[Robert Bergeron]

Hello Wayne,

It is a one time inspection upon road registration. The irony in this is Richard in Huntsville Ontario had gone through the whole process already just a few months prior .

When you import a used vehicule in Québec , wether it came from Malaya or Ontario you have to go through the safety inspection to licence it in the province..

There are no exceptions in Québec statutes for antique vehicules . The only helpfull rule is that you have to have installed and in working condition all the safety equipment installed by the manufacturer at time of delivery. So in the specific case of a C-15 CMP , no seat belts , no turn lights but a working handbrake, windshield wipers and high low headlight beam for example. They do not accept the blackout headlight on the left side and a bridge plate in the right side headlight bucket. I do that AFTER the safety inspection and registration when it is all done ..

Richard and i chose to install turn signals , brake and back-up lights and that is a personal survival reason. Of course , if installed they have to work.

They check the braking performance, the undercarriage , suspension and muffler.

It is quite an involved inspection and took almost 1 hour and 40 minutes.

The inspector called the head office at least 5 times. He was asking about the ''plastic'' side windows, the absence of a safety glass logo in the windshield etc.. because it was all new to him but he was still interested on hearing my remarks on the technical aspects of wartime truck production in Canada.

He insisted on seing the gas tank gauge indicator move. I flipped the switch to left tank and nothing happened . My tanks were full. I flipped the switch to right tank and it moved , slowly . O. K. he said it moved. I explained there was a wooden dipststick in the tool kit that came with the truck to check fuel level and he bought it.

It is an adventure to put a 71 year old HMV through a safety inspection but if you are well prepared , documented and knowledgeable about your truck it should go well.

When it was all over and he handed me his inspection report he said i needed side reflectors front and back. Yellow in front and red in the back. He continued and said he had stickers for $3 each that could do the job very well and i answered '' sold '' . He left a litlle corner lifted on each one because he very well knew i would take them off as soon as i drove out of his garage.

He then took pictures for his file and the licensing authority and i suspect to show off to his kids and that was it.

All said , it is like an exam at college or
High school. It is a chore to prepare but you are happy proud and content when it is finished and you don't have to do it again.

It is the final exam after a restoration and it says a lot about the quality of your work or as in my case of Richard's work.

I hope this detailed report will encourage you and other guys to go ahead
with your projects.

I have started the restoration of the inside of my box this morning . Everythig is cleaned out, the rusted old screws i have buffed away and the old plywood remaining i threw out.

Tomorrow the insulation and wednesday the new plywood.

It is a lot of fun and rewarding.

Cheers and good luck.