GPA wanted for restoration

[dmolasov]

In addition to all of the foregoing, if you entertain the idea of putting a military radio on the GPA, you'll want to get TM 11-2707, which is the tech manual for the installation of radio equipment on the GPA. This tells you what radios went on the GPA and how they were to be installed. The version I have was issued June 10, 1944.

Good luck. Incidentally, I'm one of the last guys to find a GPA, from long-term storage at a defunct Ford dealership in Kansas. I picked it up in May, 2007 and hope it will hit the water this coming spring.

David Olasov

[jerome]

Dear Richard

Welcome

There is a GPA in parts for sale in France at the moment. The price seems high (52K€) for restored hull, engine (GPW not GPA), transmission, axles , and all the parts required to build it ...

There is also a gentleman in South of France who is building a GPA from scratch, he is a professional metal worker and has done the hull from flat sheets of metal !!! The result is amazing (almost as nice as parts done by our friend Richard Sanders :wink: )
Good luck

Jerome

[Ian Grieve]

Gentlemen

I thought I would pick up on a comment made by Donovan earlier.

Full size drawings (15 feet long) of the GPA are available at the Benson Ford Museum/Archive at Dearborn, Michigan. The drawings are available as negatives and consist of about 6 negatives for the full size drawing. There are, infact, a number (about five or six as I recall) full size drawings of different versions, ie the GPA with updates and modifications. I copied them at nine to twelve photocopies per negative as the negative printer was out of action when I visited in year 2000. The copies cost a fortune. Photographically printed copies of the negative are even more expensive ($50 at the time/negative). Drawings (as negatives) are available for every part on the GPA. Where parts changes were made, an updated drawing was made. There are literally thousands of drawings (negatives), each in a small envelope marked with the parts number and date. I have a photocopy of a typical envelope that I must have somebody scan. I have never pasted the photocopies together. All drawings are in pencil. Beautiful shaded pencil drawings are available of the Field Service Modification Works Orders (FSMWO), with copies of a number of updates.

Fascinating.

Ian

[Mithril]

You are facinating too, Ian :wink:

What a great book to write ...

[Donovan]

Ian,

When you say that you have full size drawings, is it of the hull (with dimensions) or are you saying it is a type of 3-D rendering of the GPA. I was told that actual hull drawings do not exist. As I am repairing the hull of mine right now I have come to realize that the hull is made of a bunch of stamped sections that were welded together. Sometimes I have the problem in that I cannot tell what was a repair job (by a previous owner) versus what was done originally versus what was a field modification or improvement of the hull (strengthening).

Thanks,

Donovan.

[GPA2196]

Donovan,

You should have bought or visited my NOS (rusted) Hull when it was for sale... we used it to figure out exactly what you are talking about.... it was great for making patterns off of as well... and of course seeing which joints came together, which order, and where the spot welds were... especially in the rear end.

Cheers,
Tony

[Ian Grieve]

Donovan

Hi there. I have just dug out a pile of photocopies about 4 inches high of copies of drawings from Dearborn. There are copies of a lot of drawings.

Every drawing has a negative, in an envelope 4 1/2" x 3", marked with Part No. and Latest date or change. They are rubber stamped "ENGSTAFF". If there is more than one drawing per part then the envelope may say "2 pcs" or "3 pcs". If a part is superseded, it is stamped as such. The above gives certainty of the current part. There are about 3,400 negatives.

Every part had a drawing (I doubt bolts, nuts, washers, etc.) In effect they are fabrication drawings and were prepared in the design office for the shopfloor. Amazingly, it was almost the same draftsman that prepared each drawing for the GPA part.

Among the drawing, I have the following;

Drawing GPA-17-000, Line drawing of Prototype # 1, with plan and side elevation (scale not shown, but about 1/10)

Drawing SK-GPA 17, Standardized GPA, with plan and side elevation (scale 1/10)

Drawing SK-GPA 1700001 (dated 2-24-42) (4 pieces) with plan, side elevation and (front?) elevation. I did not copy the title block or the full drawing. I think this is one of the full size drawings, ie 15' 0". This is not a fabrication drawing, but rather a full size view of the vehicle.

I have two other drawings similiar to SK-GPA 1700001, again incomplete and with no number copied. I suspect these are other updates. Two of the drawings will be superseded. These drawings have dozens and dozens of key dimensions, eg. wheelbase, track. windscreen height, folding radius, ground clearance, seat height above floor, seat width, etc. Body ribs are not shown, but step is.

