Canadian "Pre-CUCV" Chevy

[Crash_AF]

Has anyone seen a mid 70's "Pre-CUCV" Military Chevy?

This guy on Pirate bought a 76 GMC 'CUCV', it's got a standard 3 lever light switch in the radio area, old style blackout lights in the grille and the 2 pin slave connector on the driver's side. Says he was told it was an ambulance that was converted to a pickup. Someone else in the thread says that it's a former Canadian mil vehicle.

New Project: 5/4 ton CUCV - Pirate4x4.Com Bulletin Board

I think it's interesting and am curious to find out if anyone's seen anything like it.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m162/PRCDDIK/CUCV/IMG_0036.jpg

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m162/PRCDDIK/CUCV/IMG_0045.jpg

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m162/PRCDDIK/CUCV/IMG_0044.jpg

Later,
Joe

(ETA: Does anyone know how to make photobucket links display as images instead of links?)

*** EDIT ****
can't link images, you must download, save and then attach.

 

[Cucvnut]

I saw that post also. he got so much crap on pirate.

 

[Pawnshop]

I haven't seen one of those before, the general consensus seems to be that it's Canadian. That would be cool to have, too bad he's going tear it up.

 

[Crash_AF]

Well, it is Pirate and you're either thick skinned and can deal with the crap or you lurk... LOL

And yea, I think it's almost worth saving just as a historical conversation piece, but it's REALLY rusty... LOL

Later,
Joe

 

[Pawnshop]

I think it's almost worth saving just as a historical conversation piece, but it's REALLY rusty... LOL

True that, it DOES have a terminal case of the cancer...

 

[Mudstone]

i personally think its a "i wish i had a cucv" scenario... the time periods of the truck, the front black out light, amd the slave recepticle are all different

 

[Cucvnut]

its Canadian !

 

[Stan Leschert]

They were a good truck, and I drove more than my share of them. We refered to them as a 5 Quad....5/4 ton. They were real thirsty on gas, but ran very reliably.

My only beef was that the skid plate bolts sheared off (to my way of thinking) easily. Somewhere up behind Camp Vernon, there is a complete skid plate, rusting into nothing.

It had to do with a stump, some mud, and a situation that required immediate action!
I never heard back from depot about that one, but it involved a Cas Evac and preservation of life was more importance than returning the vehicle intact.

 

[K9Vic]

fixed link

In the TV show Jeremiah they used the same Canadian military truck, early CUCV version.

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?40029-The-CUCV-in-Showtime-s-Jeremiah

 

[Wile E. Coyote]

In the TV show Jeremiah they used the same Canadian military truck, early CUCV version.
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/cucv/40029-cucv-showtimes-jeremiah.html

Yeah. They were bought up in Vancouver where the series was filmed and converted in one of their local 4x4 shops which does custom roll cages etc., then stored after the series ended because all concerned expected it to start right up again. From what I understand it was then thought the series would restart using California in place of the PNW, and the vehicles were evidently moved down there in preparation. Series never restarted however due to several things unrelated to the official reason of "cast availability", and I've lost track of the vehicles themselves.

Those trucks were 1976 Chevy 5/4 tons with carburetted 350 cid gas pots and THM350 auto transmissions. Can't remember exactly what the transfer case was but pretty sure it was an NP203 or NP205, full-time 4x4, no locking hubs.

Interiors either had bucket seating or bench seating depending on whether they were pod carriers or cargoes, and some were swapped betwixt and between as well as some were re-roled and so forth. They had troop seating in the back but completely unlike the M880 and M1008 type, and had their own peculiar bow sets and vinyl cargo area covers. They were fleet-keyed like the CUCV series ignitions etc. using the round 'B' key for both - but not the same key used in the CUCVs.

They really were great trucks apart from the gas mileage and served the Canadians for years and years. If you put one of them beside a CUCV M1008 the first thing you notice underneath is how much heavier-duty the frame is on the "Five-Quad" vs. that of the CUCV. One problem they did have is floor pan rust-out (there was actually a rust-out kit/mod you could do which had an NSN number and everything) and for some odd reason they kept going through drivers's side front springs - but other than that pretty bulletproof. If you find one surplus nowadays chances are better than 99% it will be half bondo, as the Canadians tended to put it on with a trowel when things got banged up. Especially the cab roofs. Oi vey. The comms pods designed for those trucks continue to live on as mounted on the LSVW series vehicles chassis after having gone through a rehab program.

Came across a decent one for sale either in Oregon or somewhere in southern WA which was complete except for some minor transfer case problem. Can't recall what he wanted for it.

 

[Wile E. Coyote]

Forgot to mention that the blue dash pad in the Pirate 4x4 pics was also a Canadian forces thing as parts supplies dried up for the correct color replacement late in the trucks' service life and they procured whatever the dealer had in stock, which was Blue. Most of the trucks I saw surplused in the mid-90s had blue dash pads. I've never seen the blue seats before though, but expect they're also blue for the exact same reason. There were a lot of spare bucket seats in the system of the correct color but they likely ran out of replacement bench seats sometime in the 1980s.

