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Hello all.
I have been reading this list for a while and really enjoy it.
I am going to take a third look at a quarter-ton trailer that was described
to me as "a World War II ammo trailer" by the guy who is selling it (not a
mil-veh guy, just a guy who has an old trailer). The first was a look was a
pull-in-the-driveway-and-shine-the-headlights-on-it look ("Honey, this will
only take about eight minutes, then we'll go on to dinner -- I gotta know!")
and the second an uninformed once-over.
I have done some research since those looks, and I am pretty sure that the
trailer is an M-100 rather than a WWII MBT/BT3 type.
Here are some observations:
The lunette is cut off and has been replaced with a ball-type hitch.
There is not a storage box on the front bulkhead.
There is a rectangular opening for a tailgate, but no gate. I know the WWII
trailers were amphibs -- are M-100s?
There is some rust where the floor meets the sides, particularly at the
front (tongue) end of the box, but it looks repairable.
The tires may well be original, but the tread is 50 percent or better.
There is peeling brown paint over peeling yellow paint over green paint.
The best paint -- surprise, surprise -- is over the data plate on the font
bulkhead. The data plate is unreadable, except for a few raised (not
engraved) stamped letters saying something like "Ord No."
Some questions:
What should I look for besides the "squeeze-release" parking-brake handle,
the handles on the corners (I think it has them), M-series light, "scars"
where the storage box should be and seven-inch-wide wheels to determine if
it is an M-100?
What are the chances -- and best methods -- of unearthing the info on the
data plate?
If it is an M-100, is there a serial # engraved on the chassis somewhere?
Where, if anywhere, is the serial on a WWII trailer -- just in case I'm
wrong about which it is? (I realize that there may be no definitive answer
on either of these questions because everybody but my family seems to have
had a contract to produce "jeep" trailers at one time or another.)
Finally, I know that you would have to see it for yourselves, but for an
M-100 in the general condition I refer to, is $150 a decent price?
The seller does not have a title, but will provide a bill of sale. I know
it depends on the state, but, in general, how problematic and expensive is
it to get a trailer registered with just a bill of sale?
Just so you know, I am looking for a relatively small restoration project,
and this trailer kind of fell in my lap when I was talking with the seller
-- an acquantance -- about cars, about a mutual acquantance's WC Dodge,
about my M-37 and about gettin' greasy.
Any help, advice, warnings or encouragement in this matter greatly
appreciated. I'll let y'all know what I see this weekend when I look at the
trailer again.
Sorry for the long post.
Regards,
Christopher Land
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Apr 04 2000 - 21:57:27 PDT