Wireless Van C15 Australian

[Rod Salter]

The cab was beaten into a rounded top, extra rear windows, the speaking tubes chopped and flattened
On the plus side
It has a hatch door, 2 good windscreens and an engine cover, 2 seats and a good nose section
The floor is in good order
The lower section of the cab rear is also quite good

This cab/chassis saga will be in my other topic of Chevs C60 and C15 in due course

[Rod Salter]

Then in 2017 my forever since I was a kid, sore bad back --- “blew out”
Two prolapsed discs!
The pain was excruciating and I couldn't pee
Some weeks in hospital, two panadol four hourly (if I asked)
Catheter removed, I was wheeled out, to go home and end that pain
My sister grabbed me and took me (dry vomiting) one hours drive to a chiropractor on a late Saturday afternoon
I think I almost screamed like a girl at a Micheal Jackson concert each time she touched me
At least she got me to dribble some pee
Months of bed ridden (on mind altering drugs) and multiple trips to chiro and remedial massage, I began to walk with a walker first then two crutches, eventually two walking sticks
I lost a lot of weight, then blew up to the heaviest I had ever been
All our savings were gone
I won't ever go back to that hospital and I won't suffer that pain again
How my wife put up with me I'll never know

The blitzes and everything else were on permanent hold

It is now 2023 and I survived, I am 71
I am still visiting the chiro and remedial massage each month
Some days I need a walking stick, It has left me with a weak left leg
It has taken a big mental effort to loose the weight and go out to do anything
Back then I never though I would be, at present doing long days, while it is cool/cold to try to catch up

Some people have had worse medical issues

Much more exciting truck saga to come - watch this space cheers rod

[Rod Salter]

Time rushes past, then
A visit from a fellow blitz enthusiast who gave me some ford parts and a nice day, resulted in a later phone call, that a pair of blitz, one with a radio box was for sale in a nearby town.
A road trip and negotiations, bought me the 2 trucks
Another call to my brother-in-law with his truck.

The C15 s were mostly complete, rusty of course. One was running and could be driven into position to load.
A few days later I had the second truck running also, after finding a radiator of sorts.
I am given to understand it was in the 1974 clearing sale of the Brisbane city council. The tires being stamped BCC. Also it possibly was the service truck for the city's trams.

The box came from goodness knows where

[Rod Salter]

The wireless box is sad, to say the least, rust and rust, the roof being partially gone, dents galore, the lower sides rusted away, a good framework that was rusted from the floor and the box almost comes loose. It has a roof hatch, 3 window shutters, a broken insulator, a direction finder bracket, some inside vent parts, most of the internal ply is gone.
It would be repairable with a lot of time and welding

So I sat it on the chassis and stored parts in it while other projects took priority.

[Mike K]

I believe they lined the wireless body inside with Canite, it is some type of board material made from sugar cane pulp .

Canite is still available !

Not a easy task to find a decent wireless van project now, most of the decent remaining vans have already been found and restored. As time goes on, the chances of finding a decent unrestored example are diminishing fast. Used to be a rough body down the back of Dinger's yard, don't know if it is still there.

Back in 1977 I bought a C15 wireless van that had the body chopped off behind the cab. Think it was $20 or something like that !

[Rod Salter]

5 Years roll on
Then a chance reading of a post about wireless boxes on Facebook, and some contact investigations led me to a reasonably good chopped off wireless box.
My wife and I do another one hour each way, road trip with a trailer to get it.
A good day away, Looking at his collection and a nice morning tea with him and his wife

The box is pretty good, some dents in the roof where a chain had been tied too short when it was lifted at sometime or tied down to transport.
A short little rust along the lower edge in one section, 3 sections of window shutters, Two very rusty tool boxes with the two water/fuel can brackets and both guards, also a set of steps.

I got straight into sorting and seeing how to put it all together.

The hatch door, direction finder bracket, and 3 window shutters from the 1st rusted box and from the 2nd box - 3 window shutters and a good insulator
Some of these window shutters had a sections of sheet metal (overkill) welded to them

[Rod Salter]

Now on to something I believe I am very good at “pulling things to pieces”

I stripped the upper cabs from both of the drivers cab floors and selected the most complete floor
Then from the cab roof/rear walls I have selected the the square top section, the lower section of the back of the rounded top cab and its hatch, and some of the sides panels to the door opening
I have to unpick quite a few spot welds and a lot of pieces to fabricate, especially the storage boxes over the drivers cab