2011 at the Hammond Barn

[Bob Carriere]

Hi Phil

I like the bent copper wire to see which piston is moving......

I had removed all the plugs to facilitate turning the engine and some fluid/lube did spill out when the engine partly turned over.

Before turning the engine over, I loosened up all the valves with light taps from a hammer.... then Grant manually depressed each valve with long screwdriver..... all valves moved and sprang back.....

I am afraid that nothing short of removing the head will give me a clear answer but will try the wire trick first.

Stay tuned.

Bob

[RHClarke]

After loading the truck and trailer on Thursday night, Bob, Grant and I headed to southern Ontario on Friday morning to recover a CMP. After traveling the equivalent of the breadth of the Province of Saskatchewan, we arrived at our destination near Godridge, Ontario. We pulled into Gord Yeo's farm a little after 5PM to load up a new (to us) CMP truck for Bob, and to drop off an engine for Gord. Gord's truck was the stable mate of the truck we picked up in Paris, Ontario a few years ago. Hopefully, Bob will chime in with that story later.

Prior to the loading of the truck, Gord gave us the nickel tour of the farm and his vehicle repair/restoration workshops. Along with the requisite finely restored CMP, Gord also had a deuce and a half (M35 series), a few jeeps and some Iltis trucks in various stages of restoration. We were impressed with the quality of work of these restorations.

After loading the CMP, Gord mentioned that he had some old Dodge M37 parts that were heading to the scrap yard. We saved him the trip and loaded every M37 part we could put onto the trailer. Gord was in a very giving mood and provided some additional CMP parts. I guess it was his way of doing a clean up, and we were more than willing to help.

By this time it was closing in on 7:30 PM. With the truck firmly knitted on the trailer, we headed for Guelph where we would stay overnight. On the way we spotted one of Bob’s favourite restaurants – Swiss Chalet. After carefully parking the truck and trailer, we enjoyed a good chicken dinner - Bob was particularly appreciative of the breasts. Then it was on to the hotel for a good night’s rest.

The next morning we checked the chains and headed down the road to Acton to take in the militaria show. No sooner than we had pulled into the parking lot, then a gent came up and asked Bob “How much for the truck?” Bob wasn’t really in the selling mood so it remained chained to the trailer. Inside we found the usual suspects flitting from table to table wheeling and dealing. There were some good deals to be found and after our newly purchased items were stashed away in the truck, we headed back to Ottawa.

Along the way we ran into some road construction and we experienced a few good sized bumps that shook the truck. This was nothing out the ordinary, so off we went down the 401 and then onto the 407 drag strip. Just short of Pickering, Bob could be seen peering out at the side mirror with a quizzical look on his face. When asked what was up, he mentioned that it looked like the second wheel on the drivers side of the trailer was protruding somewhat. Now this was odd, but we soon came to the end of the 407 and pulled in for some lunch. We checked the tires and noted that the rear tires on the trailer were warmer than the lead tires. We decided to eat first then get dirty checking tire pressure and tie downs.

After lunch, Bob in his usual understated way said “Uh-oh! We have a problem”. The rear axle of the trailer had been pushed back slightly on the passenger side causing both tires to run at an angle to the direction of travel. We determined that this situation was just a small problem now, but it could quickly turn into a major problem at highway speeds. There was no question that the trailer had to be repaired before we hit the highway, and Bob decided that it was best to find a place to park it until the repairs are completed. Safety first is more than just a sentiment with the Hammond Barn gang.

Fortunately, we were close to the world famous “Chicken Ranch”, so we decided to take a nice, slow, short trip up to the ranch. There we chatted with the land owner who gave us permission to park the truck and trailer until we could get back next week to repair the trailer. It is good to know so many people in the hobby; else we would have had a big problem on our hands. The Chicken Ranch was a welcomed solution to that problem.

With the trailer unloaded, we jumped back into Bob’s Ford and headed back to Ottawa. We pulled into the Hammond Barn at around 6:00 PM. This was a milestone recovery – the first trip where we failed to bring home a recovered CMP. Despite the inconveniences the trailer situation caused, we were happy with the trip. We are in this hobby for the enjoyment factor, and we do not want to be part of any unsafe activity that could impact others.

The happy ending will have to wait until next week.


Photos:
1 - Gord giving a guided tour.
2 - The prize.
3 - The view we normally have heading home.
4 - The view we had Saturday...not so nice.

[Bob Carriere]

Recovery from Goderich was a breeze for the first half.....

What Rob said....ditto.

