C8A HUW: body dimensional data needed

[Jerry Hill]

Originally Posted by Phil Waterman

Hi Jerry

Well in this day of specialized automotive repair services it is good to see your CMP Collision Repair Center, you surely are doing a fine job and your post are giving the rest of us a tutorial on what can be done. Your rate of progress and what you have accomplished is out standing.

Think we'll have to nominate you to be our CMP Collision Repair Expert.

Keep up the good work.

Cheers Phil

Phil

Many thanks for your kind words. However - Expert I'm not, but it's great being retired, you can get on with things!

Now a bit of help please? I've attached a pic of the windscreen base scuttle line (ie where the windscreen contacts the top of the scuttle). If you look at the attached pic, I've drawn a line marked in pink. If you look along that line across from the passengers A post to the Drivers A post is it straight?

At the moment we have a slight angle at the centre of the windscreen. I need to establish if my vehicle has had the centre deformed by the impact.

The A posts look to be very strong structures, whereas the the two uprights from floor to windscreen base each side of the engine are fairly flimsy by compariison. I suspect the centre posts have moved thus creating the deformation.

I'd much appreciate you having a look at your cab and letting me know, as this will impact on the front panel rework.

Thanks & best wishes

Jerry

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Jerry

The link below goes the top of the lower windshield ledge which reads as 1 1/2 degree up angle toward the front

http://canadianmilitarypattern.com/R...02nd%20004.jpg

Which compared with under side of the body which seems shows the same angle this would seem to indicate that top of the window ledge should be parallel to the floor.

http://canadianmilitarypattern.com/H...lsofAngles.htm

Wonder if someone else could confirm on another HUP also does anyone have a way of measuring these angles with a higher accuracy?

Cheers Phil

[Jerry Hill]

Well on Monday we straightened out the inner wings. First pic shows the one in the background before treatment in the press and one after in the fore ground. On Monday we collected the reworked radiator pic 2 which set me back a small fortune. Pic 3 & 4 show the radiator installed and ready to fill. Pic 5, she's coming together. I filled the rad with a 50% Bluecol mix ready for winter and started her up, wonderful, then dammit the flexxy hose to the oil pressure gauge gave up its mortal coil and peed all over the shop. A blessing in disguise I told myself. Another little job...
Jerry

[Jerry Hill]

Wednesday was spent cutting the vertical and base pieces of the centre section of the front panel to enable us to get a sporting chance of straightening them up to use as samples for the replacements we pressed last week.

We aligned all the bits of the centre section of the panel for a trial fit. Anyway after sometime we'd got it aligned as best we could and Richard kindly tack welded them. We offered them up to the vehicle, pics 1-3, to see how bad things are and were surprised to see how good the fit is. So we'll start making the replacement vertical pressings fit and weld them up ready for the end result.

We also need to decide what to do with the front bulkhead. The distortion is quite small, see final pic, but I want it right, so we'll pull it back to shape as described before. This needs to be done in conjunction with the repairs to the front doors which will be the next to be tackled, to ensure a good fit.

The ruptured oil line to the oil pressure gauge has been replaced and a radiator overflow hose has been fitted.

Jerry

[Jerry Hill]

Today we took the plunge and copied as best we could the mocked up the nose section with the newly pressed 2mm zintec pieces. After one false start we got the hang of it. By close of play we'd made up the new nose section, some tack welds and some proper final welds. We used a spare grill to ensure the alignment was right. There's more to do, but we're pleased with the outcome so far. We need to angle grind the ducting to fit the radiator, which will then be welded up. A few little jobs like the bonnet catches and a couple of fillets are needed. The final job will be robust. Jerry

[Jerry Hill]

When last I wrote we'd made up the new centre front panel, after a fair bit of time trimming and fitting it didn't pass muster. So plan B was called for, that being a drive through the Suffolk lanes down to the workshop where we could do a proper on vehicle fitting job. For this we had to make the vehicle almost road worthy (no lights).

The front doors were trial fitted to establish how much we'd have to pull the front bulkhead to get everything back to shape. The drivers side was attacked first as this was easiest.

