C8 progress in Texas

[Ganmain Tony]

Originally Posted by David DeWeese

Thanks Bob and Tony for the information and photos!

I can see now why the front wood structure on these trucks failed. I will make some brackets on the corners in that location that goes above the wood so it can't be seen...

Tony, what method did you use to make the channel for the angle iron in the front wood piece? It looks to be about 1/8" deep.

I studied the bend in my rear roof panel today, and think I came up with an easy solution to repair it. We'll see this weekend...

Thanks again!
David

I got a very good local furniture restorer to make the timbers David. Just ran out of time and would have had to buy tools I do not have for the one project. Anyway, he did a great job, it was even made out of a Canadian timber.

Long and short is I cant tell you how he did that channel.... sorry.

I can tell you the channel is the width and depth of the metal piece it bolts up to (see last picture in my previous post)..

[Alex van de Wetering]

David,

Did you find those Hand brake cables in the meantime? I am also looking for replacements for my C8, but can't seem to trace the partnumber to an civil equivalant at any of the parts suppliers.

Alex

[David DeWeese]

Thanks, Tony!

Hi Alex,
Since I ended up using a modern rear axle under my truck, I never looked much for original cables....

Of course, if you wanted information on how to install an Isuzu/GM rear axle under your truck, I've got you covered!

Seriously, sorry I couldn't help you out on this...

Thanks, David

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by Alex van de Wetering

David,

Did you find those Hand brake cables in the meantime? I am also looking for replacements for my C8, but can't seem to trace the partnumber to an civil equivalant at any of the parts suppliers.

Alex

I found hand brake cables from a late 1930's chevy commercial vehicle fitted perfectly , correct length . I think it was a 1/2 ton pickup . But Im not 100% sure .

Mike

[Alex van de Wetering]

David, Mike,

Thanks for the responce. It might even be harder to find an Isuzu axle here than replacement cables for the handbrake

Mike, will see if the 1/2ton Chev cables match, thanks
Alex

[aj.lec]

It will be good to know exactly what model fits as I also need some right now
Unfortunately I am not close enough to a Chev parts dealer to compare lengths and fittings as to get the correct ones

[David DeWeese]

Hi,
Got tired of walking past the C8 roof panel sitting on saw horses at my shop for several months, and decided to devote the weekend to some repairs. The blistering heat here has sucked the fun out of any un-necessary shop activities, but some progress simply had to be made...

Tackled the bent lower angle iron brace on the roof panel first. Measured carefully and found that not only was the back of the panel caved in severely, but the damage had spread the sides out by nearly an inch.
Took a hand winch,(we call it a come-a-long here), pulled the sides together gently, and the damaged rear angle iron popped back straight without barely a fight. Some times you just get lucky I guess....

more to come....

Thanks, David

[David DeWeese]

With the damage on the rear of the roof panel repaired, I got motivated to do the wood structure next.

Since the front wood roof structure on these cab 11/12 was known to be very weak, I made a pair of brackets from 1/8" plate steel to strengthen this area, and bolted them in. Hard to see once installed, but a lot stronger than original I would think....

Also dug around and found enough of the outer trim pieces for the roof to make it complete. All pieces came from Dodge trucks of the same vintage. With a little butt welding and....

Feels good to finally make some progress again!

Thanks, David

[Bob Carriere]

Hi David

Love how you sneaked those steel reinforcement plates. I assume you had no clearance problems.

What about the 90 degree corner at the top rear most corner.... that seems to be very weak as well..... where you not tempted to hide a steel plate behind the wood or is there no room for that....? all cab 13 have a nice L shape reinforcement in that same area......

Always watching your progress and learning at your expense.

Bob C.

[David DeWeese]

Hi Bob,

I don't think there will be any clearance issues with the plates as they are above the wood,(when the roof is inverted), and out of the way of the front angle iron piece that attaches it to the windshield frame... will find out for sure soon...

Hadn't even thought about strenghtening the rear upper pieces.

edit: After looking again at the clearances above the wood structure, it would be possible to add a continuous bracket around the entire roof wood if someone really wanted to stiffen it up...

I do figure that with about two dozen or-so bolts to line up perfectly to get this roof installed, I better leave a little wiggle-room somewhere, or I will have a fight on my hands.....

Thanks, David

[Alex van de Wetering]

David, excellent progress again and I agree with Bob on the extra metal supporting pieces for the roof....very clever.

Do you remember what Dodge those trim pieces came from?....are they the same size and shape as the cab 11/12 trim? from the bed of a Pickup or Weapons carrier maybe?

