How To: C15a Wire-3 restoration

[Jordan Baker]

Ive only had one tank go kaboom on me and that was because I had just drained the fuel out of it a few days before. It started to scream so i hit the dirt and then it let off a muffled boom. When I picked myself back up the tank looked rather cartoonish and was very rounded.

If you cleaned the inside with acid and rinsed it out it should be fine. When I use the torch Im not sticking the flame into the hole. There is a patch already ontop of it.

As for the vinyl I'll talk with them at the shop and see what they say.

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Guys

Just to be clear there are no drawings of the CMP side curtains on my web site canadianmilitarypattern.com the photos of the canvas parts of the side curtains are still there but the drawings have disappeared.

Will try to find them, I need to do a serious rebuild of my web site including better search system, but there are not enough hours in the day, choice of working in the shop or working on the computer. The shop is winning.

Cheers Phil

[Jordan Baker]

Thanks Phil. I knew there was a reason I couldn't find them.

[Stew Robertson]

A little trick to welding fuel tanks, is drain and rinse with water then stick an exhaust hose from a running engine in and let it run until all the moisture is gone it is then safe to grind, solder or weld

[Jordan Baker]

Spent the last few days busy making some small parts. First up the is rare dash mounted map light. I was fortunate enough to be leant an original from a fellow MLU'er. I ended up using 2" dia washers for the ends and 2" outside dia exhaust pipe. I clamped the washers down to a copper paddle and then filled the center in with weld. That was then ground down smooth. The exhaust pipe was opened up slightly once I cut out the void. The ended were welded in and then ground smooth. I think I spent about 10hrs making this. Its not perfect but its pretty darn close.

[Jordan Baker]

My biggest challenge was finding a bayonet socket that would work also as a pivot for the hood. I lucked out with a couple of lights from another project. However I did have to modify the socket a bit. The bast was cut down and turned into a circle. I soldered it to the outside of the hood. The socket tube would now be the pivot for the hood. I also had to cut down on the actual length of the socket as the original was too long to fit the bulb once it was put together. The dremel came in handy for cuting the slots longer and drilling out the grove for the stubs on the bulb.

Lastly I needed more of the little shouldered screws for the cab nose ventilators. I only had one original screw left, so I made some new ones on the lathe out of 3/8 hex rod.

Other then time spent both of these porjects proved to be very budget friendly. The map light cost me $3 for the washers as the rest of the steel came from my scrap pile. The screws cost $1.51 for a 10" piece of hex rod from metal supermarket.

[Bob Carriere]

...a true restorer........

One who does not get hungup on parts numbers for items he needs but take basic material and makes his own!!!!!