The hulls were fabricated at the Lincoln Plant in Detroit then railed to the nearby Rouge Plant in Dearborn for assembly. Knowing fabrication drawings are available of every part, then I would stongly suspect hull fabrication drawings exist for each section of hull with ribs, seams, bends, etc. dimensioned in detail. I must admit I did not look for these particular drawings. I guess I would have needed a parts manual in front of me as the envelopes were in numerical order. In hindsight, I would love to see those drawings.

Interestingly, I have Drawing EXP-GPA, 1 1/2 Ton 4x4 AMPHIB CARGO TRUCK GTB CHASSIS (scale 1/4, with Dual Wheels). Naturally it is experimental.

National Archives, Washington DC, had drawing by Sparkman and Stephens of the Tribian, the amphibious jeep that was trialled to fly as a glider. It never "got off the ground". Rod Walker (good mate and GPA man in Brisbane) and I put a paper to an Aerospace Congress several years ago on that project.

I had two and a half weeks at the Ford Archives and simply ran out of time.

Ian

[Ian Grieve]

Donovan

Hi there. I have just dug out a pile of photocopies about 4 inches high of copies of drawings from Dearborn. There are copies of a lot of drawings.

Every drawing has a negative, in an envelope 4 1/2" x 3", marked with Part No. and Latest date or change. They are rubber stamped "ENGSTAFF". If there is more than one drawing per part then the envelope may say "2 pcs" or "3 pcs". If a part is superseded, it is stamped as such. The above gives certainty of the current part. There are about 3,400 negatives.

Every part had a drawing (I doubt bolts, nuts, washers, etc.) In effect they are fabrication drawings and were prepared in the design office for the shopfloor. Amazingly, it was almost the same draftsman that prepared each drawing for the GPA part.

Among the drawing, I have the following;

Drawing GPA-17-000, Line drawing of Prototype # 1, with plan and side elevation (scale not shown, but about 1/10)

Drawing SK-GPA 17, Standardized GPA, with plan and side elevation (scale 1/10)

Drawing SK-GPA 1700001 (dated 2-24-42) (4 pieces) with plan, side elevation and (front?) elevation. I did not copy the title block or the full drawing. I think this is one of the full size drawings, ie 15' 0". This is not a fabrication drawing, but rather a full size view of the vehicle.

I have two other drawings similiar to SK-GPA 1700001, again incomplete and with no number copied. I suspect these are other updates. Two of the drawings will be superseded. These drawings have dozens and dozens of key dimensions, eg. wheelbase, track. windscreen height, folding radius, ground clearance, seat height above floor, seat width, etc. Body ribs are not shown, but step is.

The hulls were fabricated at the Lincoln Plant in Detroit then railed to the nearby Rouge Plant in Dearborn for assembly. Knowing fabrication drawings are available of every part, then I would stongly suspect hull fabrication drawings exist for each section of hull with ribs, seams, bends, etc. dimensioned in detail. I must admit I did not look for these particular drawings. I guess I would have needed a parts manual in front of me as the envelopes were in numerical order. In hindsight, I would love to see those drawings.

Interestingly, I have Drawing EXP-GPA, 1 1/2 Ton 4x4 AMPHIB CARGO TRUCK GTB CHASSIS (scale 1/4, with Dual Wheels). Naturally it is experimental.

National Archives, Washington DC, had drawing by Sparkman and Stephens of the Tribian, the amphibious jeep that was trialled to fly as a glider. It never "got off the ground". Rod Walker (good mate and GPA man in Brisbane) and I put a paper to an Aerospace Congress several years ago on that project.

I had two and a half weeks at the Ford Archives and simply ran out of time.

Ian

[Donovan]

Ian,

Thanks for the info. I have not visted the Benson Museum but did ask for copies of some specific parts that I was missing which I have since had reproduced from the drawings. The only parts I believe I am missing are the rear tire mount bracket (the one that attaches to the deck) and the support bracket for the gas can. You wouldn't happen to have these drawing do you?

Thanks again,

Donovan.

[GPA2196]

Donovan,

Dennis Francis makes both those parts and has patterns. I had my original spare tire bracket, but he made me the gas can brace bracket that the bolts to the gas can holder bottom.

Tony