How To: C15a Wire-3 restoration

[Jordan Baker]

I also installed the hard brake lines yesterday.

[Jordan Baker]

Yesterday when I was installing the right side brake backing plate to the axle, one of the special shouldered bolts had its threads strip off. So this morning I went down to the machine shop and made up a new one.

[Jordan Baker]

And she’s got 4 wheels again. Brake system is all back together. The lines were bled of air and the initial brake adjustment done. Only a few minor leaks in the system due to not tight enough fittings. All in all it went together reasonably well

[Jordan Baker]

Today I cleaned up the engine mounts from a heavy coating of crud, grease and dirt. I’m assuming that these groves are from wear between the first two parts vibrating.

[Bob Carriere]

...better see a dentist..

I would grind the part evenly and use oversized washer to make up the metal lost to grinding.....

It must have been running loose for quite some time.

Enjoy watching you progress and attention to details.

Bob C.

[Jordan Baker]

So I was in luck. I pulled out a milk crate that had bits and pieces from when I first got the truck. At the time I really had no idea what all the parts were but I kept them. Well the other day I went through all the remaining bits and as luck would have I had one in NOS condition.

So with the front engine mount bits pretty much ready to go, I moved over to mounting the radiator into the mounting frame. I had radiator rebuilt with a new core keeping the upper and lower tanks. I also rebuilt the drain cock. It needed a new washer on the end also needed a new stop pin. For the stop pin I drilled out the brass body and threaded the hole. Then threaded some brass rod and screwed it in. Now the drain functions as it should.

One thing I’ve been wondering about. Is there an inner radiator shroud? I know there is a shroud mounted to the inside of the nose. I’m positive I’ve seen some pictures of one but now can’t find them.

[Grant Bowker]

The Chevrolet inner shroud is a 2 part assembly. I was lucky enough to have several originals of the upper part but only a damaged original lower part. So, of course it became an exercise in figure out how to make a couple (if making one, I thought it better to make 2 so that I wouldn't have to re-learn how the next time I wanted one....).
Measure, draw, transfer from drawing to metal, cut, bend, beat the curved part added on the side, spot weld the reinforcement on the bottom and the extra part on the side, paint, install.

[Grant Bowker]

More photos

[Jordan Baker]

Thanks for the pictures. Now to find one.

[David Herbert]

Why are there holes in the rear corners of the shroud about 4" down from the header tank ?

David

[Grant Bowker]

I'm not 100% sure as they don't seem to serve any purpose on the Cab 13 but I think the holes are there to permit a reinforcing bar used on the cab 12 to pass just behind the radiator.

[Jordan Baker]

Made up a new felt gasket for the stick shift floor plate. The old one has seen better days.

I also started plumbing up the engine. I’m putting in all new lines for the fuel and vacuum. I’m also going to be flaring all the ends instead of using the brass compression rings.

[Jordan Baker]

New clutch pedal blushing pressed in and reamed to finished size.

Does anyone have a clear picture of the pedals with the springs all attached. I can’t remember where everything goes.

I also made up the fuel line and vacuum line for the engine and got them fitted. I still have a few things to do on the engine before firing it up.

[Bob Carriere]

Only thing missing is the return spring that attaches to the brake pedal clevis pin and on forward to the tab on the frame.

The fuel lines and the vacuum lines are usually above the pump and above the elbow that holds the hose to the rad....... the cast elbow that bolts to the head should have a small bolt hole that takes a 1/4 - 20 bolt and clip that holds the lines steady. Your set up below the pump is neat and not rubbing on anything I would leave it has is....... when you do the PCV from the draft tube make sure the valve is in the vertical section of the tube before the first bend across the engine to the manifold.

where will your PCV connect to on your intake manifold...... into the manifold just below the carb????? had to make special adjustment since the side of the manifold on a cab 11 is too close to the engine cover.

Cheers

[Jordan Baker]

Thanks Bob. It’s gett there. For fuel and vacuum lines I simply copied the ones that were on the original wartime engine. However I went to test fit the throttle linkage and I ran into a snag. The lines are directly in the path of the horizontal rod from the linkage. So back to the drawing board for some tweaking.

Today I was off to visit a friend and see a new project he recently picked up. I was able to borrow a number of the splash guards and an inner radiator shroud.

[Grant Bowker]

Interesting, it looks as if either the shroud was redesigned at some point or trimmed for easier remove/re-install. Also, I've see several of the smaller frame mounted lower splash shield but never the longer one with the cutout. I wonder why one was more common than the other? Or, why one was removed more often...

[David Dunlop]

Jordan.

What is the build date for your C15A? My old WIRE-5 was a June 1944 product with ring hatch, military instrument panel and surge tank mounted under the front left side, rather than the cowl.

