ton 2x4 truck with general service military cargo body
Tony and Marilyn Comber – of New Zealand Willys Jeep and trailer
Ken Bathhurst – 1944 Willy’s MB
Zeb and Dorothy Quigley
Five vehicles have left from Brisbane, one from Perth, two from Sydney, five from Melbourne and two from Tauaranga, New Zealand, all containerized and enroute for Haydarpasa a new big port for Istanbul on the Asian side of the Bosphorus.
Tony and Marilyn Comber – of New Zealand Willys Jeep and trailer
Ken Bathhurst – 1944 Willy’s MB
Zeb and Dorothy Quigley
Five vehicles have left from Brisbane, one from Perth, two from Sydney, five from Melbourne and two from Tauaranga, New Zealand, all containerized and enroute for Haydarpasa a new big port for Istanbul on the Asian side of the Bosphorus.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Yankee Joe For Sale Buy yourself an Australian 1942 WW2 Chevy which has just completed a 5,000 km historic journey through Turkey, Greece, Crete, Italy, Switzerland, France, Belgium.From Istanbul to Normandy.
Truck Specs:
Short wheel base 145” 4X4
Chassis No: RC42G71M179
216 Engine No: R1296722
Australian Army No: 192806
Registration No: S18280
D-Day Anniversary - 6th June 2009 - Normandy Australia New Zealand ANZAC Convoy
Details:
Rebuilt diffs - back one has new bearings and seal to make it more reliable
Front one rebuilt, adjusted and new seal – both diffs ratio changed from 6.67 to 6.17 to give 90 kph and better economy
Fitted with 5 spd Toyota Dyna gearbox
New clutch, brakes rebuilt
Rebuilt radiator
Low mileage 216 car motor with modified sump to suit military specs
Transfer box rebuilt with new bearings and seals
New front tyres
Australian GMH cab
New canvas and seats, Cargo body 50’s model Japanese
Converted to 12 volt
2 speed electric wipers
Modern brake booster fitted for reliability
Generator & water pump rebuilt, new belt
New tie rod ends and tailshafts
RH drive after market conversion
Phone:
+61 0408 749 012
Email:
rock4wd@bigpond.net.au
Owner:
Dale Barnard and Karen Bracken
ALL THE WAY FROM BRISBANE QUEENSLAND AUSTRALIA
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Tour Promo
ANZAC NORMANDY D DAY CONVOY 2009
Article written by Karen Bracken
Published in the 2009 Spring Issue No. 122 Windscreen MVT
The Lang Kidby led expedition of 15 Australian World War II Vehicles is now a reality. With members airline tickets booked and containers allocated for vehicles and a definite port/deport plan in place Lang says “things are coming along nicely.”
The convoy will leave Istanbul on 1st May 2009 travelling through Europe via Greece, Italy, Switzerland, France and Belgium. Their object will be to reach Etreham, France, on 2nd June where they will join the British MVT group and participate in the activities associated with the 65th anniversary of the 6th June Normandy D Day landing by the Allied Forces in WWII. “As excitement grows, and the word gets around the scale of the experience significance is overwhelming,” says Lang.
Fifteen WWII vehicles will be containerized and transported to Istanbul from NZ, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle on or around the 21st February 2009.
Expedition members carrying only their personal gear will then follow up to help with the unloading and preparation of vehicles for the Anzac Military Convoy, “a trip of a lifetime,” says Lang. “Hoops, tarps, bumpers and wheels are some to the items needing to be reinstalled and tyres will need to be pumped up.” “Once general maintenance is completed, then we’ll be ready to take to the road,” added Lang.
“Our first stop will be Gallipoli which will really emotionally stimulate those participants who haven’t been over before.” “Then south westwards into Greece and Alexandropolis, Keramoti, Thessalonika, Volos, Athens and Piraeus.” “A visit to the Maleme war graves is a must.”
“We’ll spend five days looking over the militarily significant island of Crete before departing from Patra by ferry for an overnight journey to Ancona.” “We’ll also spend a week in Italy traveling across the mountains from Florence via Pisa, Garlenda, Turin and Verbano, crossing the Swiss Alps via Seelisberg and onto Mulhouse in France, where at Etreham we’ll meet up with the (British) Military Vehicle Trust to participate in the Normandy activities.”
Finally leaving Etreham to travel to the Australian National War Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux and then preparing for our departure home from Zeebrugge, Belgium on 12th June.
“I expect to cover 5,000 kms and with 30 days of travel this averages out at 160 kms per day.”
“Putting the military significance of this trip aside, it is about relaxation, and explorative sight seeing and the pace reflects this. After all, the unpredictability of traveling in these old vehicles goes without saying,” says Lang. “Members have done their best preparation wise but deadlines are always stretched with the result that most vehicles would never have been tried under these daily driving conditions, sometimes on large motorways, sometimes on country lanes and sometimes winding through the Alps.”
Photos Karen and Dale Barnard with their 1942 Chevrolet without its body in place at this stage
Article written by Karen Bracken
Published in the 2009 Spring Issue No. 122 Windscreen MVT
The Lang Kidby led expedition of 15 Australian World War II Vehicles is now a reality. With members airline tickets booked and containers allocated for vehicles and a definite port/deport plan in place Lang says “things are coming along nicely.”
The convoy will leave Istanbul on 1st May 2009 travelling through Europe via Greece, Italy, Switzerland, France and Belgium. Their object will be to reach Etreham, France, on 2nd June where they will join the British MVT group and participate in the activities associated with the 65th anniversary of the 6th June Normandy D Day landing by the Allied Forces in WWII. “As excitement grows, and the word gets around the scale of the experience significance is overwhelming,” says Lang.
