How To: C15a Wire-3 restoration

[Bob Carriere]

Hi Jordan

We made our rods using long premade hooks from TSC..... straighten them out, flattened one end and cut to size. Grant rivited his rods and I used small bolts/nuts.

On the wood..... POR really soaks into the wood, with two coats it is almost plastisied and should last a long time...maybe even another 70 years. The trick is to make sure the POR is well into each bolt hole.

For the screw caps Grant is getting them reproduced from originals by his father...retired eng. from NRC using a mini lathe.

Cheers

[Jordan Baker]

Some more progress being made. My two windshield frames have been finished. The passenger side one was made up from a couple frames and welded together. I had to due to rusting away of the frame. I have also rebuilt the Trico vacuum motors. Next step is to disassemble the frames again and paint with Por15 and finish coat them. Then off to Speed Auto glass to have some proper glass cut for them. Lastly I have NOS Trico wiper blades and arms to use.

[Jordan Baker]

Saturday I went to my first auction and walked away with what I believe is an original wartime CMP Chevy 216 that is in very good condition for the hefty sum of $152. I did find KG#3 paint on the transmission and rear mounts. It also appears to have the Cab 11/12 starter rod pivots. There was also the gas pedal linkage that goes under the thermostat housing. So far I have been unable to match the block casting # and stamped serial # prefix to any other lists. However I do believe that the serial prefix "MR" stands for "Military Right Hand" To me it makes sense.

Pictures are
#1 overall engine
#2 block casting # 839253 D27 or O27
#3 stamped serial # MN3966765
#4 head casting # GM 838772 21
#5 generator tag.

[Bob Carriere]

Go to http://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthreads/...s.php?ubb=cfrm

in the Forum look for shop area then under engine....first post on engine ID....

The last link on Advance ......

The prefix MR does not appear any where...... but there are exceptions.

In any event it is a great acquisition and probably belongs in a cab 11 .......

Cheers

[rob love]

One site shows the MR prefix in 1935 or 36, but that predates the 216 I think.

The R generally is for right hand drive, but there does not seem to any reference to the M used during wartime.

[Jordan Baker]

Thanks for links Bob. I looked over them again and can't find any reference to either my block casting number or the serial number.

I tried to get it started today. No luck but it does crank and I got spark at the plugs. I just think by battery was run down. Will try again tomorrow. As for going in a cab11.......errr it's going to end up in my Cab13. Lol

[rob love]

http://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthreads/...=443230&page=1

This guy had the same casting numbers, and the engine was a 235. However the crank and cam were 216, so his may have been bored out.

Here is a link to the page which showed some MR serial numbers back in 1935: http://www.gregwapling.com/hotrod/ch...dian-chev.html

On that page it shows the 839253 block casting. Not being a chevy man myself, maybe you can decipher what the page is trying to say.

[Bob Carriere]

1940 block casting of 839132 ....

Head is shown as 1940

Serial numbers get s&&&& up during the war but they have 3665902

Serial prefix should be AR or RA..... so maybe the guy on the line was having a bad day when punching numbers.

Have you tried a compression test..... or a few drops of oil....even WD 40 just to wet the rings...... fresh gas from one gallon tank gravity feed into the carb...

Check your points they may be partly oxidize if sitting for a long time.... 400 grit emery could cure that for a quick fix.

Watch for back fires....

good luck.

Bob C

[chris vickery]

The trouble I have found with casting and motor indexes is that many of them pertain only to civvy models and much of the war years info is vague at best.
Do remember that for the first couple years that civilian cars were still in production intermixed with MV production.

[Jordan Baker]

I have not really done much work over the winter as its been too cold in the shop. One day I will have insulation and proper heat.

I did pickup a pair of door window frame and a front brush guard.

Some of the small parts I have made are as follows.

#1 a new pedal bumper made from a cut down hockey puck.
#2 new cab to frame front bolts. I cut down 5/8 bolts on the lathe and re-threaded them to the proper 9/16-18. It was my first time using the lathe and they turned out great.
#3 new cable release for the 4 wheel drive disengagement arm. The original cable had rusted away and broke. I was able to save the ends after soaking in Evaporust. I bought a new cable from Cnd Tire along with the aircraft cable. The threaded end was a cut down 10-32 hex head screw. I drilled it out on the lathe and then soldiered in the cable.
#4 a new made finger latch. I gave up trying to find some NOS ones (next week Ill probably find a box full). I flattened out a rusty original and traced it onto 16ga. Cut it out with a zipdisk in the grinder. I bent it to shape over a piece of hard wood and then dished the finger portion with a ballpeen hammer.