Next the passengers side. In Pic1 we've shunted the truck against our long suffering car repair ash tree. A wooden block was buffered between tree and the bumper adjacent to the chassis. Three cargo pulls were gradually loaded up to pull out the deformation.

Pic 2 shows each strap was located over each body post and pretty tight they were.

Pic 3 shows the string marker nicely aligned on completion. The drivers door closes beautifully but will need cosmetic repairs later. The passengers door will need dismantling and pressing straight.

Pic 4 shows her ready for the drive down to the 'surgery', note the doors fit, however you can see why the front centre panel was rejected as it's too short/inboard at the base, as can also be seen on Pic 5.

I can tell you it was a chilly old run up to the workshop. But it was worth it as we're well underway to sorting out the front panel, more news later in the week I hope.

Jerry

[Jerry Hill]

At last some real progress.

Pic 1 shows the front end coming together, starting on the easy side first, all the previous work straightening out panels or replacing them where necessary pays off. This assembly work is a dry run, next we'll tack weld the structure together, when we're sure all alignments are as good as we can get them. You'll see where we cut the centre section to insure the faulty angle we'd made earlier was corrected.

Pic 2 The front panel needs aligning to the curved angle iron structure at the base and involved a degree of twist viewed here. All is held in place by various G clamps and one in a cross brace position.

Pic 3 I'd expected difficulty with the passenger's side and inner wing but it came together surprisingly nicely and all that remains is for me to straighten out the headlamp panel and the bottom rail which is still a little buckled.

Pic 4 The few gaps that remain on the passengers side will be pulled up after we remove the tacked front end.

Pic 5 Next week we'll remove the angle iron front end assy carrier and warm it up and reshape it to fit before tack welding it up.

What a relief, still a way to go but we're getting there.

Jerry

[Jerry Hill]

Today we completed the passengers side headlamp panel straightening and fitting, followed by tack welding the entire structure together to be strong enough to dismount from the vehicle to enable us to final weld the front panel from the inside.

Pic 1 shows the passenger side panel being temporarily bolted up. When we finally weld up the assy the temporary bolt holes will also be welded up.

Pic 2 shows the front end tack welded.

After the pics were taken we removed all the clamps and braces, thankfully there were no nasty surprises. Later in the week we'll fit the angle iron support bracket to the base of the assy and tack welding it in place. Then we'll the remove the whole lot for final welding.

Jerry

[Jerry Hill]

Today saw us weld up the last bits of the front body assy. Pic 1 shows the angle iron welded onto the assy, also the bottom of each wing were tack welded in areas where we couldn't work on earlier as the G-clamps were in the way.

Satisfied that all was well, we were ready for front body assy removal, it was out with the block and tackle and off she came. Pics 2 & 3 show the front assy on the ground blind side up. On Friday we'll weld everything in place on the blind side.

Whilst the nose was off I took the opportunity to resolve something that has haunted me since the collision and this was I floored the brake pedal and normally the pedal didn't travel that far. So I removed the brake pedal cross bar assy from the chassis and confirmed a suspicion. When stripped down the pedal side Woodruff key was serviceable. The key on the crank that activates the master cylinder was sheered along its length. So I must have hit that pedal mighty hard, I'd be interested in hearing if anybody has heard of a similar occurance.

Both Woodruff keys will be replaced with new and the shaft surfaces will get a coat of Loctite when the clasp bolts are re-assembled. I'd appreciate any opinions on this.

Jerry

[Jerry Hill]

Last Friday and today Richard welded, welded and welded a bit more, today the nose has completed an important stage and is available for final assembly onto the truck.

Pic 1 shows the drivers side viewed from the inside and the many welds. The patch at the base is from an earlier life. The top panel is new.

Pic 2 shows the passengers side, the front panel was too ratty to re-use, so Richard cut out and welded the original headlamp bowl into an new piece of 2mm zintec, this was no small feat, as it was done without any heat distortion, the top panel is also new.

Pic 3 shows the centre section and the numerous welds. resulting in a rigid structure that fits the rest of the vehicle like a glove.

Pic 4 sorry the pic's sideways, but it shows what a good result we got from what was a sorry sight at the back end of September. The centre section is welded into a tight structure from new folded centre section pieces making it stiff and strong.