 

[Warthog]

Reviving an old thread.

Does anyone know what the VIN numbers on these truck would be?

Where they made in the US or Canada?

 

[Wile E. Coyote]

Reviving an old thread.

Does anyone know what the VIN numbers on these truck would be?

Where they made in the US or Canada?

The VINs are strange - 13 digits instead of the usual 17 - and none of the usual "1GCT.." or "2GCT.." prefixes to let you know if they were built in the U.S. or Canada. There's no dashboard VIN plate on them either -- just the one on the door pillar, which is repeated again on the Options/Accessories (RPOs) sticker on the reverse of the passenger side visor. I checked two trucks just now and they're both the same way. Two sample VINs are as follows (last three X'd out at owner's request):

CKL2361157xxx
CKL2461147xxx

I checked the actual DMV records too to see if they'd added the missing digits to make up the required 17, but they have not, and the trucks are in the system as non-conforming 13 digit VINs. On the ID plate itself there is also no clue as which country made them, but *usually* if they're made in Canada you'll get "General Motors of Canada" on the plate as opposed to the simple "General Motors" on this one.

I can copy out the RPO list for these vehicles if anyone's interested as one truck still has a legible label.

(Sorry for the late reply - completely forgot about this.)

 

[Wile E. Coyote]

Yeah..duuuh...17 digit VINs weren't standardized until 1981, and since these things hail from 1976 - a 13 digit VIN is okay. Monday-brain.

 

[C15TA]

These trucks were made in Oshawa, Ontario Canada. I had a gas station one block away from the General Motors Head Office and had a contract with GM to supply them with gasoline. The guys from GM Experimental used to come in and fuel the trucks on their way out for the day to a test area to try and kill them. They would beat the s**t out of them all day and come crawling back at night still going strong. Fun times for sure.
Barry

 

[M1031CMT]

Might as well revive this thread again since it has been a year

Saved a 1976 5/4 ton from the scrap yard today. Is in pretty darn good shape for its age.

Main reason we saved it (other than it actually being pretty rare now a days) was that the truck is practically untouched/unmolested. Looks like it was sold off for surplus, someone bought it, and it was just parked. Interior is all there (the seats are actually completely unripped), all the lights, wiring, original tires/rims, engine/tranny (though someone did take the carb a while back).

Cab is very solid. Looks like the drivers floor was replaced at one point, but the current floor is perfect (likely replaced soon before it was sold off). Rockers are solid. Frame is almost mint and has original paint on most of it. The rear shocks are new (from back in the day). Front fenders are rusty and will need to be replaced (not worth fixed as new fenders are like $90). Hood also has a rust hole through it and will likely need replacement too (should be able to find a used one). Hood hinges are stuck in the open position but some WD40 should fix it. Oh the drive-shaft is also missing, but from the looks of the joints, it looks as if it has been missing for a long time. Should be easy to find one. But other than that, it is in really nice condition.

From the paperwork we found inside, the truck was an ambulance. Naturally from the pics you can tell the amb body is missing. Found a ripped paper inside and on one corner it stated (... replacement program LSVW).

Looks like the body was removed and installed on an LSVW, then the truck was auctioned off.

Very, very surprised to find one in good shape and practically untouched. As most people know, old trucks like this are usually stripped of all good parts and then kids destroy the rest of it.

Will be this summers first project. Yeah it is nothing super special (basically it is just a pickup truck) but we think it will be worth saving as very few have survived this long

 

[skysix]

The first vehicle I got my 404's on was a 5/4 Amb. Notice dual tanks - why they didn't do that on the CUCV is beyond me.

 

[oboyjohn]

I drove one of these " 5 quads " for almost 10 years in the reserves up here in Canada. Still remember the Canadian Forces Registery number ( plate number ) . It was 27895. Mine was configured with an enclosed pod instead of a pickup box and was kitted out as a mobile repair truck. I would live out of this truck for weeks on end and only once had a break down. The fuel pump let go on a late sunday afternoon after a long weekend excersise. We did not have a spare with us so we had to improvise . In a scrap yard by the highway south of Montreal, we found an other Chevy fuel pump. Wasn't a perfect fit but we made it fit and it got us home. Another time at the beginning of a 3 week exersise, I lost my entire exhaust system after the Y pipe on a hidden stump in the mud. Took almost 10 days to get the replacement parts. But during that time, I got the nick name of " Top Fuel " because of the way my truck sounded when I opened up the 4 barrels on that Rochester Quadra-jet Carb!

 

[dstang97]

Why is there almost no info on these trucks on the net?

 

[ryan77]

Interesting!!opcorn: