11 Cab F8 - Change of Plans

[Mike K]

The F8 has a shortened/welded together chassis , this was done at the factory.

I have some manifolds somewhere. left over from when I had the MCP 11D truck.

On another topic, the F8 I was told of in Sydney years ago....is a C8. The owner, he was talking to me on the phone, he got mixed up and he told me he has a F8 when what he actually owns is a C8.

[david moore]

Bob,
The F8 that I had is still around in Ontario but the V8 in it is not the original. In fact I gave you the original engine (very seized) a few years back. I can't remember if either of the manifolds were still on it or if I used them in the rebuild. My recall is that the manifolds on later V8's were too wide to fit in the F8.

[david moore]

I found these photos of the V8 I got from Brian Asbury. It needed a lot of work but those are the manifolds that went into the restored truck, Clearly the left is different from the right. It was a cab 12 by the way.

[Bob Carriere]

Long time no speak...... nice to hear from you.

Yes still have the parts and available for the same price to MLU members.... you only had the RH side exhaust manifold which is clearly the larger size and stored in the barn with the spare head...... our cab 12 Ford would have had the wider frame.... the F8 frame was really anemic ....so was the C8 converted civilian frame.

As far as I know ..... we have never willingly scrapped any usable CMP parts.....some bad frames were disassembled and bad sections scrapped but everything else has been stored and awaiting someone in need...... even questionable rims deemed unsafe for the road have been marked with a "Y" fro yard use and retired t help move hulks around the property. Far easier to move the hulk close to the barn ....close to all the tools than hard wrenching in the field. People have been nice to me when I needed parts and I try to reciprocate.

Hope to see you in August.

[Yeo.NT]

With a little more digging the issue with F8 manifold clearance has already been brought up here previously in Jim Prices thread “Exhaust Manifold - Right Side - F8”
http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/sh...ad.php?t=11790

I will theorize the original manifold “78-9430” which is mounted flat against the block had a heat soak, expansion and contraction issue. This caused cracking and would be replaced by what was readily available through post war years.
With the 15/30/60 having larger numbers and longer production run. Its purpose built chassis had more clearance the issue was never noticed, allowing the use of 21-9430 car manifold.

With the F8 being such a short run and based on the civilian chassis there have been a few other oddities I’ve come across. Including the steering, suspension and brakes. The exhaust clearance in some ways isn’t a surprise.

[Bob Phillips]

Just a couple of comments on these recent posts;
I had the pleasure of seeing Neil's 8cwt just a couple of weeks ago and it looked great. If you were not already aware of it, vehicles that have been restored at the Yeo "facility" are second to none in quality and I am eager to see the final product when the 8cwt is completed.
David, that blue V8 appears to be the one I traded to Brian many years ago. At that time it was a tired and tempermental engine so it did need a lot of "love". By the way it came out of a Ford 13 cab gun tractor, which has since been restored with a high performance Mercury engine.
And finally hats off to Bob C. because I am one of the many people he has shared his knowledge and store of spare parts with. One of these days I hope to see his restored Chev and see how he managed to get his feet into the cab to push the pedals!

[david moore]

Hi Bob
Actually that engine worked very well after several stuck valves were freed up - no really major work necessary. Just for old times sake - photo of "my" truck as purchased from Paul Singleton - and as finished before I sold it - couldn't get really decent tires!

[Paul Singleton]

Originally Posted by Bob Phillips

One of these days I hope to see his restored Chev and see how he managed to get his feet into the cab to push the pedals!

Exactly the reason I sold the F-8 to David. I realized that being 6’5” with side 15 shoes I would never be able to enjoy driving it.

[Yeo.NT]

For most of us in the hobby its common knowledge to have more then one vehicles, multiples of various parts or assemblies. This has come true with my project as it turns out having more then one transmission has saved me as the original transmission turns out was cracked running almost all the way around the case, nearly split in 2.
The second trans was holding oil and shifted through all the gears, what I didn't do was open it up to inspect the condition of the gears, turn out "Grind it until you Find it" was standard operating procedure for the previous operator. This lead to pulling the internals out of the cracked housing and installing into the good one.

https://youtu.be/9b4WjDeWMPE?si=Gy6wABokdtnYIMow

[Mike K]

That is a good plan, swapping out the gears.