The left upper side splash guard was a quick release design. Roughly halfway up the front edge was a punched ‘key hole’. This fitted over a swivel latch (virtually the same latch as used on the stowage bins on the rear body side stowage bins of the FAT) which was mounted, I think, on the side of the radiator shroud. There should be a small triangular hole pattern on the shroud where the circular base plate of the latch was secured.

I believe this minor change to accommodate the latch style splash guard means all rad shroud items from earlier production vehicles will interchange with the later version but you will not be able to fit the upper left side splash guard. The two lower ones inboard of the chassis stayed relatively unchanged. This left upper splash guard was a really tough bird to track down in the 1980’s. Probably a result of a very short production life and the postwar habit for all these plates to get tossed during maintenance because they were deemed a pain in the ass to have to deal with when doing routine engine maintenance. Somebody is bound to have one somewhere you can pattern though.

David

By the way. You are doing great work!

[Jordan Baker]

David the build date is October 1944.

Yes my radiator mount had the swivel latch you mention. I’ll have to dig it out and put it back on. I forgot about it until you mentioned it. I suspect that the unknown metal part mounts on the upper right side of the radiator mount. The one mounting hole and the bump out match up to that spot. I’ll get a picture tomorrow.

As for the long splash guard. From the picture I can see why this part was tossed. You can’t access the master cylinder adjustment from below.

As for the engine. Yesterday’s issues have been resolved. I went back over and looked at the engine drawings I had from the CMA-01 Major Assemblies manual. The fuel and vacuum lines went under the water pump and then went up to the level of the hookup on the carburetor. However they took a slight bend just before where the throttle rod comes out. So I copied all this and voila everything fits.

[Jordan Baker]

I did manage to get the throttle rod to fit today. I cut out the middle of the mounting section and added two spacers to fit behind the mount. I also had to lower the holes on the bracket just a touch. However this bracket had been previously “fixed” by myself before and I put the holes too high. It’s very tight but everything does move freely. I do plan on adding a small piece to join both sides of the bracket so that neither side can pivot off of the mounting bolts. I just need to cut it to conture around the thermostat housing.

[Jordan Baker]

Today I had the brief honour of having the CMP Saviour himself down for a visit to hand deliver a much needed part.

[Phil Waterman]

Originally Posted by Jordan Baker

Today I had the brief honour of having the CMP Saviour himself down for a visit to hand deliver a much needed part.

Hi Jordan

I was wondering who the next Marvel Movie hero was going to be? CMP MAN. Just think of the possibilities, faster than a speeding C15, able to leap small buildings like F60S, well you get the idea.

Cheers Phil

[rob love]

Originally Posted by Phil Waterman

Hi Jordan

I was wondering who the next Marvel Movie hero was going to be? CMP MAN. Just think of the possibilities, faster than a speeding C15, able to leap small buildings like F60S, well you get the idea.

Cheers Phil

cmpman has been my email moniker and ebay name for the last 20 years.

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Originally Posted by rob love

cmpman has been my email moniker and ebay name for the last 20 years.

The cape and tights don't come across all that well in digital media...

[Jordan Baker]

Another major step forward today. The engine after all my work on it was fired up for the first time. Yesterday I finally got it to cough on quick start. Turns out after much head scratching that the points had oxidized from sitting for just over a year. After cleaning them I had very strong blue sparks at the plugs. Today I hooked up a fuel line and it fired right up. It’s only been run for about 10-20 seconds a couple of time since I don’t have the radiator hooked up yet.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1Df_a_...ature=youtu.be

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Jordan

Got to love firin up out side the truck. One of the reasons I first made a test stand, to start and run the engine and cooling system out side the truck so much easier to see and get at everything before it is all tucked away in the truck.

I'm enjoying your progress.

Cheers Phil

[Jordan Baker]

While waiting for some more engine part to arrive I’ve jumped back into making up the sheet metal parts for fitting around the radiator. I’ve also made up a set of the sheet metal that fits on the bottom of the fenders to cover the gap near the cab step.

[Jordan Baker]

I spent some time in the shop making up some more sheet metal parts. First up was fitting the lower radiator splash panels. These came in two parts and seal off the space between the bottom of the radiator and the mounting bracket and the frame cross member. As expected everything lined up perfectly.

I also started in on making up the radiator shroud. I got the top one done up.

[Harry Moon]

Originally Posted by Jordan Baker

While waiting for some more engine part to arrive I’ve jumped back into making up the sheet metal parts for fitting around the radiator. I’ve also made up a set of the sheet metal that fits on the bottom of the fenders to cover the gap near the cab step.

I've never seen the bottom 2, where do they fit?

[Jordan Baker]

Which bottom two are you referring to Harry?

[Jordan Baker]

The radiator shroud is coming along. This was a pile of work to measure 5 times and then cutting it out.