Guest okcslim Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 I recently purchased this beauty, it was recovered from a abandoned mine in the Appalachian mountains. I have never taken on a project like this and the first question I have is can I and where would I get replacement soild rubber tires for this thing? any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryB Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 Sorry, I don't know where you can find tires but I would like to congratulate you for rescuing this fine old truck!Terry 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1912Staver Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 There are a number of company's who can supply tires but they are very costly. Many hard tire truck owners leave this step until last as long as there is even a little useable life left in the original tires. This era of truck tends to be a long term project, and when completed usually get very little use as the hard rubber tires limits the useable speed to 10 - 15 MPH. Other than shows and parades there is not a lot you can use these old gems for. My circa 1918 Packard 2 ton has a set of Firestone conversion rims so it uses conventional 24 " truck tires. And I have the optional factory gearing to raise the road speed to 30 MPH or so, so for it's era a real speed demon. Greg in Canada Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest okcslim Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 Thank you Greg What are these Firestone conversion rims you speak of? have a pic? I have no idea what I'm doing, but I am determined to drive this truck one day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1912Staver Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 The conversion sets were sold to update older hard rubber trucks to the new style heavy duty conventional tires that became available in the mid 20's. Unfortunately they were intended for hard rubber trucks with wood spoke wheels, as the spokes need to be shortened and smaller diameter fellows fitted to the wheels. Cast wheels like the ones on your truck are not really adaptable. Your cast wheels are very nice. They may have been an optional cost extra to upgrade from standard wood spoke wheels. If you wanted to fit a set of conversion rims you would probably have to find and fit wood spoke type wheels and hubs which may be difficult. I am not very informed about Moreland trucks. The other drawback to these trucks is the gearing . All the hard rubber trucks came with gearing that gave a top speed of something in the 10 - 15 MPH range. Even if you fit conversion rims and conventional tires you still have a impractically slow vehicle. With chain drive trucks ; Mack etc. , you can alter the final drive ratio with different sprockets. Many of the trucks of this era however had worm drive rear gearing and unless the manufacturer had high speed gears available todays owner is more or less stuck with a 15 MPH vehicle. I got very lucky with my Packard and found a complete rear end assy. from one of the late production Packard trucks that offered conventional tires and the 30 MPH gearing. I have been told they are quite rare as these particular rear ends were only used on Packard. Moreland may have offered a similar option , but like Packard they are probably quite rare. Moreland probably didn't produce their own axles so there is a good chance you could substitute something from another make . Timken made the axles for many truck makes , but there was also several other axle makers that supplied the truck industry in the 1920's. If I were you I would restore the truck as is and over time try to network with other Moreland owners. It will probably take you a number of years to restore your truck and you may get lucky like I did and find a slightly newer axle set up you can swap. In the meantime cast spoke, hard rubber wheels look great. They only become a drawback once the truck becomes driveable which I suspect is still at least a few years away. Your truck looks like a great starting point. I am sure you will enjoy the restoration experience. Greg in Canada Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest okcslim Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 Great info Greg thank you. I have no idea what I'm doing. Just going to start tearing it down and get the frame sand blasted for starters. Would you recommend trying to get the continental 7R engine running again or put another engine in it? Mostly just going to be used in parades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud Tierney Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 Hold the phone---my old catalogs (granted, far from reliable) show all 4s thru 1923, with 6s starting in 1924...now, some states registered trucks the year they were first licensed, so you could have a 24 model built and registered in late 23, having papers as a 23 model...Nor do my old catalogs show a 7R, either---however, many of these were built to buyers specs/wishes, so it's quite possible the 7R is original as it was available in 1923....mostly a car engine, it was installed in a handful of trucks, a few up to 2Ton....It was a popular engine; whether to keep it will depend upon what it needs and if pieces are available at acceptable prices, and how original you need it to be....Your local pub lib should have either Mroz's Ency US Trucks or Georganos big truck book, with nice thumbnails on Moreland...For parts/advice/sympathy good places to post are ATHS and justoldtrucks, both heavily into later stuff but with some oldies; antiquetruckclubofamerica (small but free, so why not?), and the Antq Car/truck forum on smokstak...Garrad (Gerry/Jerry) Moon at Monte's Eqpmt north of Chicago is the place to start for engine parts; they'll come up on GoogleSuperJeff (Jeff L) who runs the "What Am I?" forum on justoldtrucks has a monumental collection of truck pix/books, and just might have a pic of yours in its original finery (if any)... