Chevrolet C8 1940 Cab 11 restoration, The Netherlands

[Alex van de Wetering]

It was about time to spend some time on the driveline of the C8......starting with the transmission and slowly preparing to move to the engine.


I removed the transmission from the engine and chassis some years ago and it was patiently waiting ever since. It was hard to even see the actual transmission through all the layers of dirt, oil and grease. The gear lever was pretty much seized, as well as the small lever for the reverse gear. I had already treated some of the parts with penetrating oil, but even then the gear lever hardly even moved.

After removing all the grime, from the exterior of the box, I was able to remove the universal joint and the gearbox cover/shift tower with the gear lever still attached.

Inside it wasn't looking all that bad....and it even had some oil in it. The sliding gears however were seized to the shaft.
As you can see in the pictures, a previous owner added and extra lever and additional shaft… probably to drive some sort of wrecking gear. With help of Frank von Rosenstiel I have since found out my C8 was used as a tow vehicle in a Toronto used car lot, before ending at a farm vehicle in Pefferlaw, Ontario.

The extra gear and shaft were easily removed…and after liters of penetrating fluid, some heat and some gentle persuasion, the sliding gears moved again and I was able to disassemble the transmission.

Alex