DMC Logan T-40 Tow Tractor information

Hello all, I recently purchased and brought home my next DMC, a De Lorean Manufacturing Company / Logan T-40 Tow Tractor over the weekend. Serial D2T40-0094 Built JAN 1982. Does anyone have any information, specs, documentation, etc. on this vehicle? Best I got from the prior owner is it was purchased surplus auction from the US Air Force, used on a small airfield for a couple years, and then parked for the last 10 years. No documentation or history came with the unit so I'm starting from scratch.

Attachment 54974

Have searched the archives and found that one attended a previous DCS years ago as I found a pic of a restored T-40 dressed in it's military service yellow paint. Any assistance would be appreciated.

Happy New Year to you all!

Matt Metzinger
Arkansas City, KS
VIN 961 Manual Blk Interior (May 2002 - Sept 2009)
Now rebuilding DMC Logan Tug D2T40-0094

Ken Konelick has one....Ohio

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Originally Posted by TIMETRK-KS

Hello all, I recently purchased and brought home my next DMC, a De Lorean Manufacturing Company / Logan T-40 Tow Tractor over the weekend. Serial D2T40-0094 Built JAN 1982. Does anyone have any information, specs, documentation, etc. on this vehicle? Best I got from the prior owner is it was purchased surplus auction from the US Air Force, used on a small airfield for a couple years, and then parked for the last 10 years. No documentation or history came with the unit so I'm starting from scratch.

Attachment 54974

Have searched the archives and found that one attended a previous DCS years ago as I found a pic of a restored T-40 dressed in it's military service yellow paint. Any assistance would be appreciated.

Happy New Year to you all!

Matt Metzinger
Arkansas City, KS
VIN 961 Manual Blk Interior (May 2002 - Sept 2009)
Now rebuilding DMC Logan Tug D2T40-0094

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Ken's wasn't yellow because of the military; when he first got it I believe it was grey/brown. We stripped the thing down and then had the entire thing sand blasted. It was painted yellow because Ken had several gallons of yellow paint left over after painting a different yellow car, haha. It was a lot of fun to get back on the road.

Ken and Cliff Schmucker bought it together and between them and the local owners, it was pretty much fully restored. Ken had weekly tech sessions at his shop and when this came in, it was a nice change from only working on DeLoreans. I remember it had a Chrysler slant 6 engine in it. When we finally got it running, Ken was so excited to drive it that he took it out to his parking lot for a spin. Unfortunately the brakes hadn't been fully sorted out yet and at one point the tug took out both a steel handrail on a sidewalk, as well as a chunk of brick out of the corner of his building.

If I recall correctly, it was during the winter/spring of 2008 that it was acquired, because we rushed to get it ready for the 2008 DeLorean Car Show in Gettysburg. It's very possible that Ken still has some of the info from the restoration. Unfortunately, if I had to speculate, I'd say that it was likely that Cliff had been maintaining most of the information about it, and the info may have been lost when he passed away in 2013. Still, Ken has the actual tug at his shop so there's still probably info to be gathered off of it.

What is your plan for it? It's a pretty hefty thing to have sitting around, and it's uses are pretty limited. Ken stores boats and things in his shop in the winter and had planned to use the tug to move them around inside (though I'm not sure how much he actually does that). Best of luck with the restore! :thumbup:

Thanks for the information Nicholas! I will reach out to Ken and see if he has anything left.

How convenient to have spare yellow automotive paint in stock? It does look like a brighter yellow than the paint flaking off my front grill, although taking age and fade into account it might be closer than I think. When deciding to get the tug I used my Google-Fu and found this:

Attachment 54975

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/i...ya-132/&page=3

It appears a 1:32 scale model of the T-40 was released a few years ago and the modeler by the name of Dave worked an awesome display. I have noticed the USAF units in flight-line yellow, US Army in standard army green, and the Navy units were in flight-line yellow and had cabs installed. I'm sure to avoid salt spray in the controls and to be nice to the driver.

So far I've found a Chrysler Slant 6 225 with a 330-2 stamped on the block. I believe it has the A-727 3 speed auto transmission.

My plan for it? Well I don't yet have the funds for another DMC-12 project since parting with mine 9 years ago due to unforeseen events but this came up less than 300 miles away and I said to myself... "why not?" I've been researching the DeLorean hobby for 20 years and I had no knowledge of John DeLorean's interest and ownership in DeLorean Manufacturing Company, renamed to Logan or LMC and how many times it has changed hands since. Like you said it is a nice tangent road to go down and yet still have ties to JZD. Besides fixing up a Slant 6 and associated systems should be easy with various trips to the local auto parts shops. We have an annual car show, the Kansas & Oklahoma Gas and Steam Engine Association Show, and a Wings and Wheels Day at our local airport each year so I have plenty of events to take the T-40 for a spin, minus handrails and buildings ;-) . I also enjoy a challenge as that began with the towing trip. By miracle we got the old guy on and off the tow trailer in subzero wind chills here on the plains last weekend. Truly amazing the engine even cranked over having sit for years but it roared to life. I think a brake is locked up because you have to gun it to move the thing unless perhaps the tranny needs some attention.

