From: aussierob (aussierob@odyssey.net)
Date: Thu Nov 07 2002 - 23:15:25 PST
Just my 2 cents worth.
In the early 70's I was employed for a time as a civilian auto electrician
for the Australian Army.
There were acres and acres and acres of US Army vehicles all sizes and
manner of trucks. No US jeeps at that time. Just big trucks. the dates on
these vehicles were all from early WW 2 I can't even remember what the
models were. At the time I had absolutely no interest in US Army trucks.
However alll the rubber gasket around the widow glass had dried up. All the
old Cotten covered sulphur based rubber insulation on all wireing had
deteriorated badly.
We would rewire these trucks, one wire at a time. It was a great thrill to
lug a large battery cart and gasoline out to the fields to find each
particular truck. Then, we'd pour gas into the throat and jump start these
old girls. Some had to be towed. But, most would drive. I don't know why at
this point, but we never had gas / varnish problems that I can remember.
These trucks were lined up as far as the eye could see... although, they had
not actually sat in these rows after row since WW2 Many however, had been
there a few years.
After we were done, they be taken back out and parked once again
We also refurbished a number of Australian Army Jeeps from Vietnam. Every
nook and cranny revealed large deposits of fine silt like, reddish brown
dust. For some very vague reason, I seem to remember that these were all
Land Rovers.
It's been a few years now, so much of the details are gone... who knows
where.
This coming week I'm off to a new adventure filming/videotaping in Honduras.
This is my second trip to the middle of nowhere. I don't even speak effing
Spanish . But I do have one of those multi language calculator/translators.
My luck the "effing" batteries will be dead just when I'm trying to explain
that I'm "not" an American !
Today I put all my equipment into a Cargo container, in the Philadelphia
area. Then drove back upto Syracuse, my home base. The container is driven
to Miami, arriving sometime tomorrow...
I wilI unload my equipment in San Pedro Sula on Wednesday afternoon or
Thursday morning, next week. Then move inland a few hours until reaching my
specific location.
So, if you don't hear from Aussie Rob in the future, It's probably because
I've been hacked to pieces by some crazed religious sect, and my many
"parts" have been scattered by some wild animal.
Just kidding !
I hope !
Bye for now!
So, if any of you radio guys here the crackle of a voice that sounds like a
lost hungry Aussie... then God help me, I'll be saved.
El Roberto,
Soon to be hiding out somewhere between here and the Amazon
----- Original Message -----
From: "Julian Burke" <julianb@esper.com>
November 07, 2002 9:34 PM
Subject: [MV] Military Rebuilding of Vehicles
> QUESTION: What exactly is done to a truck during a Depot Rebuild? Is
there
> a fixed
> list of things rebuild/replaced or is it just checked over real well and
> necessary repairs made? I have found several M35s lately that were Depot
> (or
> Arsenal) rebuilt in the late 80s and was curious as to how comprehensive
the
> rebuild really is.
>
> ANSWER: Yes, There is a fixed list of things to do. Let's go back a step
> further. Few people know about this but there are rebuild facilities
around
> the country. Letterkenny comes to mind as well as many others but that's
> not important for now. Each facility "specializes" in a particular type
of
> vehicle and is capable of complete restoration/rebuild. Everyone knows
that
> military vehicles are costly from new. Let's say a branch of the gov't
(say
> Army or whatever) has 1739 military M-1009 Blazers that have been used
> beyond service limits and are sitting mothballed at a site(s). (they may
> not all be together but are regionally located) They know the acquisition
> cost new is $15,000 each and they need to replace these Blazers because
they
> are needed. The gov't actually solicits and shops around these depots for
> what they would charge per unit to "rebuild" these 1009's. Let's say one
> particular depot says $9816.13 per unit for all 1739 of them. They gov't
> reasons that it will save over $5000 per unit and will have a servicable
> vehicle that will give "new" performance as well as look new. Interesting
> point here is that the gov't "owns" the facilities in the first place but
> creates competition within itself! This however, is seldom done for "old"
> vehicles that are being phased out as most vehicles are figured to last 12
> years in service, 8 years for cheaper vehicles so most rebuilds will not
be
> for 20 year old vehicles. I remember when this was done with older M35
> series vehicles but were actually sent back to AM General. Tom Murray who
> is a surplus dealer always has guages for sale in quanity because they
come
> from a rebuild facility who replace all of the wear parts routinely.
>
> The next step after the rebuild facility starts receiving the
vehicles
> is to start with stripping and prepping them for "upfitting" with all new
> parts. The M35's were given a completely new drive train and the rears
were
> rebuilt. All new wiring (always upgraded) and other upgrade features.
> Before assembly, bodies, frames are dipped, stripped, inspected and all
body
> work done or replaced to serve as new. Pretty much everything is replaced
> with new and all new lighting. All new tires, batteries and everything to
> make it look as new. I have a Toole (Utah) M-1009 rebuilt Blazer that is
a
> nice one that went through this process. There are more factors in this
> process but this should give a good idea of what occurs when new expensive
> vehicles are needed. Much is dependant on what the new cost of a vehicle
> is.
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Wed Apr 23 2003 - 13:37:50 PDT