early C8

James E. Roy · #1 10-03-03, 16:12

Decades ago, I used to pass this junkyard on my way to work and you could see from the road that it was full of fabulous old stuff. There were some cars from the 30s, lots from the 40s and the newest stuff there was from the mid50s. The rural cleanup drive was in full swing and hundreds of acres of old cars were going to the crusher. The old fellow that owned the yard was a bit cranky and reclusive. His son has since taken over and the yard has been pretty much cleaned up. When I got my own truck, on Sept11,01, I went back to check out this old Chev. When I asked if it was still there, he said yes, but I couldn't have it. It is pretty much intact. The cab interior is especially nice because both the windshield and rear window are intact. It even has the battery box. The frame has been cut and welded behind the cab. I think thats how they changed rear ends back in the 50s. It still has a couple of original military tires. Its a type 11 cab with no ventilation openings. The rear body has been removed and is in the woods at the back of the yard. It resembles the unit in the photo from Estaban Sask. that I saw somewhere on a CMP site.

James E. Roy · #2 10-03-03, 16:19

I'm starting to get the hang of this photo posting. The truck is rested out in the usual places; around the floor at the back and around the back of the cab. The owner said that his son is planning on doing it up and he didn't want to part with the headlights, seats, gun clips, battery box or tool box.

James E. Roy · #3 10-03-03, 16:24

The interior seemed to be in the original paint and has lots of the buttons and switches. In the 40s and 50s, it belonged to a bakery and was used once a week to haul bags of flour from the rail siding to the bakery.

James E. Roy · #4 10-03-03, 16:33

The rear body is laying on the ground and has some sizable trees growing around and through it. It is dinged up and has some chunks cut off. It is filled with 4 inches of leaf mold but it still has most of its bottom. The owner seemed willing to sell until he took another look at it and thought you'd never get it out of there in one piece so it wasn't worth his trouble. One of my body working friends who saw it thought I'd be further ahead to use it as a pattern and build a new one. Sounds expensive. My expert body friend tells me that there's nothing you can't fix and it would be way more practical to repair the original. I'm sure that with bracing, a chainsaw and a boom truck, it could be rescued. When spring comes... (wistfully)

Bob Carriere · #5 10-03-03, 17:27

Hi James

The kind of pictures that would make a grown man cry... of joy or of sorrow.....

Do try to save the box if you can..... and do not give up on the cab..... be nice but keep asking.
By the way it would be appreciated if you could find and write down the registration ID ... if it is still in/on the truck.... should be a small plate on the right hand side of the engine cover. Should be able to see it directly in front of you when you open the drivers door.... just above the floor/seat area on the engine cover.

Without the air vent it would have to be a very early model.

While shopping in that yard you might want to look for a replacement engine....Chev 235 or 261 of 1954 and up..... easier to rebuild with regular insert bearings and good oil pressure.

What else is hidding in your neck of the woods??

Hang in there.... rumor is Spring is coming....

Brian Gough · #6 10-03-03, 17:37

James,

Thanks for posting the pictures and story of that early C8. It should be saved and I hope you will continue to make every effort to rescue it if you can.

Good Luck, but please realize you have quoted those famous words that have cursed many CMPs to death.

(from your "rear body" post) " The owner said that his son is planning on doing it up and he didn't want to ..........."

Brian

David_Hayward (RIP) · #7 10-03-03, 17:58

Is that the original dat plate I see? It would be very interesting to note what the serial and engine number are as this is of historical interest.

James E. Roy · #8 11-03-03, 20:12

Hi guys,

I should have added that I will revisit this truck in a month or so, and I'll check it for numbers and get back to you. There are a couple of others that I will check for numbers too.

Jim

Mike Kelly · #9 12-03-03, 16:43

looks like it has 16" rims fitted ????

It would have had a 2A1 or 2B1 body ? originally

I hope it is saved

Mike

Bob Carriere · #10 17-03-03, 18:01

Hi Mike

Received my CD on Friday ....... thanks for all the info, especially the Dodge manual.... already printed the first 100 pages of the Chev book... now if the boss can look the other way I will print the remainder.

..and thanks for letting me know that it is a confortable 30C in Australia... we had a heta wave this weekend in Ottawa..... went from -18C Friday night to a sizzling 10 degree above on Saturday..

..... Spring is around the corner... but he poor cab 11 is still all covered with snow over the tarp......

Thanks again for all the good information....

David_Hayward (RIP) · #11 17-03-03, 18:16

It went from about -2 Celsius this morning with frost over the cars to 17 Celsius! There was a guy working on his car nearby without a shirt. Plenty of holidaymakers on the beaches now, walking along mostly but some nutters in the sea. There is a High pressure area over the British Isles, but the eastern Mediterranean and Malta had the bad weather instead.

Colin Macgregor Stevens · #12 23-03-03, 10:27

This photo (click here) is c. 1944 colour slide of a 2nd Bn Seaforth Highlanders of Canada F8 4x2 seen from the rear. It has the long box 1A2 body.
Photo of cargo box as found by original poster of this string LOOKS like a long box 1A2 8 Cwt one, not a 15 Cwt. Hard to tell from photo.

Unusual to find one of these bodies on a Cab 11 8 Cwt 4x2 . Cab 11 NORMALLY had a 1A1 body (short, huge tool bin/spare tire carrier, 9.00x13 tires, gas tanks across behind cab, NO step under doors due to lower tires)

8 Cwt 4x2 Cab 12 usually had long box (1A2) no tool bin behind cab, spare tire carried inside rear box, gas tanks mounted parallel to frame (fore and aft), and tires 9.00x16, AND A STEP UNDER THE CAB DOORS. I owned several Cab 12 F8 with long cargo box 1A2.

Note box found in junk yard does not match the 2A1 or 2B2 bodies shown here.

IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!!
Scrape with sharp knife sideways, and and down by hand carefully for markings!!!!!!!
Being Cab 11, the UNIT NAME is PROBABLY painted in white on both doors near the top, above the DND number. There are variations in door markings so look at old photos. Sometimes name (e.g. a school) appears below DND number. Sometimes DND number will have a Z in front of or above DND number. Ficticious examples :
Z
_________
40-1-123

or 40-123

On one F8 I had, I found "IR OF C" (Irish Regiment of Canada) and under that, "HAL RIF" (Halifax Rifles).

YOU ONLY GET ONE CHANCE TO FIND ORIGINAL MARKINGS (and thus history) of a vehicle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[picture links edited by moderator to reduce width and loading time]

Mike Kelly · #13 23-03-03, 15:51

The 9.00 X 16 rims are clearly visible .
The height of the tyres gives them away .
The C15 has 2" wider front wings than the C8 .
The split rim nuts are seen on the outside of the rims in the pics above posted on this forum , on the C8 13 " rims , the rim nuts are located on the inside of the rim and therefore not seen from the outside .

I am not disputing the body styles and the various trucks they were fitted to, although many cab 12 8 cwts did have the short 1A1 body like the cab 11 's . I feel it was the later cab 12's production that had the long body fitted .

Bye from Mike

Cab 11 C8 with 1A1 body