Cmp c15a gs

[Adrian Rittner]

Yes the 2nd CMP was delivered to the school today. It was miserably cold this morning and a bit of an ordeal getting it out as another dead vehicle was in the way. Transporting it was a bit scary. The box was not fastened so we strapped it down. Looked like many pieces were going to fall off or out of the box en route. There are many very decent and usable parts with the 2nd CMP. Front bumper hooks, tail pintle hook, two convoy lights, decent seat frames, rifle racks, extinguisher bracket, one wiper motor, two spare rads, spare gas tanks, rear window frame, and much more. Surprising the engine and frame is in excellent condition. The body not so much. It almost looks like the it was a restoration in progress that stopped many years ago. Only way to explain the quality of the chassis and how loosely the body was bolted on the frame. This vehicle has proven to be a good donor truck for this project and maybe back more. Unfortunately the tires are not matching and not very good. Although we will keep the best spare wheel and tire for the on truck spare. So the next step will be to raise funds for a set of four tires. That way once the rims return from the sandblasting shop with the cab and box, they can be painted and added to the main truck. This will allow the kids to move the chassis around the shop easily.

[Adrian Rittner]

As we were off loading the 2nd CMP today, I too was thinking the same thing that both Phil and Marc are now noticing. The donor truck is actually not that bad. The powerplant, chassis, and pretty much everthing underneath is surprisingingly nice. Looks like someone started a restoration many moons ago. They must of lost interested and just quickly nuted the body back on for moving it. The poor elements about the vehicle is the body quit frankly. But thats just sheet metal if you think about it. Someone who is talented with metal work would actually appreciate this truck.
The front cowl in the picture is not the first one. Its in the back box burried under the other parts, judgeing by the colour. I don`t know why the yellowish one was added to the cab as it doesn`t seem be any better shape. Some of the louvers seemed to have been removed and a piece of expanded metal welded on. Seems wierd. The cab exterior walls are poor and floor bad, but again just sheet metal in comparison to other rarer parts. From what I could see in the brief chance I had to inspect, its really not that bad, better than I have seen for sure.
That being said I don`t want us to steal too much. Thankfully there are many spare parts in addition to this donor truck. And most of what we need are the little things, meaning nothing structural nor too depleting. I hesitate to steal the fly wheel as it would be alot of work and would hinder any future considerations. Really this could be a decent start to a seperate restoration for someones contemplation.
Joel and I will have to discuss and determine our needs first.

[Marc Montgomery]

note! about the tires/rims... be careful not to damage the inner rubber bands that "seal" the split rims and protect the tubes.! in their zeal, the students may not realize the importance of these thick rubber bands.

[Bob Carriere]

Hi Marc

Are you referring to the "flaps" which are easily available at truck tire shops about $15 each.....

...or the solid rubber spacer that fits between the beads and keeps the run flat from collapsing......? these are hard to find and not necessary for a modern tube type re-installation.

I have found that the flaps, if old and near original, are usually very hard/brittle and not worth saving.....having the rims sandblasted and painted reassembled with new tubes at about $25 and flaps $15......
....... not having to change a flat by the road side.....priceless.

Joel

When you are matching tires for the final installation...... it may be worth while to take a measurement tape and measure the full circumference of the tires....... the closer they are to the same size the easier it will be on the U joints and generaly reduce loading of the drive train components.

Our experience with different bar thread tires......different brands and same brand different manufacturing dates of 9:00 16 tires..... as much as 6 to 8 inches difference on the rolling distances/circumference.... some where 1 to 2 inches taller and this on NOS tires...... generally speaking the original 1940ish V shape thread tires seemed to be a lower profile than the modern reproduced bar thread tires.

[Ken Hughes]

Yes the Chev and Ford cab tops and backs DO interchange and so does the doors and in a lot of cases the wings/mudguards,lube all the cage nuts that you can as they are worth saving ,even if you have to heat them before undoing.
A ford cab top can be identified by a continued seam weld from the drip rail around the corner,the Chev ones are spot welded.
As everything with these vehicles nothing is set in concrete as a standard,as things were changed depending on availability of product at the time.

[Joel Culliford]

Well the parts truck does not want to give up it's parts. We just learned that a 44 CMP does not have the same steering column or flywheel as the 42 CMP. But if you change the box at the bottom of the steering column then you can use the 44 CMP column no problem. The flywheel...that is another story. The local Auto Parts Dealer, Youngs Automotive is searching for a new part, they have not let us down yet.

We also found that the lifting rings on the 44 CMP can not just be installed on the 42 CMP without having to replace the whole drum.

Now we just need to remove the Rad overflow tank on the 44 CMP (under the body and see if we can clean it up and install it on the outside.

On and we did replace the front bar since the original one had extra metal welded to it. We also found out that the local Muffler store Thruway Muffler is going to build a new exhaust for us

[Bob Carriere]

Hi Joel

Curious about steering not fitting..... what were the differences..... is the steering box different of the whole steering tube different..... your 42 should have a rubber steering wheel and the 44 the wooden steering wheel.... I was under the impression that they were interchangeable....?

The flywheel..... your 42 has a 216 engine..... why would the donor flywheel not fit...... is the donor engine a 235...? ***** can you show us a picture of the engine on the 44 CMP..... particularly the valve cover and the distributor side....? ****

One thing to remember is if you do switch flywheel the teeth count/size must match the gear on the starter...... on the 216 you must use the original 216 6 volts starter which matches the broken flywheel ring gear.... on the donor if it is a different size engine ....... it may have a 12 volt starter and different gear size that must match that flywheel.... they have to be transplanted as a set..... I was under the impression that a flywheel could be moved for different size Chev 6.....216 to 235 or 261 and vice versa as long as you had a matching starter.

Save that radiator / bumper guard..... even if it has welding on it.... it can be fixed.

On the lifting flanges..... you are correct you would need to switch the whole hub/drum assembly...... but you do not really need the lift rings on a 42 Chev.

You have a very healthy fan blade on the engine of your 42.....more blades than the usual 4 found on typical CMP.

Keep trucking//// the kids are doing great.

Bob