How To: CMP C15A Restoration series, Pictures and video

[Louis Skebo]

Hey everyone thanks for having me! I just bought this Chev C15a a couple of weeks ago and have started into it. Bob Carriere was nice enough to post some pics and video earlier for me and I really appreciate that. Not that my account is activated I'll be posting pictures and videos of my tear down and restoration .

A little about me, I restored my first Toyota Land cruiser at 16 (1976 FJ40), have restored many since then (I'm 47 now), I'm a pilot, full time firefighter, lumberjack, and have a very popular youtube channel rebuilding snowmobiles and odd things.....and I also have a very understanding wife.

After tearing into this CMP it is pretty amazing how similar it is to a Toyota Land Cruiser - and the best part is that the CMP is made from very good quality steel as compared to restorations from the 70's and up.

Military vehicles are new to me so I'm sure I'll have lots of questions, I try to do my homework as best I can before I ask though. My goal is to have this running and safetied by July 1st - Bob asked me "of which year", lol. If I can find what I need it'll be this year.

I'll also be hitting up the classified section often for bits and pieces so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Now on with the build!

Here are some pictures when I picked it up. It has not run since 1991 or so, It has a 235ci chev engine in it that I was told ran fine when it was parked...although the distributor has no cap or rotor on it and seems like someone was trying to get it going many years ago.

The tires were still holding air since at least 1991.

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[Louis Skebo]

Since I shoot video so often my my channel I decided to shoot this whole restoration series. Here are the videos:

Dissassembly:

https://youtu.be/8gfKR0NQnAw
https://youtu.be/8wvvUOGnCR4
https://youtu.be/dmft22Xg3-E

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Hello Louis,

Welcome to MLU and congrats on buying a CMP truck! Before you know it, you will be hooked on this enigmatic mix of British design translated into American automotive engineering and manufacturing.

With your restoration and documentation skills, this thread will no doubt be a joy to follow in the time to come.

Regards,
Hanno

[Louis Skebo]

Thanks very much Hanno!

Making some progress with the tear down here are some pics and I should have a video up tonight.

A few questions.

The windshield frame is welded....thos doesn't look factory...or is it.

Where do I find new rubber seals for between the panels and around the windshield.

The bottom corners of the window glass frame were welded and rotten. What are my best options for a new window frame?

And looks like I can use some new door latch hardware.. .any leads?

Thanks!!

[Louis Skebo]

More pictures.

[Louis Skebo]

Ive just researched my tranny and it looks like a chevy SM420 4 speed - SM meaning synchromesh. Seems like a heavy duty tranny used in military machines and diesels, cheap and easy to rebuild and used up until 1990 or so.


https://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledg.../manual/sm420/