Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,712
Club RR Member Number: 34
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Nov 26, 2015 21:16:12 GMT
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some people have been asking me where I'm going next after the citroen pickup. well, herein lies the answer. id already got my eye on this before the citroen was sold. i had initially dismissed it due to all my funds being tied up, but with a sale agreed on the citroen and a deposit paid, i went back on ebay and found the ad to see if it was still available. good news.the pics looked good, it looked in amazing condition, and it also seemed quite(very) cheap. more importantly, it also looked badass. 100% truth be told id have preferred a COE, but the only COEs for sale in the country=£9k, this was up at £3750. so that decision was kinda made for me. no way i was paying nearly 3x the price for a slightly different cab on the same chassis! bear in mind itll cost you about £2k to bring a vehicle into the country at the mo (especially something this size), and it has a running flathead v8, that seemed a very good deal to me. so, with freshly accquired deposit in hand, i drove down to southampton the day after my birthday to view. heres some pics i took. its a big truck. everything about it is big. 20" wheels. they're waist height on me and I'm not a shortarse! big axle. big brakes. big springs. err, not so big engine. granted its the most powerful engine ford produced at the time, the 59A-B, producing a whole 100hp from 239c.i. (about 3.9 and a bit letres) breathing through that single holley 94 carb. but these days it would be nothing to write home about. but one thing it certainly has in its favour is its value to the traditional hot rodders. its coupled to a very tough 4 speed heavy duty non-syncro straight cut geared open drive gearbox. there was also a 'spare' but entirely different gearbox in the cab, as well as half a propshaft, and 4x tyres chucked on the back. i was sold. i left southampton lighter in the wallet, but with a price agreed, and me needing somewhere to put it and someone to move it!
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,712
Club RR Member Number: 34
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Nov 26, 2015 21:42:42 GMT
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so, fastforward a couple of months and ive got the majority of the work on the citroen done, the balance has been paid, and ive got a guy lined up to move the truck. if ever you need something big or unusual moved, id recommend leigh at auto-haul.co.uk. hes professional, friendly, and well kitted out to move stuff like this. this is the second large vehicle hes moved for me and it was faultless both times. so, an expectant wait as he got held up a bit due to the a12 being shut, and it lands at the yard- thats after a lot of huffing and chuffing from 4 of us to get it off the trailer and into the space ive cleared for it. did i mention its quite large? now comes just what you expect, tea drinking and poking round the new purchase. the missing bonnet trim and grille bar were found under the seat, which was nice- as was this lot, which was not so nice- basially the entire seat was a (thankfully long vacated) rats nest. pretty much everything you can see there is rat sh1t. so the seat had to come out to shovel it all out, as did the (entirely empty but spankingly clean) fuel tank, which is mounted under the seat. yes, you sit on the fuel tank to drive it! general interior shot. points of note inside include the plate on the dash telling you how the switch gear in the vaccum operated 2 speed rear axle. i think it says something about sacrificing a number of virgins on the first night of the new moon or something. this is the ignition, with original key. to start it you turn the key which unlocks both the steering column and the on/off switch you can see. then theres a start button on the dash. racecar!!1! moving outside, it has a working door handle too. originally it was on 'tother side, but as that side door mech seems to be permanently locked from the outside, i felt in prudent to switch it to this side if i ever wanted to get back inside once the windows were done up without resorting to using a brick to open them. heres where the bed should be. it came without one, presumably left in the states for shipping reasons. no bother want to make my own tipping one anyway. and from the rear. you can see its been extended a bit at the back where the tow hitch receiver is- aforementioned rear axle. looking it the collection of pipes and gubbins to operate it, I'm truly amazed this ever worked. i neglected to get the HUGE leaf springs in the pic. back onto the nice details. bonnet vents- and nice pressed in ford logos in the bonnet- but the CROWNing glory and my favourite bit of the truck is this huge slab of art deco styling on the front edge of the bonnet, perfectly placed at adolescent face height, complete with patina and bullet hole. whats even better is its not just for looks, its functional too. its the bonnet catch and release mech- the one thing about this truck that is utterly amazing is its condition. there is absolutely zero rust, the engine isnt seized and has been running since its been in the uk, and bar for a few dents and scrapes associated with life as a working truck, its in very good order. no doubt living in arizona all its live has helped a great deal with that.