Here are some pictures I took at Gordon Yeo's farm when the cab 12 was picked up.


First pic is the shy little cab 12 being coaxed out of the dry barn by a John Deere half is age.

Truck is remarkedly complete and will be treated accordingly. I now have 3 rusted 2B1 cargo box to copy from for a reversed engineering project ...... can't find a good one so I will make one.

Rob made a killing scrounging every good Dodge parts for his radio truck.... Gord was gracious enough to give them to ROb as they were earmarked for the Chinese bumper factory.

Taking pity on Grant who was about to leave empty handed Gord went back in the many sheds/barn and came back with a cab 13 door, a Chev grill
with Chewvy Badge and some hting else I forget now.

Now.... look at the tires on the loaded trailer..... they are not properly lined up.... so the suspension shackle breakage must have occured before we got there...... drive back to Acton in the dark the missalignment was not so evident.

It was nice to have an established network across this great country of ours. Once I knew that the suspension springs were resting on the frame I could not in good conscience attempt to drive back any further with a vehicle that could cause and accident or hurt someone. So boldly I drove to the infamous "Chicken farm" and without have a chance to contact Brian Gough for permission dumped the truck and trailer behind the chicken coop to be retrieved later. So my apologies Brian I hope ti willnot cause anyone any problems.

I have already picked up the parts necessary to repair and recover the recovery vehicle and NO I am not leaving the cab 12 behind as payment.

We will leave at the crack of dawn this coming Saturday with suitable jacks. axle stands, assoted tools, a portable electrci generator and a portable compressor...... might even bring my small Mig 110v welder if necessary. If we can't fix it we will build a new one...

For those counting this is no# 4 for the cab 12 and one cab 11 I am working on. I now have one badly rusted box form my cab 11 which might donate the floor..... another one with a rusted tailgate whcih will be used as a pattern and this last one which still has the original fender wells/boxes with the footman loops for the cushions...... oh and one good set of drop sided.
In all enough to reproduce a good solid 2B1.... and I have the canvass form Stew.

Before closing must mention that the Acton gathering was also a highlight of our weekend. Alwasy find things to buy fron Brian A. and from Andre... neede more of the door canvass "thingies" now that I will have more than one cab 11/12 to work on.

Nice to see all the old familiar faces and meet new ones like the young lads working on a UC in the Whitby area.

Life is sweet ..... now if I can just live to be 146 y.o. I can break even with my projects..... one day I will eventually grow up and decide what I want to be !!!!!!!

Bob

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Guys

Sounds like and interesting recovery effort but to be a true tail of the Canadian North it should have snowing.

Each of my truck recovery efforts involved it having snowed, was snowing, or started snowing on the way home.

Advantage to snowy recovery is you would have never notice the wheels on the trailer were not tracking right they would have just skidded along behind the tow vehicle.

One other thing looks like another good find.

Cheers Phil

[Barry Churcher]

Like the Hammond Barn Boys, people sometimes drop stuff on our doorstep. I ventured up to the Chicken Ranch on Sunday and found someone had left a truck and trailer. I was pleased with the CMP so offloaded it and parked it safely in the barn. I haven't much interest in a broken trailer so I left it outside.
Cheers,
Barry

[RHClarke]

Originally Posted by Barry Churcher

Like the Hammond Barn Boys, people sometimes drop stuff on our doorstep. I ventured up to the Chicken Ranch on Sunday and found someone had left a truck and trailer. I was pleased with the CMP so offloaded it and parked it safely in the barn. I haven't much interest in a broken trailer so I left it outside. Cheers, Barry

What are the odds of two trailers with a CMP on each showing up at the Chicken Ranch??

[Stuart Fedak]

Originally Posted by Barry Churcher

Like the Hammond Barn Boys, people sometimes drop stuff on our doorstep. I ventured up to the Chicken Ranch on Sunday and found someone had left a truck and trailer. I was pleased with the CMP so offloaded it and parked it safely in the barn. I haven't much interest in a broken trailer so I left it outside.
Cheers,
Barry

Barry,
I will be at your place on Saturday and I will have the certified check in the requested amount available. Thanks!
Cheers!
Stuart

[Brian Gough]

Barry, I will check the tapes from the security camera today - perhaps there is an explanation for all this. Regardless, congratulations on 'your' new 12 cab C15A.

I can't help but wonder though, did a Border Raid go bad or is one still underway? Anyway, it looks like there is lots of extra help coming this Saturday for cleanup day.

Brian