The Stovebolt Site Forums Welcome! Welcome Centre Do It Yourself (DITY) Gallery 1940 Canadian Chevrolet Series 13 (1/2-t) utility (Australian)

Hi from Australia!

Back in 1998, I placed a 'Wanted to Buy' advert in a rural newspaper. I was looking for a 1940 Chevrolet truck style utility. Australia was at war then and most of the 1940 production was taken by the Army. Many Army vehicles were shipped overseas. Very few of these vehicles were returned back to Australia.

Anyway, I received many replies from my advert. I could have got many 1941 - 46 utilities, and a few 1938 models, too. But 1940 was a rare year. Also, the prices were cheap then, pre-internet days. I was offered a nice complete Lend Lease 3 Ton Chev for $600.

Eventually, I managed to find two 1940 15 cwt trucks, about 150 miles apart, both in rough shape. One I paid $300 for it. Looking at the body tags on the cabs, the body numbers are only 7 numbers apart. And, on both trucks, the Country Fire Authority logo was on the doors. The CFA is a volunteer fire fighting organisation, still in operation today. It seems that a few 1940 models did make it into civilian life. The Army had an official policy of only using Chevrolet and Ford vehicles for overseas service. This made the spare parts supply easier.

Back to my utilities, I parked them. The eucalyptus leaves and moisture have done some damage: corrosion is serious.

The truck was assembled by GMH.The cab and utility body were made by GMH. Right-hand drive. It's a Canadian model 13.

I need some help. As I mentioned, the frame has a lot of surface rust, but no holes rusted through the frame. The frame is made from a thin gauge of steel. Has there been any problems with these frames breaking or failing ?

I am thinking about strengthening the frame? Has anyone done this?

The engine is the 216 with 3 speed.

I found some GMH factory pics of a similar 1939 model.

Thanks,
Mike.

Welcome back Mike and hey, that's a COOL truck. The 1939 factory pics are also a cool bit of history. Thanks for sharing.

On your questions about the strength of the frame and possible strengthening you may want to do, I'll leave that to other Bolters that are more familiar with the 1940 trucks. Hopefully some will chime in here soon.

Hi Dan!

Thank you. Yes it's been a long time!

I have two of these 1940 1/2 Ton utilities plus a 1939 3/4 Ton. They are all in rough shape.

The Army here were issued with many of these 1940 to 1941 Chevrolet trucks. Units of the Army were sent to the Middle East in 1940. Many of the Chevrolet vehicles were shipped to Egypt and a few managed to return to Australia.

This pic is in Syria in 1942. It's a 1 Ton General Service van, 17" wheels.

The GM-H built utility (pickup) bodies were a wooden frame with metal panels attached to the wood. The mechanical parts were made in Oshawa, Canada . Canada being in the British Empire, had trade concessions with other Commonwealth countries - Australia, New Zealand.

Mike, Even more great history shared! Many thanks for the info and pictures.

Perhaps you could share some pictures of the frame you are asking about? It may help folks better see what you have and what may need to be done to get you where you want to be. No worries about what it may look like. We are all familiar with how good and bad our trucks can look like and no judgement on your choice of what you want to do.

Thanks Dan

I will take a few pics of the frame soon.

The factory pics show how the cabs were constructed at the GM-H plant in South Australia.

The Australian cabs feature a rectangular shaped air vent in the cowl sides.

The spare parts division of GM-H, NASCO, were manufacturing some mechanical parts. I have nos NASCO 216 main bearing sets. As recently as the 1990s, you could buy crates of Army surplus 216 dome pistons, Canadian made.

Mike - Once again, a huge Thanks to You for sharing these historical pictures! Please feel welcome to share any more pics you may have as these can provide some very helpful insight into the trucks construction and original appearance during/after assembly. Even though these are right hand drive trucks, they still provide excellent resources for anyone with a similar era truck here on this side of the pond.

I hope you don't mind if I offer you a "Cheers Mate" as another way of saying thanks for sharing with everyone!

It's fun to look at these old pics. Thanks for posting.

