C8 progress in Texas

[David DeWeese]

Hi,
Thank you Andrew and David for clearing things up with the factory photos.
Spent the weekend working on my fuel tank. Tank luckily was dry inside with no varnish. Someone had pulled the drain plug years ago and it had saved the tank.
Prepped and coated the inside of the tank with a quart of fuel tank sealer, sanded it down to bare metal, then primed and painted it. Fortunate to have at least one good tank to work with!
As you can see, my other tank has a slight problem.....
Spent the rest of the day fabricating the parking brake linkage that was missing under the fuel tank support rail. Thanks again Andrew and David for your postings on the linkages earlier in this thread. The information was a great help!
Thanks, David

[David DeWeese]

Hi,
My other tank on hand,(a Ford one), was badly rusted through, with 1/2 of the tank so bad that it could barely hold it's shape.
Since my other tank was still serviceable, I decided to make a dummy tank of the second one.
Opened the tank up on one end, cut out the rusted baffles, then wrapped the entire tank with duct tape. Dug out several pounds of debris, as this tank had been a mouse hotel/bathroom for decades.
Ground out all the rust with an angle grinder and coated the inside with several layers of fibreglass matting, removed the duct tape, then worked the outside with body filler to slick it up.
As I am going to try and reproduce a British Duple body for the C8, I installed a mock filler neck in the end of the tank for use with that type body. Will make another tank end plate and filler neck for the good tank, but will use adhesive to attach it as I don't want to modify a good original tank...
Thanks, David

[David DeWeese]

Hi,
Had saved back,(what I thought was), a very nice instrument cluster for use on the C8. This one had a bare steel bezel around the glass instead of the chrome. Came from a '46 1.5 ton model.
Pulled it apart to remove the dust, and every marking on the cluster glass dissolved with one light pass of a paper towell. The odometer numbers also fell off with just a touch...
Ordered a new instrument cluster glass and gauge decal kit from Chevs of the '40s. It also contained the odometer decals.
Cleaned everything, installed decals and painted all the components that needed it.
Learned also that it is probably best to not drink beer during gauge and speedometer repairs.....
Thanks, David

[Bob Carriere]

Hi David

How easy or hard was the decal to apply..... will need to do the same for my cab 11...... anything to wacth for.....

Nice job on the gas thanks as well...... what kind of baffles did you have inside...... was it the multi 1/8 perforations or the solid sheet with cut out corners.....

Watching your progress for encouragements......

Boob

[David DeWeese]

Hi Bob,
Odometer decals were very tedious, but forgiving. Could peel them back off and reposition them with no problems.
Instructions for the odometer were incomplete. They tell you to align the decals over the existing numbers. That's fine if you still have numbers on the odometer wheels. If not, you need to align the zero on the decal with a dot on the right side of the odometer wheels for them to come out correctly.
Gauge decals were a breeze after doing the speedometer. Had to be very careful not to bend the gauge needles when installing them, though.
Two baffles on the Ford tank. Solid baffles with cut-outs on the corners. The Chev tank has one baffle with holes at the bottom and one solid partition for the reserve feature.
Thanks , David

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

Originally Posted by David DeWeese

Hi Bob,
Odometer decals were very tedious, but forgiving. Pulled them back off and repositioned them with no problems. Have to align the zero with a dot on the right side of the odometer wheels for them to come out correrctly. Instructions were wrong on this part ...
Gauge decals were a breeze after doing that speedometer several times over.
Two baffles on the Ford tank. Solid baffles with cut-outs on the corners.
Thanks , David

David..
When applying decals of any kind,use warm water ..a sponge and just a drop of dishwasher detergent in it..wet the decal and the surface and place on surface..you can slide and move the decal all over the place and once you get it where you want it,lightly rub the air or water bubbles out from under the decal ,from the center out to the edges..After that just let it dry up..
It will then become stuck like camel shit to a prayer rug..'

Used to do all my own service vehicles with Dealer supplied decal kits..
Goes on really well on a Saturday in the shop with a nice washed truck..and a flat or two of beer..

Water..a drop of detergent..a decal kit ..a big sponge..lots of beer..hog heaven..!!

I would really have to be drunk to try putting decals on dry..I'd have them stuck all over my head..up my ass and all over the ceiling..shop floor and on the empty beer bottles..Dry decal application is not for the sober..!
Enjoy your next decal application day..!!
(Now that you have the proper formula..!!)
(One more thing..pull the backing off the decal in a tub of water and put it on wet from there..)
It won't stick to anything wet ,but will adhere to the surface of the object by surface tension and gravity..but will still slide around wet.,
Nothing worse than having a dry decal or piece of tape kink and stick to itself and won't let go..that is when you lose it and the kids start to run,...and the missus reaches for the bar of soap..for the mouth wash you know is coming..
Have fun..

[David DeWeese]

Thanks for that information, Alex!
I did have to use a mist of glass cleaner on the gauge faces to slide the decals under the needles. Would have been almost impossible without it.
Got the dash panel repaired and painted today, and instrument cluster installed for good.
Had a question whether the little light fixture I have is original or not. Fits above the ignition switch in an existing hole, but every cab 11/12 interior photo I have doesn't show this light. It also isn't noted in the cab 11 wiring diagram either,(courtesy of Collin Stevens website).
Thanks, David