Cab 12 Alteration???

[Bob Carriere]

I am also driving my cab 11 as an open top roadster....it greatly facilitates getting into and stepping out of the cab.....nonetheless I still have to grab my pant leg to pull in my right leg over the door sill. I did reinstall the seat without the wood spacer and my original bottom seat cushion is lower with age. Eventually I will have the roof installed ad will screw mysel finto the dirver's seat.....wonder what the noise level will be like with solid flat wall behind my head reverberating. The headline panels will no doubt be useful.

The worst I have experience was trying trying to step down into the driver's seat of a cab 12 gun tractor...it was all original with wooden spacer for the seat and a full re-padded seat cushion. I could not have driven the gun tractor has the top of my left and right leg were resting on the underside of the steering wheel and made it impossible to lift my feet to put the on the pedals.

Another possible solution would be to install a 2 speed automatic tranny and keep only the brake and gas pedal. We have one at the barn....it bolts up to a 235 or 261 and is short enough to be coupled to the T-case with a short shaft.
Not sure what kind of snail it would be on the road as the gear ratio would have the engine either revving in LOW range or stumbling in 2nd gear.

...or maybe an electric motor with the cargo box filled with batteries for ballast..... think of it...no pollution and they would let you drive in future ANZAC parades.

A few year ago I crawled into "Bart", the Sherman from Oshawa. I tried doing what I had done many time when I was a teenager..... I let myself fall into the driver's seat, and as the tank turret was turned sideways, I crawled from the front seat through the turret basket opening and came up and out through the commander's hatch..... it was not as easy as when I was a 16 Y.O. string bean.

Old truck designs and old stiff oversize bodies is not the best combination.

I built it so I will endure.

Bob C.

[r.morrison]

Bob....I don't think the electric motor is my cup of tea. Grant Hopkins, over on Vancouver Island (that's the guy with the early Cab 11 for $500.00) suggested an automatic transmission. His point is well taken, given a little more insight into the points you put forth. In reality....it's probably the best bet. However, my associates and I will endeavour to come up with a plan taking in all this expert info into this endeavour!
Thanks for the info on the top removed. My feelings exactly.
As far as the physical end of it.....you are spot on. Too little too late! I can remember shimming up a rope that hung out the Lancaster Bomber perched on a pedestal on Lakeshore Drive in Toronto. Today, I'd be lucky just to walk to it!

Many thanks to all for your info..... Robert

[Bob Carriere]

The whole issue is to be able to fit the tranny WITHOUT relocating the transfer case. On a 2 wheel drive C15 it is not an issue.

In the early 60s GM had the 261 engine in GM van bodies and they used a particular 3 speed tranny that had a very short tail shaft..... that's the beast that must be located. Also believe that the tail shaft on most GM 3 speed could be changed form short, med. or long dependent on the vehicle it was installed in. It apparently fits in the CMP space using a very short drive shaft to the t case. I have not seen one and am not sure what model to ask for. Need to befriend a auto tranny rebuild guy that is old enough to have worked on them. Early 261 van engines ALSO had a hydraulic operated clutch that was on the right hand side of the bell housing identical to the CMP.

1960 GM vehicles are already considered antiques.

Bob C

[Grant Bowker]

Originally Posted by Bob Carriere

1960 GM vehicles are already considered antiques.C

Be careful Bob, both you and I were built before 1960. I don't want to be "antique" - do you want to be considered pre-historic?

[Paul Singleton]

Hi Bob,
The Chevy trucks from 1960 to 62 all had a hydraulic clutch with the slave cylinder on the right hand side of the bellhousing. Also the 235/261 engines could have had two different auto transmissions. The cast iron powerglide (2 speed) in cars and the four speed hydramatic in light trucks. Both are fairly short. The hydramatic was a rare option and scarce to find today. For CMP use the powerglide would work as long as you don’t abuse it. Also the aftermarket did sell a kit to put a thre speed automatic trans on to a 235. I don’t know if it is still available but it probably won’t fit in a CMP due to the added length.

[Bob Carriere]

Thanks Paul

I picked up a complete 61 bell housing with the slave cylinder for $50 at Sterling flea market a few years back.

I do have access to a 2 speed power glide with the adaptor ring to fit a 261
( came out of a Pontiac ) but I fear the 2 speed will not be good with the low gear ratio of the CMP axle.

will fish the aftermarket for an "adapter kit" that would allow a 3 speed to hookup to the 235/261 bolt pattern...... although a bit of a long shot.

The engine bay on a cab 11/12 is so narrow that fitting a small V6 or V8 would be a butchering job....... however if I do get started on a "Umbau-wagon" I can / could be creative .........


Found out from Wikipedia that the word umbauwagon translate to "rebuilt coach" and could apply to anything captured that was rebuilt.

On the later 3 speed did they not have a 6 cylinder in the 250ci range that was used in 4 wheel drive...... what I am getting at is my suspicion that they had a variety of tail shafts..... the 4x4 would have been bolted directly to the T case with NO tail shaft some short wheel based GM may have used some form of short tail shaft..... just do not know what model/year to search for in a junk yard.

I have a bare frame/nose cab 12....no engine tranny.... that I could use to check the fit of a SB chev.... just a cheap seized boat anchor would suit fine for checking clearances. Makes me shiver to think about butchering a good cab11/12....

Bob C

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Bob Carriere

Found out from Wikipedia that the word umbauwagon translate to "rebuilt coach" and could apply to anything captured that was rebuilt.

There are indeed references to rebuilt railway passenger train coaches. But I am guessing you are referring to the German Army Umbau-Wagen, a generic term for converted (and/or reconstructed) vehicle. If you search on MLU for Umbau-Wagen, one will find a host of converted vehicles, including CMPs, Morris-Commercials, Ford Marmon-Herringtons. The German Army captured a lot of vehicles during the early stages of the war, which they were in dire need of to convert their Army from horse-drawn to motorised.

Being the gründlich (thorough) people they are, standardised coachwork designs were used as much as possible.

Also refer to Paul Hocking's classification found in the posting German WWII Beute-Fahrzeuge and Umbau-Wagen (Britisch).

HTH,
Hanno

[Bob Carriere]

....is vintage...... as in fine aged wine.....it may be old and dusty and the label ripped but the content refined!!!!!

[Grant Bowker]

Originally Posted by Paul Singleton

The cast iron powerglide (2 speed) in cars and the four speed hydramatic in light trucks.

Do you have any idea if the hydramatic you are talking about was the same basic transmission as the one in the M135-211 series (that had a 2 range unit added to the transmission rather than the more common 2 speed transfer case set-up)? It might be another source of parts....

[Paul Singleton]

Hi Grant, I think probably the same basic transmission. I have seen the trans in the old 3102 GM bus and they look the same. I haven’t had the opportunity to look at a m135 so I can’t say for sure.

And Bob, the newer 230/250/292 engines used either a turbo 350 or 400 automatic transmission. The turbo 350 can be had with a short 6 inch tail housing but if I recall it is still a couple of inches longer than a cast iron powerglide. This transmission was common up to about 1980 in midsize GM cars that had Chevy engines.