just picked up a 76 Chev 5/4
 

Guys

I have just picked up a 76 Chev 5/4, saved from a salvage yard, currently a GP vehicle. Rear to be taken off as the floor is pretty much gone and I intend to replace with a CP box, which arrives in May. :)

Any recommendations as to the thread pattern to get for the truck, have looked at the STA site and there are a few options. Plan is mainly highway driving to and from events, not planning on bouncing around the field, did enough of that in the early 1980s.

Plan is to restore the box as an Artillery Command post, I have a few pics from my days in the CP and wondering if anyone has pics to possibly share as well as any leads on where I may be able to get some maps of Petawawa, Gagetown and Shilo to show as a working CP.

Also, ideas as to where I could find manuals and also colour codes and schemes?

Any and all advice gratefully accepted and faithfully applied. Restoring to its former glory...1979-1985 period. Now to remember the numbers that would have been on the doors and their dimensions.

Regards from Smiths Falls, Ontario

Mark
1968 M38A1 CDN2
1953 M100 (MCI) 1/4 ton trailer
1976 Chev 5/4 ton CP

Welcome back stranger!

Having gone the STA route myself, I would recommend you get a set of the later 16" chev rims and go with an aggressive Wrangler radial.

While I am all for original as possible, the STA tires are the last non-trailer tire made in the 16.5 size. I put mine on in the late fall and parked the truck outside for the winter. By spring, they had weathercracked to the point that I am sure that one or two of them would not pass safety.

As such, I have been avoiding STA tires as much as possible. A google search on the brand show that I am not alone with having experienced the premature weather-cracking of their tires.

Cam pattern is no problem, I'll have it here. I may have some extra of the maintenance manuals as well. I don't have too much for the mod instructions nor for the various layouts of the SEV shelters I'm afraid.

I'm not sure as so many years have passed, but I think when the trucks had the van body on them they may have had a slightly larger rear spring pack on them. I'll have to look it up in the parts manual to confirm.

5/4
 

great to hear , you have a ton of work ahead of you, just getting to the end of a 5/4 CUCV line truck, we will be doing a Cratts truck and a Rad Van all based on the CUCV, what's your plan for the pod regarding radios? ours will be HF and VHF with Crypto, just picked up 2 NOS 1.5 KW gen sets , I think it will be wise for you to do some up grades to the drive line on the truck to improve your fuel mileage, like Rob said 16 inch on wheels and tires and a set of hubs and a transfer case swap, I have books and camo patterns also,

Is that Mark Paine?

Lord love a duck, he is alive

Hello Mark,

Greetings from Australia :)

Congratulations on rescuing the vehicle from the scrap yard - scrappies.

Could you please post up a couple of photographs of your vehicle? It would be good to know what a 76 Chev 5/4 is and looks like :salute:

Oh by the way what does 5/4 represent 1 & 1/4 ton? Or does it mean something else?

Kind Regards
Lionel

Hi Frank
Great to hear of what you are working on. Jason Jinn (whom we all know) is doing the restoration work for me (thankfully), so I'll ask him to reach out to you re paint schemes and books. I found a tech manual on the interweb - http://www.73-87chevytrucks.com/tech...Supplement.pdf - not sure if it is of any use but did pass it along to Jason.

Thanks for the encouragement and for the assistance.

Rob
Thanks for the advice, all of which will be faithfully applied - by Jason!
I'll ask Jason to contact you re the specifics of the parts manual info. Let me know what you want for the manuals (if you have extra) and also for any info re the cam pattern. I have a couple of photos, when I was doing PH training, so will try to replicate that to the degree possible, unfortunately it is only a shot of the back of the box. Let us know when you are passing through Ottawa from out west. I had a great time out in Shilo in the early 80's with the NRQS and my FOO course with Capt Jack "Death" Mortlock.

Hello Mark,

Congratulations on rescuing the vehicle from the scrap yard - scrappies.

Could you please post up a couple of photographs of your vehicle? It would be good to know what a 76 Chev 5/4 is and looks like :salute:

Oh by the way what does 5/4 represent 1 & 1/4 ton? Or does it mean something else?

Kind Regards
Lionel[/QUOTE]


Lionel - as you surmised the 5/4 is indeed a 1&1/4 ton. We Canucks did the new math and affectionately called them 5 Quads - in their many variants. As soon as I transfer some pics off my iphone I'll upload. :cheers:

he is alive[/QUOTE] :cool:

Yup!

1968 M38A1 CDN2, to be on the road shortly (right Jason) and am going to take it down to Manchester, VT for its first entry into a car show - June 10&11.
Next year the CP - perhaps I can find a small trailer to cart the jeep along and enter the two.
BTW for those on Facebook...Jason's site is Ginn Restorations. :salute:

Before the roadtrip, practise getting your backside numb. The seat is not adjustable, and I remember being very uncomfortable on roadmoves. Make sure your mirrors are well aimed. Make sure you've got a big orange marker panel on the spare tire, because someone much faster than you will crawl up your back bumper as you make your way at 45mph and him at 70 mph. I found a 24v to 12v alligator clip transformer gadget at Harbour Freight. Can't want to try it out for GPS navigators, phone chargers and portable sound systems. The lure of the open road will get boring fast.

Terry: You know this thread is about the 5/4 ton, don't you? You have mostly described the traits of the LSVW with it's sewing machine engine and fork lift seating,

What would the 12/24v adapter be for? The 5/4 is 95% 12 volt, with a secondary 24volt system that on many of the trucks did absolutely nothing.

The 24volt system was for the radios (if equipped) and the cargo area heater (an old stewart warner Southwind 978M). There were 3 different systems used over the years to allow you to use the 24volt system as an aid to starting, but only one of the three systems absolutely required the 24v to start.

The Archilles heel on the 5/4 ton was the small Dana 44 front axle. Everything else could hold it's own for the first ten or 12 years anyway, after which fatigue and old age really made them a challenge to maintain.

Was responding to Mark's post immediately above mine about his M38A1 CDN2 being ready for a roadtrip. The 5/4 is the main topic of conversation in this thread. The LS and its limitations is somewhere else.

Ah, I got you, you were talking about the Jeep, of which I will concur on all your observations. I thought you were talking about the 5/4 ton, which for a commercial vehicle (and a Chev at that) held up rather well to the abuse of service life.