Chevrolet C8 1940 Cab 11 restoration, The Netherlands

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Alex

Getting the body panels to line up on Pat 11 and 12 is a job. As Bob pointed out put all the bolts in loose then tighten things up. I found a trick using bolts a nut and washer to do the alignment it is a lot quicker than using the actual screws.

Take a look at photos on http://canadianmilitarypattern.com/SheetMetalWork.html to see what and how did it.

Keep us posted your progress, going to be a great truck.

Cheers Phil

[Alex van de Wetering]

Guys, thanks for your response.

@ David. Excellent.....exactly the same box as mine!

@ Bob. My idea exactly....the decay of the wood supports under the cab may have "lowered" the cab a wee bit, resulting in the clearance problems with the steering shaft. I did indeed study the pics on the servicepub factory photos CD and at least Ford built the cabs on a jig.....probably Chev as well.

@ Phil. I am a regular on your website and was looking at your cab12 assembly pics last night. Based on Bob's and your experiences I will certainly try to do the same approach as you did. Your bolt trick is a good one as well and probably cheaper than the things used in aviation (what's their name again....clecko's??)

thanks guys,

Alex

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Alex

Bolt alignment trick using 1 1/2" x 1/4 x 20 in this case to quickly align the bolts going into the captive nuts, came about while I was having to constantly installing and removing panels to work on them and putting in all the pan head screws was killing my wrists. The bolt with a nut on it is so quick to install and remove run in by hand then just a quick twist on the nut with a wrench and it is tight.

Even if the panels are warped you can get a lot of them to come into line loose then tighten up the individual top nut. Once you are ready for finial assembly tight them all up, then replace them one at a time with the correct bolts.

Cheers Phil

[Bob Carriere]

Meant to ask you Phil....

You had used a bunch of very low grade Chinese Grade 0.5 bolts if I remember.. did you spot weld the nut 1/2 inch up the 1 1/2 inch bolt for speed.....?

I have replaced all my old captive nuts and procured new SS domed head slotted screws..... which I plan to dip the heads in rifle blueing acid to hetch them for painting.....

It is a trick to figger out all that slack/looseness from original oval bolt holes and the worn elongated ones..... maybe I will drive it around to shake things in place....hihihi

Bob

[Alex van de Wetering]

I picked up the shocks from my mate about a week ago. As mentioned earlier the press made swapping the C8 arms to the replacement shocks I bought online an easy task. I marked the arms and pins with a white marker, so the new arms could be installed at the same "time". Now I only have to replace the rubber bushes. I bought some rubber bushes from a Dodge a while and hope they will fit.

Disassembly of the C8 continued and I dropped off some parts at the blaster...rood, seat frames, grille and some other small bits. I was very happy when I heard that there was actually something to pick up after the blasting

All four springs have now been refitted to the frame. pictures to follow in a few days.

Alex

[Alex van de Wetering]

By the way, does anyone have some good pictures of the radiator cap outside and inside as fitted to the ealier Chevs? My cap is missing and before i can have my rad examined I have to get that cap sorted. The cap looks a lot like a fuel tank cap doesn't it???

Alex

[Bob Carriere]

Hi Alex

Will need to take some pictures of my cap...... Brian Ashbury may still have some NOS...... they are similar to the gas cap but externally very different.


Bottom line if you can find one that fits the locking tabs you are in business as they are not menat to seal tight as modern rad caps anyways...... should fit snug enough that if you use an expansion tank it will flow properly..... my overflow is a plastic pop bottle for the time being.

I am amazed at the fine spline work on the shock absorbers no wonder they rust weld so nicely. We have tried on a few occasion to remove the arm on some of ours and never succeeded maybe we did not use enough force....... we tried heat but you can only heta them so much before you cook the seals....... we just did not want to ruin any of them. In most cases once drained and refilled with car jack oil they seemed to stiffened up nicely.

Cheers

Bob