About the bell housing
 

Couple of points to be made about the bell housing (some have been discussed before in other threads). Yes the 216 CMP bell housing will bolt up directly to a 235 or 261 engine. But be sure when ever a bell housing is fitted to a different engine that you follow the process for checking that the transmission will be centered as described in the manual. This is a fussy little process but does seem to be important (if it turns out that the new bell housing is out of center) effects shifting, bearing life, and transmission noise. Now if by chance the CMP bell housing is missing or cracked, one of mine had four major cracks, you can convert a lhd bell housing to a rhd without much difficulty. Take a look at the picture below you will note that the top is a standard CMP bell housing, then look at the lower bell housing you will note than it has two clutch fork cut outs. A little careful layout work a drill press, tap, and an air grinder was all it took to convert it.

right hand
 

You must have had to drill and tap a new hole for the clutch fork ? No?

Re: right hand
 

Yes you drill and tap for the pivot ball, to give the ball flange a flat surface to seat against I ground a washer to sit behind the flange ground to mate flat with the bell housing casting, also used some Locktight to be sure that the ball didn’t unscrew. This bell housing has been in the truck for two years now with no problems. The bell housing that it replaced was cracked so bad that I’m surprised that it was still in one piece. The new bell housing also needed to realigned that I did according to the book and reamed in new centering dowels.

ding dong housing
 

That's very nice work. I'm proud. Passed with flying colors.

Pictures of the front frame horns
 

Can someone post or direct me to photographs of the front without the bumper? Mine was held on by hopes and a dream and the remains look, uh, interesting.

I have welded up the steering so it is now unloaded and mobile, bashed out many dents, removed detritus and bits of junk bolted and welded here and there, ordered some bits, and assessed most of the rig.

Which vehicle? Ford, Chev? 4x2 or 4x4? 11, 12 or 13 cab?

All of these will have a bearing on the arrangement of the fittings found on the front end of the chassis and bumper mounts and tow points.

1944 MACH ZL-2 in sig. To quote a 1984 movie "there can be only one!!".

C8A...
 

Tony..
It's a C8A......
:remember :drunk: :support

The bumper is still on, but here's the frame horns on my 1943 HUP.
Attachment 18347

Another view.
Attachment 18348

The missing bolts on the bumper hold the push bar on.
Attachment 18349

Perfect
 

Thank you. It looks as though the frame with a little tweaking is fine; it's just my bumper brackets are missing

What is the paint code
 

for the original yellowish green colour the truck seems to have been painted with? Is it Khaki Green #3? As I fix bits I would like to paint them this original base colour until I decide on the final colour...
Or do I have a choice? Was SCC2 Brown still being used in 1944?
The interior was mostly the yellow/green colour (white at the top in the back) while the exterior is two different coats, and thus shades, of green.
I would like to paint it as if it saw service in Italy.

I have searched but come up empty on actual paint codes... lots on home brew. I'd really rather not!! I have a really poor ability for colour distinction.

A fella up the road knows the code of the Olive Green used on CDN vehicles but I didn't write it down so it's lost until my next visit.

Hi Shayne
Gordon has asked me to forward you some photos of the interior. Could you send me your email by PM. I can't seem to PM outbound sometimes but usually receive okay.
Thanks,
Barry

Dent repair
 

The heavy panel material of the CMP body makes dent removal somewhat more involved than standard automobiles. I have been able to remove the front fenders and use an anvil and hammer to repair them but how about parts on the vehicle? The standard dolly and hammer method is somewhat underwhelming to say the least.
I have pretty much resigned myself to removing anything that comes off for repairs but what about the main body? Is there a trick to getting these dents repaired... some are pretty impressive.

Additionally I will be cutting out heavilly damaged parts and welding in new "sheet metal". Is there a primer that I can apply that will seal the raw steel until I'm ready for paint? I have used standart automotive primers in the past but moisture penetrates which is rather counterproductive.

The first thing you learn when repairing dints on a CMP is grab the biggest hammer that you can find then go from there.

I have a 16 pound sledge... I'll start there. ;-)

Paint and radiator
 

Radiator.
The radiator looks solid and intact but it could use refurbishing inside and out. So two questions:
Is refurbishing an option? I have enquired about repairs with other vehicles and the cost usually has me purchasing a new one instead.
Which brings me to the second question. Are new radiators available for these for/from other applications?