I wouldn't mind towing it up to this year's DeLorean Convention and Show in August but it might cost me my purchase price in fuel to tow it up there and back. It is definately a beast! Feels good to be a DeLorean owner again... sort of... :hihi:

I must admit, I saw the ad for that and thought mmmmm, what if...?

Glad to see it's gone to a good home. Interested to see the progress on it.

FYI Automatic transmission failures are radically different from brake failures. Engine RPM's just don't match car movement at all when the automatic transmission fails. I've had six of them over the years, across three cars (Or five times across two cars? I can't remember if I drove my Dad's Ford Explorer right before the fatal ATF leak or not, if not the latter). The engine can rev to redline, and the car just won't move, eventually it will jolt along and then just let go again. It would be analogous to someone dicking with the clutch on a manual car. A frozen brake caliper is a more "flat" diagnosis in that speed and power are hampered in a linear way. It doesn't wildly fluctuate with seemly no rhyme or reason for it.

The valve body on my DeLorean was the most recent automatic transmission failure, that was upon purchase and up front we knew it may not be covered in the resto, but we tried a quick clean and crossed fingers hoping it would work, sadly it lasted a month before that went kaput. I can't say I've had much experience with other types of transmission failures, although the word "valve body" was used on my "please kill me already" Honda Civic that got caught up for four months in a drug deal ponzi scheme tranny shop FBI agents interrogated us over (wish I were kidding). Poor bastard of a car had four blown transmissions in the year and a half I owned it, finally ditched it after I wiped out on the side of a hill.

The tractor, you said it saw two active years of use at the Air Force base, and ten in storage? But no documentation or history? Unless my time frame is off (and I hope it is, because this seems absurd to me), that means they bought it in 2006, right? Which is about 20 years after the company went defunct. Or did it sit in surplus that long? I don't know, but unless they bought it new from the company (frankly, even if they did), I would be wholly interested in the results of a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request on this guy. What's the worst that can happen, they say "everything's confidential" and you shrug and say you tried? It's not like we're exposing government secrets here, literally even just a few pictures would be neat to have for your own records.

One thing's for sure: we don't get many stories of tractors around here. They're a pretty rare breed, on top of an already rare niche of a car. I don't think you'll find any shortage of interest nor help from all of us. And hey, I think one of the forums has a "restoration garage" subforum or something, is that the right one to make a thread in? It's not a "DeLorean" per se... or is it? Either case, eager to see this unfold! :thumbup:

Thank you for your excellent insight Shep! The resistance does appear to be rather linear so my educated guess is to troubleshoot the brake system or the parking brake first. I have found the DeLorean tractor parking brake is applied to the transmission output instead of like the Delorean car parking brake calipers. Would be my luck to work on a locked parking brake as when I had purchased VIN 961 the drivers parking brake seperating fork was broken, starting the list as my first self completed repair.

Also thank you for your idea on the Freedom of Information Act request. I have sent such a request to the Department of Defense - Air Force's email inbox this morning. Let's see what happens. I am looking for Air Force Technical Order 36M3-3-38-1. After scouring the Internet for days I found an aircraft parts ordering site that cross referenced it the the Tech Manual #10310019 that is stamped on the T-40's build plate. Here is a photo including the fire extinguisher bracket that someone bolted through the plate. Only lost one digit of the contract number but that is listed on the warranty plate to the lower left. (Yes, I have since taken the bracket off.)

Attachment 55074

I will start a restoration thread when I have better photos and begin the tinkering. It has been too cold and dark after work to get good pics.

I consider it a DeLorean but just not what typically comes to mind to most people. I grew up in a Ford family so it would be like my Ford F-150 relating to a Ford GT40 or a Ford farm tractor. I fell in love years ago with DeLorean because it was a nice niche and super unique. Now just shedding a little light on a niche within our own niche as you say.

More to come...

That's the first time I've seen that logo anywhere. It's certainly not trademarked to the best of my knowledge, I've been through TESS dozens of times until I screenshotted everything relevant. (They don't let you link directly to specific trademarks. Or didn't, anyhow, they might since the redesign.) Nowhere did I see the "D" in DMC with a left side on it, nor with the "C" being shorter left-to-right. Almost looks like a hybrid between some prototype logo and what finally wound up on our cars. Since it was built in 1982 (well after the DMC logo we are all familiar with was in widespread public adoption), I'm wondering if maybe the metal sheets it was on were made a few years prior. I thought I read that Logan was bought and told mostly to remain the same very early on even, so this could be like a "work in progress" logo maybe?

Either way, seriously cool. (In more ways than one, it's freezing in Ohio too, keep warm out there!)