Chev C60x rebuild

[Danny Devers]

I picked up by first CMP today. A project that will take a few years to do. Also first thread on here.

Chassis #38660M70011

[m606paz]

Congratulations!! Enjoy it!

[Goncalo Mendes]

Fantastic find and a great choice!!!!
Cheers!!!

[Bob Carriere]

..... you are now one of us!!!!!

Welcome to your NEW OD life.

[Danny Devers]

Thanks Guys, the information I have so far is it was a RAAF fuel tanker back in the day. Found this out with help from some of the facebook pages in Aus and and a write up here listing chassis numbers.

[Mike Cecil]

Chassis number 38660M70011 was registration number RAAF 209461.

See the article in this thread:

http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/showthread.php?t=3201

Mike

[Danny Devers]

Thanks Mike, that was the article that I had read. The registration number is awesome it fills in a bit more of it's history.

[Danny Devers]

I thought I would see if I can get the truck running. Tried to turn with the crank handle the other day and it would not turn. Have removed plugs and sprayed some lube in and will add some diesel later today. What are people’s thoughts on the 6v system or is everyone converting to 12v. Is 6v gear readily available.

[Ganmain Tony]

Gday Danny,

6 Volt stuff is easily available. Keeping it on 6 Volt means you wont fry instrument gauges.

Yes your starter motor turns slower but if the fuel is at the carby and choke is set right, it will start every time. A primer for the fuel system is really handy as the truck is not usually driven often and therefore dry fuel systems are always requiring priming.

Primer does not have to be electrical, I use a Marine type you sqeeze until it goes firm indicating the bowl in the Carburettor is full. My fuel lines are a rubber hose however. (The originals are steel)

Wiring Harness available from Vintage Wiring Harness in Victoria.

Test your coil - dont assume because its old, its had it.

A very good 6V battery that supplies over 600 cold cranking amps is available at Westrac. And it is perfect for these old trucks.

Hope this is a help not hinderance - does come from years of trial and error.

[Danny Devers]

Thanks Tony, I have decided to keep the 6v system. Can get the parts easy enough, points, coils etc. May need to look at the battery, may be to big for the tray area. Have not had any joy so far freeing up the motor to try it to get it running.

[Lionelgee]

Originally Posted by Ganmain Tony

Gday Danny,

6 Volt stuff is easily available. Keeping it on 6 Volt means you wont fry instrument gauges.

Yes your starter motor turns slower but if the fuel is at the carby and choke is set right, it will start every time. A primer for the fuel system is really handy as the truck is not usually driven often and therefore dry fuel systems are always requiring priming.

Primer does not have to be electrical, I use a Marine type you sqeeze until it goes firm indicating the bowl in the Carburettor is full. My fuel lines are a rubber hose however. (The originals are steel)

Wiring Harness available from Vintage Wiring Harness in Victoria.

Test your coil - dont assume because its old, its had it.

A very good 6V battery that supplies over 600 cold cranking amps is available at Westrac. And it is perfect for these old trucks.

Hope this is a help not hinderance - does come from years of trial and error.

G'day Tony,

Would something like this be close to the mark? It is a Cat battery from Westrac? Accessed 23rd January 2022 from, https://parts.cat.com/en/westrac/8C-3617

8C-3617: 6V 1 BCI Wet Battery
• 6V Premium High Output maintenance-free accessible wet battery
• 650 cold cranking amps
• 130 reserve capacity minutes
• 100 amp hour capacity

Kind regards
Lionel

• 1 BCI group size

[Grant Bowker]

Working from memory (can be dangerous) I think I put a group 34 (12V) into the battery box of my C15A. It fit but without huge clearance in any direction. Looking at the sizes in a chart of BCI sizes found at https://www.jegs.com/Sizecharts/bcigroup.html you may find the group 1 battery tall enough that the terminals could contact the cover for the battery. You measurements will tell the tale.

[Mike Cecil]

Have not had any joy so far freeing up the motor to try it to get it running

Have you poured lots of diesel down the plug holes? Then let it sit for a few days at least before trying to turn it over by hand.

Mike

[Bob Carriere]

A pry bar????

Remove the sheet metal cover at the bottom of the bell housing..... it will reveal the ring gear......... with a long, long flat tip screwdriver try prying the flywheel using the teeth one way then the other....back and forth....... you may need to pour more diesel even into the carb intake ...... literally flood it.... let it sit and try the pry bar again and again back and forth......

If it does not work.....quit....no point being fanatical about it...... it will need to be taken apart........

Good luck....

[Bob Carriere]

A pry bar????

Remove the sheet metal cover at the bottom of the bell housing..... it will reveal the ring gear......... with a long, long flat tip screwdriver try prying the flywheel using the teeth one way then the other....back and forth....... you may need to pour more diesel even into the carb intake ...... literally flood it.... let it sit and try the pry bar again and again back and forth......

