Canadair CL70 CFR 58-91588

[Robin Craig]

We had a great night in the shop last night but not quite as far ahead on the jig work as hoped, we have some steel on hand but the side jig was not finished.

The idea is that once the side jig is complete it can be removed and the two side panels of the chassis can be made away from the main jig as they are mirror images. Only after they are made will the new sides come back to the main jig and be clamped in place and the centre portion added in.

There is going to be a lot of work with the jig, it is I anticipate going to be a couple of weeks of work. Thankfully it is all mild steel.

We are very fortunate to have acquired the two front cars as checking between the two has revealed so much in the way of detail we would never have gained by just having one.

The parts machine gave up what amounts to a whole wiring harness and how it was routed. It has been hacked a bit and butt splices don't cut it for Gerry or myself but now we know what to remake. Gerry has a great method of marking wiring which is pure genius, white zip ties and a Sharpie marker.

[Robin Craig]

The centre of the steering wheel with the Canadair logo was something we wanted to see removed without damage.

It has four small indentations and we thought about making a tool up but Gerry figured giving it a go with the box end of a spanner and some small punches in the indentations. It came off easily.

Now we have a makers name and after a bit of research it looks as if this wheel may be more common than we thought.

[Robin Craig]

Ken and the folks up at the Montreal Aviation museum are missing their ether start system, and we have two, so it is proposed that we do some trading.

The injectors for the system are directional and the outside of the nozzle has an alignment arrow marked. The mounts for them look very rough and ready by comparison to some parts on the vehicle.

[Robin Craig]

While this gearbox makers plate is fairly straight forward and coincidentally has the same serial number as my prep school number.

The RCEME rebuild data plate did not photograph well at all. It is impossible to see the printing but the stampings are plain enogh but can anyone decipher them? We think the strings read as follows:

Location of rebuild "204 BWS", is that 204 Base work shops?

We think that "6 6 62" is the dte of rebuild ie sixth of June 1962

We think the initials "R L S" are those of the inspector or mechanic doing the rebuild.

Despite there being a small neat and tidy makers plate located on the dash under the steering wheel there is this larger hand stamped plate on the left side air duct. It is very poorly laid out and seems to have been done by eye.

All comments gratefully received

[rob love]

The 204 Base Workshop is shown on a google search to be Barriefield/London/Hagersville. That is a fairly typical component rebuild tag for the period. It doesn't mean the vehicle was located there, just that the component went through rebuild there.

My guess was there was not a long enough production of these vehicles to warrant a proper data plate being silkscreened and stamped. That hand done one would suffice.

[Robin Craig]

Thanks for the reply Rob,

I guess I didn't make myself clear in my original post, the tag is actually silk screened but it is faded and also just doesn't show up in the photo.

I feel quite foolish that you found those locations via Google and I didn't bat an eye lid to think about that.

Thank you

[colin jones]

Hi Robin, what a beautiful little tracked project. I haven't seen on of these before and I can't believe it is so small. What sort of engine do they run and what type of drive system does it have. Are they constructed of ply and aluminium. What was their purpose during their time of operation as they don't look like they would hold very much unless they had multiple trailers. The tracks look like a fabricated conveyer belt style which would be easily made and quite durable. I will be watching with much interest so keep the photo's coming.
Colin