Before final fitting I've got to fit new woodruffe keys to the pedal cross shaft assembly, having obtained some excellent tight fitting key material late today, so that will get done and fitted shortly. Hopefully some panel fitting caulk will arrive tomorrow ready for the next stage later in the week.

Jerry

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Excellent work, I have never seen a job so thorough as this one

H.

[David Dunlop]

So, Jerry. When are you planning to put this vehicle back into production and how big a production run are you targeting?

David

[Jerry Hill]

Hanno, thank you for your kind words. We want to do a good job.

Today we fitted a proper pair of Woodruffe keys to the brake cross shaft and fitted the assy back onto the chassis. What a difference to the pedal and its position, adjustment to the master cylinder linkage will be required to bring the pedal down to allow 1/2 inch of free travel before the brakes act and I need to refit the clutch linkage. I'll do that with the ramp up once we've done the final fit of the front panel assy.

Pic 1 shows the brake cross shaft looking through the headlamp aperture, not a good pic I'm afraid.

Pic 2 the ankle freezer door bolts have been replaced and work properly, the front panel's loosely hung awaiting the arrival of the panel mastic/caulk, which arrived just as we were packing up!! We trial fitted the bonnet and grille, the grille needs narrowing a tiny bit, which we'll do as the grille needs a bit of refurb work anyway.

Pic 3 we need to weld on the bonnet catches at some point, but it's all coming together at last.

Jerry

[Jerry Hill]

Over the last few days we've caulked all the newly fitted panels, the bulkhead and the front panel assy, nasty smelly stuff it is. As the bolts pulled up everything has become considerably stiffer than ever before.

Headlamp buckets & mounting rings were fitted, followed by the drivers floor panel and the wings / fenders. The grille is temporarily fitted and the bonnet / hood will be tie wrapped to the body ready for the drive home tomorrow from the workshop to the truck's shed at home.

Thank heavens the body's fitted as the weather's pretty wet and grizzly just now, so I'll get home soggier than I started!

A couple of pics for the record, one of the driver's footwell and one of the front end. Lots of detail work needs doing yet, including re-wiring of the front end and the last major job of straightening out the front doors before priming and painting. The latter will wait until the weather improves in Spring.

Jerry

[Jerry Hill]

An easy drive home and into the shed ready for a lot of prep work prior to painting next year. I'll take off the doors this w/e to enable us to sort them out and the replacement grille will need titivating then the bodywork's done. Only event on the drive home was one tight brake shoe, a simple fix.

Jerry

[Jerry Hill]

A bit of filling was needed on the drivers side headlight panel to get it right, I wish had replaced the panel and saved a lot of work. I'm happy with it now, but want to do a little more flatting in the top corner.

Having primed it, it won't deteriorate over the rest of the winter ready to paint it in colour next Spring.

Next I need to remove the passengers door, split the skin from the frame and press them both flat, currently it's banana shaped by about an inch.

Other than that now it's time to settle back and eat mince pies, consume the odd cleansing ale and take it easy 'til New Year. Happy Christmas.

Jerry

[Jerry Hill]

So Christmas came & went, complete with Man Flu... well a filthy cold.

I've been putting off removing & splitting the passenger's door skin, but it was a nice straight forward job. I removed the door furniture first to get at the lower hinge, which is bent, I'm hoping it's not cast iron as I intend to gently straighten it with the 30 ton press. The door lock mechanism needs a little bit of a straighten as well.

The two skins are creased. The inner one rather more than the outer. It has creased around the door lock mechanism mounts as can be seen on the pic. A little bit of gentle press work should improve things here to an acceptable standard.

I'm told the more visible outer skin may have to be re-skinned because the single crease may be hard to eliminate. The door top strip needs a bit of knocking here and there and should straighten out nicely.

The front end now has the nudge bar refitted, along with bonnet (hood) catches and other bits and bobs. I'll not start on the wiring until some bits I want arrive in the post.

Jerry

[Alex van de Wetering]

Jerry,

Thanks for showing all your work straightening the panels and frame, here on MLU. It shows what can be done with some work and a press!

Alex

[Jerry Hill]

Thanks Alex glad to hear the blog's of interest.