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_OToole Posted October 3, 2015 Share Posted October 3, 2015 Hard rubber tires are still used on fork lifts. It is possible yours can be replaced but I don't know who does this work. I recall this came up before and there is a way to replace them. Yours may not need replacing. They wear a long time. If it was mine I would go over everything carefully, oil the cylinders,oil and grease everything, and see if the engine turns over. It may be possible to get it running with minimal work or, with an engine overhaul. I wouldn't even think of changing the engine or any other major component. If that is what you have in mind, sell the truck to someone who can do it justice and buy a 55 Chevy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest okcslim Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 Hold the phone---my old catalogs (granted, far from reliable) show all 4s thru 1923, with 6s starting in 1924...now, some states registered trucks the year they were first licensed, so you could have a 24 model built and registered in late 23, having papers as a 23 model...Nor do my old catalogs show a 7R, either---however, many of these were built to buyers specs/wishes, so it's quite possible the 7R is original as it was available in 1923....mostly a car engine, it was installed in a handful of trucks, a few up to 2Ton....It was a popular engine; whether to keep it will depend upon what it needs and if pieces are available at acceptable prices, and how original you need it to be....Your local pub lib should have either Mroz's Ency US Trucks or Georganos big truck book, with nice thumbnails on Moreland...For parts/advice/sympathy good places to post are ATHS and justoldtrucks, both heavily into later stuff but with some oldies; antiquetruckclubofamerica (small but free, so why not?), and the Antq Car/truck forum on smokstak...Garrad (Gerry/Jerry) Moon at Monte's Eqpmt north of Chicago is the place to start for engine parts; they'll come up on GoogleSuperJeff (Jeff L) who runs the "What Am I?" forum on justoldtrucks has a monumental collection of truck pix/books, and just might have a pic of yours in its original finery (if any)...Thank you Bud. Where could I get my hands on one of these catalogs you speak of? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1912Staver Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 One of the first things I would try to find is an original {or decent photo copy} of the factory sales brochure. The ones for trucks tended to be quite comprehensive in providing technical information. If an owners manual was produced by Moreland than finding a copy is almost a must, it will have a wealth of information. Finally the factory parts book in often quite helpful but they tend to be fairly rare. Ebay is generally the best place to look although this forum is also a good place to try {buy & sell section and commercial vehicles }. I would not start with the frame. Start by trying to get it running and better yet moving under its own power. I would remove and dismantle both the engine and gearbox. A bad bearing can cause serious damage to other much harder to find parts. You never know how much things are worn out or if there is water damage from the years {decades} it has been sitting. Gaskets , bearings , piston rings etc. are all reasonably available. Stay with the 7R they are good engines. Greg in Canada Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8E45E Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Here's a 1919 Moreland: http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/showthread.php?48491-Orphan-of-the-Day-02-07-1919-Moreland Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud Tierney Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 OKCSLIM: The old replacement parts catalogs i've picked up over the years will be of little help for you; I use them primarily for engine ID (some were leftovers when I disposed of earlier old-paper collections, some from EBay) ---as mentioned above try to locate some factory literature...Another possibility is that trucking magazines like Power Wagon and Commercial Car Journal often published "reviews" of new models, sometimes 2-3 pages of tech info and pix that'd be invaluable to you.. and various auto-related magazines---Cycle & Automobile Trade Journal and such---had "Commercial Car" (truck) sections with such "reviews" (almost certainly factory provided copy)...either Google or the AACA Library here may turn up something... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frantz Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 I love the project! I don't have anything useful to add but the encouragement. What a neat project and a great save! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleach Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 Here's a 1919 Moreland: http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/showthread.php?48491-Orphan-of-the-Day-02-07-1919-Moreland CraigIt looks very similar to the OP's truck.I'm curious about this neat truck too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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