John, your 15 minutes a day build is going well. Reading your build blog, I have been learning much about these little trucks. This is a GM-H bodied 41-46 utility.

The 1/2 Ton was available in three body styles.

1. Coupe utility - the cab and utility body in one piece.

2. Cab and separate utility body.

3. Cab and wooden drop side flat bed body.

Pic of the coupe utility in service with the Red Cross and a newspaper advert

vk3cz,
I am no expert on the metallurgy of vehicle frames but I do know that they were designed with a very large margin of strength. I am familiar with some disasters when well meaning people begin welding on the frames only to find that you have de-engineered (is that a word?) the assembly so that cracking and separation are inevitable. The frames are an alloy that is tempered so that it is somewhat flexible but retains strength. The heat from welding destroys the temper, often making it very brittle.

Unless there is serious corrosion, I suspect your frame(s) will function just fine, unless you seriously overload it. You might take some pictures with thickness and gauge indicated so that this audience can compare with our Chevrolet trucks and give you an opinion.

Thank you for the historic pictures, they are great!

Kent

I don't believe that the frames of that era were made of high strength steel. Typically just low-carbon steel. But welding on even low carbon steel will affect the strength in what's called the heat affected zone (HAZ) of a weld, which is typically where a crack would form. Generally speaking, welding on the flange of a frame is not recommended, as cracks can start at the edge near a weld and propagate through the frame section. The same is true of drilling holes, which should only be done on the web (the vertical part) of a frame.

That being said, if you don't have any holes rusted through the frame, or cracks in it, it's probably usable. Welding at low stress points (like at the tail) is probably safe as the loads there are minimal. But ANY welding at high stress points like near spring mounts should be avoided.

Thanks so much for the excellent information. I had a look at the 1950 COE and ARC pickup journals. There is always something new to learn from other owners' experiences.

The historical pics I attached are from the Public Records Office and the State libraries of South Australia and Victoria. The PROV pics can be downloaded in large format sizes. There are pics of wartime Lend Lease Chevrolet trucks.

This 1939 van has a gas producer fitted, petrol was in short supply during the war . They used charcoal as a fuel.

Public Records of Victoria.

Some more pics. The Army specified wider wheels for the 15 cwt model (US 1/2 Ton) - the tyres were 7.50x16 size. For the 1 1/2 Ton and 3 Ton trucks, the Army used special 18 inch divided wheels, but some trucks still used the standard commercial 20 inch wheels. Tyre sizes were 900x18 and 10.50x18. These size tyres are a big headache, not available today.

The 1940 models are not easy to find here now. The 1941 to 1946 models are far easier to find.

Great pics! Thanks for posting them.

Wouldn't the 15cwt be a 3/4 ton truck, not a 1/2 ton truck? 15cwt = 1500 lbs

Hi, yes you are correct 15 cwt is 3/4 Ton. The Army here called the small car type utilities, 12 cwt models. The US 1/2 Ton model, they classified as 15 cwt ... don't know why. The US 3/4 Ton they classified as a 1 Ton. This model has 17 inch wheels and heavy duty rear springs.

This pic is a car type 12cwt utility.

This is a link to a film that has a few scenes of Australian 1940 Chevrolet utilities in Egypt.

Australian War Memorial.

These Australian Army Chevrolet trucks were also shipped to Malaya. All were captured by the Japanese.

There is some really great history being shared here. I love seeing all the old photos from the WWII era Trucks.

Mike - Just a note to go along with your shared history info that we do have "some" related Stovebolt History info stashed away in a few spots in our Legacy Tech Tips. If you scroll way down to the bottom of that web page (screen grab shows them below), you can see other previously gathered and shared historical data web pages that your info fits with perfectly.

Perhaps John and Peggy may want to discuss collecting and adding your info to that collection??? While we wait for them to ponder that idea, all I can say is take a peek at what we already have and keep adding as you are able. This is excellent information and very much enjoyed!

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm not a historian. Anybody is welcome to use the pics.

There were many thousands of Lend-Lease Chevrolet trucks shipped to Australia during WW2. Plus, many Ford and International trucks. Maybe I should begin another thread on the LL Chevs.