These are small parts that most wont even know are there when the truck is done, but I enjoy creating that attention to detail.

[Jordan Baker]

Lastly I managed to find an original Chevy speedometer. It came out of a GPW however its stamped on the back AC/GMC.

[Bob Carriere]

not being unhung up with part numbers and.....

....if you cannot find the part make your own.

Kudos.

Cheers

[Jordan Baker]

Thought I would do a trial fit of the new to me roof and lower rear wall. Everything seems to line up pretty close. The next step will be removing the old sheet metal and welding in new. The roof is pretty solid but it will need new rain gutters and some spots replaced due to rust. I also took advantage of the really nice and warm day yesterday to POR15 my front window frames. Any ideas on how I can get the POR15 down the insides of the frame and where the weather strip goes?

[Bob Carriere]

It's a messy job but thin out the POR by 5 paint one thinner....use only POR thinner.

Wear rubber gloves..... and a drip pan.....

pour the paint down the hole .... a large syringe from TSC for cattle will work best.

Blow your channels both way first..... pour the paint collect and repour in the other direction and let it drip...... you may have to cut off solid drips with a pocket knife.

Try not to get any on you or take a picture of the mess.

You are doing a good job.
Cheers

[Bob Carriere]

the rain gutters are a one shot assembly with a large spot welder......Roof section window frame and gutter. Would be very hard to salvage a used one.

Carefully cut off the old one.

And have a sheet metal shop do you a couple of sections and mig weld inplace with drilled holes in the new section 1/4 inch and do a rosette weld that you can sand down.

When you do the grinding of the welds on your roof watch for heat build up that can cause warping.......we orefer trhe course flap wheel to a disk...... leave the little pinholes you find and fill them with a then coat of JB weld..... works well on clean metal and can be sanded flush.

We use it at the barn and prefer it to glazing compound

[Jordan Baker]

Thanks Bob

Once I get to taking apart the roof rear panel I will be adding in the window I got from you. Much appreciated. The roof will need a lot of little bits redone and fixed.

For using JB Weld would you sandblast, then JB, then POR15?

I will try out the drip process when I get the chance.

[Bob Carriere]

Do all your welding, patching, grinding and JB, etc then do the sand blast.

Be carefull around the JB.... may need to lask it off or the sand will take it away faster than the surrounding steel. Even smal bolt holes welded and grinded.... get to shinny for the POR to really bind to the surface....... watch body oil from your fingers or dirty leather gloves...use blue ot thicker black nitrile and change as often as necessary. You may wabt to lower the pressure on the blaster and use the fine with sand from TSC so as not to be too agressive. Don't forget to spray a litght coat of paint prep aka Phosphoric acid and let air dry

The dilemma is we use the finest flap wheels to dress up butt welds to a smooth mirror like finish than we need to roughen it up for the POR....Duh!!!!

You are on the right track.

[Alex van de Wetering]

Jordan,

I don't have any experience with POR15 .....and don't think they have spray cans (?), but maybe this is an alternative.....I used Rustoleum rusty metal primer inside a hollow crossmember, with help of a small nozzle and thin hose.
The nozzle and hose came with a can of (Valvoline) bodysafe protective coat for sills and other hollow areas. While I am not a fan of this stuff and don't use it on the Chev, I did like the hose and nozzle.
I had to search my collection of spray can caps for a suitable one that would allow the hose to slide over the end....and fit the top of the Rustoleum can.

I sprayed a quick thin coat every evening of the week and cleaned the nozzle and hose afterwards by fitting the hose to a second cap that would fit a spray can of brake cleaner. A quick clean with brake cleaner and the hose and nozzle were ready to be used again.

Alex

[Bob Carriere]

Hi Everyone

Hi Alex..... they do sell special rust coating in cans at Eastwood USA and it has that same long reach nozzle. I have never used it but would be very good for enclosed area such as the windshield pillars and frames.

I like the idea of being able to reuse the long reach tube and cleaning it with spray brake cleaner.

Bob C

[Jordan Baker]

Thanks Alex and Bob for giving me a few different ideas. I ended up just doing the pour method as described by Bob. Lots of drips all over the place but I got it done. Next step will be getting the glass cut and installed then I can paint the frames their final colour.

[Jordan Baker]

Frames are all painted in the final coat of SCC2. Now I just need to get the glass cut and installed.

I also managed to get this small air filter cleaned up and repainted. Ive seen some NOS ones with a decal. Does anyone know where I might be able to get the proper decal?

