CCKW TROOP RACKS JUST LIKE NEW AFTER 30 EARS
Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2015 3:13 pm
I installed new troop seats and backs on my SWB steel cargo body 30 years ago using species of lumber selected from a WWII US Army inspectors guide for wood bodies.
Seasoned rough cut lumber was used, a local millwork shop cut and planed it to dimension. There are 9 kinds of hardwood that are listed for the Troop Seat and Troop Rack material.
They are:
White Ash
Beech
Yellow Birch
Rock Elm
Hickory
Black Locust
Maple
Oak, Red,
Pecan White
I chose a mix of Oak, Maple and Ash as it was all at one yard.
I treated it with a brushed on 50/50 mix of Turpentine and Raw Linseed Oil.
Two applications were used a few hours apart on a 70+Degree bright sunlit day.
Next I sprayed on a coat of GI Issue 24087 Rust Inhibiting OD Enamel followed by a couple light coats of Gillespie 2430 OD Enamel. 30 years later the job looks like the day it was finished with no warping, cracks or peeling.
The Bows were NOS from a REO M-34 Cargo Truck which uses the same as CCKW.
ORD-SIP-E4 from the Office of Chief of Ordnance, 1944 was used as a guide for the choice and treatment of the cargo body wood.
I had some tips from a friend, Maynard Page, owner of Page Lumber Company, a specialty lumber company. Maynard, worked for the US and Canadian government cruising the Canadian woodlands for timber to be used in the manufacture of the Mosquito fighter Bomber.
Did you know that during WWII there were replacement troop rack boards with GMC Part Numbers stamped on them in GMC factory font. They were painted semi gloss OD. I have NOS CCKW wood running board spacers printed and painted the same way.
Seasoned rough cut lumber was used, a local millwork shop cut and planed it to dimension. There are 9 kinds of hardwood that are listed for the Troop Seat and Troop Rack material.
They are:
White Ash
Beech
Yellow Birch
Rock Elm
Hickory
Black Locust
Maple
Oak, Red,
Pecan White
I chose a mix of Oak, Maple and Ash as it was all at one yard.
I treated it with a brushed on 50/50 mix of Turpentine and Raw Linseed Oil.
Two applications were used a few hours apart on a 70+Degree bright sunlit day.
Next I sprayed on a coat of GI Issue 24087 Rust Inhibiting OD Enamel followed by a couple light coats of Gillespie 2430 OD Enamel. 30 years later the job looks like the day it was finished with no warping, cracks or peeling.
The Bows were NOS from a REO M-34 Cargo Truck which uses the same as CCKW.
ORD-SIP-E4 from the Office of Chief of Ordnance, 1944 was used as a guide for the choice and treatment of the cargo body wood.
I had some tips from a friend, Maynard Page, owner of Page Lumber Company, a specialty lumber company. Maynard, worked for the US and Canadian government cruising the Canadian woodlands for timber to be used in the manufacture of the Mosquito fighter Bomber.
Did you know that during WWII there were replacement troop rack boards with GMC Part Numbers stamped on them in GMC factory font. They were painted semi gloss OD. I have NOS CCKW wood running board spacers printed and painted the same way.