Delco Products in World War Two

Delco Products Division of General Motors Corporation in World War Two
Dayton, OH
1929-1992

This page updated 12-10-2024.

Delco Products became a Division of General Motors in 1929. Then in 1992 it was rolled into the newly formed Delco Chassis Division that also included Delco Moraine. It later became part of Delphi Automotive Systems in 1999. Surviving portions of the division were sold to Tenneco around 2009.

This is a rare but interesting ID tag of a Delco Products manufactured nose-strut for a North American B-25. It is rare because normally more than 75 years after manufacture the ID tags have disappeared off of the aircraft after many owners, rebuilds, and restorations. It is curious the Delco Products "War Diary" below, there is no mention of making landing gears for the B-25. However, Delco Products did build the B-25 main and nose struts in the borrowed Fisher Body plant in Norwood, OH. Author's photo.

Here is more of the nose landing gear on the B-25. Author's photo.

This B-25N was built in 1944 at the North American Aviation plant in Fairfax, KS. The B-25 is currently owned and operated by the Liberty Aviation Museum in Port Clinton, OH. Author's photo.

Delco Products Division of GM World War Two Products: The Dayton, OH plant had $51,721,000 in major contracts during the war. Its Detroit, MI plant had $2,073,000 in major contracts and its Norwood, OH plant had another $952,000.

During the war the Delco Products Division produced 40,000,000 20mm, 37mm and 40mm projectiles and fuses, 7,000,000 shock absorbers for army trucks, gun carriages, tank destroyers and other armored vehicles, 1,000,000 electric motors to include windshield wiper motors for US aircraft, fuel booster pumps for aircraft, Selsyn motors for anti-aircraft guns and truck steering gears, 2,500,000 link assemblies tank treads, 23,000,000 spark plug shells for AC-Sparkplug (This must have been production after April of 1943 as it is not mentioned in the "War Diary" below, 6,500,000 miscellaneous items to include shafts and gears for the Allison V-1710 aircraft engine, 250,000 units of hydraulic actuating devices for Grumman aircraft, 25,000 generators to include those for large searchlights and applications on navy ships, 24,000 sets of aircraft landing gears for B-24, B-25 and B-26, and 250 electric actuators.

A War Production Board Report dated 9-30-1943 shows that Delco-Products was building the following products in its Dayton, OH plants:

5,300 Allison V-1710 engine part units per month
755 hydraulic activating units per month
120,000 M-52 fuzes per month
450,000 40mm projectiles per month
$3,000,000 worth of Navy diesel generators per month
An unreported amount of Selsyn motors
An unreported amount of synchronous transmitters

During World War Two, Delco Products borrowed the Fisher Body Plant in Norwood, OH for the manufacture of war products. Norwood is a suburb of Cincinnati. The War Production Board Report dated 9-30-1943 shows that Delco-Products was building the following products:

460 sets per month of B-24 main and nose oleo struts
415 sets per month of B-25 main and nose oleo struts
497 sets per month of B-26 main and nose oleo struts
415 sets per month of B-25Axles, outer cylinders, and drag arms

Neither of the two reports include all of the products the division was making, as there were too many for a complete accounting.

Delco Products won the Navy "E" Award on April 21, 1942.
In September 1942, Delco Products won the Army-Navy "E" Award. It later won three more awards.
Delco-Products converted its Navy "E" Award to the Army-Navy "E" Award which gave it a total of five awards during World War Two.

This is the B-24 that is on display at the Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH. There is a good chance landing gear on this was built a few miles away during World War Two at Delco Products or at the borrowed Fisher Body plant in Norwood, (Cincinnati) OH. Author's Photo.

This is the left main landing gear on the B-24. The weight of the gear without tire and wheel is 425 pounds. In 1943 Delco Products was building 460 of these a month. It was also building 460 right main landing gears and 460 nose gears per month. Author's Photo.

One gets a better view of the main gear from the opposite side. Author's Photo.

Author's Photo.

Delco Products also built landing gears for the Martin B-26. This one is also on display at the Air Force Museum. Author's Photo.

Delco Products built shafts and gears for the Allison V-1710 aircraft engine. Author's Photo from the Air Force Museum.