I have some more pics of 1940/41 utilities.

The Army vehicle registration books are now online. If you have the engine number or the Army Reg Number. It is now possible to trace your vehicles history.

Army vehicle registration books.

The V 298 was the first vehicle pictured was LOST IN GREECE. The Aust. Army abandoned a number of vehicles in Greece after the German invasion in 1941. The Chev. Engine number CR2003940 was shipped to the Middle East on the ship ARCADIA. It left Melbourne June 1940.

Those are really cool pictures! Thanks for sharing!

Did they have the original extended cab?

Hi John , the coupe utility style cabs have the little windows behind the doors. This was a factory original style of cab that was also used on many other Australian assembled automotive brands. It was a generic style of body.

Yes, the 1940 utility pic is likely to be early 1970s era. That was rare surviving vehicle. I have been interested in these little trucks, for many years, only ever seen one that is on the road. This 1939 model at a car show.

Hi

This is my rusty frame. They fitted the Right Hand Drive pedals into a small space.

The frame seems to be made from 1/8 " gauge steel. This frame might be OK. The other frame I have is scrap. It has big holes rusted through the crossmembers.

That frame doesn't look bad to me. Looks like surface rust, mostly.

Doesn’t look so bad. I would be more worried about messing
with the rails than the crossmembers if they need work. If it’s going to be for fun rather than heavy work I’d just clean it up and see what you’ve got.

Thanks, yes the frame will clean up OK. I will take it to the sandblaster.

Another thing I discovered, somebody has welded the rail and it looks like a pretty good strong welding job. This repair was done many years ago, in the 1950s or earlier. The repair hasn't broken so I will clean it up and leave it.

I think I would clean that up and maybe fish-plate it where the repair was done.

I'm no body man but I'm of the opinion that if it's been this way for 60 or 70 years as you say, leave it alone and don't mess with it.

I have some more pics. These are Australian Army ambulances, officially known as ' Indian pattern ', they were built on the 30cwt chassis. I believe the body was a wooden frame that was covered with a doped fabric . As far as I know, none of these have survived with the original body intact. Unusually, the front axle has 5 studs (lugs), and the rear axle 10 studs., they fitted a round blanking plate onto the front hubs. The 18-inch wheels came in a few different styles. These ambulances were also built on GMC Ford Dodge and International chassis.

An American link. The last pic. New Zealand Army used ambulances built with funds donated by the U.S. communities. Hopedale is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts.



One of the drivers examines the name of the donor of an ambulance donated to 2 NZEF. Ten ambulances from the USA (Anzac War Relief Funds Board) were handed over by the Hon. F Waite, Overseas Commissioner to the NZ Patriotic Fund Board, to Brigadier K McCormick, DSO, ADMS. Taken at Maadi circa 1 July 1941 by an official photographer.

The Chevrolet trucks used on the North South road in central Australia were modified in order to cope with the harsh conditions. These trucks supplied the port of Darwin which was a strategic location.

Let's load this giant trailer onto the flatbed instead of towing it! Must be an Ozzy thing! Hahaha


I like how they built the cabins out to the edge of the running boards for more seating.

Maybe they hooked another trailer on behind that rig. Maximize the load carrying.

This is the same trailer. The truck is upside down.

OOPS!

Maybe a wee bit top heavy? Oops is right!!

I found some pics of the Australian wooden flat deck body , the sides drop down. This truck has a government registration plate. This style of body will be easier for me to build. Was this style of wooden body fitted in North America ?

Mike - Here's the link to an original 1940 Chevrolet Truck US sales brochure. Nothing in there resembles your wood hinged drop sides of this Australian 1940 flat bed. Nearest thing in the US pamphlet is the stake side platforms which in these pics where all the lift out removal style side panels. Another unique feature of the trucks from "Down Under".

Your pictured drop side panels sure do remind me of some of the earlier Army cargo trucks I used to wrench on back in the day though. Some of those had metal hinged fold down side panels with wood side cargo panels that fit into side panel stake pockets for added height and cargo carrying.

A bit of data A0 = January 1940 assembly