I set off to the workshop on Monday with the door split down to basics, picked up a couple of bits of 1 1/4in plywood pieces from the local DIY store to use as flat base pieces to use on the press. Very pleased with the outcome as hopefully the pics will show. We loaded up the press to 2 tons on the ply wood with no deflection whatsoever.

Pic 1 - Shows the door after re-assembly of the two pressings and knocking over the tabs. The locking mechanism straightened up easily, as did the lower hinge. Rehanging the door took a little time as fit in the body aperture was better than before, so I couldn't rely on the old alignment marks. In the pic the damage to the partition pressing can be seen, which should be easy to straighten.
Pic 2 - Shows how the panel came back into shape nicely.
Pic 3 - Another view.
Pic 4 - Looking down the door top shows how well it's straightened out, the deflection was around the locking mechanism that bent the door panel skin out by about 1 1/2 inches. I'm really surprised and delighted how this has worked out, as I'd left the worst job (or so I thought) until last.
Pic 5 - Shows the drivers door. There is a similar deflection here but much smaller, about 1/2 inch. The door shuts a treat so I'm not going to do any more on it.

That leaves rewiring the front end, straightening/replacing a bolt on the roof hatch to align. Take out the dent mentioned above and then we're ready to paint.

Oh yes and there were the winter jobs I had planned before this unexpected winter project. Sort the fuel tanks leak and dirt within and fix a seal on the transfer box front end output shaft.
Jerry

[Jerry Hill]

In the last few days I've remade the grille as the replacement I had was a bit ratty. A bit of a grit blast and paint and it's come up well - Pic 1.

When the accident occured the passenger's door sprung open and was quickly followed by my passenger. A pretty scary moment, not least for the poor chap who fell to the ground by way of a nasty bramble bush. So I've made up a pair of locks for the front doors. I hope they look suitably period being a no nonsense simple set up. - Pic 2. I'm going to fit similar to the rear doors, damn the expense...

I've pulled out the damage to the division between the driver & radio operator's compartment using the trusty ash tree and cargo straps - Pic 3. I've left a couple of clamps in place as I need to tack them back in place.

Started her up and after I'd done with the ash tree I parked her up whilst I went for a cuppatea, couldn't resist a another - Pic 4.

I need to replace a couple of bolts on the hatch and wire the front end and that's it.

Then it's tanks out for renewal and the leaky transfer seal.

Jerry

[Jerry Hill]

The re-wiring is done, the roof hatch bolts are replaced with a proper job and the hatch re-aligned.

I removed the petrol tank, as it had never worked satisfactorily and found out why, in the form of the remains of a bird's nest in the forward section where the pick up is. Not unsurprisingly the pick up pipe was blocked. Devious means were employed to clear the front section, the most successful was an industrial high pressure air line with a large nozzle, it transferred the mossy contents over everyone in the neighbourhood...

So here I'm ending the blog and would like to thank all those who have provided help & advice. Leaving the Chevrolet tucked up ready for Spring and a bit of a spray job.

Jerry

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Jerry

Am really enjoying following your project, your last post is something special. Wonder how many bird jokes we can come with? Of course some of our southern hemisphere brethren will probably suggest using a snake to get the bird out.

A while back there was a very good thread on cleaning gas tanks which if you have not already read it you might enjoy.

Cheers Phil

[Jerry Hill]

Hi Phil

I waited until the weather got better and completed the painting. This week I got round to getting the sign writing done and all is finished.

Pic 1, 2 & 4 a trip up to Debach airfield wartime home to the USAAF 493rd.
Pic 3 the radio is re-united with the truck.
Pic 5 the new member to the fleet an Austin8 Military Tourer.

We've added another member to the fleet, a tiny 1939 Austin 8 Military Tourer, albeit painted in the wrong colour, but surprisingly original. A more appropriate repaint will come in time. Many of these little Austins went to France and Belgium with the British Expeditionary Force in 1939/40, only to be left behind after Dunkirk etc.. Their better known big brother is the Austin Tilly. Open the bonnet (hood) and you have to look hard to find the engine, a 900 cc side valve sowing machine motor...

Jerry

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Jerry

Thanks for sharing the photos, nice new addition to the motor pool.

Cheers Phil