Info needed: TOOL BOX Chevrolet c15a no. 12

[Bob Carriere]

There is an unexplained anomaly...... will check tomorrow and post corrections.

From memory I can't be sure which is correct.

Thanks for the eagle eye.

Even with the heavy gauge I had rust holes in the bottom which I cut out and replaced with HD plate...... so nice to do but joints on heavy metal. The local fabricator is very friendly and will lets you sort out and pick pieces from his cut off pile cheaper than cutting from NOS stock

[Paul Edwards]

Bob,

How is the tool box fitted to the chassis? You can see from my photo the chassis cross member is full of lumps, bumps and rivets. Your sketch shows a continuous 50" long "U" section. Should the cross member be packed up with timber above these lumps and bumps before bolting the "U" section down?

Appreciate your advice.

Cheers,


Paul

[Bob Carriere]

Hi Paul.....

Yes you will need wooden spacers. I made mine from white ash, totally painted with POR 15 so they are waterproofed.

Once you have the correct size for each side, before painting them, hammer them in place to create dimples in your wood........ they drill out a matching hole with a suitable drill size..... just enough to accommodate the rivet heads.

The box held in place by four 1/2 inch "J" bolts that will go through the bottom of the box and are fixed inside the floor of the box. The bottom of the J bar goes down by the inside of the frame and fits across the bottom section of the frame and is turned up about one inch........ the other end is threaded and takes a healthy washer and nut.

On the fabrication of the box....... closer examination jogged my memory.... and has written on my rough sketch, the original construction was done in one piece........starting at the lip for the lid near the cab...offset 1/4 inch down and wrapped around the bottom bent up to the lip on the cargo side..... one continuous sheet. The two end caps and the cut out for the fuel filler are added as separate pieces and welded all around.......so is the corner can bracket/holder.

On the side end pieces you need to bend a slight 1/4 in. off set identical to the one on the cab side of the box.... this will allow your lid to close over the protruding lip. The lock hasp is standard hardware still available today. Two Corby locks were used.

My confusion on the one piece construction comes from a repro that we stumbled on that was made from 16 gauge steel and all sides were cut as individual pieces then Mig welded in a home made wooden jig. It looked the part and was much lighter. Not sure it could handle a full load of tools, jacks, chains, etc. but for our parade purposes would be quite adequate. Cheaper, lighter and will not require a "good" fabricator to make the bends. Sometimes you need to consider your skill level, the equipment you have to work with and the size of your bank account!!!!!

Cheers

[Paul Edwards]

Thank you Bob, very helpful.

If you get chance could you check height of the box (as per anomaly above), I can't believe the box to be only 10 1/2 inches high, more like 13 1/2 high as per the second sketch.

Cheers,


Paul

[Bob Carriere]

Yes the proper dimension from top of closed lid to bottom is 13 1/2 inches....

See photo of my cab 11......absolutely ridiculous design...... there is not one service station nozzle that will fit that restricted space.

The cargo box is from a cab 13....temporary use while my 2B1 is being rebuilt.

Funnel and horse cock works well but requires 2 hands at the pump...... directly from the POW is fairly straight forward. I currently carry and use a 2 foot section of Chev rad hose which fits inside the filler neck and allows the service station pump to fit...... watch out for over filling!!!!

Pictures of the longer neck is obviously cab 12 and the special 1/2 thick re inforcement plate is visible.....mine on my cab 11 is hidden has I did my rear cab panel just a 1/2 in. longer when I reskinned.

So the box is composed of one large full width piece all prebent, the end caps, the two inside corner brackets for the 2 gal POW, the lid, four hinges and two hasp for the Cortby pad locks. The corner cut outs are done separately and pre bent one piece.

I would hard pressed to find a local fabricator capable of doing those box bends in one seamless piece and would likely haveto do it in multi piece Mig welded in a homemade jig.

Cheers

Ooops two pict. missing

[Bob Carriere]

...always a glitch....

[Owen Evans]

Just to add to Bob's photos, another shot of the 1/2" reinforcing plates under the 12 cab floor......saving weight clearly wasn't high on the agenda.

Owen.

[Paul Edwards]

Thank you Gentleman for all the information regarding my tool box.

Thought you might want to see the finished product before painting and mounting.

Cheers,
Paul

New Toolbox 1.jpg New Toolbox 2.jpg New Toolbox 3.jpg

[Bob Carriere]

Beautiful job Paul .......

...are you taking orders...... the next 10 will be easier.

Cheers

[Paul Edwards]

Hi Bob,

Are Corby padlocks still available? or would a suitable brass one suffice.

And, I'm in the process of thinking through the fixing down (I may be over thinking this). I understand you used "J" bolts and from your pictures it appears the "J" bolts goes down the face of the chassis rail but the hook of the "J" wouldn't clasp on the underside of the chassis rail..............wouldn't the "J" bolt be better hooking over the chassis cross member?

Also why are there 16 holes drilled in the bottom "U" section?...........I get 4 No. are for the "J" bolts

Cheers,


Paul

[rob love]

Originally Posted by Paul Edwards

Hi Bob,

Are Corby padlocks still available? or would a suitable brass one suffice.

I think Bob meant to say Corbin locks. You can find them with US maker or Canada.....the Canada would be more authentic of course. LWD parts has a few left, but they have gone up a lot since the days when you could buy them in sets: http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/sh...ad.php?t=31076


Another close padlock are the US padlock sets. Do a search on ebay and you will find them in sets of up to 6 keyed alike. https://www.ebay.com/itm/28443583124...MAAOSwenNhHWCm


Nice thing is they come with the retaining chain, so you don't leave them behind.



I have seen other brands used by the Canadian military back then. I have an old artillery tractor shell out back that still as one or two other brands hanging off some of the bins.