The Thames pickup progresses

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Panels re-fitted to the E83W.
To date, work on the 10cwt Thames (E83W) pickup has progressed in fits and starts, inbetween other pressing duties on the garage front. It had been a while since I'd seen the old girl with the front wings, grille, and bonnet in place, and I was itching to get that situation remedied. While the front end had been off, I attended to a number of jobs, including the clutch & gearbox replacement and so on, already mentioned in last month's witterings. Final job before re-fitting the panels was to attach the new bonnet welting, which acts as a buffer to prevent the closed bonnet rubbing on the painted scuttle. It is held in place with small brass rivets - I purchased new welting and rivets last year, at the NEC I think, in readiness for the job, and it went on easily, once trimmed down to the correct length.

Ford 10cwt with front end panels re-fitted

First things first, and to begin the re-assembly it was a case of cleaning up and refitting the small front inner wings. Not a particularly arduous job - they were in solid enough conditon, so I just gave them a quick clean up and bolted them to the cab.

Then it was the turn of the two front outer wings, one of which I'd replaced with a better secondhand example from the spares pile. It had been repaired at some point in the past (not by me), and needed a little jiggling and gentle encouragement in order to get it fitted on. The original passenger side wing went on with little bother (usual story with unmodified panels). Fitting the bonnet is an easy job on these 10hp Fords. The grille however (another panel replaced for a better example) took a fair bit more fiddling to get fitted - even now its not A1 perfect, but its close and probably as good as it ever was.

I could do with finding some better clips to hold on the grille trim (stainless steel), so thats another thing to put onto the shopping list for this year's autojumbles.

With the panelwork back in place, it was the turn of the headlamp buckets. I re-used one of the originals, and replaced the other because it was showing some signs of grot along its lower edge. I had a few spares ones, so it made sense to use a better one than spend time tickling up a poor example. Fortunately the headlamp lenses are in good order, so they didn't need replacing (the same lens is also used on the upright Ford Anglia).

The final parts to be re-fitted in this stage of the resurrection, were the front bumper and irons. Again because the replacement front wing had been repaired in the past, it took a little jiggling to get the bumper irons and aperture in the front wing lined up enough for a successful fitting.

Finally, the little truck was beginning to look more like a vehicle once again, and, with the wheel temporarily re-fitted, it was time to drop it off the axle stands. As it was getting closer to roadtest time (up and down the drive), I had to move the Devon pickup from the main garage, and swap it with the Ford, which had been in the small garage down the garden for quite a while. This will make it easier to test the brakes and so on without having to drive up and down the grass, not something that wins me many brownie points with my 'significant other'.

So one fine day it was fire-up time, and the Devons and Ford were swapped around. The 1200cc Devon still isn't running brilliantly despite spending a fair bit of time fiddling with the carburettor, so that'll need a good looking at one day.

Most recent job done on the Ford, with it now in the main garage, was to replace the two trailing links that run from a central position behind the gearbox, diagonally out to either end of the rear axle.

The originals had started to rot at their outermost ends (away from the oil dripping back from the engine) so I had to replace these with a pair of unused ones that I found last year. Fitting them wasn't particularly tricky, although it took some time to free up the nuts and split pins that held the original links on - a combination of heat, various screwdrivers and pliers, plus a fair bit of easing oil, did the trick in the end. Next plan is to remove mud from the chassis and Waxoyl the underside. With a bit of luck, the pickup, which I bought back in 1992 and used in the early 90s, will be out on the road this year - it hasn't been out for ages so it'll be fun to revel in its 35mph maximum speed, and vintage driving manners.

Updates on the foreign Bedford
Since winning the auction for the old Bedford overseas, I've been spending some time sussing out how to get the thing back, and sorting out some of the paperwork involved. My pal collected it for me, and has stored it in his friend's yard until such time as we're ready to get it shipped. A while back it occurred to me that finding a second vehicle to use the spare room in the container, seemed like a good idea. As if by magic, I stumbled across an identical vehicle, part-dismantled, and available for what on the surface seemed like a good price. It'll either be a project for sometime in the future, or else an excellent spares donor for the first truck, so I grabbed that one too, and its now residing at the same yard, awaiting shipment.

