question chev cmp

[eggsc8]

Hi , I am currently wiring my trailer socket on my Chevrolet C60L 13 cab but now i have lost all the lights front and back has anyone got any ideas as to if there are fuses anywhere as i have looked at a manual on line and cannot find anything

[CMP-Phil]

Hi

 

As originally built there were not any fuses only a current limiter. Do you have the wiring diagram? You may find this link to

it my web page on wiring CMPS helpful.

 

When you say you lost all the lights, do the lights come back when you disconnect the trailer? If someone has added a fuse start tracing the power for the harness where it leaves the starter lug. If you don't find an added fuse or fuseable link I suspect that you may have just fried a connection. The current limiter is located on the back of the instrument panel

 

 

The harness on Chev CMPs have mostly steel wire so burning a section out is not that difficult. The current limiters get tired and will stop working as intended, they have a vibrating contact that limits current flow to about 30 amps if I remember correctly. I've ended up completely replacing the harness on all three of my CMPs and have added a 40 amp fuse in the main lead.

 

Do you still have ignition and instruments? Will the engine still turn over?

 

Cheers Phil

[eggsc8]

Thanks for the info Phil , I started with all the front and rear lights and both indicators now i still have the indicators and ignition and she will start but no lights at all and that is with the plug removed with the plug in i have indicators on the light board but nothing else

[CMP-Phil]

Hi

 

Is your Pat 13 the older or later instrument panel? One shown in my post is the later and has plug type connecter these are subject to corrosion more than the earlier screw and ring type connecters. The load of connecting more lights just caused the corrosion to become an open.

 

Even with a new harness with orginal style plug connecters I run in to the problem with individual lights not working every now and then, learned to start at the bulb unplug clean each connection working forward to the switch. If it is only the rear lights check the harness connection right side around the transfer case frame member.

 

Hope this helps

 

Cheers Phil

[eggsc8]

Thanks Phil mine is the later type 1945 to be precise and it is all the lights , It sounds like it could be the current limiter but i have not had the time to look at it , Is there anything that can be done with the limiter to check , Paul

[CMP-Phil]

Hi Paul

 

Has far as my experience goes the limiters either work or they don't and are not serviceable. I've used thermal circuit breakers as replacements.

 

It's one of those little parts that nobody ever sees, I had a wiring harness fire on my Pat 12 when the speedometer cable shorted to brake light switch heated up the cable that melted/burned through the insulation on battery cable which burned through the main harness an nearly through the gas line. Fortunately I had just back into the shop smelled the smoke grabbed the CO2 fired short blast up under the truck, saw what up disconnected the battery. Hit the extinguisher again. That's why I've added fusable link.

 

Keep us posted on what you find for the cause of the light problem.

 

Cheers Phil

[eggsc8]

I will be taking the dash out in the next day or so so i will let you know what i find , I have been busy converting the back of the Chev into living accommodation so my wife is happy to come with me i have tried to attach a couple of pics, Paul

[CMP-Phil]

Hi Paul

 

Like minds, one of my CMPs 1942 Pat 13 C60S with a S56 Radio Box with shower, toilet, bed etc. Much nicer than sleeping on the ground or tent. If the weather is going to be hot I bring along the generator trailer and big air conditioner.

 

Yours looks to be excellent workship, do you have a floor plan drawing?

 

Cheers Phil

 

Edited March 15, 2016 by CMP-Phil

[eggsc8]

That is a great line up Phil you have a great choice of rides , What is the length of the radio box internally . My rear body is about 12 ft inside , I do not have a shower as we only stay in the lorry 2 or 3 nights and a strip wash is ok , Our temperatures rarely reach high enough for air-con so my biggest consideration was the gas warm air heating . I designed mine so when it is closed up it looks like a normal canvas back with nothing showing on the outside , I will do a line drawing of the interior,Have you got any pics of the inside of the radio box , Thanks Paul.

[CMP-Phil]

Hi Paul

 

The S56 Shelter Box is just over 12 feet long and was designed to go in the back of Duce and Half cargo, there were several very similar design units being used mid WWII into the 1980s.

 

o

 

I have a page on my Web Site on the box http://canadianmilitarypattern.com/RadioBox.html

 

Noticed that there are number of broken photo links including the current interior shots, which I'll dig out and post. My interior fitment is not of your level quality and are all done so that they can be stripped out and restore the box to the radio configuration. My shower/toilet area to go were the big transmitter was and is painted radio gray.

 

There is some history to covering radio trucks with tarps to make them look like standard cargo trucks instead of high value targets.

 

As to heat the box is well insulated so 1000 watt electric heater will keep it toasty down to -20F. In my consulting work I used my truck as a field office for a number of years.

 

Cheers Phil

[eggsc8]

Hi Phil , Until i saw your fleet picture i had not realized that i was already using your website as a reference centre , I have found some very useful stuff on there , I have put a picture of my fleet on showing my Landrover Defender the Chevrolet Then the Morris Commercial C8 GS and at the end of the line my Montgomerys Office Caravan Replica i have also Just purchased a Ben Hur trailer to pull behind the Chev , Our first show of the season is the first weekend in May at a place called Stradsett Park in Norfolk, Paul

[CMP-Phil]

Hi Paul

 

Glad you enjoyed my site, got to get to updating it again. Every now and then the gremlins get in an break links with photos and I have to go in a relink things. Also got to update the restoration section on the Pattern 12.

 

Your fleet is quite a thing of beauty.

 

Cheers Phil

[eggsc8]

Hey Phil , I had a very nice surprise today , I took out the driving seat fitted a large light laid on my back with my legs up the back of the cab and looked up behind the dash it was all my nightmares come true , The wiring is so stiff you could not move anything , I tried to track the power in wire but could not see where it went, Then in desperation i gave the current limiter a tap with the screw driver and hey presto everything came on , The power to the lights was restored , Thanks for your help Ian the wiring diagram was very helpful as was your picture showing the back of the dash and the whereabouts of the limiter , By the end of next week i should have my windows and the door for back of my Chevrolet motor home and i thing the access steps should be finished by mid week , My next job is to turn the swan neck on my Ben Hur trailer up the other way to lift the ring about 5 inches so it rides better behind the Chev , Thanks again , Paul.