floor oddities
 

Here are two pictures of a #12 cab Chevrolet that has extra plates added to both sides of the floor. Every indication of wood spacers and paint remnants indicate that it is original. The added plates are on the outsides of the frame and to the rear of the under side of the cab floor plate. They are heavy and measure about 5/8 inch thickness. What could this possibly be for?

Gord

Bob and I have speculated that the added plates served to stiffen the floor plate against flex caused by the cab rear panel. I have no proof of this theory.

Worth there weight in gold....
 

One of the few cab 12 modification that makes sense...... it does keep the rear corner of the cab from flexing...... and doors from sagging.

Early into the cab 11 it was advised to remove the doors when the roof was removed as the back wall had very little to hold it up by its own.

I retro fitted them on my cab 11 which Grant maintains is now a cab 11.5.... I used some of the cab 12 front sheet metal and fitted the extra cab 12 radiator cross bar..and will fit some Hammond reinforcements on the corners of the wooden frame work for the cab...... then Dynamatts inside the doors and Heatshield inside the engine cover..... and may use cab 12 mirror arms instead of rigid cab 11 arms...... Oh my rebuilt doors are reinforced cab 12 also..... with special sideways battery box a la cab 13.....

Mongrel it is......

Cheers

Gold?
 

Thanks for the response guys. The re-enforcing certainly does make perfect sense but, my gosh those are a huge piece of metal.

After working on the #11 cab and #12 cab trucks the nightmare of bad design and "what were they thinking" gives one an appreciation of the beauty and simplicity of the #13 cab design.

End of very busy day.

This seal looks like made from cork , can anyone confirm? Is it possible to buy it anywhere?

I want to send steering gear for check up, how to remove steeing wheel and rod ? Removing of nut 1 didn't do anything , should I use a hammer to get wheel out?

Jacek,

Yes, the original seals were cork. The Filling Station in the US are able to supply these. Most parts suppliers offer replacements in Neoprene rubber though, so it might be easier to get those.
I bought rubber ones off Ebay UK.

I think Chevrolet switched to rubber in post-war production as well (?)

Alex

Cork:
http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb....Z5Z5Z50000014x

rubber:
http://www.oldchevytrucks.com/cart/p...7&i=10275|||||

https://www.chevsofthe40s.com/detail..._8_Pieces.html

Thanks Alex, I think I will order cork ones to be as close to original as possible.
I want to order also gasket set for the engine from them. I think part no. FS-181 is correct one for my engine.

What do You think about mirrors Dirk has for sale ? Ok for my cab?

Jacek,

Yes, those are the correct mirrors. Cab11, 12 and 13 all use this type of mirror.

FS-181 should indeed be the correct gasket set for your engine.

I think you will need a puller to remove your steering wheel, but I am just guessing here as I also still have to remove mine. Is your horn button still in one piece?

Alex

yesterday's delivery

I need advice which paint to use for frame , brand (manufacturer) and color (code), paint must be available in Europe.

We have problem with separating leaf springs from rear axle, nothing we tried worked, any fresh ideas how to do it ?

Personally for safety after reassembly I would cut the U bolts and have new ones made.

I support new U bolts and nuts....
 

It will cost money but the old ones may be stretched to near failure.... have new ones made.

Be carful when you cut the existing U bolts .... in case the center bolt may have failed or will fail when cutting the U bolts.

You should carefully inspect the spring pins and hangers for wear and the brass inserts may need replacing...... Dirk has original NOS pins..... well greased they will out live you.

Bob C

Fire up the torch and heat the castings to get the U bolts out. If they come out OK I wouldn't hesitate to re-use them.

U bolts are cheap, at least here in Canada.
I was having trouble sourcing NOS ones for my M38A1 CDN 3 as they are sized differently from pattern 53 Jeep ones. I went to my local heavy truck suspension place and they made me what I needed on the spot while I waited.
If I recall correctly, they were quite inexpensive. I think they were $10 each including new nuts.
Broken leaf springs are a road hazard and an axle coming loose is like playing Russian Roulette...
Suspension is often overlooked.

