Author Topic: Chev truck questions  (Read 7657 times)

deecee

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Chev truck questions
« on: 04 May, 2016, 07:01:23 pm »
This is a nice old Chev truck - the previous owners say it is a 1928 Chev Maple Leaf
I want to write a sign for it, but I'm not sure about some things.
Did Chevrolet make a 1928 Maple Leaf?
If not what was the first year the Maple Leaf name was used.
How do they differ from standard Chev trucks?
The engine is a six - did Chev make a 6 in 1928? (I thought they were four cylinder till 1929)
The truck has a dual rear axle but is only rated at 30 cwt. Seems odd.
Brass plate on the dash says Holden.
Instrument dials are round not oval.

The engine number is MR5560340. Perhaps someone with access to an engine number register could date that for me?
It has 5-stud front and rear wheels.
Also has a Vac tank on the firewall, but someone has fitted a downdraught carburettor to it.
The chances are the truck is something of a bitsa, but for the purposes of writing a sign for display, I need to know roughly what year it is. It looks too late for 1928.
Help! I'm stumped with this one!



ianoz

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Re: Chev truck questions
« Reply #1 on: 04 May, 2016, 08:24:10 pm »
Deecee ,A good place for this type of infomation is the Aussie HCVC Forum .
http://www.hcvc.com.au/forum/index
fowler vf,david brown 30td,cat D24U,D47U,D47J,D46U,R4,D68U IH TD9,TD6 and many more
 Benaraby Central Queensland

famous fitter

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Re: Chev truck questions
« Reply #2 on: 04 May, 2016, 09:00:53 pm »
Hi Deecee,

Looks to me to be around 1934 Chevrolet,i cant answer if it is a "Maple leaf" but looks like a normal Chev to me (Maple Leaf was the Canadian Model and had different Bonnet sides)
HOLDEN were the body builders (cab),your '27 would most likely have a "Holden" body too
It should have a downdraught carb. vac tanks were all said and done in 1928, The new 6 Cylinder came out with a mechanical fuel pump from 1929 onward.
Dual wheels on the rear is original , there is one like it that's still driven around these parts unrestored.
Being a tip truck ,it would have been flogged within an inch of its life and looks like the cab has been modified ?

Now you have an idea what it is- Google is your friend for pictures !!!!!-hope this answers your questions

Cheers Justin




deecee

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Re: Chev truck questions
« Reply #3 on: 04 May, 2016, 10:00:23 pm »
Thanks ianoz, I have posted an enquiry there too.
Justin, I thought about mid thirties too. It can't be 1928 if it has an original 6 cylinder engine, right?
If it has a Holden body, it can't be a Maple Leaf, right?
Yes, the cab has been modified.

franco

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Re: Chev truck questions
« Reply #4 on: 05 May, 2016, 01:39:22 pm »
Hi deecee,

Did Chevrolet make a 1928 Maple Leaf?
No

If not what was the first year the Maple Leaf name was used.
I cannot find any reference for this.

How do they differ from standard Chev trucks?
According to several internet sources they had GMC transmissions. Don't know if this is correct or not.

The engine is a six - did Chev make a 6 in 1928? (I thought they were four cylinder till 1929)
No 1929 was the first six

The truck has a dual rear axle but is only rated at 30 cwt. Seems odd.

Brass plate on the dash says Holden.
They would have been built in Canada and imported as a bare chassis under the Empire Preference trade agreement which gave favourable import duty rates to vehicles built in other British Empire countries. The original cab (not that one!) and possibly the body would have been built by Holden. There was also a heavy tariff imposed on imported bodies in the twenties and at least part of the thirties to protect the extensive Australian motor body building industry, which is why most of the surviving cheaper motor vehicles like Chevrolet, Ford,  Whippet, Austin, Morris etc. from the twenties and at least the early thirties have locally built bodies.

I agree it is later than 1928

I suspect it is a normal Chevrolet, not a Maple leaf - it has a Chevrolet grille not the early wide-barred Maple Leaf one, and there no sign that the Maple Leaf badge was ever attached to the bonnet sides - one of our truck experts might have a different opinion though.

Frank.
Cairns, Queensland

franco

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Re: Chev truck questions
« Reply #5 on: 05 May, 2016, 01:46:43 pm »
Correction: in answer to the first question above, I meant they did not make a four cylinder Maple Leaf. I don't know whether any other early Chev trucks were called Maple Leaf - have never seen a reference to one though.

Frank.
Cairns, Queensland

franco

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Re: Chev truck questions
« Reply #6 on: 05 May, 2016, 01:59:00 pm »
Correction number 2: Chevrolet did build an earlier  six cylinder in 1911-13, not relevant to deecee's truck though.

I really, really wish TOMM would reinstate the editing function in this forum!!!

Frank.
Cairns, Queensland

deecee

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Re: Chev truck questions
« Reply #7 on: 05 May, 2016, 08:41:16 pm »
Thanks Franco,
It's a really difficult task to write a signboard for this truck - it really is something of a bitsa. It has a really interesting history though as a local farmer's truck, so I'm going to concentrate more on its story than its specifications.
I believe from all the sources I have accessed that it's a 1935 Chevrolet 30 cwt truck. (Not a Maple Leaf)
Would these trucks have come with a dual rear axle or was that fitted afterwards to increase its load capacity? I reckon it's carried a lot more than a ton and a half.
And Franco, you really must come up to the Village. I would be happy to give you a complimentary guided tour.
 

deecee

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Re: Chev truck questions
« Reply #8 on: 05 May, 2016, 08:42:42 pm »
And P.S. Frank, I agree with you about the editing function!

PVB

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Re: Chev truck questions
« Reply #9 on: 13 May, 2016, 09:29:14 am »
It's a 1934-35 Holden assembled Chevy with an American cab (flat roof gives it away) the duel rear wheels were standard equipment on them..

I had one until late last year when I sold it..
1925 Chevy tourer, 1936 Chevy truck, 1938 Chevy master sedan, 1942 Chevy C15A blitz, 1950 Chevy truck. All Holden built.. All original.

David Syme

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Re: Chev truck questions
« Reply #10 on: 13 May, 2016, 09:21:26 pm »
I think the 30 cwt referred to the cab/chassis tare weight.
David.