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Last Edit: Nov 26, 2015 21:49:50 GMT by Dez
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bstardchild
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,893
Club RR Member Number: 71
Member is Online
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Nov 26, 2015 21:43:17 GMT
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In........
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Nov 26, 2015 21:45:15 GMT
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What a fantastic old tool. Definitely bookmarked and looking forward to this one.
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heathrobinson
Part of things
Broken everything
Posts: 848
Club RR Member Number: 111
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Nov 26, 2015 21:49:38 GMT
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That thing's a beast, and looks amazing as it is. Can't wait to see where you're going with it! The majority or rat/hot rodders don't quite get things right to my eye, but everything I've seen of yours hits the nail on the head. There's definitely a real skill in making something unique without loosing the certain something it had in the first place.
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wodge
Part of things
Posts: 455
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Nov 26, 2015 21:51:55 GMT
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Terrific, looking forward to this! Is the flat head staying or is another iveco diesel getting rehomed? Merc Superturbodiesel would fit nice, just sayin..
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mexicansteve
South West
Posts: 683
Club RR Member Number: 31
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Nov 26, 2015 22:14:35 GMT
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That is one mean looking face! I like that a lot.
sent from the '70's
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BeQuietandDrive
1989 Bedford Astra Van
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logicaluk
Posted a lot
Every days a school day round here
Posts: 1,316
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Nov 26, 2015 22:23:15 GMT
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Oh yes this is going to be good.love the truck cant wait to see what you do with this dez. Dan
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Nov 26, 2015 23:18:00 GMT
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I hate you.. but in a good way. I'm usually a massive fan of your projects, but I've been having a huge want for both a car transport solution, and an old truck. (Both of which I don't have the room or time for), and you've only gone and bought both. Are you going to band those 20" Steelies?
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sb
Part of things
Posts: 725
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Nov 26, 2015 23:27:54 GMT
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Are you going to keep it full length? Or go for a stubby bed? I'm betting you can cut down the length fair bit and still easily fit a car on the back.
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Nov 26, 2015 23:40:31 GMT
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What a lovely old truck. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it
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qwerty
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,410
Club RR Member Number: 52
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Erm that is fantastic!
Whats the plan?
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MrSpeedy
East Midlands
www.vintagediesels.co.uk
Posts: 4,786
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Nov 27, 2015 10:01:36 GMT
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I saw this on Ebay and it was a very tempting prospect. Soooooo much potential.
Will be watching this!
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Nov 27, 2015 13:13:58 GMT
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cant wait to see the progress on this, looks ideal base for an imposing works truck
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,712
Club RR Member Number: 34
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Nov 27, 2015 16:38:50 GMT
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my plans are eluded to in the title- its gunna be a car transporter.
i have one specific purpose in mind- taking my model A racing. although ive built a car that will drive long distances, and fast, it has no luggage space to speak of and the amount of equipment, tools, camping gear etc. you need to take for a weekend away means either a support vehicle(but that means two drivers), or having a transporter. benefit of the latter is it don't matter if i break the A racing.
but, i also want to keep it fairly adaptable/useful. the bed will be large so i can fit pretty much anything on it, and will be tilt bed too. my plan is if i can use a conventional tipper bed ram to jack up the front of the bed whilst loading, it will remove the 'hump back' you get on a normal flatbed with ramps that grounds out low cars. i can tip the bed up so its straight with the ramps, giving the shallowest possible entry angle. I'm toying with the idea of making it covered too, or at least having a removable tilt and bows, so it becomes a shelter/workshop when at events too. i wont really be limited by weight, so i can proper go to town with it all. i also want on-board air to make it a proper mobile workshop.
obviously if i plan to use it in this way it will require some modernisation, so i plan an engine swap, power brakes and power steering. a 6BT was the first choice, but i think its going to be too long, so now I'm looking into other 4 pot alternatives.
looks wise i want it to stay more or less as-is, certainly 'period' but waivering over to hot rod, although it may well end up lower and roof chopped....
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adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,867
Club RR Member Number: 58
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Nov 27, 2015 17:27:33 GMT
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This looks awesome, the plans sound awesome, bookmarked as usual
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omega
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,060
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Nov 27, 2015 18:27:04 GMT
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engine why not but keep a v8 in it then lpg with a tank down the side.
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sb
Part of things
Posts: 725
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Nov 27, 2015 19:05:15 GMT
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Could you not go modern V8? Better MPG, maybe not amazing, but still retains the character plus you get the power and torque.
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