Chevrolet C8 1940 Cab 11 restoration, The Netherlands

[Alex van de Wetering]

Here is a question for the Cab 11 and 12 owners....

There seems to be a considerable gap between the inner footwell side panel and the arch bars (cab frame) on cab11/12s. This gap gathers all sorts of junk and moist and in case of my C8 this has resulted in partly rotten panels and pitting on the arch bars.
I intend to work on these inner panels soon, but I am trying to figure out what is original.........panel on top of the angle steel piece (with the door catch) and rubber or anti-squeak to fill the gap between the panel and arch bar?

Most of the restored and original examples I have seen show the configuration as in the pictures attached....panel on top of the angle steel piece (with the door catch), but I have also seen two trucks where restorers have placed the panel between the arch bar and the angle steel.....this actually gives a better fit, even though I think the original configuration is on top...as shown in the pictures. Any ideas?


Alex

[Bob Carriere]

.... the mother of invention and resourcefulness.....

.......way to go Alex.

I finished putting on the front of my truck today.... in desperation I attempted to use metric (Chinese) clip on nuts on the sheet metal that fits between the fenders just below the grill.

I gave up and ripped them out and welded some captive nuts..... now the part is on has it should be.

First time the nose is back on in 12 years...... yeah I am slow.....

Pictures to follow...

Bob C

[Alex van de Wetering]

I have found a longer clevis pin for the brake pedal return spring.....it's actually a "classic" mini clutch part and plenty are being offered on Ebay. I just have to drill the hole in the right location and cut the pin to the correct length.
I intend on re-using the brake return spring for now, but will get a new spring for the future.

A while ago I bought a replacement gauge cluster in order to use parts from this and my original C8 gauge cluster (which is in a very sorry state) to get one complete set.....but look at the speedo range....

Alex

[cliff]

Originally Posted by Alex van de Wetering

A while ago I bought a replacement gauge cluster in order to use parts from this and my original C8 gauge cluster (which is in a very sorry state) to get one complete set.....but look at the speedo range....

Alex

is that possibly meant to be 150 metres per hour Alex? After all it is a Chev LOL!

[motto]

The 100 MPH reading on the original speedometer scale equates to 160 KM Per Hour which is pretty close to the maximum of 150 on the proposed replacement.
It is obviously a metric instrument face. The odd part is the temperature scale appears to be Fahrenheit.

David

[Alex van de Wetering]

is that possibly meant to be 150 metres per hour Alex? After all it is a Chev LOL!

Well Cliff....it's still just a chassis with a front axle and pedals.....so 150 metres per hour sounds like an achievement

It is obviously a metric instrument face.

Exactly David. I was hoping it was just the face that was different, but have since found out that the speedo itself is also different and reads "KILOS" on the face. I will try to post a picture tonight.

regards,

Alex

[Alex van de Wetering]

Attached are some picture of the gauges that came with my replacement dash.

hmmm....just realised that the difference in kilometer vs miles speedo might not be in the actual range of the speed displayed on the face, but more the total miles/km's on the clock(?)....would that make sence?

Alex

[Bob Carriere]

No doubt a civilian vehicle speedo..... must be geared for KM with such a high read out...... noticed one gauge is different shade..... maybe a GMC gauge???

Just started playing with my instrument cluster..... the best one by far is a GMC which I plan to use..... a fully rebuilt instrument cluster now retails around $750 US +++

So I plan to transplant a Chev gas gauge into the empty spot in my GMC cluster....... will be shopping for some tan colored paint at a hobby store in town tomorrow. The Tamiya paint line is very exhaustive and availalble in small quantity.

Got a local car window shop to sell me the proper black polyurethane tube of sealer and special glass primer and will try my hands at installing new glass in the refurnished frame.....

