ww2dodge.com Forum

What size fasteners and what type were used to secure data tags to the dash of the WC's?

What I have seen on several examples ....slotted pan head screw size either # 6 or #8 about 3/16" long
The Data tag on the glove box door is riveted however.
Other will hopefully chime in

Hope this helps
John

I agree with that, slotted pan head screws and rivets.
Made from brass and zinc like the plates.
A few pictures of plates which I think are original (found on the www):







Another one with screws only, not sure about the screws on the data plate:


Greetings
Sylvia

There is a general rule here;

all the military truck data plates were screwed on with short pan-head self-tapping screws, EXCEPT the serial plate, which was riveted.

Gordon_M wrote:There is a general rule here;

all the military truck data plates were screwed on with short pan-head self-tapping screws, EXCEPT the serial plate, which was riveted.

Sounds about right- I still have one brass rivet in my glovebox door.

Which should I have for Oct. 42 production- Brass plates, or Zinc? I am planning to get a set from Lt. Horne on e-bay: they look to be a very nice reproduction, and I want to get the right ones... Would brass be technically correct, or do I have to use the zinc? If I still have a brass rivet, does that mean I should have a brass plate?

Thanks!
Scott

Hi Scott,

Zinc would be correct,my July 42 WC-56 has all it's original plates and those are zinc.

Matt.

Matt wrote:Hi Scott,

Zinc would be correct,my July 42 WC-56 has all it's original plates and those are zinc.

Matt.

Does yours have zinc or brass rivets?
Thanks!
Scott

I will have to check on that in daylight tomorrow!.

G,Day all . I think most Data plate are/were made out of aluminium these days or brass . Stear clear of silk screened plates as they can be easily damaged by overspray and thinners ,scratching etc . .Etched plates are the way to go,as per the original ones . Ray

Lt Horne's Plates are Zinc or Brass your choice ( no alum. ) ,but he will recommend zinc for a correct war time production.
I recently received 2 sets from him.....and several collectors commented on the quality and correct appearance of his product after seeing them .Some may have already placed orders

john

Bud Wheel wrote:Lt Horne's Plates are Zinc or Brass your choice ( no alum. ) ,but he will recommend zinc for a correct war time production.
I recently received 2 sets from him.....and several collectors commented on the quality and correct appearance of his product after seeing them .Some may have already placed orders

john

His are the ones i have in mind- they look closest to the ones shown in my TM...

Scott

Hi Scott,

The three glove box doors I have which all have the original dataplate have brass rivets.

Matt.

I had a Wc-55 last summer. And it had 1 original brass dataplate. Rest was missing.

So i used brass on mine

Johnny

JUST to bring this thread back around, I FINALLY ordered my data plates- I could not decide on Brass or Zinc, so I left it up to LT Horne, as the supplier, to decide. I said "If it is POSSIBLE they could be brass, I'd prefer brass, but if they could ONLY be zinc, I'll go with zinc."

Today I received a very nice set of Brass, with an aluminum late war shipping plate. WHERE does THAT go? I am planning to mount my data plates in their original locations(very well delineated where they were removed from after successive repaints), so I think the spot I've seen them in on the later ones won't work.

What is the correct size for the stamped markings, by the way? 1/8" or 3/32"?

Also, just a little definition of fill-ins required:

For the bed data plate, should the date of delivery MATCH the truck's delivery date, or would it PRECEDE it by a few days, as the bed was delivered to Chrysler before the truck was delivered to the Army?

Next: For the main data plate, are these the correct entries and formats?:("????" means questions)

NOMENCLATURE "WEAPON CARRIER""?????"
MODEL "WC-51"
SERIAL No. "815XXXX"
SUPPLY ARM OR SERVICE MAINTAINING TRUCK "?????" "QUARTERMASTER" or what?
GROSS WEIGHT "5250"
MAX PAYLOAD "????"
MAX TRAILED LOAD "????"
DATE DELIVERY "5 OCT 42" "10/5/42" "OCT 42" "5 OCT 1942" "????"

PUBLICATIONS APPLYING TO THIS VEHICLE
PARTS LIST T/M 10-"????"
MAINTENANCE MANUAL T/M 10- "1531"

Next,I understand from an earlier post the screws (for all but the serial plate) are slotted pan head screw size either # 6 or #8 about 3/16" long- Should these be brass or steel to go with the brass plates?

Thanks! And any pics of data plates for detail appreciated...

Scott