How To: C15a Wire-3 restoration

[Jordan Baker]

Both had asbestos pads on them when I got them and they are left and right sided too.

[Jordan Baker]

The new output shaft sleeve arrived today. Fit like a glove. This will now seal very nicely in the new seal.

[Jordan Baker]

Today I installed the heat pads inside the nose. I’m very happy with how this felt turned out as I feel it looks similar to the original asbestos. I was hoping to reuse the original wire staples but they are started to break with the slightest of bending. So out came the roll of stainless safety wire I’ve got. The added bonus is no rust from them down the road.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Thanks for the heads-up. Meta Aramid felt, had to look it up. Seems to be available in various qualities, haven’t found your 700 deg F one yet.

[Jordan Baker]

Originally Posted by Hanno Spoelstra

Thanks for the heads-up. Meta Aramid felt, had to look it up. Seems to be available in various qualities, haven’t found your 700 deg F one yet.

https://thefeltstore.ca/search?type=product&q=Meta

[Jordan Baker]

Installed the redone steering wheel tonight. Things would have gone better except for I had safely packed away the retaining nut and it took me about 1hr of searching to find it.

I’m also installing a NOS horn button kit.

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Jordan

We've all had that experience of having to find the part we put away, what I hate more is getting it all assembled then finding the part.

But to your horn wiring, I've had problems on all three my trucks with the rub ring pickup down on the column. Finding that the repro parts are not quite long so the little carbon brush doesn't make good contact.

Will be interested in seeing if you find the same problem, and how you work around it.

Cheers Phil

[Bob Carriere]

...... it gets greasy and oxidizes over the years.......

I have used brake cleaner with a cue tip.....and a lot of patience....... there is also a special solution used by old radio repair shops..... it is intended to remove contamination and oxidation of the older mechanical contact swithces...... camera shops use it to clean the battery contacts on digital cameras......

On you rub brass band..... a wooden pencil that has a hard rubber eraser chucked in a small 1/4 drill will do wonders but some one needs to turn the steering wheel while you polish the brass band........... probably could find an ink eraser at staples that you can punch a 1/4 piece than crazy glue to the end of a wooden dowel.....used in conjunction with the above cleaners it should work. I have done my truck but could probably use another cleaning as the horn does not always work when the steering is pointed straight ahead but works if I wiggle the wheel......

Not sure about the cab 13 but on my cab 11 I need to remove the inside fender........

....and some say the good old days!!!!!!!

Good Luck

[Jordan Baker]

First time in a few years the truck is off the axle stands and back on its own wheels. The steering was hooked up today and all is good with all the rebuilt bits.

[Bob Carriere]

....inspect very very closely your steering arm?????

Mine came apart at the welded ball connection....... 70 year old weld was NEVER done properly....only surface weld.....sure went for the snow bank very fast........ on rewelding the ball end to the arm I noticed numerous hair line cracks in the inside of the curved portion. I had washed the arm prior to welding in the kerosene wash tank and paper towel dried them before welding.
The cracks only appeared when the welding heat travelled up the arm..... it caused residual kerosene to darken the hair line cracks....... much similar to magnaflux testing. I kept the steering arm as a souvenir and installed a spare one that I heated slightly but found NO cracks.

It's a weird feeling spinning the steering wheel one way and having the truck go in the opposite direction...... at 5 miles per hour I just plowed into a snow bank.

Cheers

PS.... now is the time to clean up the contact brass ring on the steering shaft.

[Jordan Baker]

The brass ring on that shaft was all cleaned up. New wire down the tube. Testing was done with the ohm meter. The horn button was pressed and the wheel turned full rotation. All is good.

Yes when I cleaned it up I checked out the arm. It was fine.

And now for more good news........

THE ENGINE IS IN....

All went reasonably well. I had some initial issues with balancing the weight of the engine. It fell off the stand and thankfully the hoist took the weight. The biggest issue I had was clearance between the cab frame and transmission. The frame was catching the top of the big gear in the transmission. I ended up using my floor jack to lift the cab frame up on one side. I then put in a metal spacer between the front cab mounts. Then I repeated on the other side. This still wasn’t enough. So I used the floor javk and some wood cribbing and jacked up the rear part of the frame. This gave the transmission the extra 1/8” it needed and it slid into position. All in all it went well after I had some supper.
I’ve got a few things to sort out but I’m happy I hit this milestone.

[Bob Carriere]

.....with a cab 11/12.............

Will you be ready for the New Years morning first of the 2020 run out in the snow?????

Bob C

[Jordan Baker]

Busy day putting stuff back onto the engine. I also got the front engine mount sorted out. I used a new rubber bushing.

I also got a package of rubber bushings and bumpers in the mail today. The company had a great selection of sizes and I was able to get exactly what was needed.

[Jordan Baker]

I also sorted out my hood and dog house cover latches. The two on the left side are NOS ones.