Delco Products built Selsyn motors for the remote control of anti-aircraft guns. It would be used for weapons like this 40mm Bofors gun, as seen on LST-325 in Evansville, IN. The motors would rotate the gun's position to the same position as that of a remote gun director. It could be the motors pictured here are from Delco Products. Author's Photo.

Delco Products built 7 million shock absorbers for all sorts of vehicles during the Second World War such as this Chevrolet 1-1/2-ton truck seen at the 2013 Houston Airshow. Author's photo.

This Chevrolet dump truck was on display at the 2019 MVPA Convention in York, PA. Author's photo added 1-21-2021.

In total, Chevrolet built 281,570 trucks for the war effort. Author's photo added 1-21-2021.

This is a post mid-1943 CCKW-352 with a winch. Author's photo added 1-21-2021.

This CCKW-353 is owned by the Indiana Military Museum in Vincennes, IN. Author's photo added 1-21-2021.

GMC built 7,232 of the AFKWX, which was a cab over engine design with a longer cargo bed for transporting bulky loads. It had the same wheel base as the CCKW-353 and had a 15 or 17 foot bed which was three or five feet longer than the 353 series truck. In total, GMC built 571,053 trucks during World War Two. Author's photo added 1-21-2021.

The GMC DUKW needed Delco Product shock absorbers that could operate in a salt water environment. DUKWs were used extensively during invasions to bring supplies ashore and then deliver them directly to the fighting fronts where they were needed. 21,147 were built during World War Two. Author's photo added 1-21-2021.

Delco-Products supplied GM of Canada which built trucks for the British Commonwealth. The truck was designed by Chevrolet and badged as such. 201,000 were built. Author's photo added 1-21-2021..

This armored GM of Canada-built armored truck needed heavy-duty Delco Products shock absorbers. This example is one of 3,961 built. Author's photo added 1-21-2021.

This looks like a GMC CCKW, but it is not. It is the Studebaker-built US6 version of the 6x6 2-1/2-ton truck which had some minor differences from the GMC, including a different engine. Studebaker built 197,678 and Reo built another 22,204. What was not different from the GMC CCKW is that it came equipped with Delco Products shock absorbers. Below are several pages from the Ordnance Supply Manual that show Delco Products supplied the shock absorbers for this non-GM truck. Author's photo added 1-21-2021.

Image added 1-21-2021.

The Delco Products DP part numbers are shown for both OEM and repair kits. Image added 1-21-2021.

Image added 1-21-2021.

250,000 hydraulic actuators were supplied for Grumman aircraft, such as this TBM Torpedo Bomber. The Eastern Aircraft Division of General Motors built the Grumman designed TBM. It was a logical choice to choose a sister division to supply the hydraulic actuators for the aircraft. Author's photo from the 2009 Chino Airshow.

Eastern Aircraft also built the Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat under the GM designation of FM-1. Delco Products also supplied the hydraulic actuators for this aircraft. Author's photo added 1-21-2021.

This is an Eastern Aircraft FM-2 which utilized hydraulic actuators from Delco Products. Author's photo added 1-21-2021.

The Fisher Body Division of General Motors was first into production with the M26 Pershing Heavy tank. It also utilized the torsion bar suspension with four Delco Products shock absorbers per side. Fisher Body and Chrysler built 2,202 Pershings at the end of World War Two. Author's photo added 1-21-2021.

Delco Products built 40,000,000 projectiles and fuzes during World War Two. Many of the projectiles were for the 20mm round. Author's photo added 1-21-2021.

In 1943 Delco Products was building 450,000 projectiles per month for the 40mm anti-aircraft round. When complete, the projectile head weighed two pounds. Author's photo added 1-21-2021.

During 1943 Delco Products was producing 120,000 M52 mortar fuzes per month for use in both the 60mm and 81mm mortars. The silver and white fuse on the dark brown 60mm mortar is an M52 fuze. It could be set to time the mortar round to explode above ground for maximum fragmentation effect. Author's photo added 1-21-2021.

Shown here is a 60mm mortar round with the black fuze. Author's photo added 1-21-2021.

During World War Two the AC Sparkplug Division of General Motors built combination pressure vacuum pumps for the USAAF. It obtained the 24 VDC motors from the Delco Products Division of GM. This was keeping with GM policy of sourcing components from within the corporation This pressure vacuum pumps is part of the collection of Mr. Lee Smithson. Photo courtesy of Lee Smithson added 12-10-2024.

