C8 progress in Texas

[Bob Carriere]

Hi David

Those little tail lights look the part even a few feet away.

Actually you truck should have the early black rubber tail lights and even possibly as white markers on your front fenders.

Rubber got scarce and they went to metal..... an quite an elaborate machining process for war time production.

The dilemma with original taillights is alwasy the same.... do you go with historically accurate tial lights and risk being rearended by some idiot or do you go with school bus red lights to insure being seen.

There are a variety of options ranging from using period 1940 GM truck taillights which are somewhat bigger and instal one on each side or install modern lights. One option is to have modern lights hooked up to the truck electrical system via a common trailer four prong plug.... which would allow using reasonable modern visible lights for the street adn be able to remove the modern stuff once at a car show or on a street parade.

I intend to fabricate a sheet metal device that will slip over my tailgate and can be unplugged and stored in a canvas bag in the cargo box. Said device will have to large circular LED red lights on a background of glossy black and angled yellow refelctive stripes....... and may consider having white lettering indicating..... right hand drive.... no signals.......in the centre section. Once on site or at a parade the whole thing can be removed and only the original rubber tail lights will remain.

I believe that Brian Ashbury might still have a few left of the original NOS rubber lights with pigtails ..... you would probably need 3 for the rear.

I love the idea of the built-in fire extinguisher but the real solution is where are these strong fuel fumes coming from......?? could they be blowing in from underneath now that you have the engine cover in place.....?? does it smell more when driving or when stopped....? have you tried stuffing rags in all the many lever opening to see if the smell is reduced...... rags are only for testing purposes.... or use wet rags..... if the fumes do come form the carb what carb are you using...? W -1...? can the carb, whatever model you have, be vented with a small tube to the outside of the engine cowl..?

Is your extinguisher C0 2 or powder....? powder would have to be aimed carefully at the base of the flame otherwise you might as well fart in that hole. C0 2 would probably need to be larger to be effective. We have firefighters amongst our group they should be able to offer some advice.

I share you concern with torching all that hard work in a few seconds. That is why I removed my fully rebuilt Rochester B carburator when I discovered that in a steep hill the top vented Rochester actually flows raw gas all over the manifold....... currently with no cab or engine cover it quickly evaporated but lead me to change to a Carter YF which runs tremendous and does not leak.

I will no doubt store two fire ext. one on each side of the external tool box so they can be reached from either side..... cheap insurance.

Cheers.

Bob C

[David DeWeese]

Hi Bob, and thanks for the information!

The fake tail lights will come off later when I find some suitable replacements. I'm rushing to get the truck ready for a military show in March here in Texas, and it will be the first time out for the truck. Still have a lot to do, but the list is getting shorter every day....

The fire extinguisher is the powder type..probably won't put out a serious engine fire, but it makes me feel better that it is there.
The fuel smell is coming from the vent on the Rochester carburetor that came with the engine. You said your's leaked fuel on the exhaust manifold on your truck....mine is very close to doing that also. I have adjusted the float twice as the engine acted like it was flooding on an incline, and also the main bowl gasket gets wet..and that gives me some real concern.

I have some Carter YF carbs here, so will rebuild one and take your good advise to swap carburetors...

Many thanks for your great help.
David

Edit: Found out that the fuel tank selector switch on the floor was leaking also...

[David DeWeese]

Hi,

Been adding on some of the final touches to the truck lately. The round mirrors aren't correct, but easily change at a later date if I find the right ones..The rat flag was a Christmas present from a family member, and will stay on because I like it...

Can't believe that I am finally to the point where painting bolt heads is the main task on the list!

Thought it was more than appropriate to place a reminder on the truck to remember the man who preserved it for many years until his death, and for his family that allowed me to have it . That's Carl's brother Mike next to it in the photo.

I also wanted to GRATEFULLY thank each of the members of the MLU forum who gave me the valuable information and encouragement to see this project through to the end!

THANKS AGAIN and BEST REGARDS!
David

[aj.lec]

Love your work
Looks good . You have done a good job
Got 2 here to work on if you got bored

[Private_collector]

David, that vehicle is a credit to you

It's a beautiful piece of history, restored with obvious passion & care.

Your memorial plaque to Carl is a great touch.

What you gonna restore now?

[Alex van de Wetering]

Awesome work David! Thanks for posting all your experiences during the project.....it will certainly help me and other with our projects.

Alex

[rob love]

Here are some shots of the correct lights. The shot on the 8cwt is a bit too dark, and note that they have the blackout shields in them.