M216 Cdn

[Ken Smith]

Today I took out the brake and accelerator cross shafts and thanks to a wonderful tool called 4 inch cordless cutting disc, I had most of it out in no time at all. One bolt couldn't be reached by the disc so I decided to do the correct thing and got out the vice grips and 1/2" socket and ratchet but after a half hour getting in the cab, out of the cab, and under the truck a dozen times I ended up cutting the cross shaft and that's when the battery went flat on the 4" grinder.
I started on the seat removal and there will be a couple of bolts to cut off there tomorrow as well.
M216 Cdn shifting seats back to original (3).JPG

M216 Cdn shifting seats back to original (4).JPG

M216 Cdn Left to right brake pedal conversion.JPG

[ATTACH]103452[/ATTACH

These photos should be the right hand seat on the left.
The drivers seat hold down clamp.
Brake pedal cross shaft .
Accelerator cross shaft.

[Ken Smith]

A few more photos.

A stencil about batteries.
Not sure what it says as the middle bit is covered up by a second badly put on stencil.

The huge annoying crease in the hood, I now have a cover over the engine.

The civilian number plate holder removed today with thanks again to the 4 inch.

M216 Cdn battery stencil under hood.JPG

M216 Cdn Crease in hood with rust spots.JPG

M216 Cdn civilian number plate holder.jpg

[Ken Smith]

Good day,
After work, I cut the accelerator modification plate off the pedal, the 1/4" plate had been welded to the little pivot point ears at the bottom of the pedal and about half way along the pedal, I have no idea how the fellow welded the plate to the ears without destroying them, but he should get a medal. I cleaned the remains of the weld off and then bead blasted the bottom of the pedal, I also gave the hard rubber a very light touch and it came up very nice.
I made a pivot pin out of a 5/16" bolt that I had brought from home. It is interesting how GMC solved the problem of making the pivot pin a fixture in the pedal, and pivoting in the bush located on the floor. They simply ground off the sides of the pin at one end, and it fits into a hole with 2 flat sides so that it pivots with the pedal movement.

I gave the dipstick tube a very light blast, and a then a blow off with a lot of air. I have pushed a piece of rag through the tube a lot of times, I freed up the nut at the bottom so that I could put the tube back in the engine without having to turn the whole tube.The pedal and the dipstick then got a coat of red oxide.

When I got home I gave the 2 pieces a covering of olive drab. This was very rough as I have had the spray cans for a fair while and they block the little directional fan nozzle very easily. Because I don't like wasting money I pulled the little fan nozzle out and just used the main bigger nozzle which then dribbles a little bit, I didn't mind a lot of paint under the pedal. The dipstick tube faired a little better as the drips fell on the gravel.

Next was getting the remaining 4 seat mounting bolts out which took a little bit longer than planned, it was a nice surprise to find that when the drivers seat was shifted from left to right they had managed to use one of the floor plate captured nuts, so it undid nicely, the other bolt got the 4" cutting disc.

A photo of the rough underside pedal paint job, and the dipstick tube.

M216 Cdn Accelerator pedal with pivot pin.JPG

M216 Cdn dipstick cleaned & painted.JPG

[Ken Smith]

Did some measuring on the Holden distributor today, as I have had the feeling it is a bit short, it appears that it only just enters the slot for the oil pump. Even though it will never do many kilometres I would like it to be a bit more reliable. I will take the distributor out of my CCW 270 and check it for length.

Went to the panel shop to pick up a ute today, and talked to the manager about the hood, had to call it a bonnet. He assured me that he had a old school panel beater that takes pride in working on heavy metal and not letting any job beat him, I will be interested to see if the M216 beats him.

Ken

[Ken Smith]

The panel beater didn't turn up for work today, so I thought about all the other things that need doing. I know it will be a long road.

This afternoon I didn't get much done, my nephew lends me his brother in-law's Ex Army Land Rover 110 every year about this time, for a week or two. I give the grandkids rides and do laps of the main drag, they get a kick out of waving to their friends. I had to give it back this afternoon, so it was 1 last drive up the main street then back to nephews house, then a 2 kilometre walk home. He did offer a ride back but I am a stubborn old sod, and pride wouldn't let me accept.

I pulled the distributor out of the CCW 270 and it is the same length as the Holden distributor. Tomorrow I will measure down the M216 distributor hole with Vernier calipers and see what I have got, and what I need. Probably an idea to measure the 270 distributor hole and compare measurements. Anyway it is all part of the fun. The easiest would be if I had the 302 distributor and could compare the lengths side by side.

Now for a bit of comedy, some photos of fitting the temporary International bonnet.
M216 Cdn Fitting temporary International bonnet (1).JPG

M216 Cdn Fitting temporary International bonnet (2).JPG

M216 Cdn Fitting temporary International bonnet (3).JPG

M216 Cdn Fitting temporary International bonnet (4).JPG

A bit untidy but another part of the end goal.
Ken

[Ken Smith]

I took the hood to the panel works again today, the tradesman doing the job is away for another week.
When I threw the cover back on the ute, the laughter was almost uncontrollable and there was a lot of the rude word used.
After the fellows settled down and helped me lift the hood off the ute they tried to reassure me that the panel beater would have a go. Considering all the praise they heaped on him at the beginning of the week, I am concerned maybe this job will break his I can fix anything record.
It was hard to walk away and leave it sitting on the ground outside the shed. One of the young labourers is just as likely to throw it in the scrap metal.

I didn't go on about how rare the hood is in Australia, and please treat it with extreme care, in case it affects the price

The engine distributor worry is over, a Canadian forum friend measured an original 302 24 volt distributor and it matches in length exactly the Holden and the GMC 270 units. I can now get back to doing my engine job list, and try to get some noise out of her.

Ken

[Grant Bowker]

I'm glad the distributor is working out.
When I saw the hood/bonnet I admit to thinking it might be possible for an amateur to fix it. One of the cardinal rules is stop and think before beating away on the metal. Then decide what order the damage happened in. Last damage in is the first you take out - reverse the damage process.... Use enough force to do the job, but no more than absolutely necessary. Both to save your arms and to avoid causing accidental damage you will have to fix later.
The thicker metal of the older trucks does take more energy on your part - I spent a large part of a summer fixing a CMP roof (both dent removal and rust repair). I'm a slow, amateur bodyman but can live with the result.