Classic lorries at Donington

For the last few years I've made sure that I go to the classic commercial vehicle bash at Donington. This year I was especially keen to get myself over there, as the adverts were featuring a Bedford van due to go for sale in the auction. As it was a similar model to the two I'm planning to import later this year, it seemed like a good opportunity to size the vehicle type over, and take plenty of pictures for my files. The Donington event is held inside the exhibition hall alongside the circuit, and is split between club stands, autojumble, and the auction area. A few vans & lorries are also displayed outside, but as many were regulars at this event I didn't spend much time out there. The number of vehicles on display isn't enormous, but the usefully sized autojumble does make up for it, and the vehicles lined up for auction were also very interesting. In the display area, were examples of J Type Morris, 400E pickup, Morris (LC I think, plus some PVs), Transit, and a selection of others.

I had a short list of 'wants' stuffed in my back pocket as I wandered around the 'jumble, tyres mainly were the object of my search. I'd like to find some 6.00 x 16s for the Ford, and perhaps some 5.00 or 5.25 x 17s for the Devon pickup. I didn't really cross much off my list, although I did pick up a pair of handbooks for the Bedfords, so thats ok.

Ex-military Dodge lorry converted into a breakdown wagon

The auction area had some very tasty old lorries and vans lined up. The Bedford was my main focus of attention (although I didn't stick around for the vehicle auctions), but most colourful (and tempting if I'd had the room and ££ for them) was a wonderful pair of ex-military 1940s Dodge recovery lorries, brightly painted in yellow and red. After the sale I heard that they hadn't been bid very high, so perhaps they didn't sell after all?? I don't know yet how the auction went, although I believe that the green Bedford van sold for a very respectable sum. Other highlights in the auction included a rare, slightly tired looking, Standard Vanguard (Phase 1/2) pickup, some O series Bedfords, a flat fronted Mack, and a very bright V8 Ford truck, to name just a few.

If I have the time, I find its well worth having a stroll around the car park outside, as there can be some great 'finds' out there away from the public gaze, at least as interesting (if not more so) than the vehicles inside. My favourite was probably the Karrier Bantam, bodied for North West Gas Service - perhaps as a mobile display van?? whatever, it looked in really nice original order, a little faded but all the better for it, and (to my eyes) heaps more appealing that something that is way over-restored and lacking in originality. This Karrier was spot-on. Also spied outside was an appealing brown Commer Superpoise van, a 1950s Chevy flareside pickup (fitted with a great Chevrolet radio on the dash), and a smart D Series Ford. A Thames Trader chassis cab was also seen for sale on the back of another lorry outside. Photographs from the Donington shows will be added to oldclassiccar shortly.

Other jalopies

A40 Austin parked alongside an old road sign

There isn't much news otherwise. The Merc is still running along, although still shows signs of a gremlin in the works somewhere, which is a nuisance. I didn't get anything done on the Dodge this month, what with getting on with the green Ford, and the black Austin Devon has been running reliably as always - it tends to get used for local jaunts whenever the weather is up to it. I went out last week one sunny morning, and got caught in a heavy rain shower on my way home. Somehow, you only really get a feel for a classic when you use it in all weathers and all conditions (rain, snow, daylight, night-time). When I moved the Devon pickup out of the garage, I noticed that the steering was feeling a little on the heavy side - a nosey at the front confirmed that the front tyre had perished and ripped itself apart as soon as I had backed it out of the garage. It has pretty poor remould crossplies on it anyway, so it was always on the cards to find a new set of rubber for it. For now it is sat on a spare saloon rim, 16" not 17", which will do while its parked up.

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