Chevrolet C8 1940 Cab 11 restoration, The Netherlands

[Alex van de Wetering]

While taking the nose section apart, I noticed a cut in the arch bar to clear the steering box. The cut is rather crude and seems to be done with a torch......not factory I guess(?). Also the plate surrounding the steering shaft and pedals seems to have been altered to get it to fit around the steering shaft. Anyone recognize this? Is this C8 specific or was my steering box "Saginaw gear" replaced at some stage?

I dropped the rear shock absorbers off at a friend who didn't have too much trouble removing the arms with help of a hydraulic press. The original C8 arms are now fitted to the rebuilt shocks I bought on the web.

Alex

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Alex

The steering box looks Odd the filler extension on the top of the box is something I have not see. I'll look through the manuals I have and see if I can find it. Plus the front or bottom end looks different .

Bob have you seen anything like this before on a Cab 11?

Wonder if all the change is due to a post war leak that was fixed by making it easier to add lube to the box.

This is the steering box without any adjustment for angle of the box correct? Not like the attached photo which is the later and larger CMPs. So the misalignment in the floor does not make sense is there any indication of movement of the steering box mounting bracket to the frame or that dash/firewall has moved. Your earlier frame photos don't show any indication of anything being bent.

How about a photo of that side of the frame and the cleaned up steering box and bracket to try and figure out what has moved.

Cheers Phil

[David DeWeese]

Hi,

That steering gear looks identical to the one in my C8 down to the lube fitting on top. I will take some photos tomorrow and get back to you.

Thanks, David

[Bob Carriere]

Hi Folks

By strange coincidence I acquired a 1937 1 ton pick up frame last weekend..... Looking over the rear spring hanger of the C8 against my 1937 civvy frame and I seea lot of similarity.

Alex what is the width of the springs on the C8 you have... mine at 1 3/4 wide front and 2 1/2 rear.....

I have the steering shaft/gear box also ..... will need to go to the barn tomorrwo eveing to check it out....... it looks similar but mine does not have that pipe arrangement on top but a simple pipe plug. Could this haev been a crude fix for a leaking gear box and a cut int he arhces to facilitate refilling...?

Alex can you measure the frame tickness near the location of the muffler support bracket...... which again is identical to the CMP bracket.

My frame is 7/32 thick..... and my C15 a is a solid 1/4 or 8/32. The height of the 37 frame is 7 inches at the muffler bracket location and pefectly flat to the rear like a CMP. In earlier pictures of Alex's C8 where he is fixing the rear corners of the frame..... I seem to have the same bracket arrangements.

It seems the C8 and the civvy half ton frame had a curved in the frame above the rear axle..... the one ton I have is flat and straight as a needle.

I will have more pictures of the frame when weather permit..... I suspect more similarities will be found ....after all the CMP "pilot" were built on/of available civilian parts.

I will attach the few pictures I have... the engione which was the purpose of the whole quest.

Bob

[Bob Carriere]

Ran out of room....

...engine totally rebuilt never ran....

Also have the 4 speed tranny and bellhousing LH clutch opening of course.

The flywheel is also unusual for the original 216.... the flywheel is dished with greater mass than a typical 216 I am accustomed to...... looks more like a heavy duty arrangement I have seen on farm tractors where the clutch arrangement is recessed in the flywheel... in any event it is heavyyyyyy!

Will take some better pictures of my steering box this week.

Alex do the brake drum look similar...... it has original 16 inch rims and original tires were 6:00x16 or optional ballon tires at 7:50x16 ........ rear end is 4:11

Enjoy

Bob

PS..... frame was sandblasted and braked redone on all four corners.
......wonder if the beam front axle is similar........ is similarity exists than civvy 37 parts came be used in the resto of C8

[Alex van de Wetering]

Thanks for your replies guys. I cleaned the steering box a little bit and took some more pictures to add to the discussion.

Phil, this is indeed a rather simple steering box without the possibility of adjusting the angle. I compared the steering box and bracket with the bracket on my replacement chassis and all seems identical.....no new holes drilled or any kind of shims or whatever. At the dash end all seems to be stock(?).

I had another look and I think i can repair the arch bar without it hitting the filler for the steering box. Maybe the cut was done because it made it quicker to fit the steering box??? Normally the nose panels sit over this end of the arch bar, so access to the filler is only after disassembly of part of the nose or by reaching under the front lip of the fender.



I can't seem to find any modifications to the footwell panelwork, except for the extra space for the steering shaft and pedals...

Alex

[Alex van de Wetering]

Bob,

Yes, I followed the last road trip you guys did in the Hammond Thread. Good job on the engine and frame! The frame does look very familiar, but measurements seem to be a little different from the C8 though. I seem to remember that Dave Pope found the source for the C8 frame.....made from two different civvy frames if I remember correctly (?)

C8 measurments: Front springs are 1 3/4 wide, rears 2inch wide. The C8 uses 1/2inch spacers in order to fit the rear springs to the "normal" spring hangers and shackle.
Close to the exhaust muffler bracket, the frame is 5 3/4 high and about 2 3/8 wide. The thickness is somewhere near 4,4mm....

I haven't had a chance yet to examine the drums. Maybe Dave, David or Mike can help out here?




Attached are two more pics of my steering box....

Alex