Who Manufactured the M37 Hard Top ??

[w30bob]

Hi Guys,

Anybody know the name of the company that made the hard top for M37? Not the CCKW round window top, but the original square window top made specifically for the M37.

thanks,
bob

[w30bob]

Hmmmmm.......ok, nobody knows.

Let me run this name by you guys and see if it rings any bells.......the Stoughton Cab and Body Company, Stoughton, Wisconsin.

The reason I'm asking is I picked up an old data plate and I'm wondering if it's for the hard top on the M37.
Whatcha think?



Stoughton Cab by w30bob, on Flickr

regards,
bob

[HingsingM37]

Is this the one from eBay a week or so back? I saw this also and I was curious. I looked at my hard top and found no holes where a data plate may have mounted? I would also like to know the answer.

[w30bob]

Hi David,

Yes, it's the one that was on Ebay.....curiosity got the better of me so I bought it. I was searching around on Google and found a discussion on Steel Soldiers where someone had found the hard top data plate not on an external surface, but on an interior surface covered by the insulation and sheet metal. I went out and looked at my hard top, but didn't remove inner sheetmetal.....and I couldn't find any place where there were holes or old rivets to hold a data plate. So if there was a plate it may have been placed where it could not be seen. I'm hoping someone who's taken a hard top apart to restore can shed some light on this one.

regards,
bob

[DJ]

"A week before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Stoughton Cab and Body received an order for 25 troop carrier bodies from the War Department to be delivered before Christmas. Another large military order for truck bodies was received on July 3, 1942, and the firm was soon employing 35 hands full time."

A quote from the history of the company, seems they built bodies for WW2. Also says the order after the truck bodies for the military was for a type of plow.

[w30bob]

Hi DJ,

Yup...here's the rest of that story if anyone is interested:

A week before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Stoughton Cab and Body received an order for 25 troop carrier bodies from the War Department to be delivered before Christmas. Another large military order for truck bodies was received on July 3, 1942, and the firm was soon employing 35 hands full time.

On July 6, 1944 the Stoughton Common Council voted to permit the Stoughton Cab and Body Co. to buy the former plant of the Moline Plow Co. from the City of Stoughton for $11,000. Under a plan drawn up by the Cab and Body Co., the firm would make a down payment of $1,500, the balance of $9,500 to be paid by July 1, 1949 at the rate of $50 per month.

The firm’s final military commission was for an order of mud sleds for the Army Corps. of Engineers. Mud sleds were typically towed by crawlers and were used in road building operations whenever large quantities of earth needed to be moved over unstable ground.

All military production ceased in August of 1945 and many of the firm’s 65 employees were laid off, pending the arrival of civilian orders for new truck cabs and bodies.

In the coming months the firm set about designing new products to help spur sales, one of which was the crew cab, a special body designed for utility companies that required a single vehicle to carry a four to six man crew into the field.

As material became available the firm soon began producing a wide variety of products which included custom-built van bodies, steel brake platforms, custom-built truck cabs, sleeper cabs, crew cabs and multi-compartment utility bodies. On January 1, 1947, R.G. Petersen, plant superintendent, announced that the firm was now employing 60 persons.

Fire struck the Stoughton Cab and Body Co on Sunday August 18, 1947. Shavings in the firm’s boiler room ignited resulting in a fire in both the boiler room and cab building departments. The Stoughton Fire Department responded quickly to the blaze and the flames were limited to the building’s south walls.

The firm was an early advocated of profit sharing as announced in the February 27, 1948 edition of the Wisconsin State Journal:



“Slightly over $4,000 will be divided among the 60 employees of the Stoughton Cab and Body Co. as their share of 1947 profits of the company, it was announced today by R.G. Peterson company manager. The plan was in at the company two years ago and the profits are shared among the employees who have worked at the plant six months or longer. About 70 workers are employed.”


At that time the firm’s officers were as follows: F.O. Phillips, president; Maurice Rein, vice-president; H.F. Schumacher, secretary and R.G. Petersen treasurer. When Andrew P. Rein passed away on February 17, 1947, his son, Maurice Rein, replaced him on the board.

By 1949 Stoughton Cab and Body were producing sleeper cabs and 4-door crew bodies that were sold through Chevrolet, GMC and Ford truck dealers, and their ads were regularly published in the Commercial Car Journal and Chevrolet’s Silver Book.

The post-war manufacturing boom was in full effect by 1949 and the firm introduced a number of new products including refrigerated truck bodies, bulk milk haulers and compartmentalized ice cream trucks.

The firm’s ad in the 1953 Silver Book boasted that they could build custom-made crew-cabs and sleeper cabs using existing cabs from any manufacturer. Additional products included their ‘Trans-Sleeper’ sleeper cab additions that could be mounted behind existing truck cabs, and a complete line of enclosed van, refrigerated and stake platform bodies.

Stoughton Cab and Body filed for bankruptcy in 1958, and its assets were purchased by the MPM Corp. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin who reorganized it as the Stoughton Body Division of MPM Corp. MPM started life as the Milwaukee Printing Machinery Co., and was owned at the time by Philip J. Hardin.


Regards,
bob

[tbone1004]

sorry to bring up an old thread, but have any of you seen a top manufactured by Chevy? I was pulling all of the civvy wiring that was added by the fire dept and was having trouble figuring out why my hard top looked different, and lo and behold, inside is a data plate that says Chevrolet DD with a serial number behind it. Wondering if anyone has seen one like it?

[mike_l]

Well, since the thread is relatively fresh again, I can add that the contract number on the tag does fall in the format used during the early 50s to early 60s era. So, I would say guess this to be for the 3/4ton truck of the era, AKA M37. You can also research more on the contract number formats (and check my guess) on the USMilitariaForum.com site. Good find.

[w30bob]

Tbone,

Do you mean something like this?


Delivery Date by w30bob, on Flickr

If you do this tag was used on most Chevrolet trucks (light and commercial) thru the 50's and 60's best I can tell. The DD stands for Delivery Date and was sometimes followed by a code. The numbers on the bottom of the tag are related to the VIN somehow. I got this info from this thread if you're interested.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/show ... 820&page=2

regards,
bob

[m37jarhead]

Hmmmmm.......ok, nobody knows.

Let me run this name by you guys and see if it rings any bells.......the Stoughton Cab and Body Company, Stoughton, Wisconsin.

The reason I'm asking is I picked up an old data plate and I'm wondering if it's for the hard top on the M37.
Whatcha think?



Stoughton Cab by w30bob, on Flickr

regards,
bob

Bob,
Just finished r&r'ing the artic top on my M37. Rectangular, sliding window. Had it completely apart. Removed old insulation
and replaced with new.
Found no manufacturer's tag or plate inside or out. Only a 1"x 2" (approx) aluminum plate with a few numbers stamped
on it. The small plate was attached to the right, inside door/cab pillar. The plate will be re-installed when the cab has
been repainted. Lot's of Strata Blue under several coats of O.D. on the cab. The truck itself is definitely U.S. Army.
FYI
Jerry

[tbone1004]

Found out mine was a hacked top from a '66 Chevy that the FD put on there, just hit it fairly well. It will be coming off once I can find a better top, or worst case I'll make my own out of carbon fiber and kevlar. Beauty of working for a performance textile company