[rob love]

Terry: If your gas tank is the type with the edges welded, and somewhat squarish, then it is one of the replacement tanks. In the 1980s, Jeep restoration was no to the level it is today, and as well Canada was one of the few countries still using them in a regular capacity, so many parts were having to be made here in Canada. I found that the bulk of the replacement tanks had issues with the neck at the fuel cap, requiring some adjustment of the cap or the neck to sort of work properly. I also recall that even though by the 80s the M38 was long gone, supply had a run of M38 tanks built. Because of the duality of the parts manual, mechanics would constantly order the wrong gas tank or the wrong engines, causing pull to be created on the supply system, and it somewhat blindly re-acting. The M38 flathead engines were used as a replacement engine for the WW2 vintage generator sets which remained in service until the late 80s, so there was a reason for them to be in the system.

Chris: As you mentioned, the Jeeps were in service for a long time, and as such parts were occasionally cannibalised or ordered which would result in earlier (or later) parts being applied to different years. But from the factory, the closed hinges on the Cdn 3 were standard by everything I have seen. As to the extinguisher/SMG mount, that was a modification to re-locate the two. Some were done and some weren't. The priority of the modification often dictated what got done. A pri A modification (like the bellcrank modification) had to be done before operation...pri B and C mods may never be done.

So here is the list from the top of my head on the Cdn3 differences over the Cdn2. I'll include the ones already mentioned:

Seatbelts: factory installed on Cdn3, retrofitted on Cdn2. You can tell by the welded on square re-enforcement plates on the Cdn3 vs the Cdn2

Frame: Cdn2 and earlier would crack at the front spring hangers of the rear axle. The Cdn3 had re-enforcement plates at that location boxing that portion of the frame

Axles: Rear axle of the Cdn3 was a semi floating one piece axle, vs the trouble prone 2 piece axles of the earlier Jeeps. They were a fine spline diff vs the coarse spline of the earlier jeeps, and also had a different bearing arrangement. They were also a larger diameter requiring different U bolts.

Brakes: As mentioned before, the Cdn3 has larger self actuating brakes, vs the earlier fixed anchor brakes of the earlier Jeeps.

Mirror: Right hand mirror was factory on the Cdn3....it was an add on on the earlier Jeeps. Later they moved them to the fenders (mod was not the best....it needed a third arm to really be effective as the vibration was so bad it would case the mirrors to vibrate to the point of uselessness.)

Cdn 3 had the solid state flasher system. From the factory, the Cdn2 had the large box with relays on the cowl, although as time went by they were normally changed to the solid state style on failure.

Right rear taillight: Cdn2 had the large hole plated over, while Cdn3 never had the hole. The mounting plate inside the body did remain on the Cdn3 however.

Hood hinges: Closed hinges on the Cdn3. Cdn 2 had a slot so the hood could be removed for servicing. If you forgot to do up the hood latches on a Cdn2, the hood could flip up, slip out of it's hinges, and bounce off the driver's head while driving.

Many of the earlier modifications for the M38 and the M38A1 were re-issued for the Cdn2 and Cdn3. The headlight guards was one of them and was not necessary. The guards were not for driving through the brush, it was for when you hinged down the grill to clean the debris from the front of the rad. Without the guards it was possible to crack the headlights when you folded the grill forward. Since the Cdn2 and Cdn3 did not use the hinged grill, the headlight guard modification was really redundant. If you read the modification, it mentions folding the grill.

Heater: Cdn 3 had heater from the factory, apparently the Cdn 2 it was installed by the supporting base maintenance.

There are a few other differences, and if you check the Cdn3 parts supplement over the main parts manual as well as the Cdn 2 supplement, you can figure out what most of them are. In my opinion the Cdn 3 is far superior to the Cdn2, mainly because of the solid axle, the improved brakes, and the frame re-enforcement.