If it does not work.....quit....no point being fanatical about it...... it will need to be taken apart........

Good luck....

PS....... may be silly but make sure the tranny is in neutral and that the
CLUTCH DISENGAGED....AND IS NOT RUSTED TO THE FLYWHEEL.......

[Danny Devers]

Thanks Bob, it is in neutral and rolls easily. I am not to stressed on the motor would be nice just to see if it runs before pulling truck apart and see what issues it has. Will try the pry bar, may be able to rock it backwards and forwards that I can’t do with the crank handle.

[Ganmain Tony]

Gday Danny,

Again - a bit slow on the reply. One of reasons to suggest the Westrac battery is
it is a compact size. Check one out for yourself if you are able.

Lionel has posted an example.. might be worth a look. The one I have is

8C - 3629

They are not cheap - but well worth it.

[Danny Devers]

Picked up a few more parts this week. 3 more wheels to replace some badly rusted ones I got with the truck. A pintle hook assembly, missing wings for opening and closing. 3 wiper motors that will need some work and part of a wiper arm.

[Bob Carriere]

Wings onthe pintle can be partly drilled out and new round bar welded.....

On the wipers...... they are rebuild able with care...... first the fasteners are GM clutch heads...... you can make you own using an old flat head screw driver and some careful grinding to copy the hour glass shape of the screw. Correction Danny...... you can make a tool for the special fasteners using a piece of 3/16 braKe line that you beat rectangular with ligth taps of a hammer.......Grant corrected me on that one..... Clean everything meticulously ...... i use vaseline as a lubricant....... tray to salvage enough of the gasket to make a whole one....even if you have to use scotch tape to hold it together...... then photocopy it on good heavy stock letter head or even a sheet of photo quality paper..... then cut out with a razor blade making sure to open up every orifice......Grant tells me that he posted in the past the copy of the gasket..... if you can't find it on MLU let us know we will repost

Wipers with new rubber are available from repro dealers.....similar to jeeps.

don't be surprised if once rebuilt they barely function...... you may try with some soapy water on the glass....... you only will use them to pass a safety check anyways.

Have fun!!!!!

[Jordan Baker]

No reason why the wipers shouldn’t work like these nice rebuilt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM2PbSGLsHA

[Mike Cecil]

Ha! That's sitting still.

Try making them work when the truck's under load/acceleration.

It is why I went to electric wipers on my F15.

Mike

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

Ha! That's sitting still.

Try making them work when the truck's under load/acceleration.

It is why I went to electric wipers on my F15.

Mike

Drive. Let your foot off the gas. Wipers clear enough to see another 20'. Drive. Let your foot off the gas...

[Danny Devers]

Thanks Bob, the pintle won’t be an issue as I have seen round bar ones and the other type with the flatter wings. I got the 3 vacuum motor should be able to get 2 good ones finger crossed.
Mike, Jordan and Bruce I can remember driving with dad as a kid in some of the old Holdens that had vacuum wipers, they would go fast when stopped and barely move when driving. But only for get the truck on the road past inspection.

[David Herbert]

Canadian production tow hooks had the round bar handles and British production had the (much more expensive to make but exactly the same function) flattened and nicely shaped handles. I don't know if they were produced in Australia or NZ in either design. There is also a completely fabricated tow hook that I think is post war British production as it seems to crop up on post war British vehicles up to about 3 tons capacity.

David

[Danny Devers]

Not much to report, did a 1000km round trip and picked up a spare wheel carrier. Needs a bit of work but should come up ok. Won’t be restoring with a refuel body probably do a GS type tray.

[Danny Devers]

And one more.

[Danny Devers]

If anyone has good pictures or dimensions of the toolbox that should go next to the tyre frame, please let me know thanks.

[maple_leaf_eh]

I suspect your truck was well looked after in the service. Airplanes need fuel and bowser drivers weren't assigned based on the shine of their shoes. Driving a flammable load near airplanes is considered to be a plum job.

However, afterwards I expect that chassis was overloaded every trip it made.

For that reason, suggest you inspect closely. Look for broken leaf springs. Look for cracks in the frame. Have a look at every repair plate and understand why the last guy repaired what he did. The clutch is probably worn down to the steel as the driver feathered the pedal every shift. And that is just the first things to cross my mind.

[Mike Cecil]

Terry,

I agree but would take it further: strip the truck to the rivets, sandblast, inspect and then start the rebuild. In the long run, you'll be glad you started with a 'fresh' chassis as the base. If a part looks to be still in tolerance, use it, other wise repair or discard/replace. Short cuts always come back to bite you.

Mike

[Danny Devers]

Thanks for the advice Terry and Mike, it will get the full rebuild. At the moment just gathering bits for the job as I am nearly finished another project.