Had my brand new wiring harness stretched out on a table for raising my degree of familiarity with the spaghetti like confection. It was hand done by no other than Phil Waterman..... and after checking out against 3 other cab 12 I think we can do it....... and we are planning to use a dummy voltage regulator to dress up the wiring eventhough I will be using a 12 V alternator.

some of the detail work is awesome compared to rebuilding a transfer case....

Cheers

[motto]

Yes Alex that does make sense, the odometer (distance travelled) would have to have different gearing to read in kilometres.
The KMPH indication merely needs another set of numbers on the face to line up with the needle at any given speed.

David

[Alex van de Wetering]

Bob, David,

Thanks for your thoughts. I am thinking of using this "odd" Km/H Speedo for the time being, but with the correct glass face and 0-100mile lettering. This will mean speed should read correctly in miles, but the odo is still reading km/h, but I don't think that should be a problem.

I don't know Bob...maybe GMC, maybe a gauge from another Chev....or maybe there was some difference in colour of the gauges anyway.....maybe different suppliers??? For me the question is if should fit a replacement gauge decal set, or if I keep the original finish and slightly weathered look. I tend to go for the latter.


Alex

[Alex van de Wetering]

The Tie rod on my C8 was bent and the ends were cracked. I wasn't really comfortable with welding these cracks, so I had a replacement tie rod fabricated at a machine shop. New Tie rod ends came from Jim Carter. I re-used the old clamps, but replaced the bolts.

One of the pictures attached shows one clamp after a Molasses bath (2-3weeks) and the second clamp (the shiny one) after 15 minutes with the wire wheel on an angle grinder.

I also had the ball on the steering arm rewelded at the local blacksmith.....but somehow I can't find the picture of the end result




Alex

[Bob Carriere]

Found a NOS GMC fuel gauge at a flea market for $15.... perfect match for the color....I now have a complete working instrument panel and all wired in.....

Some days the sun shines.....

Cheers

[Alex van de Wetering]

I had another look at the clutch pedal and pedal shaft, that was discussed on the previous page. The bushing set that I bought from the filling station consisted of two bushings, so I still had one left. I decided to try and fit the second bushing, buy a new reamer and see if carefully reaming the bushing would solve the issue. Sadly it didn't, the pedal was still moving around too much and after measuring the shaft with a caliper I found the shaft to be oval and also the surface to be slighly curved (yes, in the wrong direction).

So, I brought the shaft and pedal to the guy that also manufactured the new tie rod. He machined the end of the shaft round again and made a new bushing to fit the pedal. I had the parts back in a few days, so I was able to re-fit the parts last saterday and I am really happy now with the pedal movement!!!! I don't know why it took me a year to finally go ahead and get the pedals sorted....

The first picture shows the "old" bushing and the shaft and pedal after I picked them up from the machine shop. the other pictures show the pedals installed. Also shown is the (classic) Mini clevis pin (shortened to size, and with new hole drilled)....and the lot installed with the return spring.

Also shown is a sneak peek of the floors. More in the next update.

Alex

[Alex van de Wetering]

It was time to work on the cab floor. The two front sections were in good condition, but the large rear section was bent and had at least two non original holes....one hole was crudely cut with a torch by a previous owner (in order to create room for an extra lever to the gearbox) and the other was created by rust. As some of you know my C8 spent several years in the Elliot borthers scrapyard in Newtonville; over the years all sorts of dirt and junk gathered under the seats, creating the perfect environment to thin out the floor.....and of course the wooden spaces under the floor didn't help either!

So, it was time to do something with the floor. I didn't want to make a new floor from modern thread plate, as I wanted to keep the original style thread pattern, so the only options were to look for a replacement original floor or to fix the existing floor. Stefan and I searched every corner of LWDparts, but we couldn't find a servicable C8 floor, but some Ford floor sections from the scrap pile proved to be the solution. More on that later.

First step was to straighten the floor a bit and to replace the two lips at the front edge.

[Alex van de Wetering]

Now for the holes in the floor, as mentioned above we managed to find some Ford floor sections in the scrap pile, so the next step was a trick already shown by the Hammond crew a few years ago......fill the holes with a matching piece of thread plate!