You probably would know this already. I believe that some of the Ford gears will swap with the contemporary Dodge 'New Process' gears. As used in the 4 speed Dodge gearbox, Weapons Carrier and many other Dodge trucks.

A late friend of mine did a similar steering shaft fix. He had a 46 Dodge sedan , the worm on the end of the steering shaft was very worn out. He found a NOS Ford shaft , cut the worm of it and he got a professional welding business to weld the NOS worm onto the Dodge shaft. Ford and Dodge parts have some interchangeability. This method of repair is frowned upon by the 'engineers' but you gotta do with the parts that are on hand.

For fixing two shafts together , instead of welding you can also use ROLL PINS. I've seen the TV car restoring guys use Roll Pins on steering components and the method seems to be what is recommended.

Your last pic where you are pointing to the two legged rear mount casting on the back of the gearbox, I've seen one of those cast mounts fail, it broke off where the legs protrude. I welded it together with a stick welder !

[Yeo.NT]

Previously I came across the issue of not having the correct exhaust manifold to clear the clutch/brake pedals. The solution is aftermarket headers with light modification, a little cutting, welding and ballpeen hammering.

[maple_leaf_eh]

Originally Posted by Yeo.NT

Previously I came across the issue of not having the correct exhaust manifold to clear the clutch/brake pedals. The solution is aftermarket headers with light modification, a little cutting, welding and ballpeen hammering.

I think the consensus of opinion from the knowledgeable CMP builders on this group is - the design was not good from the outset, and it stayed in service due to momentum because it worked well enough for what had to be done.

At some point every restoration project needs to move on to the next problem.

[Yeo.NT]

If anyone is interested in more detail on how I made the headers fit, here is the link on my YouTube channel

https://youtu.be/EasSBij3mVI

[Yeo.NT]

I’ve cobbled enough parts together to be able to finally test drive the truck and get it to move under its own power for the first time in 60 years.

https://youtu.be/JjRNjDn-tPo

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Hi Neil,

I subscribed to your YouTube channel and must commend you for not only restoring CMP but also making these videos

All, if you haven’t seen Neil’s videos yet, please go and see them here:
https://youtube.com/@tipperaryarmouries

[Yeo.NT]

Thank you for subscribing

[Yeo.NT]

Latest update, starting to really look like a truck again

[david moore]

Neil
Am I right in recalling that you "up-sized" the wheels on your F8 (so as to be able to get road-worthy and available tire size) using the spare F8 wheels that I sold to you (or your dad) a few years back? Could you remind us how you did that? Jonathan - who bought my F8 - might want to copy that idea?

Cheers
David Moore
Kingston

[david moore]

I was also thinking of your comments about the exhaust headers .Most don't realise I think that the headers on the F8 seem to be unique to the Cab 11/12 - regarding the "room" available. I was very lucky in that I could salvage the headers from the original unrecoverable engine and fit them to the V8 I got from Brian Asbury.

[Yeo.NT]

Originally Posted by david moore

Neil
Am I right in recalling that you "up-sized" the wheels on your F8 (so as to be able to get road-worthy and available tire size) using the spare F8 wheels that I sold to you (or your dad) a few years back? Could you remind us how you did that? Jonathan - who bought my F8 - might want to copy that idea?

Cheers
David Moore
Kingston

Dad used those rims on his 12 Cab C8.

The wheels on my trucked were butchered by the previous owner decades ago. I have cut out the 13'' centers and bolted/welded them into the center of 15'' trailer rims from Princess Auto.

This modification is just a temporary as this will not pass safety or legal for the road. Surprisingly with this being eye balled together, during the test drives I don't feel any wobbles or imbalances

[Alex van de Wetering]

Originally Posted by Yeo.NT

Latest update, starting to really look like a truck again

Nice work Neil. It does look like a "mean" truck in that picture, without the nose and with the big radiator.

[Yeo.NT]

Yes it looks mean, but would also call it a bit scary as the test drives have revealed the steering/alignment requires a little more work. Its a bit of a Hot rod too, since the engine is the 110hp Mercury 255 cubic engine the acceleration is impressive for a CMP.