Tube Radio Australia
The Return of the blitz

After years of looking for a Radio truck I have finally found one that is complete and somewhat unmolested.

Although the roof of the Rear section was CUT off it came with the truck.

Looks like a 1941 model CMP 15A Signals Van with the 6 cylinder Chev motor and the early Military dash board.

Plenty of work to be done here but the body is in good solid condition, not a pile of rust. !!
Some of the original Green Paint is still on the old girl and under further investigation the underside of the truck is in Very good condition.

See the Engine Fire here. https://www.facebook.com/ray.poularas/videos/703705443025694/

Truck and Trailer arrive with the new project, Note the roof section on the trailer. Side shot of the Beast..Looks like 20” wheels have been fitted.

Rear shot showing the fold out steps to climb into the rear section. No Towbar L The roof of the Radio Enclosure L Looks like many hours needed here to fix this..

Getting her off the Truck, What a job! Two flat tire’s didn’t help. Just look at that Front end…

Inside the Cabin before a clean…! More Work done In the evenings This Week 08-2013 The Data Plate, Hard th read, I will need to clean her up

The Military Dash Board, 12000 Miles, Hmmm, Don’t know about that although the state of the truck mechanically is very good. For a 73 Year old.

Front Backing plate removed, Cost me a fat Thumb with the wrench but its off to be cleaned and renewed.

Cleaned ready for Sand Blasting. Blasted and Etch Primed ready for Mill Green…!

Things of Beauty, new Linings and rivets… J Front Backing Plate together

One Very Heavy Drum Brake, Front of the C15, Hope the back ones are lighter..! Inside cleaned up showing the grease splash guard, Might need to change the seal, its in nice shape only a little hard after 71 years.

Clean and Green Removal of the Nose Section

You can see that the panel behind the drivers seat has also been removed for repair. Windows and window frames are out

Still green paint under the red dust.. Once very muddy engine, although inside is spotless.

Sand Blasting the Diff End Primes and Painted

Drivers Wheel Ready to go. Nose Cone, Blasted and Primed, now to drill some bolts out and replace nuts.

Holden Compliance Engine Housing with a Holden Copper badge.. Didn’t see that under the mess…

Engine Cowl ready for some welding Nose section with new Metal floor plate spot welded in, the other side was perfect so I didn’t need to replace it.

Top of the Nose section. Repair Close-up

Front Axle Drivers Side Renewed. Shot showing new Hose.

The Grinder Monkeys,George and Andrew, helping to Remove the old side pannels and cleaning off the rough metal.

Grind matey Grind….!

Removing those rusted Door bolts..

The Signals Van Challenge. Anybody who know about these would know that the Signals van body was put together by Holden Australia. They effectively welded a rear section to two rails and then attached that to the front cab roof and front door posts welding the entire system together. I guess this was the quick and easy way out given it was War time. Now what that means is you can’t remove the front cab and rear tray as two items its all one piece. The idea is to dismantle the cab and rear sections separating them and then rebuilding the cab and rear section with Bolted segments as it should have been and as how the Cab Chassis is on all other Blitz Trucks.

Thinking about the Angle Grinder on that bolt. Hmm, Leverage.

Drivers Front Wheel Back on… Passenger Front Brake Shoes

Passenger side Backing plate Passenger Front Drum

Passenger Front Axle Striped and repainted Passenger Side Front

Passenger Side Front Passenger side front hub painted and ready for the backing plate.

New Front Brakes and hoses, assembled, Passenger Side Front Drivers Front Wheel Back on

Rebuilding the rear Brakes and Axle. Removed to clean and Blast Rebui;ld with new bearing seals and grease. Painted…

Rear Drum section and spring hangers rebuilt

Radiator now out and working on getting the Cab off. Inside the rear bed, soon to be removed

Looking at the rear end, Soon I need to get these drums off, Boy they look BIG. Inside view of the radio Compartment, Looks like I will need to refabricate the sides, and save the roof.

Relocated to a new position to remove the deck and engine.

Rear Deck removal, abnd its Heavy.

Front Cab comes away with some effort. And the Inspectors arrive after the hard work is done..

The Rear part of the chassis needs a little repair. Feeling very second hand after a hard 8 hours removing the sections.

Rear Deck and Cab removed after much effort. Shots of the Engine and gearbox, soon to be removed.

Handbrake setup.

Roof Section before trimming and sand blasting. Roof back from the Blaster.

Roof Section Stored for future Work.. boy its HEAVY. Top Hatch Ready for repair.

Rear Compartment Floor section, Repair of one rusted cross mount. I could not get the same gauge steel so I had to go for 3mm and that’s a heavy gauge. Tacked into place in 9 pieces. I will be stronger than the original.

The Front Cab section Floor and Window Frame back from Sand blasting.

Ready to Paint and mount on the moving frame I made.