I know it has been discussed on the forum before that the “dot-dash” thread pattern on Ford and Chevrolet was supposedly slightly different, but (at least in this case) I found that they are exactly the same. The only thing I did notice is that there is a difference in size in West-East to North-south....so in one direction the dots are closer to eachother. So, basically I had to check orientation of the replacement sheets and find a section of plate matching in pattern and amount of rust pitting.

I cut a small template from cardboard and used some spray paint to mark the section to be cut. After cutting and trimming I tack-welded the replacement piece from the top, than welded the other side in small sections. Than I used the angle grinder to cut a V-shaped groove in the top, weld it....and than lots of carefull grinding with a angle grinder and (fake) Dremel too. Last step was to cut the excess material from the inside edge around the gearbox.

[Alex van de Wetering]

Last few pictures of this first floor repair

[Alex van de Wetering]

The second hole was a a bit more challenging. There was so much pitting on this section of the floor that I could hardly see the original pattern. So I started by drawing lines marking the original location of the dots and dashes. Again I tried to find a matching piece of floor and weld it in (You can clearly see in the picture that the replacement is a Ford sheet by the shape of the edge for the engine cover)

Alex

[cliff]

excellent workmanship mate

[Alex van de Wetering]

Actually in this case the replacement piece is in much better condition than the surrounding area, but as this section will be underneath the passenger seat, I am OK with the result.
All the heat from welding and grinding sadly meant the floor needed straightening again. I don't have a press, so I decided to put our small van to good use. I used a variety of wooden blocks and after half an hour of careful moving these blocks and driving the car on top, the floor was pretty much straight again. After a few coats of primer and Khaki Green the floor is again ready for use!

Alex

[Bob Carriere]

You bring back some pleasant memories of when I stitched up my floor..... time consuming but very satisfying.

It must be remembered that not everything comes with a part number and available at the local auto parts store. In this restoration game/hobby you must be able to be creative and willing to try to make things we have never done before.

I love your approach to matching up the dots and dashes........ and I remember getting some good advice and pcitures from Phil W. on setting up my extra winch hand brake properly.

You, like many others, are a credit to our hobby.

Cheers

Cheers

[Alex van de Wetering]

Thanks Cliff....it's very much like scale modelling.....cut a piece of material slightly bigger than the hole and than slowly cut and grind until it fits. Grinding and cutting just takes longer

Bob, many thanks! Just as you said...it was quite fun fixing the floor, even though it took a fair bit of time to get it done. Thanks again for the idea!

You, like many others, are a credit to our hobby

Thanks for the compliment, but too be honest....I think guys like youself, the Hammond crew, Phil and many others are the ones that are a credit to the hobby... I have learned so much from you guys over the years!

Attached are some pictures of the gearbox cover. Not that I need it anytime soon, but I thought I might as well fix it, when I was dry-fitting the panel in order to determine where to drill the missing hole in the floor.
The gearbox cover was also cut with a torch. I cut the burrs of the edges, welded in some fresh steel and welded the small holes (not rust this time, but holes from the torch) using a piece of flattened copper tube clamped against it.
I still have to find some correct steel rivets to fasten the rubber gasket and plate around the handbrake lever, but first things first.

Alex

[Bob Carriere]

Hi Alex

I used two layers of 1/16th neoprene gasket material and replaced the rivets with number 10 pan head slotted screws/bolts and nuts underneath...... now if the rubber cracks I can easily replace it.........

I also fitted a semi soft gray rubber sponge foam around the tranny tower and the thcickenss is just enough to squeeze it down very tight when I bolt down the tranny cover......seals very well.

Cheers

[Ganmain Tony]

Alex, that floor repair has left me in awe of your workmanship..

Utterly outstanding

[Alex van de Wetering]

Thanks Tony!

