Florence - a WC 54 says Hello from Germany

[Florence]

Hi,
since two months I'm the proud owner of a WC 54 from 1943.
I bought it in restored condition and made only minor cosmetic changes of the inside for example changed the ugly PVC floor lining back to real linoleum.
I was always searching for a Command car but couldn't find a nice one here in Germany, than I saw this WC54 and directly fell love with it.
This WC54 has spent his life in France until 1983 and than went to Germany to a collector near Frankfurt were it has been until May 2006.



The Ambulance was now named Florence Fiona by me.
Last weekend I made around 780 km with my old Lady to the BOAR in Belgium.
Some pictures of the WC54 could be found at:
http://www.freyhaven.com/tagebuch/dodge/dodge.html

Now I noticed two details which differ from other WCs...
I have two different running boards on each side:
http://www.freyhaven.com/tagebuch/dodge ... boards.jpg
and there is a extra "hole" on the passenger side of the front axle:
http://www.freyhaven.com/tagebuch/dodge ... /hole2.jpg
Does anybody know what these hole is used for?
Is it and the running boards original?

Kindest regards
Sylvia

PS: Before I found this Forum I already get very kind help regarding the oils from Greg - I found his great page about Harvey before I found this forum.

[Gordon_M]

I think the running boards are original, but not sure.

I have no idea about the extra hole. The ambualnce uses different rear springs and shocks from the ordinary WC truck, so maybe it's just a barcket they needed to use for those springs and shocks that had an extra hole for another application?

Gordon

[Ray Edsall]

I think it is to do with the later model power wagons .I think it has some thing to do with the mounting of the telescopic shockers that were used on this model Ray

[Goran'sWC51]

Your correct, Ray. The axle does come from a Power Wagon. I have one just like it on my WC51.

As Always,

Goran Norén
Sweden

[Florence]

Hi all, thanks for your replays so far.

Goran - do you mean the whole axle or just the part of the axle?
I'm wondering because on the drivers side there is no extra mounting hole and except of this extra hole it looks just the same as on other WCs.
Do you have this hole on both sides?

It looks like the axles and the frame are never restored during the last xxx years and not been repainted for a very long time. While all upper parts are nicely restored and (bad luck in semigloss finish) repainted by the former owner some years ago.

Regards
Sylvia

[Guest]

The passenger side running board could be a French replacement not sure. the extra hole on the passenger side is for a tube shock mount. Later WC54s and other WCs had tubular shocks like all the post war Dodge Power Wagons. the passenger side spring plate is welded to the housing and the drivers side is not. So when someone replace the front axle housing they used one out of a later WC or Power Wagon, but used the original drivers side spring plate.

[Ugg]

Sylvia:

That is one very, very, very, very, very sharp truck ya got there. So what if the color is off, it's easier to keep clean than the flat finishes. We were looking for a 54 before I discovered the Beast (WC 53), and I did own one for about 2 weeks way back when.

Enjoy

[Enigma]

Hi Silvia
Very nice truck indeed!!

[Florence]

Hi Ugg, Hi Enigma,
Thanks for praising my truck - great to read that other WC collectors like it, too. Specially as I was not that familar with the details of Ambulances before
Sylvia

[Ugg]

Hi Sylvia:

They ARE pretty neat. Our original plan was to get a 54 and turn it into a camper. I'm glad that never happened. Tony B. posted some info about the Zeta unit, which used a couple of WC 54's that they converted for recon use. Still, yours is VERY COOL, and it seems that ya have all kinds of gear to go with it too. I'm jealous.

Enjoy

[Chris Davis]

First, NICE ambulance Sylvia... thanks for sharing the photos.

As for the extra hole on the axle mounts, I agree with the other post that this is for the more modern tube type shocks that would be used on the post war Powerwagon and WWII WC64 ambulances too.



I think the mounts with these extra holes may have been standard on all late war WC trucks though... here's a photo of the front axle on my WC-51 (Built Feb '45) and per the previous owner, they didn't swap the axle at any point.



You can see in the photo both mounts have this extra hole.

I don't know about the back axle, I don't have a photo handy to check... but I can when I get home this evening.

Again, nice ambulance you've got there.

[Ugg]

Chris:

Did your Carryall have the tube shocks? Mine does, and until I had asked about what I had pictured a while back (original WC shocks), thought that the tubes were original.

Later

[Chris Davis]

Ugg,

I've had four Carryalls over the years and I'm pretty sure they all had the old style knee shocks. A retrofit to tube type wouldn't be difficult, based on the WC-64 setup anyway... so I wouldn't worry about the tube types on your WC-53 too much.

Chris

[Ugg]

Chris:

I'm not. Like I keep saying, the Beast will NEVER be a museum piece while I own it. I'd be to scared to drive it amongst all the morons out there if it were.

Later