November 27, 2011

New Flashlight

Stef got himself a new flashlight. It's rechargeable and it has a shoulder strap. You can see the size of it here in the photo. That is a regular sized Reese peanut butter cup package. Basically the light section is the size of a dinner plate and uses an automotive headlight bulb. It's a 20 million candlepower light!

November 07, 2011

My Canadian M100 Trailer

My 1950s M100 Trailer
The new addition to the fleet
I picked up an off-road capable trailer that will fit behind, and be able to keep up with, my new-to-me 1985 Bombardier Iltis!  The trailer is an early 1950's vintage trailer, the same type that was manufactured for both the American and Canadian armed forces of the era.  I believe this one is a Canadian trailer, but it's hard to tell.  

The identification plate is no longer attached, and its most recent owner (and militaria aficionado) is dead; so there's no way for me to know it's history, unless I can find a clue etched into the trailer somewhere.  I'll see what I can find, but so far nothing has given it away.

There is some rot on the left side of the trailer's metal that will require some minor repairs, but it is 100% road worthy right now. 

Brining it back from it's former home to mine was an adventure in Google Maps; once again Google Maps tried to send me into a mud hole, and this time I said No before the point of no return!  Here's the route I took to get home with the trailer in tow... and yes it did take that long.
M100 trailer
Third field Hospital Motorpool
Cheju-Do, Korea, Spring '53
(Credit: MartySoCal)

My plan is to sandblast the trailer at Blast-It-All in Almonte, get the right colour of paint for a 1950's Canadian Forces trailer, get it epoxy primed, and painted.  My hope is the trailer will at least keep it's value, and by properly painting it I will stop the rust.

While the Iltis (which is desert camo now) will eventually be Light Forrest Green, the trailer will be a vintage Olive Drab, so they won't look quite like a matching set, but they're 30 years apart, and I'd like to try and keep the trailer the colour it should have been painted originally, for authenticity.

Being vintage militaria, the demand for information and parts online is huge; there is tons of info out there for me to draw on.  Here is the manual in PDF, in case you were looking for it.

I'm looking forward to getting the Iltis plated, the trailer plated, and both of them on the road... 
Can you tell?!