Local supply of Jeep spares

[Mike K]

Looking through the wartime Govt. gazettes I see contracts issued for Jeep spares to firms like, Canadian Cycle and Motor Co ( one is for 16 thousand pounds ) . Most of the contracts don't specify what the spares are but I did see one from 1945 for Jeep starting handles ! I do recall seeing WW2 Jeep front axle repair kits at Hughes Camberwell , these kits made by CC&M had felt seals , oil seals and paper gaskets in a little box , price was around $2 , there were hundreds of these kits there.

[Mike Cecil]

Interesting, Mike, both the data and the source.

I cover the reasons why there were many local (Aust) assembly contracts and production contracts for jeep spares in the chapter 'The 'Trucks 1/4 ton (USA)' in Australia', pages 463 to 510 of LLoyd White's 'The Evolution of the Willys-Overland MB Jeep' Volume 1.

Canada Cycle were also one of the contract assemblers, so gained work for both spares kits and in assembling and testing newly-arrived jeeps from the USA prior to delivery to the Army or RAAF. CD E5908, for example, was for Canada Cycle to assemble and test 280 jeeps. The contract was dated April 1943.

Mike

[Mike K]

Thanks Mike , I will get hold of those White books eventually .


I also spotted contracts for assembling Jeeps issued to: Ford Motor Co, and Chrysler Aust. Matthew Lombard suggested the Chrysler plants in South. Aust might have been involved in Jeep assembly but my thoughts are it may have been Chrysler's subsidiaries such as Harden & Johnson ( NSW ) .

1944: 9576 Req. 745.—Assembly of Jeeps, £1,000.—Chrysler Dodge
Dist. (Aust.) Ltd.

1944: 4118 Req. 11248.—Assembly of jeeps, £821 6p. lOd.—Ford

Motor Co. of Aust. Ltd.

[Mike K]

A possible manufacture of replacement jeep springs in Australia 1943

And, 2287 Req. 275.—Side curtains. &c., for jeeps, £2.925.— (.Yneral Motors-Holdens Ltd. 1944

[Bob Phillips]

CCM (Canada Cycle and Motorcar) was taken over in WW2 by the CDN government for production of war time materials. They had a very large factory in Weston Ontario, now a part of Toronto. While they manufactured motorcars for a few years their big products were bicycles and ice skates. I remember having an ancient CCM bike when I was a kid. Curiously enough the plant was bought out by the Levy family in 1962 and anyone in the military hobby in Canada will remember the huge Levy surplus yard ( which has been referred to on these pages over the past few months) at 1400 Weston road. It seems that the Levy approach was to squeeze every possible cent out of newly aquired businesses ( sometimes including pension funds) before selling them off again. CCM survives in name only as the original plant was torn down sometime in the 1980s. Lots of information available on line if you look!

[maple_leaf_eh]

Originally Posted by Bob Phillips

CCM (Canada Cycle and Motorcar) was taken over in WW2 by the CDN government for production of war time materials. They had a very large factory in Weston Ontario, now a part of Toronto. While they manufactured motorcars for a few years their big products were bicycles and ice skates. I remember having an ancient CCM bike when I was a kid. ...

I think every Canadian kid of a range of ages had either a CCM or Eaton's pedal bike. One of the most often encountered CCM marked products are the sheet metal caps and rings on Long Branch No.4 Lee Enfields. Simple stampings that could have been made on machinery that originally manufactured bicycle chain guards or headlights.

[Mike K]

In Australia, Canada Cycle was a subsidiary of Chrysler Australia . The CCM Co. in Australia was distributing Chrysler Australia products - Dodge , Plymouth vehicles and spare parts. CCM were also assembling Jeeps and supplying Jeep parts. I well remember the hundreds of the locally made Jeep front axle rebuild kits that Hughes Camberwell had , with the makers name tag on the box , "supplied by CCM "

Would be interesting to find out what the GMH made Jeep side curtains looked like and if any have survived.

[Mike Cecil]

Hi Mike,

I think you will find that the various various members of the Chrysler Distributors Network were independent companies, with each being member of the network like a franchise holder, rather than being a subsidiary of Chrysler. Hence, Canada Cycle produced a range of products under their own name, as well as being the Victoria 'area sales-point' for Chrysler's range of vehicles. Other companies held similar positions in other states. Happy to be corrected on this, but that's how the paperwork for orders, deliveries etc of Defence force vehicles and spares looks to me.

It harks back to the 1920s, when Australia was part of an Empire-wide preferential system, so 'foreign' companies (non-Empire) could not get a foothold in Australia without at least partnering with or being 'parented by' an Empire company. It is why we see GM Canada as the parent of GM-H, and Ford Canada as the parent of Ford Motor Company (and Ford Manufacturing Company) of Australia. Chrysler took the other avenue: partner with established Australian-based companies to form an Australia-wide network. Even so, Ford and GMH managed to hold something like 80% of the motor vehicle market in Australia up to the beginning of the Second World War, and is why the 'two engine policy' of Defence was established in 1938-39.

Mike

[Mike K]

Hi Mike

It's always a more complicated story than we realize , history is like that !

I believe Canada Cycle Motor Co. ( Vic.) was one of a group of distributors that jointly owned Chrysler Dodge Distributors ( Australia ) Ltd. which was formed in 1937. CDD was wholly Australian owned until 1951 when Chrysler Corporation USA bought a controlling interest

[Mike Cecil]

Thanks Mike - knew it was a distribution network and not a subsidiary, just wasn't sure of the legal structure.


