How To: C15a Wire-3 restoration

[Harry Moon]

10 characters!

[Jordan Baker]

Thanks for the pictures Harry.

I did a full rebuild on my transmission shifter. It didn’t need much other then building up the pivot slots with some weld then grinding down again. I don’t have a finished picture just yet. It does amaze me just how much wear these parts can take and still work. Hopefully with everything back to as new specs this truck will shift nicely. I also added a new return spring for the lockout latch. I believe this is the proper orientation of it.

[Jordan Baker]

Today I pulled out some NOS parts to use for securing the box to the chassis. The wood blocks were used to fit between frame so that it didn’t crush down when tightening the U bolt nuts. The one wood block had to have a part cut off to clear a bolt.

[Jordan Baker]

Well she went on her first drive today in a long time. Everything went very very well. Works and sounds great. Shifts beautifully and stops on a dime. A huge thanks to all who have lent a hand or helped out with endless requests and questions. There is still a pile to do but it’s getting there. Lastly thanks to my lovely wife, Vicki Baker for letting me disappear into the garage for hours at a time. Love you.

A short video of its drive.

https://youtu.be/L4r_AhlDeGQ

[Jordan Baker]

Before the truck drove out I had to have the Otter pulled from the shop. Thankfully one of my friends happened to be going by in his backhoe. We made quick work of it. I can’t wait for the Otter to be able to do the same and drive out of the shop.

Lastly Vicki came home from work and happily took a few more pictures for me. Then she wanted to climb up into the cab for a picture.

[David Dunlop]

Hi Jordan.

Quite another milestone. Congratulations!

A few posts back you commented about sorting out the Signal Buzzer wiring feed. My suspicion is the feed from the buzzer in the cab to the box is very probably the same on your WIRE-3 as the WIRE-5.

The wire would drop down from the buzzer to the Cab Roof Seam and turn to the rear to follow the seam until it arrives at a hole in the seam that allows it to pass through to the lower wall. Small cable clips hold it in place. On my WIRE-5, these clips were all painted. You should be able to spot the small holes where the clips were secured.

The wire dropped down to the lower wall/floor seam in a fairly straight line and disappears through a hole in the floor, the same size as the one in the Cab Roof Seam. This takes it out of the cab floor close to the Left Frame Rail of the vehicle. It then follows the Left Frame Rail, but I can not remember if that is along the top edge, or close to the top of the outer side. Clip holes should identify the route for you in that area.

At the leading edge of the WIRE-5 box, about 12 to 18 inches in from the left side of the box, another hole in the floor allowed the wire to be fed into a conduit assembly built into the front wall of the Wireless Box, behind the plywood wall. Your WIRE-3 is an open box inside so once the wire arrives in that area in your vehicle, you may have to rely on the small clip holes to guesstimate where it went. If the WIRE-3 box was set up for Wireless Operator seated centre front and a Cypher Clerk to the rear and left of the operator, odds are the buzzer switch was situated to the left side of the WIRE-3 box somewhere easily accessible for either the operator or clerk to use it.

Hope that helps.

David

[Brian Gough]

Jordan,

Congratulations. Well done. What a great day for you. This has been a long time coming.

Your truck looks good and sounds good.

OK, now back to work - the Otter is waiting.


Brian

[David Dunlop]

One other point I just remembered on the buzzer wiring, Jordan.

Where it turned to the frame rail from the cab, that curve had a fair bit of play in it. I think that was to allow for any flex of the cab in relationship to the frame at that point. At the box end, the frame and box are a solid, fixed fit, so the curve of the buzzer wire was not as relaxed.

I do not recall ever seeing any trace of rubber grommets in these particular wire holes, but it could make sense. Perhaps test fit a piece of the shielded wire in the holes and see if it leaves enough wiggle room to fit a grommet.

David

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Excellent, great milestone you have passed there!

Just the last couple of 100 yards to be finished of your marathon. And then it's on to the next. I'm sure the Otter will be done as nicely as this one!

[Peter Duggan]

Jordan,

I can feel your pride and your smile is what we all need in these troubling times. All the best to you and Vicki. Looking forward to your posts. Keep up the excellent work. Your work is a bright moment for a lot of us viewers.

Peter

[Alex van de Wetering]

Well done Jordan! The truck looks brilliant outside and I am sure it gave you a bit of extra energy!

Alex

[Jordan Baker]

Thank you all for the compliments. I’ve watched so many on this forum get their vehicles restored and take them for a drive. It’s nice to finally be n that “group”.

Back to the nitty gritty.

This is part of the ignition suppression system on the truck. It was to done to reduce any electrical interference during the use of the radio set. I replaced the wires with new made wire that is done to copy the period wiring. The woven metal braid shielding on the wires is original but was carefully removed from the original wires and then crimped back in place using the original crimps. These two wires attach to the coil and then down to the distributor. The internals of the box were in very good shape. I only removed and cleaned up the contact points under the two screws. I also replaced the nuts and washers on the external stud as the originals were badly rusted.

