How To: C15a Wire-3 restoration

[Grant Bowker]

I'm not 100% sure as they don't seem to serve any purpose on the Cab 13 but I think the holes are there to permit a reinforcing bar used on the cab 12 to pass just behind the radiator.

[Jordan Baker]

Made up a new felt gasket for the stick shift floor plate. The old one has seen better days.

I also started plumbing up the engine. I’m putting in all new lines for the fuel and vacuum. I’m also going to be flaring all the ends instead of using the brass compression rings.

[Jordan Baker]

New clutch pedal blushing pressed in and reamed to finished size.

Does anyone have a clear picture of the pedals with the springs all attached. I can’t remember where everything goes.

I also made up the fuel line and vacuum line for the engine and got them fitted. I still have a few things to do on the engine before firing it up.

[Bob Carriere]

Only thing missing is the return spring that attaches to the brake pedal clevis pin and on forward to the tab on the frame.

The fuel lines and the vacuum lines are usually above the pump and above the elbow that holds the hose to the rad....... the cast elbow that bolts to the head should have a small bolt hole that takes a 1/4 - 20 bolt and clip that holds the lines steady. Your set up below the pump is neat and not rubbing on anything I would leave it has is....... when you do the PCV from the draft tube make sure the valve is in the vertical section of the tube before the first bend across the engine to the manifold.

where will your PCV connect to on your intake manifold...... into the manifold just below the carb????? had to make special adjustment since the side of the manifold on a cab 11 is too close to the engine cover.

Cheers

[Jordan Baker]

Thanks Bob. It’s gett there. For fuel and vacuum lines I simply copied the ones that were on the original wartime engine. However I went to test fit the throttle linkage and I ran into a snag. The lines are directly in the path of the horizontal rod from the linkage. So back to the drawing board for some tweaking.

Today I was off to visit a friend and see a new project he recently picked up. I was able to borrow a number of the splash guards and an inner radiator shroud.

[Grant Bowker]

Interesting, it looks as if either the shroud was redesigned at some point or trimmed for easier remove/re-install. Also, I've see several of the smaller frame mounted lower splash shield but never the longer one with the cutout. I wonder why one was more common than the other? Or, why one was removed more often...

[David Dunlop]

Jordan.

What is the build date for your C15A? My old WIRE-5 was a June 1944 product with ring hatch, military instrument panel and surge tank mounted under the front left side, rather than the cowl.

The left upper side splash guard was a quick release design. Roughly halfway up the front edge was a punched ‘key hole’. This fitted over a swivel latch (virtually the same latch as used on the stowage bins on the rear body side stowage bins of the FAT) which was mounted, I think, on the side of the radiator shroud. There should be a small triangular hole pattern on the shroud where the circular base plate of the latch was secured.

I believe this minor change to accommodate the latch style splash guard means all rad shroud items from earlier production vehicles will interchange with the later version but you will not be able to fit the upper left side splash guard. The two lower ones inboard of the chassis stayed relatively unchanged. This left upper splash guard was a really tough bird to track down in the 1980’s. Probably a result of a very short production life and the postwar habit for all these plates to get tossed during maintenance because they were deemed a pain in the ass to have to deal with when doing routine engine maintenance. Somebody is bound to have one somewhere you can pattern though.

David

By the way. You are doing great work!