Fifteen WWII vehicles will be containerized and transported to Istanbul from NZ, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle on or around the 21st February 2009.
Expedition members carrying only their personal gear will then follow up to help with the unloading and preparation of vehicles for the Anzac Military Convoy, “a trip of a lifetime,” says Lang. “Hoops, tarps, bumpers and wheels are some to the items needing to be reinstalled and tyres will need to be pumped up.” “Once general maintenance is completed, then we’ll be ready to take to the road,” added Lang.
“Our first stop will be Gallipoli which will really emotionally stimulate those participants who haven’t been over before.” “Then south westwards into Greece and Alexandropolis, Keramoti, Thessalonika, Volos, Athens and Piraeus.” “A visit to the Maleme war graves is a must.”
“We’ll spend five days looking over the militarily significant island of Crete before departing from Patra by ferry for an overnight journey to Ancona.” “We’ll also spend a week in Italy traveling across the mountains from Florence via Pisa, Garlenda, Turin and Verbano, crossing the Swiss Alps via Seelisberg and onto Mulhouse in France, where at Etreham we’ll meet up with the (British) Military Vehicle Trust to participate in the Normandy activities.”
Finally leaving Etreham to travel to the Australian National War Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux and then preparing for our departure home from Zeebrugge, Belgium on 12th June.
“I expect to cover 5,000 kms and with 30 days of travel this averages out at 160 kms per day.”
“Putting the military significance of this trip aside, it is about relaxation, and explorative sight seeing and the pace reflects this. After all, the unpredictability of traveling in these old vehicles goes without saying,” says Lang. “Members have done their best preparation wise but deadlines are always stretched with the result that most vehicles would never have been tried under these daily driving conditions, sometimes on large motorways, sometimes on country lanes and sometimes winding through the Alps.”
Photos Karen and Dale Barnard with their 1942 Chevrolet without its body in place at this stage
Monday, April 13, 2009
The trip of a lifetime!
D Day – 65th Anniversary – 6th June 2009 - Normandy – Australia New Zealand ANZAC Convoy
I wonder what your idea of a “trip of a lifetime” is?
My past experiences of driving around in an old truck with Dale have bordered on being called “trips of near death experiences.”
Though scary at times, I’ve always enjoyed myself, and so it was, with the seed sown into our imaginations by Lang and Bev Kidby, we began preparations for our “trip of a lifetime” – the 2009 Brisbane to Ariomanches self-drive or bust traveling 5,000 km from Turkey to Athens, Crete, Florence, Pisa, Swiss Alps, Verseilles, Etreham, terminating in Zeebrugge, Belgium.
Our goal is to drive an appropriate vehicle to attend the 65th anniversary of the WW2 D Day landing at Omaha beach, Normandy on 6th June 1944.
With now only 10 days to go I look back on a lot of sadness which has enveloped us, particularly in these past 6 months, and I look forward to the exhilaration that the trip will bring.
YOUR SUPPORT FOR BARNABAS – LIFELINE CHARITY AUSTRALIA
For 8 years now, we have shared our love with a group of aging parents whose handicapped children have been nurtured in their homes and who, now that they are in their 80s, fret about their children’s future placement when they die. The children, victims of Down syndrome, cerebral palsy or other mental disorders do not receive any Government financial help. This little group is so excited about us going on this trip, it’s just as if they were going, and ask you to:
I wonder what your idea of a “trip of a lifetime” is?My past experiences of driving around in an old truck with Dale have bordered on being called “trips of near death experiences.”
Though scary at times, I’ve always enjoyed myself, and so it was, with the seed sown into our imaginations by Lang and Bev Kidby, we began preparations for our “trip of a lifetime” – the 2009 Brisbane to Ariomanches self-drive or bust traveling 5,000 km from Turkey to Athens, Crete, Florence, Pisa, Swiss Alps, Verseilles, Etreham, terminating in Zeebrugge, Belgium.
Our goal is to drive an appropriate vehicle to attend the 65th anniversary of the WW2 D Day landing at Omaha beach, Normandy on 6th June 1944.
With now only 10 days to go I look back on a lot of sadness which has enveloped us, particularly in these past 6 months, and I look forward to the exhilaration that the trip will bring.
YOUR SUPPORT FOR BARNABAS – LIFELINE CHARITY AUSTRALIA
For 8 years now, we have shared our love with a group of aging parents whose handicapped children have been nurtured in their homes and who, now that they are in their 80s, fret about their children’s future placement when they die. The children, victims of Down syndrome, cerebral palsy or other mental disorders do not receive any Government financial help. This little group is so excited about us going on this trip, it’s just as if they were going, and ask you to:
1.Make a once off donation towards their support by clicking on the link to the Cerebral Palsy League of Queensland http://www.cplqld.org.au/
2. Sponsor a truck and follow our journey along the way via the Cerebral Palsy link http://www.cplqld.org.au/
3. Do nothing – just continue to follow along with the adventures of Karen and Dale and other members of the Anzac Convoy!
Family photo of Dale’s daughter Jo, Irish husband, Clem Wall and our delightful little grandsons, Jack 2, and Aonghus 5 months (recently diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy)
Karen and Dianne Lawrence at a Barnabas meeting held at the Oxley Uniting Churc
h
Peter Hall on one of his regular visits to help Karen and Dale out on their farm at Pallara, south west of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
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