Bob, I certainly plan to make a thick rubber filler around the shift tower, like you suggested. Regarding the rubber around the hand brake lever and the rivets....I haven't made up my mind yet. I might go for aluminium rivets in stead of the original steel ones. It seems it's easier to find the aluminium ones in the correct size and small quantities...they would look identical to the originals...should be easier to form and easier to drill out if the rubber has to be replaced.
But....as they say...we'll cross that bridge when we get there
Something that is still bugging me is the gap between the arch bars and inner footwell panel. My arch bars are very rust pitted in that location, so the best solution I can think of is to get some very thick rubber to fill the gap. I would probably need a spongy rubber as in some locations it has to fill a 15mm gap and in others it has to be compressed as much as possible. It might not be original, but I need something to fill the gap and keep the water and dirt out!

Alex

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Alex

First want to congratulate you on your matching the dots and dashes on your floor board, exellent work.

Now to rubber roof membrane I've found it to be excellent for a verity of jobs on CMP restoration. This the stuff used on flat roofs comes in several thicknesses and is cheap or free. Take a picture of your truck and visit a commercial roofing company. Tell them what you need it for, and ask them if they have any scrap. In they are like the guys around here they show you a dumpster and tell you to help yourself.

Only time I have had to pay anything it was when I needed 11x14 feet piece of the fabric reenforced high wind stuff roof of my radio truck. Guy asked if was going to paint it to matchurch the trucks tan color? Said yes and he gave me a part used 5 gallon can of the special rubber paint.

Cheers Phil

[Alex van de Wetering]

Thanks Phil. I will certainly have a look at the roof membrane rubber you mentioned. Cheap or free should fit the budget perfectly

Alex

[Bob Carriere]

Hi Alex

I had the same problem but attcked it differently. I temporarily installed grqade 8 longer bolts and tighten the he** out of them until they diform and partly filled the gap. What remained was covered with 2 in. wide 1/8 in. thick self adhesive black foam rubber.

for your rubber seal around the shift tower it may be easier to build up the desired thickness of foam with glues up layers of foam....once compressed and with 3M door trim glue it will not come apart.

How about the rubber ceiling tile/cushion on the inside roof panel above the driver and rider????

[Alex van de Wetering]

Bob,

Thanks again for your suggestions. I think I have found a source for thick soft foam rubber, that I can use to fill the gap with the arch bars, shift tower and also the ceiling cushions (thanks for reminding me...completely forgot about those!).

Alex

[Alex van de Wetering]

Attached are some pictures of the repair to the arch bars of my C8. There were four sections that were in need of attention.....a spot near the steering box (a previous owner cut a hole with the torch), a section about halfway the other arch bar (where the steel was almost paper thin) and the last 20-30cm on each of the ends, where the arch bars attach to the supports under the doors.

I knew this would several hours of welding and grinding, but Dirk at LWD said he might have the solution as they had two sets of arch bars as spare.
Even though the frames/arch bars all look the same, they are almost all different....and the C8 is unique and not shared with C15 or any of it's sisters (difference is mostly in the ends where it attaches to chassis), so on a saterday we had a close look at the spares. After close examination (and info from Bob and Phil, thanks again guys), we found out one was CGT and the other was a Ford one, so no luck.
The Chev right hand side arch bar is different from the Ford one as it has one extra bulge to give some extra clearance for the pedals.

So, it was time to repair my original frame. I started by firmly bolting the arch bars to the chassis.....and adding temporary braces as I was afraid the steel would distort after cutting sections that needed repair.

Alex

[Alex van de Wetering]

I had a steel strip rolled to the correct radius and drew two repair sections in the computer that I had laser cut.....all in 6-7mm steel.
If you look closely at the arch bars you will notice the curve is not only bent in one direction, but also curves in the other direction, so I made a bending tool from some scrap steel and a long steel bar. This tool made bending the patches to the correct shape quite easy....with one end clamped in the vice of course.