1940 pt105

[seanpt105]

Hey guys new to the forum, just bought a 1940 plymouth pickup was told by the previous owner it was a ww2 truck just wondering if there is anyway to verify. It has the rear gas tank under the bed, a rear window protector, spare tire on the fender and dual wipers, he told me those are all trademarks of a military truck. The story that came with the truck is that it was a ww2 US army truck in France through the war and at the end of the war the driver of the truck purchased it and shipped it home, the previous owners uncle bought it off the original owner. any help is appreciated, thanks in advance.

[Young Ed]

I believe they are military but not really WWII. In other words I don't think any were overseas in combat. They might have also been more along the lines of forestry service or something. You'll find it has the unique gas tank along with the fender hole for the filler, the spare tire and fender well, and the bed is also slightly different with wood going front to back on the frame before the cross members. I think that was done to make room for the gas tank. I've seen some of them that also have the ash tray in the dash center. 

[seanpt105]

so mine has olive drab remnants on all stainless and chrome, it looks like its faded but the front marker lights have a black tint to them and only one tail light no directionals. im having 2 issues now first i live in nh so not sure if its the cold but when you first go to move it (even if i use a strap and pull it onto flat ground) the clutch seems sticky i think, i have to rev pretty high and it usually stalls 2 or 3 times then moves fine after about 5 to 10 feet you can give very little throttle and it moves easily. second i havent looked too much into yet but the brake pedal goes to the floor and has very little resistance and brakes barely grab, all wheel cylinders are new and master is new it never left a puddle and master is full, could the master be bad or have a blown o ring and not leak? im pretty mechanically inclined just never had anything so old.

[Young Ed]

how did you adjust the shoes after replacing all those parts? 

[Dennis46PU]

Did you replace the brake lines and hoses?

[seanpt105]

sorry for the delay... previous owner replaced everything new lines shoes and all wheel cylinders. i havent had a chance to pull wheels yet as it has been below zero or barely over for the past few weeks. i want to check adjustments but brakes did work fine all of a sudden the pedal is at the floor and it barely stops.

[FlashBuddy]

Uh oh. Do top up the fluid will ya?

[seanpt105]

thought the same thing attempted to top it off and it overflowed all over the place. going to pull all wheels this weekend and inspect.

[seanpt105]

turns out all 4 wheel cylinders were leaking and half of the pistons were stuck, rebuilt them all honed them and bled now have perfect pedal.

[jeffsunzeri]

Assuming you don't have 4WD, its likely you have a truck assembled from WC-1 parts for a civilian purpose. A few of the earliest WC-1 had a Plymouth engine. Some more tell-tale aspects of the WC-1:

- The windshield pushes out and has locking knobs on either side.

- The windows edges are metal (so you can rest a rifle on them and not chip the glass).

- Gascolator/filter on the left firewall.

- Pull-out map table beneath the right dash.

 

 

[Dozerman51]

Some photos of the truck would be helpful. Always nice to someone’s new project.

[seanpt105]

Did a ton of research it was an army truck in boston at the south boston army base which was an army and navy installation. Found reg numbers on the hood but no way to trace and bumpers are long gone. It was part of the 1st division of supply. It is matching numbers frame body and engine, frame and body have matching serial number.

[seanpt105]

Ill have to get it outside for some new pics i dont have any i can upload of the whole truck