Good day all. I thought it was time to start a journal of sorts to chronicle my restoration of the 44 Chev that I have. Hopefully it will turn into a wire 5 someday.... Some of the pictures may have appeared in another story, but I thought that I would start the story in order, and a picture is worth a thousand words.... so here goes:

The "I gotta have that rusty truck" disease spreads like any other ... with an ad, of course, and not just any ad, one right here on this site..and before you know it... BANG! your infected.
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Recovery of a second cab... some where behind the bushes...
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It made for a long evening.
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Ready for the trip from Ontario to N.B.
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No caption required.... somewhere outside Quebec City....
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Bad news
 

Craig the news (good or bad) is that the disease you have been infected with, is as far as I can tell, a terminal one.

Time for a shower. My very good friend Bill, has yet again assisted me.. this time with his F15... and his Diamond T tow bar. Sure makes it easy work when you have the kit!!

Close up

Now getting to "the heart of the problem..." and I can't forget the pressure washing picture credits go to my daughter... thanks Meg...

Now. A short, (ya short my #ss), time later and a little prep work, this appeared out of the dust!! I keep reminding myself that it ran extremely well befor I started, so I will probably not be able to make it go as I have removed the stuff that probably made it run so smooth.... ha ha ha.

I have been working on the frame getting it ready for repair and paint. I have to drop the transfer case to get to an area where I have to fix a couple of things. I will get a couple of pictures of that..... a little later....

Thats all for now... more to follow.

Great job....
 

Craig..
You are doing a fine job..
Uncle Willy is just the lad to keep you on the straight and narrow...
If you leave this morning you will be in fine nick for CC5 in Chatsworth..
I'll be down that way in August and hope to stop over at Diamond "T" Heaven,Burton ,N.B.

Well not me,... although sometimes I wonder,...

but the next phase is to complete the areas that need welding repairs, more specifically a couple of spots on the frame. The first one is just in front of the rear spring hanger. and the second is not too far from that just by the transfer case. Hopefully this weekend I will have the transfer case removed so I can get a better look.

Just a question, will I have to remove the spring hanger, given the cracks close proximity to it?

New Wire-5 project (Bergeron)
 

Starting a new Wire -5 project . This used to be the floor of the box.

Guess what
 

Madness . ..... At first sight , this box looks only good for the scrapper. But wait for the transformation as it slowly happens . First to go in : A new floor . A good house needs a good foundation and a good roof .

Looks like another gin palace box to me.

There were a lot of screws through the roof of these boxes , a whole lot of holes where water seeps in and destroys everything ... The box is a very early version of the 2K1 . The roof had traces of the composite wood anti - slip slats . Reports from the field complained that these would soak up water and disintegrate thus letting water seep into the box . They anti skid strips were changed to hardwood on the later and final version . Also , in my prior restoration i did not have to tear apart the ceiling , roof and trusses . So in this last picture nothing holds up the aluminum sheets because i had to tear out everything . The steel , the plywood and all the screws were rotted .Don’t worry , i will not document the whole restoration , that’s already been done . I will only document the rebuilding of the ceiling and roof of the box because i did not have to do this on my other one because it was in excellent condition . Some guys balk at the thought of doing this . I hope to put some reservations to rest . Guys, go for it !

This is a sample of the anti-skid strips that covered the roof of the early 2K1 boxes . It’s almost like cardboard . I removed 60 rusted out screws holding these strips from the roof with lock grip pliers . There were more on the new boxes but the rest had dissolved ... No wonder water seeped in on this version .

Y'know....you'll need a truck to go with that...

Bruce , like this nice Chevy with a rebuilt engine ?

Careful, you put those two trucks together you might end up with a litter of jeeps...

Hey Bruce , that would be fantastic ! I acid etched the aluminium yesterday and applied a special aluminium primer today . Ready to apply the first sheets of plywood and fabricating steel arches to support the roof . Like i said before , i did not have to do this on my prior restoration because the support arches were solid .

The challenge is the dissimilar metal corrosion . The frame of the box is made of steel but the envelope is made of aluminium .

The challenge of dissimilar metal corrosion is encountered frequently in aviation but seldom have i seen it in military trucks.

First layer of plywood going in . Into this screws everything that is on top : Chimneys , ventilators and rails and antenna protectors .

Began putting in the frame that holds up the plywood supporting the aluminum sheet roof .

Here is the roof support structure re- assembled on the ground for reference .

Finished the superstructure today .

Free guaranteed original 2K1 Wireless body dome lamp to anyone crazy enough to take on a second wireless box like this.

Let me know if you want it and I'll ship it off.

Email sent Bruce .

I treated the plywood on both sides with a water repellent sealer / stain . I have seen the plywood come apart because of water seeping in by the numerous screw and bolt holes in the roof in these old boxes . I also primed all the exposed metal before putting in the finishing plywood for the ceiling . Lesson learned from my first restoration.

What are you using to cover the roof?
 

Hi Robert

What are using to cover the roof? I believe it was painted canvas, I found a substitute when I restored the S56 shelter on my C60S. It was commercial grade reinforced rubber roofing, the rubber has a fabric in the middle and is rated for 100mph wind.

It has lasted very well even getting scrapped by tree branches over the years, and living out doors for many years in the rain and the snow. No leaks. Can be painted with rubber paint and the reinforcement gives it the look of canvas.

When I went to the commercial roofing company and told the guy what was restoring, showed him a picture, he went and found a piece of scrap twice the size of what I need. When I got out my check book he said no you can have it.

Cheers Phil

Thank you very much Phil , that is a great idea ! In my case the roof is made of two aluminium sheets . The challenge is to prevent water from seeping in by the dozens of holes created by sheet metal screws , bolts and lag screws .

hooks
 

There are 14 hooks total , 7 each side attached to the aluminium roof . They serve as anchors to hold up the penthouse tent . Logicaly that tent goes on the left ( passenger ) side where the map table hooks up on the outside wall . Why they would have hooks on the generator compartment side is beyound me , mere restorer .

More hooks
 

Hooks on the cypher clerk side of the box . A lot of hooks . Originaly they were set with flimsy rivets and all of mine were gone. I went with 1/4” bolts after enlarging slightly the original holes along the roof .I will be using an awning instead of a tent .

Primed the underside of the new floor today . Nice & tidy .