Mike

[Mike K]

A very early invoice from CCM Melbourne dated 1904 . https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/234390...cle%20motor%22

And, a nice pic of early Melbourne https://viewer.slv.vic.gov.au/?entit...86&mode=browse

So I guess CCM received CKD shipments from Nth. America and assembled the cars on site ?

There was also a branch in QLD https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/153923...22&startPos=20

CCM were still trading as late as 1964 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/a...cle%20motor%22

[Mike K]

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-680601814...ge/n2/mode/1up

[Mike K]

I'm cleaning up the rear springs that were fitted on my Jeep when I acquired it.

It looks like my springs are the 1950s Australian made replacements. Ian F. in Sydney mentioned the Army fitted these locally made springs as replacements for worn out or broken original springs.

The replacement leaves have plain edges, not bevelled, and the clips are different to the wartime originals.

I found a govt. Gazette listing for Jeep spares to a spring business in Melbourne ( Leyson ) I'm wondering if this business is where the govt. purchased the Jeep springs.The Dept. Of Supply issued various contracts to Leyson for other items.

Another 1953 gazette listing was for: Canvas jeep hood covers. The covers were supplied by a Queensland business. Were these "hood covers", seat covers, Jeep tops or trailer covers ?

[Mike K]

In 1955, the govt. were looking for replacement Jeep fuel tanks. The tanks may have been needed for any type of Jeep - wartime ,CJ or truck, it's not specified.

Iit appears that Dominion Motors, supplied the tanks, but Dominion had, earlier, purchased a number of jeeps from the Disposals Commission .

I've come across a number of cases, where, it seems that, the govt, were buying back Jeep parts from businesses that the govt. had earlier, sold Jeep parts to. Some govt. Departments were using post war built Willys vehicles, so without more information, it's all involving some guesswork.

[Philliphastings]

Hi Mike,

I have a very good locally supplied Jeep fuel tank which was probably One of those referred to in your post.

Nicely made and still useable I plan to fit it in my Ford GPW project.


Cheers

Phill

[Mike K]

OK Phil

That's interesting, if you can manage it , no hurry, take a pic or two of your "aftermarket" jeep fuel tank.

In the 1950s , there were many gazetted contracts for the govt, buying " jeep spares" . So many, that the spares must have been acquired in order to keep the aging wartime era jeep fleet going.

Some of the purchases of Jeep spares were from odd organisations, such as the :

State Electricity Commission of Victoria

AG Healing ( surplus dealers )

Stokoe Motors ( the Willys agents in Victoria )

Loscam ( surplus dealers in Port Melbourne)

PM Stedman & company: NSW

EA Machin & Co: Victoria ( 535 Elizabeth St Melbourne, automotive parts house )

Dominion Motors

Northern Spare parts Co: NSW

Bradley bros Ltd: NSW

WM Haughton & Co Victoria

Dependable Accessories Ltd Victoria ( manufacturers in Collingwood and later Heidelberg )

Brooklands accessories Ltd NSW

Ceelx Pty Ltd Victoria (oil seals)

Roljak Products Co. NSW

[Mike K]

1952 purchase of jeep "canvas hood covers" (whatever that was) , costing was over 1000 pounds , from a QLD business, Geo. Pickers.

The 1950s era Aust. Army Jeep side curtain/door sets were still around when I first joined the VMVC , I had a set. The Jeep mechanic Alby Hammersley , who ran a business in Box Hill, he was making and selling copies of these 1950s pattern curtain/door sets into the 1970s. And, he was also making and selling Jeep tops.

[Mike K]

A big 1954 contract covering many Jeep parts suppliers.

Lorimer contacts : were in Richmond, Victoria, they made auto ignition parts, rotors, points, distributor caps and condensers (better quality than the modern aftermarket crap that's available today)

Gearco engineering NSW , had more than one contract. And may have supplied new T84 components ?

Dominion Motors were the official Willys agents in NSW

[Mike Cecil]

I'm guessing that a proportion of that is spares disposed of to traders at the end of WW2, and now being "repurchased" to keep the small number of jeeps still in service, mobile.

Mike

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

I'm guessing that a proportion of that is spares disposed of to traders at the end of WW2, and now being "repurchased" to keep the small number of jeeps still in service, mobile.

Mike

Yes, I believe that was the case. Looks like, at wars end, there was a bit of a frenzied rush to get rid of the many tons of spare parts. But, later on, the govt. accountants must have realised that they had sold off too much of the spares stock.

But there would also have been the need to replenish the normal wear and tear stuff - perishables. Canvas deteriorates with time and ignition points wear out. Some of us can remember those post-war CMP door side curtains that were around !

[Mike K]

I'm pretty sure that the curtains/ doors ( and top ) that are fitted on this VMVC jeep, are an example of the curtain sets that were made by Alby H. in Box Hill . Think it was his sister who did the sewing. He flogged off some of the curtain sets to Hancock Motors in Camberwell ( Jack O'D ) .

The genuine 1950s army curtains were a much more olive colour , with the DD stencilling . Usually, with the older originals, the plastic windows are cracked, and faded to a yellow hue.

These curtains / doors are great for long distance drives, they really make a huge difference . Also helps to have a quiet transfer case. Lapping the gears helps.