1940 Chev C15, Cab 11 restoration in Holland

[jaap de wit]

hi guy's now the truck is as good as ready, only some small things to do I started on the radiobody whitch need a lot of work. the body is as you can see the wood frame only and some bits like the vent duct's, de door, the inside fenders, ect. I started with the under side I cleaned it and put the brackets on the right place for my truck frame. then I put some foom inplace as insulation and covered it with playwood and painted it with tectielpaint.
as this needs to dry I took the door apart by removeing all the old ironsheet and the windowframe whitch all needs replacing. the wood around the doorlock needed some replacing to it was broken on the point were the lock is placed. so up to the wood work now.
cheers jaap

[jaap de wit]

Back on the door of the radiobody. the part of the lock was gone and I had to make some new parts. I made the part for the lock bigger so it wouldend brake again. I checked if the door was square by placing it in the door opening of the radiobody.
after this I made strips of iron sheet and screwed them on the door outer sides just far over the side so the door would still close. these strips act as supports for the ironsheet that covers the outside of the door, it get's folded around these strips. see you guy's next time when I do the outside of the door.
cheers jaap

[jaap de wit]

Now the back door was ready to get the new sheet metal fitted. near my house I have a blacksmith who cut the sheets for me to size. then it was to me to bend it around the metal strips on the door, this took some time to do it right. I make the windows in later because I don't know how the windowframes look like. I covered the frontside of the body to and made the small window hole in it outherwise I can't get to it when the body is on the truck, this window I do have. I also put in some sheet metal for the rear fenders in place whitch fit inside the original ones,this way it is easier to remove dirt from the wheel artches.
now it is time for some paint and to put it onto the truck.
cheers jaap

[Ganmain Tony]

Looks great Jaap,

How are you attaching the sheet metal to the timber?? Any close up photo's?

Any idea what they originally used ??

Just curious. Really look forward to your updates on this thread. It is a terriffic looking truck.

[jaap de wit]

thanks tony
I attach the sheet metal with gluw to the wood frame and use big head nails on the corners when I have beaten the metal around the corners then when all the metal is on the bodyframe I put metal strips on the front and back corners of the body (see the circels in the picture) these are screwed on.
originally they only nailed the metal on, I found many old nails in the wood and some screws. I will make some pictures as I get to it.
cheers jaap

[jaap de wit]

after I have painted the front of the radiobody, I had to do this first because I can't do it when it sits on the truck. it is now the time to put the body on the truck now it is still lightweight it only took 3 man to lift it. the body was attached to the frame of the truck at 6 points. now the body is on the truck I started with the back panels to fit on. first I placed the lower part on to draw a line for the door opening and the hatch for the generator compartment. then cut them out and glued the panel back in place.
when this was dry I started bending the corners at the door and hammering the metal in place this took some time to do it right, the same go's for the hatch opening. now it was time to do the same with the upper part of the back body. I have used big head nail to attach the metal around the corners, when the side panels go on they fall over these nails so they can't come out.
see you next time when I do the sides.
cheers jaap

[Alex van de Wetering]

Jaap, I can hardly wait for "Arnhem", next year

Have you thought about the interior of the body? Camper van....or period interior?

Alex