The rubber rear steps from the early mk1 Cdn carriers were replaced in production with steel checkerplate. The rubber firing rests were also replaced in production with wooden examples. The rubber straps which were used on the various brackets to hold in stores were replaced with canvas straps. Even the rubber tube from the air cleaner to the carb was replaced with a combination of short rubber tubes and a length of steel tubing. All would have been to reduce the amount of rubber required. I seem to recall even the track return wheels having reduced amounts of rubber on them over the production years.
I have seen the wooden firing rests fully marked with the FMco makers mark, the date and the CTL part numbers. They were a factory item.
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