Reference: C15 s/n 2842129988 history and restoration

[rampant rivet]

Mmmm
Not too sure about meat head !!

RR.

[rampant rivet]

Had a few days holiday so got stuck into cab frame, now its starting to look more like a CMP

Heres the next project luckily not too much rot just a few post war slight alterations, I'll be glad when all this panel beatings finished as my welding is of the gorilla kind ! ugly but Bl**dy strong

RR.

[Bob Carriere]

You are doing a nice job Jeremy

....those tires are something else......

Are you planning to reskin the back of the cab..... or I should say do you have to....... every cab we see around here has rust hole in the bottom of the rear panel and bottom of doors.....

Will have to improve some of my sheet metal skills.....

Keep the pictures coming they are an inspiration for us grease monkey.....

Bob C.

[rampant rivet]

Hi Bob
Yes I have to replace the rear cab panels pus outer front wings need some work, due to cab design from what I can tell most 13 cabs go in the same places, bottom of doors. inner and outer wings,front cab panels and rear panels where joined together plus rear wndow opening though luckily most panels are fairly easy to do apart from wings.

RR.

[rampant rivet]

Managed to sneak off for a few hours this avo and started fettling front cab panels.

I knew the backing panels to my shelving unit would come in usefull

RR.

[Tony Smith]

Originally posted by Alex Blair
The 637 in the number refers to the gear ratio..the C15's had the 6.37:1 rear ends and the C15A had the 6.39:1 rear ends..diffs,if you prefer..

The first C8A,C8AX also had the 6.37:1 diffs... but changed down to 7.38:1...on replacement...

Slight correction to those numbers, Alex, they refer to the ratio, but expressed as Teeth to teeth, not as a numeric ratio.

6:37 = 6 gear teeth on the pinion and 37 teeth on the crown wheel, or a numeric ratio of 6.16 to 1
6:39 = 6 tooth pinion on a 39 tooth crown wheel = 6.5 to 1
6:43 = 6 '' '' 43 '' '' '' = 7.16 to 1
7:38 = 5.43 to 1.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Jeremy, you're making good progress! Seems you have not yet had time to watch YOTB


Seeing this picture, I wonder where you got that battery box? Did you make it up yourself?

Thanks,
Hanno

[rampant rivet]

Hi Hanno
Sorry for not replying sooner have been working all hours not all on the C 15 unfortunately, yes I have watched the video and very good it is too
As for the battery tray I think its an original one though someone has added an extra 100mm to the threads, I do have another problem in that the side steps differ in height from one side to the other.
As I have no reference to their correct height maybe you can help I have spare plates that will enable me to fit different height steps.
The problem for me in rebuilding this truck is that a lot of parts were missing or not fitted to the vehicle

Thanks again for sending the video.

RR.

[rampant rivet]

At long last I have a running 235 after fitting new plugs, coil, condenser and a carter YF carb it sprang to life this morning much to my relief it sounds good no blue smoke and when I fit a new vaccum thingy to the distributor its sorted hopefully !!!.
Many thanks to all those that have offered advice and help over the past months it all seeems worthwhile when you hear that motor running.
Have added pic all you have to do is make with the purring sounds

Regards RR.

[jim sewell]

Jeremy
Excellent restoration , well done .

You will find out sooner or later that the gear stick will need to be taken out and turned 180 degrees other wise you may end up with a deformed left arm .
Jim S.

[rampant rivet]

Thanks for the info Jim I did wonder how long it would take for someone to notice nah ! only kidding I am gratefull for the info and will turn it around on my next session at the workshop.

Cheers Jeremy.

[rampant rivet]

yes it is as bad as it looks
Jim yes I did remember to turn gearstick around by the way is that a photo of a C15 13 cab ?
Is that the correct pos for Battery carrier in the cab ? I think I may have fitted wrong step brackets can anyone post some photo's of correct ones please.
On a brighter note I have now sorted the brakes and she now sits on her wheels with prop shaft attached .

RR.

[jim sewell]

Jeremy
The battery box is not supposed to be in the cab as shown in the picture I submitted , it sits on the drivers step .
I have taken the steps off that particular truck for restoration so I cannot send a picture .
Regards
Jim S.

