M38A1 CDN in goat pasture

[David Dunlop]

Sounds like the rear panel has been completely replaced then. Almost like somebody was trying very hard to make this M38A1 look like its civilian CJ5 counterpart.

When you get a chance, take a close look underneath the body in the left rear corner. There would have been a trailer cable socket with a spring loaded lid mounted roughly 6 inches below the top edge of the rear body in that area and it would have been fed by a fairly hefty branch of the wiring harness. If the original panel is gone you should only find a stub of the harness, unless it has been replaced as well. As well, aft of the rear differential underneath, fastened to the frame you might find a metal bracket, flat, with a bend in it and a roughly 0ne inch hole. This was to mount a small convoy lamp that shone on the rear cover plate of the differential. The entire rear of the differential cover plate, or a vertical central strip of it would have been painted white to show up in the dark. The convoy light switch would have been mounted on the dash in the lower left hand corner with a rectangular ID plate around it. Typically a bat style toggle switch, vertically oriented.

I ran across an M38CDN here in town years ago at a local marina. It had a very similar set up of front and rear ball hitches on it and was used an a hack vehicle to move boat trailers around the yard.

I see a couple of base plates on the forward ends to the rear wheel wells. Probably for a homemade top assembly at one time. On either side, in the triangular recesses, there would have been brackets to hold the original military top bow assembly when the top was up. A second set of brackets (different style) were bolted to the upper sides close to the front of the wheel wells. These secured the top bows when in the stored position with the canvas removed.

Sorry. I guess I just padded up your things to look into list.

David

[TonyRoper]

Thanks for the input. No worries, currently entries to the list are welcome as I am ignorant of most details, and am here to learn.

In the upper rear portion of the driver rear fender, I do see a covered hole that was possibly for the trailer wiring connector:



It does have a convoy lamp switch, but it is mounted horizontally under the instruments towards the passenger side. Looking at the holes, I suspect it may have been mounted where the headlight switch currently is.



Underneath, I didn't get a very good shot since there were ants present...

[TonyRoper]

Update: My copy of Mr. Iarocci's book arrived today which gives me some idea about the various markings. There are a few examples of in-service vehicles with the spare tire relocated, so maybe it happened during service.

I did pull the front bumper to see if I could locate any stampings on the frame horn. They're either too faint to read or don't exist. There was a "283L" on the outside of the rail, and a "283R" on the opposite rail. Back to the drawing board.

[maple_leaf_eh]

Andrew's book is sadly a little light. There are a couple of M38A1 Facebook Groups which are populated (polluted?) with strong willed folks kicking life into their now 50 plus year old rides. Yours, of course gets another generation added!

[TonyRoper]

Originally Posted by maple_leaf_eh

Andrew's book is sadly a little light. There are a couple of M38A1 Facebook Groups which are populated (polluted?) with strong willed folks kicking life into their now 50 plus year old rides. Yours, of course gets another generation added!

Due to work constraints, Facebook and most other social media is not an option for me. Hopefully I can find what I need on regular forums.

The book did answer one of my first questions, now I know which front bumper to fit.

Maybe one day I can track down a service number. Failing that, I may just use "53-3xxxx and fudge the last digits of the VIN or some such.

[David Dunlop]

Tony, your vehicles Canadian Army Registration Number 53-3XXXX would normally be stamped in approx. 1/4-inch numbers on the top of the left side frame rail somewhere forward of the grill assembly. I think the reasoning as that the frame rail would be a reasonably permanent location. The frame horn could get damaged and be replaced, taking the number record with it.

David

[TonyRoper]

I managed to drag the front bumper off and went at the driver frame horn with a wire brush. The only impression I can see is what appears to be a punch mark.

This area was directly in contact with the bumper above and may have been pitted into oblivion.

[Andrew Iarocci]

Originally Posted by maple_leaf_eh

Andrew's book is sadly a little light. There are a couple of M38A1 Facebook Groups which are populated (polluted?) with strong willed folks kicking life into their now 50 plus year old rides. Yours, of course gets another generation added!

At the time I wrote the book, the word limit for Service Pubs pamphlets was (sadly?) just 6,000 words. I did my best to work in a reasonable sampling of the available archival materials for the sake of the hobby. Anyone who wishes is free to order up the archival materials at Library and Archives Canada and attempt something more comprehensive.