1956 Austin Truck

[psycho83]

Well I've posted her up here before, but she's been through an ordeal since then so here is a brief history in pics

when I got her





I hated the color, not me at all.

So I did this



the the engine went pop, so this happened





Then I ran out of cash and she sat for a while
I had a couple of V8's but ended up having to sell/give them away

then after a long time I found a workshop, and this happened





shortly followed by this



thats just rested on btw



Then I got an offer on the Cosworth motor and box, so off they went.

then we had a close look at the front setup, it was bad, very bad. so this happened





we found this insane piece of worksmanship



so she currently sits like this



until I can find a 2.9 Granada doner, which I think I have located in guildford, just gotta figure out getting it back to Ipswich. then I can crack on.

so yeah, thats it. looks a bit sorry for itself now, but she'll be back up and running , asap.

thanks for looking!

[qwerty]

Woah! Glad to see that the progress is still happening! Shame about previous owners bodgery but least you'll know its done properly and well!

[Pid363!]

Have you tried any of the banger boys round your way for a 2.9 as there are a lot round Ipswitch. One place you could try is Beck Row car spares near Mildenhall.

[MrT]

I've still got that 2.9 engine and autobox available...

[psycho83]

I need the front axle as well MrT , so would like to get a whole car, that way if I need any parts I've got them to hand. Fuel tank etc.

[psycho83]

pid363 said:

Have you tried any of the banger boys round your way for a 2.9 as there are a lot round Ipswitch. One place you could try is Beck Row car spares near Mildenhall.

Don't know any banger boys to ask I'll try beck row car spares though. been offered an F reg , running, though not MOT'd Taxed for £150, does that seem fair? I thought It sounded alright.

[poproddernot]

hi mate,
that sounds a good price if your gonna use lots of parts from it.
cheers chris.

[spock]

hi
ok.i'm gonna open myself up to a load of ridicule here i'm sure.
but what is that truck(apart frm a 56 austin)i've never seen one before,it looks like a cross between a taxi and various chevy trucks.if its not,where can i get one its cool

[poproddernot]

its a modified taxi.

[Ether]

That's a handsome beast. Good luck finding the donor - cracking project

[psycho83]

Been offered 2 donors now!
2.9 Granada F reg in Guildford, £150 , and one in Milton Keynes for £100 . Just gotta figure how to get one (or maybe both) back to Sudbury ,anyone got a recovery truck and wants to do me a favour, I can afford to pay you £50ish(just for one)

[Pid363!]

£150 anit to bad you would get nearly that over the bridge. Try Tillio77 on here he comes from Ipswich way, hes a banger driver, and i think hes got his own recovery firm.

[psycho83]

found a place to rent a trailer and a mate's dad has a pickup with a towbar so hopefully i'm on for the one in milton Keynes. just gotta make sure we can use the pickup. If not I'm screwed as none of my mates have cars with towbars on em'

[psycho83]

Picked up this little baby yesterday to use as a donor , just need a mk2 granny front clip now and I'm ready to reassemble.

[rmad]

psycho83 said:

This weekend I got the engine sat on the chassis to see what needs to be chopped about. To my surprise I'm probably going to get away with minimal choppage

One of the downpipes needs to be re routed slightly as it hits the chassis, and both engine mounts need to be modified but thankfully the sump clears the front clip *phew* and the alternator clears the chassis with about 5mm to spare, hopefully the engine mounts don't flex to much or it'll knock.

the fan just clears the front of the chassis and the rad fan should be about right for the rad.

It's not sitting quite straight in the pics due to the left downpipe hitting the chassis, so the gearbox isn't quite inline.

as you can see the gearbox is quite close to the prop so with a solid spacer that should mate those up pretty well.





offending downpipe and sump clearance


gearbox to prop


rad




ho hum, roll on next weekend . . . . I hate these boring days in between the weekends

If only I could affrd my own MIG welder, this would move on a lot more swiftly.

Psycho - I've added your update to an old thread, to keep all the info in one place.

[ewokracing]

nice ute!

[psycho83]

rmad said:

psycho83 said:

This weekend I got the engine sat on the chassis to see what needs to be chopped about. To my surprise I'm probably going to get away with minimal choppage

One of the downpipes needs to be re routed slightly as it hits the chassis, and both engine mounts need to be modified but thankfully the sump clears the front clip *phew* and the alternator clears the chassis with about 5mm to spare, hopefully the engine mounts don't flex to much or it'll knock.

the fan just clears the front of the chassis and the rad fan should be about right for the rad.

It's not sitting quite straight in the pics due to the left downpipe hitting the chassis, so the gearbox isn't quite inline.

as you can see the gearbox is quite close to the prop so with a solid spacer that should mate those up pretty well.





offending downpipe and sump clearance


gearbox to prop


rad




ho hum, roll on next weekend . . . . I hate these boring days in between the weekends

If only I could affrd my own MIG welder, this would move on a lot more swiftly.

Psycho - I've added your update to an old thread, to keep all the info in one place.

cheers chap!

*breaking news* have possibly aquired a free welder SIP 130 Migmate Turbo , just gotta figure out how to get it from Abingdon to the swapmeet. should enale me to crack on a lot harder, maybe be ready for the Nats in August

[popuptoaster]

now thats pretty uch exactly the idea i've had kicking about in the back of my head since i was about ten years old, glad to see it looks as good as i thought it would!

[psycho83]

here is the latest, lack of funds meant things moved slowly but I think I am back on track now.

getting there slowly but surely


Cleaned up the chassis rails and started cleaning the motor, made one of my seat subframes, and have started measuring out for my steering rack. Radiator is just rested in place so is not level at the mo.


Rack (got this for mucho cheapness) hopefully I can make it fit. )







This one came out a bit dark, but the prop and gearbox are about 1inch apart, so a solid spacer will do the trick.


Started to clean the inlet


Radiator at almost the correct height!!! just need to make some brackets to hold it

my leather seats, comfy as hell! from a citroen




a mate of mine is off making mounts for me at the mo, so hopefully should be able to get those fitted soon.................. on the face of it, there is not too much left to do, but it's bound to turn out to take longer than expected.
as always cash stops play on many occasions.


some of the jobs left
*Fit mounts which are being fabricated at the mo
*remove pas pump and relocate alternator to run off where the pas pump belt goes
*make a spacer to mate the prop/gearbox
*wire it in (this could take years, frigging ecu)
*fit the rad and plumb it in
*replace water Pump
*change rocker gaskets
*frame the front end to hang wings and bonnet
*make a transmission tunnel
*wire in lights etc
*order Digital dash and wire in
*make exhaust
*sort out handbrake


Productive Saturday all in all



Dez if you read this, and if you fancy popping over I could do with some advice, also if you fancy doing any paid work to help fund your project/s send me a PM,

[nigelbickle]

Nice truck -interesting thread.
Couldnt help but notice how similar it is to my Renault -here being dragged home from the continent:
[ftp][/ftp]