Info needed: TOOL BOX Chevrolet c15a no. 12

[Bob Carriere]

Hi Paul / Hi Grant

Yes the tool boxes of the cab 11/12 are different and more than just the top lid.

For example the top lid is slightly off set to give room when open without jamming on the cab..... and inside each corners are provision for storing two POW cans and the bracket serves as a brace for the corners.

Although easier to reproduce that the cab 13 you would need dimensions, heavy gauge steel ( 14 or at least 16 gauge) .....bending is minimal and would be for the lid and the box top along with the two corner braces.

I am currently packing up for a week of cottage holidays but upon my return on July 3rd will work with Grant to take pictures and exact measurements. Except for the lid all parts are flat steel cut to size and Mig welded at 90 degrees. A corner recess has to be cut for the gas tank filler....... as a cab 12 you may be correct to hunt for the filler necks of a cab 13 tank for ease of refilling at the local gas station. Look for a rusted cab 13 box and salvage the neck part which is usually soldered on with lead.....or keep it original as a speaking point.... Stock HD long piano hinges are readily available.

Lifting the empty tool pox is a two man job. You will need to make 4 J bolts that will allow attachment to the frame, two short wood spacers and some folded over steel that sits on the t-case flat cross member.

....unless Grant wants to start getting some measurements/pictures off the ex-Gord cab 12 in the little field...... that box is badly rusted, beyond recovery/rebuilding but a good pattern to measure from...... Grant feel free to remove it if so inclined ...... and use the tractor to lift it off the frame..... the other cab 12 that I used the cargo box did not have a tool box.....

Sorry for the time crunch......

Bob C

[Paul Edwards]

Thank you Gents.

Cheers,


Paul

[Grant Bowker]

Another related consideration - were 12 cab "only" fitted with runflat tires or did the switch to more conventional tires happen during the 12 cab run. This might give you the choice of which type toolbox to fit...
Assuming you are going to use conventional instead of runflat tires for your truck, where do you want to mount the spare, on top of a toolbox (whether strictly accurate or not) or inside the cargo body?

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Originally Posted by Grant Bowker

Another related consideration - were 12 cab "only" fitted with runflat tires or did the switch to more conventional tires happen during the 12 cab run. This might give you the choice of which type toolbox to fit...
Assuming you are going to use conventional instead of runflat tires for your truck, where do you want to mount the spare, on top of a toolbox (whether strictly accurate or not) or inside the cargo body?

The 2B1 box with its associated tyre free tool box was fitted to early 13 cabs so not much chance of a factory 12 cab sporting a box with fittings for a spare.

My humble suggestion is to keep the spare in the wife's car fallowing up the rear...

[Paul Edwards]

Originally Posted by Bruce Parker

The 2B1 box with its associated tyre free tool box was fitted to early 13 cabs so not much chance of a factory 12 cab sporting a box with fittings for a spare.

My humble suggestion is to keep the spare in the wife's car fallowing up the rear...

Bruce that's a very expensive optional extra. First I need a wife! then I'd have to buy her a car! I think I'd have better luck hunting down that spare wheel carrier.

Paul

[Grant Bowker]

A series of photos, courtesy of Bob Carriere, of the toolbox for his Cab 11.

[Grant Bowker]

More photos, including holes in the bottom of the box that were patched before installation.

[Paul Edwards]

Currently fitted to the truck are some nice pattern Trak Grips tyres (which I believe from memory are RF), so good that Barry Ring used them as his pattern tyres for his new run of "Trak Grips". so I'll run with these for the moment and mount any spare in the cargo box. I'm sure I've seen a picture somewhere with the spare wheel on the roof of the cab.

If I were to mount on the tool box then I have to source the tyre holder and that's rarer than rocking horse poo!

Thanks.

Paul

DSCN5572.jpg cproc-c15a-cab12-delft_orig.jpg

[Grant Bowker]

Other considerations- a wheel and tire (worse if runflat) are heavy for lifting into the bed, even worse onto to the top of the toolbox, I wouldn't want to try to do it solo.

Putting a spare on the cab roof may have been done by someone, but I doubt it was an officially sanctioned fitting. I think the roof would be at risk of buckling and it would have been a miserable job wrestling it up there.

[Paul Edwards]

Arn't they heavy! I had trouble moving em 1/2" off the ground to pop em the hub.

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Originally Posted by Paul Edwards

Arn't they heavy! I had trouble moving em 1/2" off the ground to pop em the hub.

Yes, very heavy what with the stamped rims, thick runflat sidewalls and, if you're luck, they are full of calcium powder.