1947 Jowett Bradford Utility: 'The Power of Retro Rides'

Normally it's a combination of factors - sometimes poor workmanship & laziness in ensuring panel alignment, profiling along with the paint finish itself - but lets not forget that for the last 30+ years vehicles have been built on computerised / robot operated production lines with laser alignment to very fine tolerances, not just the bodyshells but the paint process and quite a lot of the trim - compare that to previous methods and we are a world apart - quite often when classics / retro's are restored in todays market the restoration brings the standard / quality of finish to levels beyond that than when they were new. Good restoration practice is having the ability to recognise what was factory finish / original and restore the vehicle to that standard - hence sometimes that ill fitting trim / poor panel fit was there from day one when the vehicle was new - there is nothing wrong with making improvements either - however the market is forever critical often comparing the panel fit / paint finish available on modern vehicles to that on older vehicles - when in reality there are two completely different subjects achieved through two completely different methods.

So after a weekend of rest the back seams to easing off a little - so I had a half day trail run in the workshop this afternoon but took it steady

Offside rear wing is the last external body profile to sort - it's had another skimming applied since this pic



Prepped and rust treated another batch of smaller items that will require painting - Starting handle, Front bumper irons & the trafficator boxes



Offside front wing flange edge profiles completed and the wing refitted with the piping bead





Which results in this image



Happy now with the fit of the front panels & wings - I will build & fit the bonnet to ensure that everything is correct in profile and the bonnet opens on either side without causing damage to the wings etc

Just the back wing to sort tomorrow then the 9 internal metal window trim sections that require prepping for paint along with starting to sort the roof gutter trims & body profile trims

Started building the bonnet up



Refitted the catches to the side panels



Then refitted the side panels to the upper sections (piano hinge)



Fitted the other bonnet side panel and squared everything up - it's not quite sitting correctly but the cloth tape that protects the bulkhead & radiator cowl is yet to be fitted - the fits are not great but they never were when new with fairly wide aperture gaps to prevent the panels / paintwork from contacting / marking each other



Meanwhile I have been prepping & treating the internal window trims which I should complete tomorrow

Ho I don't know - here's the before I started picture



And has it is now - well they are more or less the same colour

Alex - I can see where you are coming from but it would not have lasted very long in it's original barn found state it was so bad that it would have self decomposed within the first 100 miles of driving !

Good grief. You did all this, with a bad back, while I managed to cut out one completely plain door card.

*Sobs*

Are they new rear lights? The old ones didn't come up that well, surely?

A quick sort of smaller items to be prepped & painted were found in the bottom of the 'Requires prep & paint box' namely the front bumper bolts, a pair of blanking plates for the rear floor area and several clips for retaining the starting & jack handles to the inner wing panels on the engine side



Then a strip down of the all the front panels in preparation for primer



I put the loose panels / parts into temporary storage upstairs in the loft store



Then put the van back on its wheels



Next to sort is the roof gutter rails



These cover the terminus edge of the roof fabric - formed from alloy profile but require shaping to suit the vans roof profile - I started with the nearside and formed the front radius to suit the windscreen pillar



Initially fastened up with crosshead self tappers - once I have everything profiled and the fabric roof on I will refit the gutter rails with countersunk slot head screws prior to paint



The radius on the gutter profiles being formed with the shrinker / stretcher



Getting there



I am leaving the rails over length to compensate for the fabric roof - once that is fitted I will know what the exact length of the rail needs to be



They were factory fitted in 3 sections - 1 rail either side and 1 rail for the rear - I had to form the rear radius by heating / annealing the rail then forming by hand with some gentle hammer & dolly work - had to remove the rail several times to work until I achieved the correct result





Just the offside rail to form in the morning

Very much so - To attempt fitting the roof fabric along with the roof rail gutters - alloy finishing bead above the front windscreen after painting the van would lead to nothing but disaster - aside from this you need the roof gutters fitted has this determines the height of the vertical alloy trim that covers the panel joint between the rear panels and the rear pillar - the vertical trim then dictates the length of the horizontal alloy trim that covers the joint in the rear panels