[Jordan Baker]

Working on a variety of parts. I had Metal Supermarkets shear some 16ga sheet metal for me today. These are for the retaining strips on the side curtain frames. They were great to deal with and very fast. I did have to hand file them to remove the razor sharp edges. One is done so far.

I also picked up a pair of front canvas seals at the Ontario Regiment Museum open house.

Last pictures for now is the left side fuel tank. So far its been wire wheeled. I had two rust holes about the size of a dime each that needed to be fixed. I cut a patch with some sheet metal and then soldiered them in. Once the tank is painted they will be very hard to see. On the inside I will be doing an acid wash/rinse and then sealing with Mac's Autoparts fuel tank sealer. I did the tank in my UCarrier with this stuff and I was very happy with it.

[Bob Carriere]

what kind of lead??? what preparation for the steel surface?? what kind of soldering iron????

Will be going down that road soon to fix the filler neck on Grant's cab 13 tank. I bought 3 solid copper soldering irons at a flea market and will use propane torch to heat up the copper slugs. Just looking for general pointers.

Nice job on the door window frame.... were you following Phil's W. drawings??

Bob C

[Jordan Baker]

Bob, Ive found the soldering really easy. Just make sure there is no fuel vapours that can ignite. I use a sanding drum on my dremmel to clean up the sopt im going to be fixing. Ive found using it does two things. Number one is it cleans it up to nice bright metal. Number is that the sanding gives a nice "key" for the solider to really stick. If using a patch I clean the backside and edges the same way. I then blush flux onto the surface. I put the patch in place and then using a small propane plumbing torch I heat up the surface. For solder I use plumbers solder from Cnd Tire or any hardware store. I continue to heat up the area with the torch and then apply the soldier. Once heated to the proper temp it will flow really well under and around the patch. I then go back with the sanding drum and give it a quick once over clean it up a bit cosmetically. As for the large copper soldering irons I have seen them but never used them.

I couldn't find the drawings from Phil's site. I had what was left of the original strips so I was able to get the widths from them. I think it took me about 2.5hrs today to get the one side done. It is a lot of measuring, edge cleaning and hole drilling and further burr cleaning to do. Friday I will be going to a local canvas repair place to see about the clear window vinyl.

[Bob Carriere]

WE are reluctant to use a torch flame of any kind on a cab 13 tank as it does not have the large top opening brass cover that really ventilates a tank..... that is why we got the old style copper irons.

Gran't tank is dry....very dry..... but still smells of gasoline.... it has been left in the Sun a number of days and we have used compressed air from the compressor to ventilate and blow dust out but still concerned......

We may try running a vacuum cleaner in reverse into the neck of the tank while soldering with a torch...... I would be using a #0 tip on an oxy-acetylene system.

Let me know what kind of vinyl you decide on...... I need to so some also for my side curtains of the cab 11...... I have original side curtains from Dirk but the clear plastic is yellow and brittle..... and they are sewn onto the curtains.

Cheers

[Jordan Baker]

Ive only had one tank go kaboom on me and that was because I had just drained the fuel out of it a few days before. It started to scream so i hit the dirt and then it let off a muffled boom. When I picked myself back up the tank looked rather cartoonish and was very rounded.

If you cleaned the inside with acid and rinsed it out it should be fine. When I use the torch Im not sticking the flame into the hole. There is a patch already ontop of it.

As for the vinyl I'll talk with them at the shop and see what they say.

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Guys

Just to be clear there are no drawings of the CMP side curtains on my web site canadianmilitarypattern.com the photos of the canvas parts of the side curtains are still there but the drawings have disappeared.

Will try to find them, I need to do a serious rebuild of my web site including better search system, but there are not enough hours in the day, choice of working in the shop or working on the computer. The shop is winning.

Cheers Phil

[Jordan Baker]

Thanks Phil. I knew there was a reason I couldn't find them.

[Stew Robertson]

A little trick to welding fuel tanks, is drain and rinse with water then stick an exhaust hose from a running engine in and let it run until all the moisture is gone it is then safe to grind, solder or weld

[Jordan Baker]

Spent the last few days busy making some small parts. First up the is rare dash mounted map light. I was fortunate enough to be leant an original from a fellow MLU'er. I ended up using 2" dia washers for the ends and 2" outside dia exhaust pipe. I clamped the washers down to a copper paddle and then filled the center in with weld. That was then ground down smooth. The exhaust pipe was opened up slightly once I cut out the void. The ended were welded in and then ground smooth. I think I spent about 10hrs making this. Its not perfect but its pretty darn close.