Primed and Green Paint on the lower Cab section. Test fitting of the Nose after repair

Test fitting the Roof and doors so that the New Pillars can be fitted. Note the original Window Section fitted to align the gaps.

The following information was gathered from the CMP Forum’s for those who may find themselves in a similar situation I have started to collate part numbers on this page for future reference.

Parts List: C15 CMP Blitz.

Brakes:

Modern Part Numbers. Some of the wheel cylinders are available from Amazon.!

Part Type C15 / 15A / Ford	Supplier	Stock Number	Modern Number
Wheel Cylinders Front	Raybestos		WC4571
Wheel Cylinders Rear	Raybestos		WC4511
Master cylinder	??	EIS EH572
Brakes Hoses front (2 req'd)	Raybestos		BH5931
Brakes Hoses front (1 req'd	Raybestos		BH25629
Brakes Hoses rear (1 req'd)	Raybestos		BH31669
Vehicle Type	Part Description	Original Part	: Modern Part # (s)
Ford F60	seal front hub inner 6"	C0118Q-1190	CR 58741
Ford F15A	seal front hub inner 5"	C01Q-1190B	CR 49998
Ford F15A	bearing countershaft trans		J322080 BCA
Ford F15A	bearing input main shaft trans		6209 SKF
Ford F15A	bearing output main shaft trans		6307SKF
Ford F15A	bushing reverse idler trans		AAM25-30X25SYM
Ford F60/F15A	seal front hub outer		CR 17761
Ford	seal Pinion		CR 13739
Ford F15A	seal rear hub inner		CR 31307
Ford F60	seal rear hub inner		CR 31288
Ford F15A	seal rear hub outer		CR 17761
Ford F60	seal rear hub outer		CR 49998
Ford F15A	seal steering gear 1-1/4"		CR 12350
Ford F60	seal steering gear 1-3/8"		CR 13912
Ford	seal transfer case		CR 19360 (X2)
Ford F15A	seal transfer case shift lever		CR 5510
Ford	seal transfer case(hand brk side)		CR 19360
Ford F15A	seal transmission output		CR 21211
Ford F15A	wheel cylinder 1 1/2" rebuild kit		F3634
Ford F15A	wheel cylinder front 1 3/8"		F4571
Ford F15A	wheel cylinder rear 1 1/2"		F4511
Chev C15A	seal front hub inner 5"		CR 59998
Chev C60	seal front hub inner 6"		CR 58741
Chev	seal front hub outer		CR 17761
Chev C15/C60	seal pinion		CR 23755
Chev	seal gearbox		CR 17645
Chev	seal transfer case		CR 19360 (X2)
Chev	seal transfer case hand brk side		CR 19360
Chev	seal steering gear		CR 12336
Chev	seal distubution cover		CR 17286
Chev	seal rear hub inner		CR 31288
Chev	seal rear hub outer		CR 31870
Chev C15A	master cylinder rebuild kit		F3630 or NUP3

Front End alternate Seal Kits:

These are also modern replacement for the original front drum seals, before ordering confirm the dimensions to be sure they will fit your drums. These seals are narrower than the original but seam to work fine. Be sure that the hub surface the seals runs against is smooth. If your hub is badly scored there are speedie sleeves that will fit over the damaged area to provide a new sealing surface.

Now for the good news all of the bearings and seals are readily available from Motion Industries who have a web site http://www.motionindustries.com typed in the original Timken part numbers from the bearing, yes all numbers are still good after 60+ years, parts information with all the dimensions come up to confirm they are correct.

Parts Invoice

Qty Description Requested Date Prices are US Dollars

1.0 NATIONAL S 416476 OIL SEAL 09/01/2009 Brake Drum Grease Seal Price............: $ 52.34

1.0 TIMKEN 47620 CUP 09/01/2009 Outer Cup Price............: $36.84

1.0 TIMKEN 33462 CUP 09/01/2009 Inner Cup Price............: $27.25

1.0 TIMKEN 33275 CONE 09/01/2009 Inner Cone or Wheel Bearing Price............: $ 56.32

1.0 TIMKEN 47687 CONE 09/01/2009 Outer Cone or Wheel Bearing Price............: $71.93

2.0 C-R 17761 OIL SEAL 09/09/2009 Axle shaft seal at the flange plate Price............: $ 28.52

1.0 NATIONAL S 416476 OIL SEAL 09/09/2009 Price............: $ 52.34

Total Cost of Parts (so far) $ 325.54

Below and at right are the inner axle seal, these are often damaged when the axle is being installed because it is difficult to hold the axle shaft off the seal while you insert the axle end into the differential. However these seals are really not that important as long as the truck is not going to be operated on steep side slopes. At angles up to about 10 Degrees the gear lub in the differential is not running out the housing to reach this point. So the seal body is acting more as a dam than as a true seal. 

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