Info needed: Building a repro LRDG 1940 Chev.

[Alex van de Wetering]

Bob,

You might want to search for this French magazine. I had the issue in question at some stage, but as I can't find it anywhere, I think I might have recycled it in the meantime

http://fr.1001mags.com/parution/vehi...5-jun-jui-2007

https://librairie-hussard.com/catalo...00186_252.html

You can actually view the pages of the article in small format through the first link.

Alex

[Bob Carriere]

Thanks Hanno for the many links that I will research......

...and thanks Alex..... Philippe from Florida has shared that article with me.....

On the wheels/rims...... It seems that the easiest solution has been found in Australia..... you weld a full steel plate on the backside of the regular 16 inch CMP rim and have it accurately drilled to the ten bolt pattern of the 1940 Chev........
and mount them backwards on your truck......and Hanno is right I do have a few rolling CMP chassis that I can scrounge rims from......

According to the French article it took them at least 4 years to get their project done so I am not in a race but it should be a nice challenge.... I am sure some small part will give me the biggest headache..... and widening the front fenders is another challenge

Big problem now is waiting for the snow to melt. I have a complete a 1940 1 1/2 ton Chev pickup and a rolling chassis fully restored for a 1937 1 ton BUT it seem to have the smaller axles more similar to the C8 but the frame may be identical to the 1 1/2 ton...... in any event the frame will be re-inforced with a flat side plate as observed on other models.

The big issue now is trying to match the track of the front axle with the rear axle...or at least get close with in a few inches. The 1940 truck has a 4 1/4 extended spacer on the front and that situates the front tire in middle of the dual tires at the back....once CMP split rims are fitted the rear axle it may be too narrow and need a spacer between the brake drum and the reversed CMP rim to line up.... or I may wind up using a full CMP rear axle which is easy enough on a 4x2 truck. Cargo box is as easy as following Andrew's fabrication. One thingto keep inmind is that the 1940 bolt pattern is "hubcentric" so care must be exercised in modifying the rims to insure the 4 3/4 central heart is still aligned properly..........

Lots of little issues to sort out. Hoping to take advantage of the experience of our friends down under who have done a few LRDG and they look the parts.

With the two spare axles, spare nose and two spare front fenders, 2 spare cabs and the back 40 to pick the odd CMP parts, I should be able to do something respectable.....I do have a good radiator, rebuilt 235 engine, SM420 tranny .....sadly I will not be able to decorate with anything that looks remotely like a machine gun in Canada........ may be a sling shot!!!!!

Tire wise I have a full set of new Michelin 900x16 mounted on CMP rims so for the immediate future I am well shod!!!!!!

...and I keep an eye open for 1938-39 and 40 parts trucks that do come up every now and then..... just missed one in Buffalo NY.... or another CMP rolling chassis .......

Thinking of using two driver's bucket seats from either Dodge M37/43 or 2 1/2 ton trucks for comfort....suitably recovered in light canvass.

Aero screens make look nice and may have to build my own from photographs.

Having Philippe in Florida to bounce crazy ideas on one another is also helpful.

And the insanity goes on!!!!

Cheers

[Mike K]

The Indian pattern ambulance Aust. Had 10 stud hubs on the rear axle and 5 stud hubs on the front axle. 18" wheels . They used a blanking off ring to hide the 5 holes for the front wheels.

http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/sh...ad.php?t=22433

[Mike K]

Here is the ambo with the 10 stud wheels fitted on the 5 stud front hubs . The spare wheel is seen with 10 stud .

[motto (RIP)]

Like the Lend/Lease Chev using ten stud rear and five stud front hubs, all the wheels had ten holes so as they could be used anywhere on the truck. The retainer ring obscures the other five holes on the front.

David

[Bob Phillips]

Hi Bob
I have a non driving front axle for a CMP ambulance I think. Its been sitting outside for quite a while but its yours if you want it,
Bob

[Bob Carriere]

Yes Mike that ambulance is built on a Chev 1940 ( could be 39) Chevrolet civilian chassis....possibly shipped as a chassis cowl...... ten bolts on a 7 1/4 circle..... heart centric ...the center hub was exactly 4.75 inches. The front axle spacer *** is drilled with only 5 holes.... the blank reinforcement plate only has 5 holes....all the rims have 10 holes and can be used on all four corners..... the rear axle/rim uses all 10 holes. That was a standard on the Chev at that time and persisted well after the war on civvy trucks.

The odd piece is the 18 inch two piece rim very similar to the standard 16 and 20 inch CMP rims. I have never seen or heard of an 18 in. CMP rim in Canada but then I have not seen it all........ they must have been made in Australia or even India..... all I know is that the humongous press used at GM did half of the rim in one punch....eventually Kelsey Hayes took over the production and proudly stamped their name and date on the rims. Some were made in England as we accidentally stumbled on one in Canada......

The front axle has a 4 1/4 in. hour glass shaped spacer. It is bolted to the five standard studs on the brake drum and extends the center of the front wheel track to the middle of the dual rear axle...... On the C15 the front spacer is only 2 inches and the rear axle runs on one tire but they remain a few inches off from tracking perfectly even.

Such lend lease civvy axles were around 55 to 58 in. track and considerably narrower than the CMP at slightly over 70 inches.....CMP had a wide stance for that period.

So much to learn about these trucks....... and then I starting thumbing through a FORD MASTER ASSEMBLY CATALOGUE FMA-01 and my mind was blown away by the number of various axles, mainly with R-Zeppa joints, including the early GM axles when Ford was short of their own.... and the special kits available to revert the Ford ? GM axle to a Ford/Ford axle when major services were done.

I can imagine the frustration of the poor mechanic looking for the right axle in a large field covered with crates of spare parts.....

Thanks guys.

[Bob Carriere]

The small end goes against the brake drum...... parts listed on Ebay about 2 years ago.