In case the center bolt that holds the spring pack is broken, you may wish to do as my local heavy truck shop does to ensure against spring leaves flying apart as you loosen or cut the old u-bolts. They use sturdy F clamps (C clamps would work) to hold the leaves together, both as they cut the U-bolts and more importantly as they prepare to install a new center bolt.

Springs May Need Lot of Compression
 

Hi Jacek

As pointed out the springs may be under a lot of tension if the center bolt has broken. Here are two photos of how I uncompressed and then reassembled the springs when I restored my HUP.

Attachment 73033 Attachment 73034

The funny red and white lines on the springs were so I could be sure to get them assembled back together with all the leafs going back in the same order and not getting mixed from one spring to another.

Go light on painting the leafs too much paint will make it hard to get the bolts through the spring clips and as the paint wears from movement of the springs the leafs will tend to separate.

Also once you have the truck all assembled and have driven it 1000 miles remember to re-tighten the U-bolts, while you are doing that check all the body mount bolts as well. On my HUP I discovered stuff that was tight when first assembled was loose after driving.

Cheers Phil

Cheers Phil

Jacek,

I am using both Khaki Green G3 and SCC2 from Aura design in the Czech republic. https://www.facebook.com/camouflage.paints

I agree with most others on the U-bolts. Measure them and see if the Filling station or any of the other suppliers have them available. I had the filling station make custom U-bolts for my C8 and that was only a few dollars extra on top of the normal catalogue price. I don't know about Poland, but I was unable to find a local supplier that could make U-bolts in inch sizes and UNF thread.....at least not for a price that would fit my budget.
A few F-clamps is what I used to keep my spring packs together, but than again....C8 springs are not as heavy as C15 springs.

Regarding loosening the stuff. I presume you have tried putting jack under the four ends of the U-bolts (nuts fitted to ends) and than tried lifting the lot? I guess this might not work due to the lack of weight after disassembly of most of the truck....

Alex

steering wheel puller
 

one of these two types of puller should work, the two holes on the steering wheel should accept the long bolts.

Attachment 73064 Attachment 73065

Remember to leave the shaft nut on
 

Hi

Comment on the steering wheel puller. Loosen but do not remove the nut on the top of the steering shaft when you first start to tighten the puller to keep the end of the steering shaft from curling or bulging. I have seen this happen and it is a real mess to get the wheel off and clean up the threads on the shaft.

I have one just like what is pictured. I learned from watching my brother mushroom the end of a steering shaft on a Model A Ford. In the end up drilling the end of the threads out till they came off with the wheel then welding a new threaded section on to the shaft. The problem may have be unique to Model A's but I never wanted to find out.

Cheers Phil

plates
 

The cab 12 C8 I bought back in 1981 , had those same plates under the floor corners . Mike

So far every rim is from a different producer (two more to check). Any information about this Sankey company ?

Sankey manufactured trailers for the British army and possibly parts for use on other vehicles.
I would guess that your photo shows a rim made by Sankey in 1939 for a War Department contract but have no idea what trailer (or other vehicle) the rim was originally made to fit.

Hi Jacek,

great work. Looking forward to see it complete!
To the colours - try this guy, his paints are the best ever. Located in Olomouc/Czech Repéublic.

http://auradesign.eu/camo_p_br.htm

Frankie

Original color of my vehicle was khaki green I think. I want to paint it in desert camo pattern as on attached photo.
So first idea is to use :
- khaki green for chassis , axles , cab interior
- BSC. No. 61 LIGHT STONE and S.C.C. No. 2
sugestions welcomed.

Desert camo
 

Hi,

http://auradesign.eu/camo_Higgins_1.htm

here are pictures of 2 cars in desert camo with the paint specicifation. Tomáš Chorý - the owner of aura design - is a specialist on German and Allies paints and camo's, do not hesitate to ask him, here is an info:

Tomáš Chorý
AURA DESIGN STUDIO
ateliér Loučany 667
783 44 p. Náměšť na Hané
e-mail: info@auradesign.eu
m: +420 603 763 816

he can make the paints matt-half matt etc as you like it.

Regards,
Frankie

gasket set has just arrived