C8 progress in Texas

[David DeWeese]

Thanks Phil and Alex!
That's what it must have been, an oil change decal. Am getting to the fun part where all the little details will be added to the truck soon...still have to make mirror arms, source mirrors and such.....which reminds me:

Does anyone have details on what the tail lights look like on the rear of a 1940 British-bodied truck? I know the hex-type lights probably aren't correct for this year, but can't find any clear photos of what should be on my C8.

Spent some time this weekend and made up a tail light from an old gauge that looks fairly close, working from the photos I have, but...

Thanks again, and sorry for all the questions!
David

[Ganmain Tony]

They all had very tiny clearance lights david.

Globe in a piece of steel pipe sort of thing...dont have a picture but someone will...

I dont have the original lights and never did.

I know we can be belligerent with these trucks and argue with the authorities that they never had 'em, however, in order to keep the peace with the cops and other clowns on the road (and for a bit of safety) I fitted mine with a modern lighting set up.

I did try to keep it retro... the rear lights on mine are what were fitted to all Fords (Civvy) of that era.

[Private_collector]

Originally Posted by David DeWeese

Spent some time this weekend and made up a tail light from an old gauge that looks fairly close, working from the photos I have, but...

David, you clever bugger!

NOS taillights 1.jpg
I suspect your vehicle may have originally had a rubber bodied version of these metal lights. I thought I had a photo somewhere, but not found it yet. Don't know how well the rubber would have survived over the years. Sure you could fashion something very similar, but I agree with GT, if not hugely concerned about originality make the lights more visible. I'm gonna use the original (and pitifully small) style. In addition, I am stealing an idea from a fellow MLU chappy and thinking about adding a rotating warning light that can be removed once arrived at whatever event it's travelling to.

[David DeWeese]

GanmainTony: Those are some nice looking vintage tail lights! I looked at putting something like that on my truck, and still may.....I don't want something that looks new and "off the shelf" or can be identified as being U.S military.

Tony Baker: Wow, looks like you have struck gold with those lights and brackets still in their box! I read somewhere that these are reproduced for WLC motorcycles also, but have yet to find any for sale....

Here's what I was shooting for with the gauge light, but here is what the truck might have had originally....I think!

Thanks, David

[Keith Webb]

I have some NOS originals, will post a pic soon.

[Bob Carriere]

Could they be reproduced with a digital process on self adhesive label paper.....?

I checked the Mac catalogue and THAT particular decal is not availalbe from them..... there may be other sources??? They used to be some sellers of repro decals of all kinds on Ebay ...... but not recently

Bob C

[David DeWeese]

Thanks Keith and Bob.

Bob, I will keep an eye out for a decal that will look the part. I'm sure someone does or will reproduce one...

Made up a bracket and couple of fake tail lights for the time being until I source some originals. Hey, for less than a dollar's worth of PVC pipe fittings, a broken reflector and bulb sockets I already had, they don't look all that bad...from about ten feet away.

Once all the engine panels were installed, I began to noticed a fairly strong fuel smell from the engine compartment coming from the carburetor vent. I now had a concern about not being able to readily access my engine in case of a fire. I could just imagine years worth of work going up in flames while fumbling with the hood screws. Call me paranoid, but....

Mounted a fire extinguisher next to the right engine cover, then drilled and installed a copper pipe fitting into the engine compartment. If a problem occurs, I can reach over, pull a pin and...

Thanks, David

[Bob Carriere]

Hi David

Those little tail lights look the part even a few feet away.

Actually you truck should have the early black rubber tail lights and even possibly as white markers on your front fenders.

Rubber got scarce and they went to metal..... an quite an elaborate machining process for war time production.

The dilemma with original taillights is alwasy the same.... do you go with historically accurate tial lights and risk being rearended by some idiot or do you go with school bus red lights to insure being seen.

There are a variety of options ranging from using period 1940 GM truck taillights which are somewhat bigger and instal one on each side or install modern lights. One option is to have modern lights hooked up to the truck electrical system via a common trailer four prong plug.... which would allow using reasonable modern visible lights for the street adn be able to remove the modern stuff once at a car show or on a street parade.

I intend to fabricate a sheet metal device that will slip over my tailgate and can be unplugged and stored in a canvas bag in the cargo box. Said device will have to large circular LED red lights on a background of glossy black and angled yellow refelctive stripes....... and may consider having white lettering indicating..... right hand drive.... no signals.......in the centre section. Once on site or at a parade the whole thing can be removed and only the original rubber tail lights will remain.

I believe that Brian Ashbury might still have a few left of the original NOS rubber lights with pigtails ..... you would probably need 3 for the rear.

I love the idea of the built-in fire extinguisher but the real solution is where are these strong fuel fumes coming from......?? could they be blowing in from underneath now that you have the engine cover in place.....?? does it smell more when driving or when stopped....? have you tried stuffing rags in all the many lever opening to see if the smell is reduced...... rags are only for testing purposes.... or use wet rags..... if the fumes do come form the carb what carb are you using...? W -1...? can the carb, whatever model you have, be vented with a small tube to the outside of the engine cowl..?

Is your extinguisher C0 2 or powder....? powder would have to be aimed carefully at the base of the flame otherwise you might as well fart in that hole. C0 2 would probably need to be larger to be effective. We have firefighters amongst our group they should be able to offer some advice.

I share you concern with torching all that hard work in a few seconds. That is why I removed my fully rebuilt Rochester B carburator when I discovered that in a steep hill the top vented Rochester actually flows raw gas all over the manifold....... currently with no cab or engine cover it quickly evaporated but lead me to change to a Carter YF which runs tremendous and does not leak.

I will no doubt store two fire ext. one on each side of the external tool box so they can be reached from either side..... cheap insurance.

Cheers.

Bob C