Chevrolet C8 1940 Cab 11 restoration, The Netherlands

[Alex van de Wetering]

Thanks Tony!

Bob, I certainly plan to make a thick rubber filler around the shift tower, like you suggested. Regarding the rubber around the hand brake lever and the rivets....I haven't made up my mind yet. I might go for aluminium rivets in stead of the original steel ones. It seems it's easier to find the aluminium ones in the correct size and small quantities...they would look identical to the originals...should be easier to form and easier to drill out if the rubber has to be replaced.
But....as they say...we'll cross that bridge when we get there
Something that is still bugging me is the gap between the arch bars and inner footwell panel. My arch bars are very rust pitted in that location, so the best solution I can think of is to get some very thick rubber to fill the gap. I would probably need a spongy rubber as in some locations it has to fill a 15mm gap and in others it has to be compressed as much as possible. It might not be original, but I need something to fill the gap and keep the water and dirt out!

Alex

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Alex

First want to congratulate you on your matching the dots and dashes on your floor board, exellent work.

Now to rubber roof membrane I've found it to be excellent for a verity of jobs on CMP restoration. This the stuff used on flat roofs comes in several thicknesses and is cheap or free. Take a picture of your truck and visit a commercial roofing company. Tell them what you need it for, and ask them if they have any scrap. In they are like the guys around here they show you a dumpster and tell you to help yourself.

Only time I have had to pay anything it was when I needed 11x14 feet piece of the fabric reenforced high wind stuff roof of my radio truck. Guy asked if was going to paint it to matchurch the trucks tan color? Said yes and he gave me a part used 5 gallon can of the special rubber paint.

Cheers Phil

[Alex van de Wetering]

Thanks Phil. I will certainly have a look at the roof membrane rubber you mentioned. Cheap or free should fit the budget perfectly

Alex

[Bob Carriere]

Hi Alex

I had the same problem but attcked it differently. I temporarily installed grqade 8 longer bolts and tighten the he** out of them until they diform and partly filled the gap. What remained was covered with 2 in. wide 1/8 in. thick self adhesive black foam rubber.

for your rubber seal around the shift tower it may be easier to build up the desired thickness of foam with glues up layers of foam....once compressed and with 3M door trim glue it will not come apart.

How about the rubber ceiling tile/cushion on the inside roof panel above the driver and rider????

[Alex van de Wetering]

Bob,

Thanks again for your suggestions. I think I have found a source for thick soft foam rubber, that I can use to fill the gap with the arch bars, shift tower and also the ceiling cushions (thanks for reminding me...completely forgot about those!).

Alex

[Alex van de Wetering]

Attached are some pictures of the repair to the arch bars of my C8. There were four sections that were in need of attention.....a spot near the steering box (a previous owner cut a hole with the torch), a section about halfway the other arch bar (where the steel was almost paper thin) and the last 20-30cm on each of the ends, where the arch bars attach to the supports under the doors.

I knew this would several hours of welding and grinding, but Dirk at LWD said he might have the solution as they had two sets of arch bars as spare.
Even though the frames/arch bars all look the same, they are almost all different....and the C8 is unique and not shared with C15 or any of it's sisters (difference is mostly in the ends where it attaches to chassis), so on a saterday we had a close look at the spares. After close examination (and info from Bob and Phil, thanks again guys), we found out one was CGT and the other was a Ford one, so no luck.
The Chev right hand side arch bar is different from the Ford one as it has one extra bulge to give some extra clearance for the pedals.

So, it was time to repair my original frame. I started by firmly bolting the arch bars to the chassis.....and adding temporary braces as I was afraid the steel would distort after cutting sections that needed repair.

Alex

[Alex van de Wetering]

I had a steel strip rolled to the correct radius and drew two repair sections in the computer that I had laser cut.....all in 6-7mm steel.
If you look closely at the arch bars you will notice the curve is not only bent in one direction, but also curves in the other direction, so I made a bending tool from some scrap steel and a long steel bar. This tool made bending the patches to the correct shape quite easy....with one end clamped in the vice of course.