Lastly does the starter handle lean towards the driver or towards the passenger?

[Jordan Baker]

Parking brake handle and linkages are all installed and setup for proper tension. The starter lever is also in along with its return spring.

[Jordan Baker]

Original headlamp reflectors are slowly getting there. I’ve been re-slivering them and polishing. They still need some more work to get them to where I’ll be happy. I’m using a small re slivering kit from Caswell. It cost about $100. Comes with a small power supply, little wand and the silver plate liquid. It works well. But I’m finding the biggest hurdle is the polishing the reflectors. That’s what really makes them shine.

[Harry Moon]

My trucks have a longer spring that goes back to the floor rail and hook up to the small hole next to the bigger hole that the starter lever passes through. I mention this because your attention to detail and originality is second to none!

[Jordan Baker]

I’ve seen that setup. However my truck does not have that extra hole. I went with the next best option.

Originally Posted by Harry Moon

My trucks have a longer spring that goes back to the floor rail and hook up to the small hole next to the bigger hole that the starter lever passes through. I mention this because your attention to detail and originality is second to none!

[Jordan Baker]

Front axle engagement lever and linkage installed. Lastly for the day, the set of original data tags have been installed. I even used period NOS screws. The plating finish on them is much much nicer then what’s available today.

[David Dunlop]

Very nice work, Jordan. I enjoy following it.

David

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

A question Jordan, what do you mean "catching the top of the big gear in the transmission"? It looks like you have the transmission tower on and no gears would be exposed to catch. Was the lack of clearance getting the transmission tower (assuming it was not removed) under the cab crossmember that is at the back of the engine cover? I expect probably so as this cross member has been cut on a good number of Chev CMP's. Of course the other way to do it is install the engine without the transmission (nothing to catch and lighter) then install the transmission from underneath.

Originally Posted by Jordan Baker

The brass ring on that shaft was all cleaned up. New wire down the tube. Testing was done with the ohm meter. The horn button was pressed and the wheel turned full rotation. All is good.

Yes when I cleaned it up I checked out the arm. It was fine.

And now for more good news........

THE ENGINE IS IN....

All went reasonably well. I had some initial issues with balancing the weight of the engine. It fell off the stand and thankfully the hoist took the weight. The biggest issue I had was clearance between the cab frame and transmission. The frame was catching the top of the big gear in the transmission. I ended up using my floor jack to lift the cab frame up on one side. I then put in a metal spacer between the front cab mounts. Then I repeated on the other side. This still wasn’t enough. So I used the floor javk and some wood cribbing and jacked up the rear part of the frame. This gave the transmission the extra 1/8” it needed and it slid into position. All in all it went well after I had some supper.
I’ve got a few things to sort out but I’m happy I hit this milestone.

[Paul Singleton]

Bruce, I have seen many GM crossmembers with the lip cut off. Some people do this to make it easier to replace the clutch. With the lip removed the pressure plate and clutch disc can be pushed up into the bell housing at the same time. If the crossmember isn’t cut you need to push the pressure plate in first and then the clutch disc, which can be a bit difficult and hard on the fingers.
As far as Jordan’s comment about the gear, the large gear at the rear of the transmission does protrude above the case so I believe the tower wasn’t installed.

[Jordan Baker]

The top of the big gear was hitting the cab frame cross member. The tower was off on the transmission when I went to install the engine. The issue was only when trying to get everything into position. Once it was in place there was lots of room.

[Jordan Baker]

I also made up a felt gasket for sealing where the transmission tower comes up through the floor. For cutting the hole in the felt I used one of the pressing sleeves/cups from a Speedi Sleeve. It was the right size for the felt to be nice and tight against the shift tower. I simply put it in the shop press and it cut right through the felt and gave me a nice perfect large size circle.

[Jordan Baker]

Working on installing the radiator this afternoon. Some minor fitting issues between the fan and the shroud. But nothing that can’t be sorted. I also got the bonding straps sorted out for the generator thanks to an at length article in the Service Bulletins put out by GM during the war.

[David Dunlop]

Continued great work, Jordan, but I am curious...

Now that you have the Otter safely home, are you going to be changing the title of this thread to, “My Old C15A”?

David

[Jordan Baker]

I’d love to change the title of this thread to C15a Wire-3

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

Continued great work, Jordan, but I am curious...

Now that you have the Otter safely home, are you going to be changing the title of this thread to, “My Old C15A”?

David

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Jordan Baker

I’d love to change the title of this thread to C15a Wire-3

Done - how does "C15a Wire-3 restoration" sound like?

H.

[Jordan Baker]

Thanks Hanno

[Jordan Baker]

The temperature gauge, choke and hand throttle cables have all been installed. I tested out the original temp gauge bulb the other day in some boiling water and all is good. The choke and hand throttle cables are all functioning nice and smooth. I also started to make an adjustable linkage for the throttle. More pictures to follow tomorrow.