Posted on 08/22/2010 8:27:06 AM PDT by SandRat
A Flagstaff man has history in his warehouse. He's made a hobby of restoring military vehicles for 25 years.
In one corner of Bill Buehler's warehouse is a 1942 Stuart Light Tank M3, once a reliable servant during landings with U.S. Marines and mobile and fast for fighting in the deserts of North Africa and the jungles of the South Pacific.
Nearby is a Sexton tank, built by Canada for the British Army, and an Allis-Chalmers Sherman tank, both from World War II. Buehler also has a Humvee from the first Gulf War.
"I buy and sell them," he said. "I've restored vintage motorcycles, half-tracks, Weisels (World War II tracked vehicles), jeeps, tanks and towed artillery. My 105 Howitzer just left for a museum in Oregon. It took me 15 years to restore."
Buehler, whose father was a Marine in the Korean War, said at one point he had 30 World War II vehicles.
Before collectors all "gobbled them up," Buehler bought the Stuart from the Seco Co. in Georgia, which had purchased 15 such vehicles from the Portuguese Army in 1981.
The Stuart that Buehler owns has worn rubber tracks, is painted primer red and is missing its turret.
"I sandblasted and primed," said Buehler, 42, "I'm working on the turret basket. That has to go on before the turret."
Buehler said the hardest part is fabricating all the parts that are missing or rusted. He makes cardboard templates as patterns for parts.
"Everything on the inside of the tank was rusted," he said. "I'm pretty much going off of measurements of bits and pieces. After I've got all the measurements right, I'll cut it out of steel."
Finishing touches will include painting it olive drab and putting markings back.
"I saved all the old pictures, so I can put the stars back in the correct locations," said Buehler, who uses a hoist in the warehouse to put heavy items on the tank, including one of two 1942 Massey Cadillac flathead V8 engines that will soon join the engine already in place inside.
Buehler was attending Flagstaff High School when he bought his first Army truck to restore.
"I love machinery," he said. "I do it basically to honor the veterans. I take them out for Veterans Day parades. I love to listen to all the stories at the events and honor the veterans for all our freedoms."
Restored tanks like the Stuart might sell for $150,000 to $200,000, but are usually not expensive before restoration.
"They're fairly inexpensive," Buehler said. "They've been sitting somewhere full of water for 20 years."
When finished, the Stuart will weigh about 38,000 pounds and be fitted with a 37mm cannon.
"I sell to museums a lot," Buehler said. "A lot of my stuff has ended up in museums all over the world. I get to see my work in all the shows and the museums. The museum will always put up who restored the vehicle."
Thanks Sandrat. No pics... :<(
ping
Nope No pics 8^(
/johnny
To this day I wish I'd pulled over and made an offer on it.
How cool would it be to go tooling up and down the Mississippi River in a restored PBR?
Nope No pics ... 8^(
Way cool for Duck Hunting.
/johnny
Flagstaff resident Bill Buehler holds up a rusted part from a 1942 Stuart tank from World War II, which he is restoring. In his left hand is a cardboard pattern he made so he can fabricate the piece for the restoration. In the foreground is a turret that will be set back on the tank soon. Buehler said he has been restoring military vehicles for 25 years and eventually sells them, usually to museums
A few years ago my dad had a Wood Tiger crane built on an M3 Chassis. It was slower and loud but it worked. I tried Ebaying a few times.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=humlGWYgjhQ
/johnny
http://armyjeeps.net/armor1.htm
I usually see what they have, not that I ever would have that much cash. They have a Sherman for sale but someone said it was on Ebay for a while and the interior needs a complete restoration.
I just like the idea of a tank or APC in the driveway next to the Malibu.
My Uncle was a tank commander in a Stuart during the Battle of the Bulge.
He passed away 2 days before Christmas last year.
Bueller? Bueller?
Yep on the East Coast angle. We just had our Open House this weekend - a preview event before we have our full site in Prince William County, VA. We have changed the name, BTW, to the National Museum of Americans in Wartime... AKA the Wartime Museum. I am a trustee for this wonderful outfit. I am not here to post my own links every chance I get, but in this case... if you want to see pics of what we did this weekend, I posted some of them here. It was a great time... really a lot of fun and very educational.
http://www.susankatzkeating.com
Well, here's a pic of one of the Jeeps he's rebuilt. You may have seen it on TV, as it's the *Mail Call jeep used by Gunny R. Lee Ermey on TV's History Channel:
He's in Ashland.
The hood locks are undone.
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