Alex

[Private_collector]

Hi David,

Good to see your progress.

The woodwork you are doing looks great, and certainly makes me grateful I am doing a cab13.

I'm even worse with wood than metal

[gordon]

Originally Posted by Alex van de Wetering

David, excellent progress again and I agree with Bob on the extra metal supporting pieces for the roof....very clever.

Do you remember what Dodge those trim pieces came from?....are they the same size and shape as the cab 11/12 trim? from the bed of a Pickup or Weapons carrier maybe?

Alex

Can't tell if it's from a pickup, panel, or ambulance / Carryall though - David didn't show the telltale door top sections

[David DeWeese]

Thanks Alex ,Tony and Gordon for the replies,

Gordon is on the money with the Dodge trim pieces....the long trim piece was from a Carryall interior and the two short ones are ambulance. Had one short original CMP piece, and it all matches except for the hole spacing.

Now I get to weld up all the little holes in them and re-drill to match the C8 roof.

Thanks again, David

[Alex van de Wetering]

Gordon, David, thanks for your reply regarding the trim pieces.....that does help in the search for cab 11/12 trim pieces.

Alex

[David DeWeese]

Hi,
Finally got those roof trim pieces sorted out and installed. Turned out to be an all-weekend project, as 1/2 of the trim pieces I had collected were un-useable after sandblasting them.

After butt-brazing all the last good pieces of straight trim sections together that I had,(my mig welder would just blow holes in them), there was just enough here to do the job.

There were 110 screws and a few bolts used on this roof panel,(not counting washers and nuts), and these were only just the ones holding the wooden pieces and trim to the sheetmetal....
When I add in the rear window surround, front angle-iron and all the mounting bolts to the count, there's at least another 50 or so to be installed before I'm finished with the roof.

Also had to installed a plexi-glass rear window. The rear window opening was too uneven for real glass to survive..

Thanks, David

[David DeWeese]

Hi,
Was able to iron-out the dents, prime, paint and install the C8 roof panel this weekend. Not perfect, but done.

Thanks, David

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

Originally Posted by David DeWeese

Hi,
Was able to iron-out the dents, prime, paint and install the C8 roof panel this weekend. Not perfect, but done.

Thanks, David

Dave...
Not Perfect..??
Neither are we...!!
Sure did a dandy job on the old girl..
Alex

[aj.lec]

Looks great
You have done an excellent job
Got a couple over here you can have a go at

[gordon]

You'll be able to find it in a car park as it'll be the only one.

Nice work

Gordon

[Alex van de Wetering]

David,

Excellent work! It must give a special feeling to drive a freshly restored truck outside in the sun.

Roof and trim pieces look very nice by the way.

Alex

[sapper740]

Dave, are you and the C8 going to make Waxahachie this Veteran's Day? We have a small, but dedicated group that do Commonwealth impressions and since I swapped my C15 for the Boys ATR, we're stuck being on foot. Andy brings his full auto Bren and my Sten should be ready in time for Wax. Those, plus the Boys mean we make a lot of "Noys"! ;>) It would be great to see you there again.

CHIMO! Derek.

Originally Posted by David DeWeese

Hi,
Was able to iron-out the dents, prime, paint and install the C8 roof panel this weekend. Not perfect, but done.

Thanks, David

[David DeWeese]

Thanks Alex, Andrew, Gordon and Alex for the replies!

Actually, when I said "done", I should have said "done with the roof panel".... still dragging her in an out of the shop with a tractor at the moment.

There are still several months of weekend work to do before the C8 is roadworthy, then lots of bells and whistles to add......are these trucks actually ever done?

Derek, I am hoping to be at Waxahachie this year, but like you, it looks like I will be on foot. Am going to be at Brent's open house with the truck completely finished this spring, so we'll definitely be riding by then...

Also planning a trip to Little Sahara state park in Oklahoma sometime this winter,(1,450 acres of driveable sand dunes)....will take a video camera to document an idiot getting stuck axle-deep in sand he should be avoiding....better get to work on my sand channels!