[maverick]

Great job your doin there if one of my two CMPS ever gets to that standard i will be well chuffed ! Im from Cirencester living in Swindon what part of Glos are you in ?

[rampant rivet]

Thanks for the encouraging comments its taken 3 yrs so far, thought it would take me 18 months !! main thing has been collecting missing parts, the internet and ebay have made my restoration possible if you are looking for Ford spares try searcing for Flathead V8 on ebay he has some nice NOS ford spares inc I think a new rad etc, makes me wish I was restoring a Ford ( almost !! ) I live in the Forest Of Dean not too far from Ciren, good luck with your restorations they will keep you busy

RR.

[rampant rivet]

Am now starting on repairs to rear body plus I am starting to fit the rear hoops though I do need some help from you guys as I will need to make the locker box's fitted to the underside of the wood / steel body as fitted to a C15 HELP ! Please can anyone post some good detailed photo's and dimensions of them on this forum. Failing that maybe someone on this forum in the UK has some originals, condition uninportant as I will make copies if necessary.

Just had another thought does anyone know the length of the canvas mudflaps fitted to the front wheel arches and rear body.
I know the rear are 16" wide and front are 12" but as they have rotted away I have no idea on dimensions to have new ones produced.

Cheers RR.

[Bob Carriere]

How are you dealing with the swiss cheese sheet metal of the cab top...????

Are you re-skinning the top half of the cab??? I have seen the rear bottom portion reskinned and will do the same on mine but the top portion seems more difficult....... any suggestions or things to watch for....... are you doing it yourself or farming out to a body shop..??

Keep up the excellent work.

Bob

[rampant rivet]

Hi Bob
In order to move things along a bit I have just had new cab floor plates made from original patterns that were beyond use I have also parted the cab rear frame from panel in order to have a new skin made, it has curved corners plus a joggled edge top and bottom and thought it easier to have this panel made at the same time.
I will get rear cab panel frame blasted then re attach new panel. Regarding rear window I was lucky in that one of the frames was still good this one will be spot welded to the new cab panel I obtained a second frame from Canada and will use this one to hold the glass in, these tend to suffer from the dreaded rot and are hard to replicate.
I am off to my workshop tomorrow and will take some more pics, you don't happen to have any stowage box's of the type I need I will have to start making them soon.
I have also ordered a new rear canvas from Allied Forces here in the UK plus a new wiring loom from OZ will have to do some overtime to pay for it all

Regards RR.

[Bob Carriere]

Hi RR

First off my box is the ealry 2B1.... it has stowage boxes about the size of a POW can on the two rear most corners of the box..... is that what you are looking for...... I can send you pictures and take measurements... should be easy to replicate as they are just simple 90 degree bends....

Bob

[Ken Hughes]

bob can i put in my 2 cents worth in regard to rear top panel of cab
1st the panel is spot welded and seam welded ,easy to drill out the spot welds,but the seam,short of grinding it of?.
what i did was i had the top of the new panel swagged in behind the roof panel and plug welded it in place with the
mig
can anyone else tell us what they have done about this?

[Bob Carriere]

... for the input. I have minimal concerns with reskinning the bottom rear part of the cab.... but the top appears more difficult.

The bottom part of the back of the cab fits to an angle iron and you have some substance to work with... it is the top part of that skin where it meets the roof just before the curving sheet of the roof.

WE may have to invest in a spot welder..... but the arms would need to be at least 18 inches...... filling up holes with the mig to simulate spot welds maybe the best alternative.

I sure would like to hear for others who have done this part of the roof/cab. I have considered farming out the sheet metal work to a body shop..... but hey are expensive and may not fully appreciate what I need done or the quality of the product that is required when you consider that both side of the sheet metal is visible and gobs of bondo is not what we are looking for.

Bob C.

[rampant rivet]

When I have my cab panels made from the originals I will have to drill holes in one panel, clamp the two together holding them together with possibly self tapping screws then spot weld them together. I am lucky in that the roof panel is basically sound apart from over the top of the doors which I will repair myself.
I have had my new floor plates made and have added a pic they will still take a bit of fitting though.
I have to agree with Bob in that body shops are expensive I am using a local engineering firm while their costs are reasonable they are not so fussy about the finished project which I have to keep an eye on.