Photo courtesy of Lee Smithson added 12-10-2024.

Below is the war goods production chronology starting in 1940 through February 1943, as documented in the Delco Products "War Diary." The information below helps support the production numbers shown above that I found on "Dayton History Books Online." Between both sources, we get a clearer picture of what Delco Products produced during the Second World War. Unfortunately, "War Diary" ends in April of 1943, when there was still over two years of the war remaining. Products could have been added during that time that went unrecorded.
SOP = Start of Production
More information the dates below can be found on page 6 below.

1940
June - SOP of Aircraft fuel booster pump motor
September - Tail bomb fuses ordered
December - SOP of 37mm shells
1941
February - SOP of shafts and gears for Allison V-1710 aircraft engine. Delco Products was one of many GM Divisions that manufactured components for the V-1710.
July - SOP of 20mm shells. This would be a Navy order as the Army did not use the 20mm cannon.
August - Naval generators for sub chasers, Q boats, landing craft ordered.
August - One million 37mm shells. The first million of 40 million total of all sizes.
November - SOP of landing gears. Production was in the new Building Seven. A total of 24,000 sets were produced. November 1941 production was earmarked for landing gear sets for the Consolidated B-24 bomber.
December - SOP of check valves for Bendix.
1942
January - SOP of Selsyn motors for anti-aircraft guns - The literature below states they were for the 20mm anti-aircraft cannon. However, that was a manually controlled weapon. The Selsyn motors were used for remote control rotation of a weapon making it more likely it was for a the 40mm cannon which were remotely controlled on Navy ships by gun directors.
January - SOP of aircraft windshield motors.
January - SOP of tail fuses for both 2,000 and 4,000 lb. bombs. This is interesting in that the US Army Air Force normally used 500 lb. bombs. Actually, the B-17 did not have a big enough bomb bay for these size bombs. This may have been an order for the British that did use these sizes.
January - SOP of tank tread parts.
February - SOP of generators for searchlights.
April - SOP of 40mm cannon shells. Part of the 40 million shells of all sizes.
April - SOP of hydraulic actuators for Grumman aircraft. This may actually have been for Eastern Aircraft Division of GM that was formed about this time for the manufacture of Grumman TBM Torpedo Bombers and FM-1 and FM-2 Fighters.
April - SOP army truck steering gear motors.
April - Awarded the Navy "E" for Excellence Award.
May - Delco Products takes over the Norwood (Cincinnati), OH Fisher Body plant for the production of aircraft landing gear struts.
September - Awarded the Army-Navy "E" for Excellence Award.
September - SOP for bomber landing gears at the Norwood (Cincinnati), OH Fisher Body plant.
November - SOP for army truck shock absorbers.
December - SOP of Martin B-26 landing gears at Norwood, OH.
1943
February - SOP of shock absorbers for gun carriages, tank destroyers and other armored vehicles.
April - Last entry in Delco Products War Diary. It appears to have been published not long after April 1943.

War Diary of Delco Products - 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943
Reading the 1943 Delco Products story of its participation in World War Two is most informative to the historian or those interested in what this GM division built during that period. The book is 50 pages plus front and back cover. Pages 10 through 32 are most informative as to the products built by Delco Products.

Page 6.

Page 10.

Page 11.

Page 12. Picture (d) is not a 20mm Oerlikon but a 40mm Bofors.

Page 13.

Page 14.

Page 15.

Page 16.

Page 17.

Page 18.

Page 19.

Page 20.

Page 21.

Page 22.

Page 23. Once again, the photos do not match up with the text. All the aircraft here are B-25s, not B-24s which were four-engine bombers.

Page 24. Note that the B-24 main landing gear produced by Delco Products weighed 425 lbs. and the nose gear 114 lbs.

Page 25.

Page 26.

Page 27.

Page 28. Note the size of the Martin B-26 Marauder landing gears in comparison to the young lady. She is standing next to a nose gear. These were produced at the borrowed Fisher Body Plant in Norwood (Cincinnati.), OH.

Page 29.

Page 30.

Page 31.

Page 32.