Chevrolet C8 1940 Cab 11 restoration, The Netherlands

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Alex

Welcome to the wonderful world of restoring Chevy CMPs you've been reading and contributing to the MLU forum long enough to know the fun many of us have with these wonderful vehicles. The Pat 11 Cabs or really interesting as they are the beginning of the evolutionary development of the CMP as you work on and drive yours you will come to appreciate why they evolved.

Keep us posted on your restoration process.

Cheers Phil

[Mike K]

Thats a nice chassis. I had to replace the rear crossmember on mine . I Bolted it in

My first C8 was pranged ,the chassis was bent like a banana in a prang on the farm up at Yea. It could have been straightened in a jig with a lot of effort . MIKE

[Alex van de Wetering]

Phil, Mike, thanks for your comments. I will certainly try to enjoy every bit of the CMP restoration and keep you updated on the progress. I am already enjoying it by the way....especially when seeing the look on the faces of our neighbours when I tell them our garden ornament will drive again


The frame does look good on the pictures, but even though it wasn't banana shaped, it still needed some work every here and there. Before blasting I straightened the rear cross member, which actually was quite easy.
One of the other things that needed attention was one of the braces on the rear cross member. The left one was partially gone. The proper way would probably be to replace the whole brace, but I don't have the facilities to replace rivits and I didn't want to replace them with bolts. So, I choose to cut the remains, clean the corner and weld some fresh steel. A template was made from the right brace.
I still have to drill one hole in the new plate, which is used to bolt the body to the chassis, but I will do that when the other chassis jobs are done.

Alex

[Nick Bullock]

Hi Alex, Great to see that you have made a start on the C8,
The chassis that you have there I first came across 30 years ago when Ian Richardson was saving it 'just in case' some one else needed it, later it passed to Phil Jarvis in Doncaster who also kept it for years 'just in case' and finally to me, I couldn't help but keep it 'just in case', finally it passes to you and I'm delighted to have resisted the urge to dispose of it since it means another of these fabulous trucks will survive to drive another day, well done you.
Maybe we'll see Norma and yourself this year? I'll be in Normandy in a few weeks time if your down that way
with very best wishes
Nick

[Alex van de Wetering]

Good to hear from you Nick! Well...."just in case" happened in the end. The C8A and C15 chassis are also still available; they have moved to another MLU member and are stored "just in case" anyone ever needs them.

Do you remember where the chassis originally came from? Cab 11 or 12? Short box, lengthened short box or long box? I have some holes in the frame that I think are not original and need welding up.

Normandy? I am jealous....no holiday for Norma and me (again!) this year unfortunately. What about Wings and Wheels or Tanks in Town? It would be great to meet up with you and Gina again and finally catch up.

Alex

[Alex van de Wetering]

Attached you will find a picture of the Crossmember that was under my truck when I bought it. The next two pictures show the corners of the replacement after the frame was blasted. I wasn't happy with the small rotted holes and decided to weld in some fresh steel and also replace the nuts and bolts.

[Alex van de Wetering]

I first made a template from cardboard and than transferred it to steel. Forming the replacement bits was largely a matter of trial and error with a hammer and wooden blocks. The crossmember is slightly angled towards the front of the frame, so the replacement bits left and right are mirrored. I cleaned the inside of the crossmember as much as possible, treated it ith Fertan and coated it in primer, before welding the new bits in.