RR.

[Phil Waterman]

On your floor plates I see that you have drilled a lot of the holes, but not all. Was wondering how you were doing it.

I had to drill a lot of holes as I was replacing the inner frame rails so I wanted something that would drill straight and quick. Looked at one of those nice mag based drill units, to much money, instead I bought a small bench top drill press with a little modification a couple of C-clamps it worked like a dream. Also, set it up to drill up, down or sidewise. Advantage was that I could drill at slower speed but faster because of the spindle pressure, it also made the drills stay sharp longer. http://www.canadianmilitarypattern.com/Tools.html

[rampant rivet]

Hi Phil
I had some of the holes cut for me when the plates were made frome the originals. Will drill the rest of the holes when I make sure they are needed and in the right position I'll take my time with a variable speed hand held drill.

Cheers RR.

[Phil Waterman]

Keep an eye out for one of those small drill presses I think the one I bought was $65 US. Great little tool to clamp up to what needs to be drilled and then just crank the spindle down. I drilled all the holes in the floor plate and frame rails with mine.

I bought mine because I needed a replacement for 3/8 variable speed hand drill that I think burned out trying to drill 1/2 holes.

[T Creighton]

Hi Jeremy, Bob, Ken and others,
What an amazingly well-planned and executed restoration job. Now comes the tricky bit with the cab panels and you asked who else was doing a similar job.
I had to build a complete new angle frame floor to roof and make both frames for the rear window. This was all sandblasted and primed before the skins were fitted. I was able to do this ok and I wanted to do the panel work myself but with no mig welder or experience I decided to take it to a local panelbeater. A real tradesman and the result shows it. He used a method similar to Kens description with the swaged edges to make the joints.
He welded in a dummy frame made from 1”box section to align the roof joint to the upper rear panel and cut it out when the job was done. The roof needed extensive panel work with new drain channels over the doors and lots of rusty holes over the windscreen cut out and patched.
I made the new hatch frame and lid.
Non standard are the angle gussets I just had to put in the corners of the frame and the vertical seams in the back skins. He did this to draw each side together under tension.
For the spot welds he punched evenly spaced holes in the top sheet, marked the hole on the other then dismantled the joint, ground the primer off at each mark (for the mig to work properly) then reassembled it and welded up each hole. Once ground off the weld is invisible. The skins were glued with epoxy resin to parts of the frame and the diagonal braces. It is supposed to be stronger than welding with the advantage of no distortion.
Here are some before and after shots.
Terry

[Bob Carriere]

Beautiful job Terry..... and love that shade of pink!!!!!

do you have more pictures...closeup of the top when the work was done....????

NOt to everyone doing resto work..... take lots of pictures... and then a few more......

Not sure I understand what he did at the top end of the skin where it joins the roof panel.

I love the idea of using special epoxy for the ribbing in the bottom back panel..... would negate any warping from heat.

Question...... how was the bottom and middle angle angle curved to shape....... I propose to cut slits in the angle, heat, bend and reweld with the mig and grind smooth.....
any suggestions....?? Phil Waterman.... how did you do yours??

Thanks Terry

Bob

[T Creighton]

You have the right idea bending the angle Bob

Bob, here you can see the dummy frame inside at the roof joint.
This stopped all sorts of buckling as the roof and top skin were fitted together. Also shows the so called spot welds along the frame above the door.
Once I had the measurements I took the sheet of panel steel to a sheet metal ducting factory and they kindly cut, rolled the curve and then swaged the edges. Top in to go under the roof edge and bottom out to slip over the lower skin when the two halves are bolted together.

Terry
ps are we hijacking RR's excellent thread on his beautiful restoration project????

[Ken Hughes]

yes we are hijacking rampant rivets thread.
r r you are doing a wonderfull job it is a pleasure to see.
some of you may know that i am a panelbeater and am still learning every day.
someone will come up with a new way of doing things that make life easier.
i only wish that i had a camera when i did my cab some years back.

[Phil Waterman]

Originally posted by Bob Carriere
do you have more pictures...closeup of the top when the work was done....????

Hi Bob - I've got to reduce the pictures to post them but will post pictures of fabricating the curved angle iron for the cab back soon.