C8A HUW restoration in Greece

[Haridimos]

Hello Phill,
Thanks to you and R. Clark (HERE) we saved a lot of time and pain, and we finally managed to remove the body from the chassis. We remove the front sections and we found the hidden bolts. Everything was there.
The chassis revealed in a tired and rusty shape, but the good thing is that there are no cracks or other lethal damages..

Next phase is to sandblast the chassis and other parts in the comming days, as long as we have the weather on our side. Three weeks without any rain...


The 1st photo is from mr. Waterman's site. 2 to 5 is the HUW.

BODY_floor boards bolts_1 Waterman_.jpgBODY_floor boards bolts_2_23-11-2011rsz.jpgBODY_floor boards bolts_3_23-11-2011rsz.jpgBODY_8_rsz.jpgCHASSIS_12_23-11-2011_rsz.jpg

[RHClarke]

Haridimos,

Your truck looks to be in great shape. I note with interest that the "skids" (in the 4th photo - the curved rails on the bottom of the frame) on your HUW have not separated - a common point of failure on Heavy Utilities. You may wish to inspect them to make sure that cracks have not developed. If they have, a simple weld repair will do.

Keep up the great work!

[Haridimos]

Hi Rob,

Thanks for your comments and the recommendation for the "skids". I remembered that you have a similar talk with mr Waterman about cracks on that area of the HUP's body, (with some photos also! ), but to confirm that I have understand exactly where the point is, a post a todays photo of how the "skids" looks to me..:

BODY_12 25-11-2011 rsz.jpgBODY_12 25-11-2011 skids.jpgBODY_11 25-11-2011 rsz.jpg

Thanks again for any help!

Kostas

[RHClarke]

Kostas,

Your right side red arrow indicates the most common points of failure for the skids. My passenger side skid separated from the frame and failed at the weld.

[Phil Waterman]

Hi

Agree with Rob the passenger side is most likely place to break or crack, drivers side is a little different design which looks to be stronger.

Tough place to get the welding torch into, did one pass on the crack lines with the body was on its side and then did another with it back down on the stands.

Keep us posted on your progress.

Cheers Phil

[Haridimos]

Rob and Phil,
Again many thanks for your advices, and Im sure that without having them whole thing would be much more difficult to bring it out and I could dare to say impossible.

Now, some dirty work against our enemy: Rust!

Passenger's door before, with some rust at the lower part, and after surgery:

DOOR_15_16-04-2011_rsz.jpgDOOR_15B_23-11-2011_rsz.jpg

Note the laminated layers of paint , the very first initially was dark blue, after that was canary yellow, and the last was something between brown and grey..
For that reason I didn't find any stencils or serial numbers at all..

[Haridimos]

My HUW served as a wrecker in she's civilian life, so they have modified the rear part of the body butchering the upper of the door to make room for the crane. What a sin!

Here is our work yesterday, before and after the surgery:

DOOR REAR CUT_25-11-2011rsz.jpgDOOR REAR CUT_28-11-2011rsz.jpg