Paint.
I would like to start painting those parts I've repaired. Is there any way to source the Khaki colour used during manufacture in 1944? There are some places the colour still exists on my truck but they are either not removable or too small to use for computer colour matching... paint shops don't seem to have people who know how to match colours without the aid of a 50,000 dollar machine.
I'm hoping someone has a paint code 'close enough'. I'm considering purchasing Tamiya's Khaki model product and painting a blank then having a paint shop colur match that.

Shayne, what you need to find is an old school rad shop- someone who has been rebuilding rads for years.
Any rad can be rebuilt, just a matter of finding a guy willing to take on the challenge. They will typicallly save the top and bottom tanks and fittings and the rest will be new. They will source a new header plate and core to match up. Usually, rads have2,3,4 or more cores. These are the layers of flat cooling tubes that are assembled together to form a core. The more cores (layers) that you have, the more cooling ability.
I had a Ford cmp rad built several years ago, it was expensive but it was bang on and was better than an OEM one. My rad shop upgraded the core by installing 3/4" tubes instead of the original 1/2" ones. They even had to do some custom fabricating to make the new header fit into the old tanks. Considering the work, I think I got it for around $300. Go price a rad for a new Chev or Ford pickup...

As far as paint, a whole other subject that has been beaten to death here on MLU. I suggest you do a search for cmp paint. all will be answered. Maybe Hanno can chime in here, he is usually the guru of searches...

Thanks Chris.
I find it difficult to search here. IE I cannot search CMP, SCC2, No 3, etc. because they do not meet the minimum requirements.
I did search what I could and found lots of discussion on colours but nothing tangible I can use to order or mix the colours.

I would personally save up and get the original rad rebuilt. The one in my UC finaly gave out and blew hot steam down my left side while I was driving. That was last of clues I needed to get it fixed. I wouldn't waste my time looking for a modern replacment from another vehicle. You will end up with something that will still need to be changed in order for it to fit.

As Chris says find a place that can do the job and have the best job you can afford done. It cost me about $575 with tax to have it completly rebuilt. New core, top/bottom tanks taken apart and re constructed. Was that a lot of money, yes, however my piece of mind that it wont let me down is priceless. (i know those damn credit card commercials)


As for paint. Lots of threads on this forum about it. Get in touch with Mike Starmer. He has written/ published a number of books on the subject and the best part is that they come with paint chips in the back. I think his last book on NWE paint schemes was about $20-30. Once you have the book simply take the chip in and have them match it.

Thank you. I did see, in my searches here, references to Starmer's books but was unaware of the chips. Perfect.
I wasn't thinking modern rad I, was thinking that the rad used in these was sourced from GM's inventory and that perhaps a stovebolt rad would be the same...

Shayne, I am not sure about the chev rads comparing a cmp one to a civvy one etc but I do know that a Ford cmp rad is its own beast, nothing other than an original is correct.

Chevrolet radiators
 

I am sure that the CMP radiator support is derived from the part used on the 1940 (and earlier?) civilian 1 ton trucks. That explains the circular cutout in the angled face at the front top. It was originally to allow clearance for the mounting bolt and wiring for headlights. The part numbers for the supports do differ, as you would expect since the CMP ones are cut offs from the civilian pattern. The cuts don't all seem identical so I wonder whether the CMP supports were originally stamped as civilian parts and individually cut off, all similar but not identical. The C15A parts list gives 3 numbers for the radiator support for different serial number ranges, without the note "when stock depleted use number...." so the differences were of some significance to matching the cab assembly.

As to the radiators, you could take the part number(s) from your CMP parts list and go into the Master Parts Lists at www.tocmp.com to see if you find a match to a civilian part (probably not before 1938 or after 1942 but stranger things have happened so you may want to check a wider date range). The C15A parts list has 5 different radiator cores, while the C60L parts book lists 6 different cores (the 5 for the C15A plus a special for the 6 pdr portee). The radiators do have the "when stock depleted use number...." note, except for the difference of whether there was a fitting of the overflow tank.

The rad cores are the same as some civvy Chev or GMC units but the mounts are different but interchangeable. The tanks seem to be the same too. It's fairly easy to sweat the mounts off one rad and solder them on another. If you get into the cab 12s the filler neck is different too.

What goes here?
 

Besides my finger? It looks like a small data plate that is missing.... not my finger the space on the dash.

Yes, Shayne, you are missing one of the data plates. If memory serves correctly, it repeats the truck serial.

It's the body type plate like this one has.

Or in your case, one like this.

Excellent. Thank you. Is there any way to find out what mine should read?

Shayne, maybe I will get this one right...

Yours should read something like: C.HU-441-MACH-ZL-2

body plate
 

check out the various data plates being offered by Bruce Parker

there may be one there....it is in the for sale page.

mike