Roof Hatch

jason meade · #1 24-11-11, 22:31

Guys I am just thinking, has anyone converted a roof of a chev cmp to one with the hatch, I have a really good roof with out the hatch and was thinking that i may be able to convert it over if i could come up with the rest of the parts.
Has anyone done this? and if so did you make your own parts or use doner parts?

On another note the access cover for the starter, i dont have one and would like to make one or find one...is there anything special about it or just a peice cut to fit with holes drilled and tapered?

Thanks jason

Grant Bowker · #2 24-11-11, 23:20

It seems a shame to cut a perfectly good but hatchless roof. Can you get anyone in your area (shipping would be a killer) to trade a reasonable hatch type roof for your hatchless one. This would give you the appropriate inner reinforcements for the hatch type roof and also locate the hatch for you. This should balance out having to smooth out some smaller bumps. I haven't seen many spare hatch rings, mounting reinforcements, inner padded cushions or tapered wood spacers floating around, but there must be some available you could borrow as a pattern. Most of the parts are either flat or rod stock welded together to make up the hatch ring so if you can only borrow one it would be possible to fabricate a reasonable facsimilie.

For the starter access cover, are you talking about the piece of floor plate over the starter motor or the rim that holds the boot around the starter lever in place?
The floor panel is just tread plate with an "L" shaped angle on the face nearest the engine to help keep the doghouse in place and I think it also has an anchor point for the doghouse welded to the upper face. Again, a part you can fabricate if you have a pattern.
If you are looking for the part that anchors the starter lever boot - Brian Asbury had some of these available NOS, but you could also fabricate one from plain sheet steel if you have a pattern.

jason meade · #3 24-11-11, 23:59

Thanks Grant,Thts the plan o make em myself, Metal work for me is pretty easy...wood work is a whole different problem...There is only two cmps in the area that i am aware of, Bill Mulhallands and mine so finding one and dealing with shipping is just not worth the hassel.
Though I am hopin someone has done this in the past and knows what goes into it.
Jason

Grant Bowker · #4 25-11-11, 00:28

Start putting the word out in the collector car groups that you are interested in hearing about vehicles like the cab 13, give them photos to remind them what you want. Most of them don't want the trucks you are seeking so will be willing to pass on info that they come across while looking for what interests them. You could also score running inline engines from guys who want to take them out in favour of v8s.

A jeep collector in the Ottawa area used to run a WANTED ad in the local Auto Trader paper. He ended up with somthing like 50 jeeps coming his way including some rare types (he didn't buy or keep all of them), he also got leads to CMP this way. I hadn't seen any CMPs around Ottawa for many years (except the War Museum), now I own 7 frames and somewhat less sheet metal plus a few extra engines. Surprising what jumps out once you have a network helping you.

Do you know any helicopter pilots that operate low and slow who might keep their eyes open in return for a suitable reward?

jason meade · #5 25-11-11, 01:18

Hey Grant Ya i do have a few pilot friends 403 Hel Sqn just up the road from me, I dont dare to put a want add in as my wife will kill me if i bring home anymore "green crap"...already had tobuild a peice on the garage for the cmp, i would just end up finding something else I like.
Thanks for your help!
Jason

Bob Carriere · #6 25-11-11, 22:09

Jason....Grant....

do you remember the name of the chap that came to Ottawa..... he bought the UC from Coe Hill......now he had knowledge of a yard....deadend road somewhere in NS or NB....... they had tons of left over CMPs...... they migth still be there....... also the car dealer that was into CMP..... bought the water truck from CC....... having a CRS moment with names....

Reason for raising the issue, working from scratch to make a circular hatch can be a challenge...... have a model or a scrap one to work from is bliss.

I agree with Grant that finding a proper roof would greatly simplify the locating of the ring hatch...... fabricating the metal parts would be relatively easy...... fabricating the wooden spacer ring with the uneven curved edges to match the roof curve can be taxing.

If nothing turns ups on the coast we can try to measure what we have in our existing old roofs and share with Jason.

Bob

jason meade · #7 26-11-11, 03:45

Bob, I think I know the place on a dead end road as being in Moncton New Brunswick, a fellows father had a few that they convereted to use at a private air strip, they had got alot of canadas canair sabre 5 jets to convert them to drones. They had turned them into water and fuel tankers.
I was just down to look at one that was in the best condition before the snow came and there not much to talk about.
The other guy that you say bought the water tanker from a fellow in ontario was a Brad Mills also has a car dealership, he inturn sold it to a fellow in Moncton....Very nice truck I may add.
I guess I hope mabey someone will have one that I could borrow over the winter and reproduce, or find parts of one to get me started.
Jason

Bob Carriere · #8 26-11-11, 05:14

.... and plugging into the forum...something may come up. I picked up a very good rectangular hatch at Acton just a month or so ago.... price was cheaper than making one.

Stay in touch.

Bob

Phil Waterman · #9 26-11-11, 15:35

HI All

What year did they go from Square to Round roof hatches and do we have any idea what percentage of vehicles had a hatch at all?

I remember there is a very clear cut off date on the square hatch, but I also remember that there were a significant number of hatches cut in the roofs of CMPs in North Africa as an expedient to watch for aircraft.

As trucks often had parts shifted around finding a round hatch on an early Pattern 13 could just mean the cab roof had been swapped.

While I'm talking I'll tell you a story I heard from an Old Canadian Soldier years ago. Our MV Club had done a parade in Jaffrey New Hampshire a small town near my home, after the parade we had the vehicles on display around the town square and an older gentlemen came over to look at the HUP, from the look in his eye you tell the CMP meant something special to him. He told me he had served in the Canadian Army during the 2nd WW. We talked about the truck and its history, and he climbed in to look around some more he stood up through the co-drivers hatch and we continued talking. He said something like "do you know why some of them have square hatches and some round" I didn't know so he went on "round people into square corners don't go" then he explained that it was because with the early square hatch guys would get thrown around on rough ground and they were ending up with bruised and broken ribs. Several years later at the 84 CMP Seminar I has the design panel if there was a particular reason for the change from square to round. None of the panel could remember why the change, then related the story I'd been told. There response was it was a very plausible reason.

Cheers Phil