Reference: Timber or steel C15A or F15A or F15 Body Drawing

[Jacques Reed]

Originally Posted by sth65pac

That is what I am after. I want to do a timber back as it is somewhat lighter than the steel ones. The old girl doesn't need any extra weight so I will follow your lead. I will probably have a million questions to ask in time.

Hi Ian,

You may be surprised at the weight of a steel body. I can lift the sides, front panel, and tailgate individually on my 15 CWT body. The floor is a different matter however!

I have attached a few drawings I made in the 90's from an original rusted out floor when I thought I would replace it with a scratch built one. May give you some food for thought.
It is pretty much a large sheet metal brake job, spot welded together. The only difficult fabrication I could see is the stiffeners on the sides, front, and tailgate shown in photo at the top.

I never made drawings for the sides and tailgate as they were in reasonably good shape. Should you want to go the steel body route I could knock out some drawings of them this winter.

Cheers,

15 CWT floor-top.jpg 15 CWT floor-underside.jpg 15 CWT floor-crossmembers.jpg

IMG_1158.jpg

[sth65pac]

Originally Posted by Jacques Reed

Hi Ian,

You may be surprised at the weight of a steel body. I can lift the sides, front panel, and tailgate individually on my 15 CWT body. The floor is a different matter however!

I have attached a few drawings I made in the 90's from an original rusted out floor when I thought I would replace it with a scratch built one. May give you some food for thought.
It is pretty much a large sheet metal brake job, spot welded together. The only difficult fabrication I could see is the stiffeners on the sides, front, and tailgate shown in photo at the top.

I never made drawings for the sides and tailgate as they were in reasonably good shape. Should you want to go the steel body route I could knock out some drawings of them this winter.

Cheers,

Jaques,

I really don't know what to say. This is great. Now I am beginning to think Steel Body, though my skill is in timber. Winter is a fair way away for you so that give me time to decide.

Cheers,

Ian

[Jacques Reed]

Hi Ian,

Found another drawing- location of the 72 cage nuts used to attach the valance panels and the sides to the floor.

A friend with patience and a heavy duty spot welder would come in handy for doing that job!

Cheers,

[Mike Cecil]

From Hanno:

"Contrary to popular belief, only the cross members were made of hardwood, the planking was softwood so you would be good using pine. I'll look up the thread with that info later."

For Canadian (and British?) wood trays, but doesn't apply in Australia. The trays were a local pattern and made of hardwood.

Jacques: or if a big spot welder is not available (as it isn't for many of us I suspect), use the drill-and-weld method. Drill small holes in one side of the pair to be welded, then weld through the hole to the undrilled-other half. With small holes, 'dabbing' the arc and grinding off, it leaves a neat 'spot'.

Regards

Mike

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

From Hanno:

"Contrary to popular belief, only the cross members were made of hardwood, the planking was softwood so you would be good using pine. I'll look up the thread with that info later."

For Canadian (and British?) wood trays, but doesn't apply in Australia. The trays were a local pattern and made of hardwood.

For Canadian and British wooden bodies, indeed. Attached is a drawing for the Canadian 2H1 15-cwt body as fitted to CMP trucks. The construction of these bodies were based on the British design.

Note the thicknesses of the boards and the types of wood used in the construction of these bodies.

The British even published an Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Regulation (EMER) for wood specifying the various types of timber to use on vehicles - see HMVF forum: Timber for old MV's

Canadian%2015-cwt%202H1%20body%20construction.jpg

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Hanno Spoelstra

Attached is a drawing for the Canadian 2H1 15-cwt body as fitted to CMP trucks.

Also see the thread 15-cwt GS body: 2H1 composite wood and steel for some more details.

HTH,
Hanno