Thanks again! David

[sapper740]

Dave, I have a ton of WWII British and Canadian kit if you're looking to kit your C8 out, e.g.: NIB Blackout cover, Jerry Cans (Brit, not Yank) ammo boxes for .303 and 9mm, uniforms, 4.2in mortar round (Brit, not Yank), 19 sets, antennas and aerials, Field phone, Fuller phone, two burner Safety Cooker, shovels, manuals, helmets, P37 web gear, bayonets, FS Fighting Knife, Vickers MG belt with 1943 dates rounds, I used to hang a vintage set of hockey gloves and ice skates off my C15 which always drew laughs at events...still have them also. Let me know if you're interested in anything. The Boys ATR is up for sale also if you're interested. My C15 looked "battle ready" with all the packs and gear hanging off and in it!

CHIMO! Derek

Originally Posted by David DeWeese

Thanks everyone for the replies!

Actually, when I said "done", I should have said "done with the roof panel".... still dragging her in an out of the shop with a tractor at the moment.

There are still several months of weekend work to do before the C8 is roadworthy, then lots of bells and whistles to add......are these trucks actually ever "done"?

Derek, I am hoping to be at Waxahachie this year, but like you, it looks like I will be on foot. Am going to be at Brent's open house with the truck completely finished this spring, so we'll definitely be riding by then...

Also planning a trip to Little Sahara state park in Oklahoma sometime this winter,(1,200 acres of driveable sand dunes)....better get to work on my sand channels!

Thanks again! David

[Bob Carriere]

Congrats..... you are an inspiration.

Bob C

[David DeWeese]

Thanks Bob,...it's been a battle to get to this point, but it does feel good to see it finally taking shape...

Hi Derek. Sent you an e-mail about your kit.

My brother folded-up these tac sign holders and plates for me. Is there supposed to be a tab or something on the top of the plates to help remove them from the holders?

Thanks, David

[David DeWeese]

Hi,

Browsed a lot of period photos today to find how my C8 markings should be arranged. Decided that the 7th Armoured Division would be my choice,(after all, what's a desert truck without a desert rat on it).

Was wondering which placement was most common for the markings:

No.1 shows the division and unit markings combined on the tac sign/pass plate on the left...same as #2 photo,(I like those helmets over the headlights).

No.3 shows the division and unit signs separated, and on each fender.

No. 4 photo shows the combined division/unit markings have migrated to the right fender.

Help!

EDIT: Thinking about the 11th Hussars,(Prince Albert's Own), for my truck. Was always fascinated by the images of those early armoured cars patrolling the desert. Found their excellent war diary today here at http://www.warlinks.com/armour/11_hussars/.

Anything technically wrong with that choice or in the placement of the markings? The sign was just added to the photo using the paint program, so if not correct....

Thanks, David

[David DeWeese]

Spent some time on my seat frames today and thought someone might find this helpful as an alternative to the spring-and-ring seat backs....

My seat frames were missing almost all the springs, so found some 18-gauge sheetmetal and cut it a few inches larger than the seat backs. Using some C-clamps I pressed the sheetmetal into the frame and screwed it down using the existing spring holes. Once installed, the extra sheetmetal was trimmed off with the plasma cutter.

Thanks, David

[David DeWeese]

Hi,
Received my seats back today from a friend who offered to do the covers for me, (a friend with an industrial sewing machine is truly a friend indeed!).

Got the canvas from a local farm supply store in the form of an 8'x10' tarp. I like the colour, but the canvas is very oily.

Also, a few weeks ago, I took Derek up on his offer for some of his kit. It was great to find Commonwealth stuff within a short driving distance here in Texas, and equally good to visit with another MLU member. Thanks again, Derek!

p.s. I want his Boys AT rifle badly, but would have to sell my 15 year old daughter to finance the transaction.....but since all she is good for these days is texting and facebook, I am still on the fence.....

Tried out the helmet over the headlights thing I had seen in various period photos. They fit nicely without any adjustments.

Thanks, David

[sapper740]

De nada me amigo! You saved me a couple less boxes to haul off to the storage locker.

Originally Posted by David DeWeese

Hi,
Received my seats back today from a friend who offered to do the covers for me, (a friend with an industrial sewing machine is truly a friend indeed!).

Got the canvas from a local farm supply store in the form of an 8'x10' tarp. I like the colour, but the canvas is very oily.

Also, a few weeks ago, I took Derek up on his offer for some of his kit. It was great to find Commonwealth stuff within a short driving distance here in Texas, and equally good to visit with another MLU member. Thanks again, Derek!

p.s. I want his Boyes AT rifle badly, but would have to sell my 15 year old daughter to finance the transaction.....but since all she is good for these days is texting and facebook, I am still on the fence.....

Tried out the helmet over the headlights thing I had seen in various period photos. They fit nicely without any adjustments.

Thanks, David