I also installed the two metal “mud flaps”. I’m not too sure if the canvas mud flaps were also installed or is these were used in their place.

[Jordan Baker]

A few more videos.

https://youtu.be/ixNVlHPbO9w

https://youtu.be/7Gk3wYqCrMo

https://youtu.be/N6Sbfi4Ug-w

[Jordan Baker]

Today’s job was to install the ignition suppression system and all I can say was what a job. Trying to get ones hand in a few of the spaces let alone try and then use a screw driver was almost impossible but I got it installed. I’m not sure I’ll be leaving the large black spark plug cover on. When I took the truck out for a test drive I think one of the leads may have come off a spark plug. Lack of power under load and with all the shielding on it’s hard to get at anything. On the plus side it really cleans up the look of the engine.

[David Dunlop]

Wow! Had a couple of those Suppression Kits once upon a time. Really nice to finally see one professionally installed. Looks great, Jordan!

Don’t forget the little white “S” in the upper corner of your doors now.

David

[Jordan Baker]

It was a job, Sure glad I’m not on the hook for shop rate labour fees....


One issue I had during the test drive this afternoon was a lack of power. I did some more checking after dinner tonight. It seems the spark plug wire ends are shorting out on the shielding cover. I started the engine and it ideas fine but I can now hear a snapping sound coming from that area going back and forth as each cylinder is firing. I’m thinking I’ll have to get some rubber ends for the wires?

Any other suggestions?

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

Wow! Had a couple of those Suppression Kits once upon a time. Really nice to finally see one professionally installed. Looks great, Jordan!

Don’t forget the little white “S” in the upper corner of your doors now.

David

No S, it's a W/T

[Jordan Baker]

New bumper made. I used the magnetic drill for the first time. What a breeze it made drilling all the holes. I also riveted on the hand crank bracket as per the original.

[Jordan Baker]

Hooked up the vacuum line to the wipers today and success.

https://youtu.be/fM2PbSGLsHA

[Jordan Baker]

Parts were all back from the sandblasters yesterday. Today I finished off the two bins. These are originals for the Wire3 that were found in Northern Manitoba. Two of the hinges needed replacing and my father in law came to the rescue with a bunch of identical hinges. Parts were then given the POR treatment and priming. Another day they will get the final colour.

[Jordan Baker]

That lovely blue primer.

[Jordan Baker]

Today was another painting day before the dark clouds rolled in and the temperature dropped.

[murraybaker]

You have done an amazing job Jordan!

[Jordan Baker]

Well the two original wire-3 stowage bins that came from Northern Manitoba are finally restored and installed in the truck. I also pulled out a few NOS Corbin pad locks to go on the bins. They match the original photo nicely.

[David Dunlop]

Out of curiosity, Jordan, are those Corbin Cabinet Lock Company keys and locks from Belleville, Ontario, and if so, what is the Key Code stamped into the keys?

David

[Jordan Baker]

Yes they are. This box is a full set of ten matched locks each with their own key. They also have the chain on them. I’ve also got a few other matched ones.

[David Dunlop]

Hi Jordan.

I am curious because the Wireless Set No. 52 has a Corbin Cabinet Company lock fitted to the front panel of the Sender to prevent the Power Switch being flipped down to the High Power Mode without first being unlocked.

The lock is of the Desk Drawer Style, but it uses the same Corbin model key as those padlocks. The 52-Set keys are all identical, stamped or engraved with the Key Code “PD 1291” on one side. If we round out 52-Set production at 5,000 units, plus spares, then you are on the plus side of 10,000 identical keys from Corbin’s Belleville plant. Each 52-Set was issued with a pair of keys.

Since the Corbin padlocks you have were pretty much a standard issue for all CMP storage lockers, and some CMPs like the FAT had a whack of lockers on them, I started to wonder if all the Corbin issue CMP padlocks were issued with a common key, as it was a very common practise in the automotive industry well into the early 1960’s.

By extrapolation, I then started to wonder if the “PD 1291” key code for the 52-Set locks might be the same that was used for the CMP padlocks. My 52-Set is missing the keys but was fortunately in the unlocked position.

Wheels within wheels. Lots of spare time. And no lock on the beer fridge. A dangerous combination.

David

[Jordan Baker]

David I created a new thread for discussion on the Corbin pad locks. Hopefully this way this information isn’t lost in this thread.

[David Dunlop]

Thanks, Jordan. Good Plan!

David

[Jordan Baker]

Applied the first round of markings today. The W/T and the white rear differential. I patterned the W/T from the original one found on the Otter.