Chevrolet C8 1940 Cab 11 restoration, The Netherlands

[Alex van de Wetering]

I didn't have much luck with solid rivets, so I used a mix of roofing nails and welds to fix everything and still look close to original.

Thanks to Maurice for the box and Hanno for the template toolbox

Alex

[JoãoBoscoBarbosa]

Alex.

You have a drawing this CMP box? It's not. I drawing the box and you write the dimension for me?

[Alex van de Wetering]

João,

Sorry for not replying earlier. I have made up some plans of the toolbox that are hopefully of use to you. Please note that not all measurements are exact as it was hard to measure some things and work out the exact centre line of rivets etc.
Please let me know if you need more info.

Alex

[Alex van de Wetering]

Pdf's are attached. I also have Dxf's available, but I havent worked out how to attach them to the forum yet.
Alex

[Bob Carriere]

Good job..... now entered in my digital archives.

Bob C

[Jordan Baker]

Nice job on the tool box.

[Alex van de Wetering]

Sadly, I won't make my D-day 2019 deadline....not by a long shot actually as progress over the past 1,5 year has been very, very slow.

Anyway, I haven't updated the thread for a long time, so I have to catch up.

My C8 rad had a few rows soldered shut and the sheet metal was pretty rusty. I brought the rad to a specialist who recored it and pressure tested it. Sadly, they just cleaned the rusty sheet metal and gave it a coat of water-based black paint. The filler neck was still not usable and after a few months the sheet metal started to rust again.....and that was with the rad stored dry indoors in the garage.
It seems the black paint they use for modern rads is just not good enough to keep WW2 steel from rusting...or maybe they just didn't remove the acid from soldering.

I had them remove the sheet metal again and fixed the metal properly.

[Alex van de Wetering]

"Cleaning" the sheet metal, meant they had blasted the rusted metal and than solder it back on the rad without welding on any fresh metal. But, they did make a new lower sheet metal section, so I only had to fix the sides.

Fixing the sheet metal sides was easy enough with some sheet.

Alex

[Alex van de Wetering]

Now for the filler neck....the filler cap had nothing to clamp onto....and the lower half of the filler neck was rusted through (they had just soldered a brass plate on top of the hole). In the end I used a cap for a garden fence post as a base for the rounded end of the filler neck. The ring where the filler cap catches onto came from a CCKW part....I think it's a 352 fuel filler neck. Brian Asbury supplied a NOS GM rad cap.

After some welding and soldering, I pressure tested the filler neck with some hose and caps from the hardware store and a bicycle tyre pump.

[Alex van de Wetering]

The brass chain for the cap came from some spare rad parts I bought in France some time ago.

After the rad shop had re-soldered the sides.....I cleand all remaining rust spost and cleaned the soldering spots with baking soda and water. A good few coats of rust primer and satin black paint will hopefully mean the rad is now ready.

Alex

[Bob Carriere]

.....nothing like doing it yourself...... but doing the whole tank soldering does require skills ans special tools.

Sorry to see you miss the 75th .......

[Mike K]

Very clever work Alex My C8 original radiator is stuffed also .

[Alex van de Wetering]

Bob, Mike,

Thanks for your replies.

The horseshoe-shaped frame on my C8 was pretty crusty. I was lucky to find a replacement frame from a cab13. It seems the basic pressing on the 11/12cab frame is the same as cab 13....but the brace is in a different location and the open ends are cut differently (picture 2 shows cab13 top, cab11 below).
I drilled out the spot welds of the brace and welded it in the proper location for a cab11 ....than cut the ends to match the 11cab frame and swapped over the missing captive nuts.

[Alex van de Wetering]

Last bit was to make two new panels that attach to the bottom of the horseshoe and the assembly is now patiently waiting for it to be fitted to the chassis when the engine is in.

Alex

[Ganmain Tony]

Good on you Alex, superb work.

Great to see you get back into it. Keep the pictures coming.

[Pete Ashby]

Just caught up with this thread Alex, some exceptional fabrication going on here congratulations to you, even more impressive in that you are not working in a fully equipped workshop keep the updates coming
Pete

[Alex van de Wetering]

Thanks Pete!
Yes, years ago I said that not having a workshop or garage was no reason not to buy a restoration project....but in the meantime I have found out that a good work space makes live so much easier!

Have been following your D15 restoration (and Retriever) with great interest.

Alex

[Alex van de Wetering]

I did the fenders some time ago. In fact....when I see when the pictures were taken....

I had the local steel firm roll a sheet for me in the correct radius for the front fenders, so I could cut repair panels from it.

[Alex van de Wetering]

I didn't have the tools to fold the lower edge of the fender...so in stead I welded a strip to the end of the fender to simulate the fold.

Alex

[Alex van de Wetering]

Now for the left side fender....This one was worse. I started by trying to bend it back into shap as much as I could. Than welded in a strip along the edge where it is bolted to the cabin. This time is cut out a larger section of the fender....right to the nicely rounded edge on the front and side of the fender. This was a better approach than what I did with the other fender, as it gives a much nicer result......less risk of a peak where the new metal is welded to the old.

Holes for the fender supports and headlights were drilled after patch panels were all done.

Alex

[Danny Devers]

very nice metal finsh

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Alex


Nice work on, what seems to be not uncommon problem for Pat 11 & 12, the thickness of the metal makes welding in almost a pleasure. I would not even try to do the same work on a modern truck. It would be make or buy a whole new fender.


Enjoy watching the progress.


Cheers Phil