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May 22, 2008 22:04:39 GMT
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Well Chaps, it's time for an update. As with most projects, unless your name is Dave and live in Germany, there's not enough hours in the day. My progress on the truck has been limited, and on Tuesday night nearly final. I have had a week off work, to enable me to get some work done round the house and on the truck, and so far neither has been done, including changing a bulb in the kitchen, but when people say can you make me this, and we will help sponsor your truck with foldy wonga, it would be jolly unsporting to refuse, innit? So on Monday I tootled off to the timber yard, and came back with half a rainforest and a bit of Amercan Oak. A doorframe, a pick-up bed for a 38 Model B, and another flatbed Thames were the projects for the week. Spent Monday night sorting, cross cutting, and preparing. Got all the bits for the doorframe cut, and early start Tuesday. So by 5 pm, big pile of off cuts, and fired up the incinorator. By 8 pm or so, it had all died down, so a shower and down the pub. At 9:50, the daughter rings to tell me the back is on fire. Now I am a bit security conscious, cos of theiving curse word travellers, and I have a works van backed up to tthe gates, then big gates, then Transit, then fire. I am trying to tell The Doris where the extinguisher is, which key is the gate etc, whilst doing 70 in a 30, and 2/3 red lights, (slowly that is). I actually overtook the fire engine, knowing they would not be able to get in. Ever experienced total horror but calm at the same time. Adrenalin is brown. This is the morning after. If you look carefully you can see how close it got to the truck, and it has put smoke damage on the side. Needs a good sand and revarnish and will be ok. I reckon another 2 minutes and it would have gone up, together with all the new timber on the back. A massive thanks to the fire brigade, they said it only takes one ember and a gust of wind. I will know better next time. And a couple of pictures of the 38 bed I've done, before and after So fellow Retro riders, make sure you know where keys are, fire extinguishers are, and most importantly, curse word on the fire before you go to the pub. Andy
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1960 Ford Thames 402e resto 1965 Ford Thames 400e van 5.7 ltr 1965 Ford 100e 2.1 Pinto power
It all takes time and money, why do I never have them both at the same time?
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You were lucky there Andy.
Glad the only thing that was damaged was the daily plastic.
See you at the weekend mate. ;D
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DutyFreeSaviour
Europe
Back For More heartbreak and disappointment.....
Posts: 2,944
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- lucky escape Andy. Glad it didn't spread and undo all the hard work. I take it no-one was hurt at all too, so good news all round. I reckon you could get a scene started for transit van warped rear lights........ Good luck with the rest of the work.
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Back from the dead..... kind of
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Well I said in my last post I had been busy doing a bit of wood butchery, to earn some corn to get mine further forward. I have considerable outlay soon on trim, painting etc, not to mention the window rubbers, which are Thames only items, and although reasonably priced, by the time you've added them all up, it amounts to a considerable sum. However, if the truck is going to be as good as I hope, then things have to be correct. It would be great to have an overflowing bank account, but I filled my Transit up the other day and now I'm skint, whilst Gordon Brown is laughing on both his faces. I have a few more pictures of the roof repair, still stuck in the camera. I was practising on my old roof. prior to attacking he better one, but the way it's looking, I am happy with it, and will glue it on the truck. Pictures will follow. One hint, if you need to remove rust/paint, use a pad in a drill. Looks like a piece of scotchpad. but very hard. I believe available from Screwfix, and they work a treat. Here's just a couple of pics of my mate Nick's truck, done as a flatbed, but to my sizes. He's been waiting 2 years to get this thing road legal, and held up by the bed. Until he saw mine that is. Will look even better after he's given it 6 coats of varnish, hopefully without trying to torch it like mine. Enjoy Andy
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1960 Ford Thames 402e resto 1965 Ford Thames 400e van 5.7 ltr 1965 Ford 100e 2.1 Pinto power
It all takes time and money, why do I never have them both at the same time?
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Jun 10, 2008 21:37:03 GMT
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OOOOOFFFF for the woodwork there.
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Spot on as ever mate.
Do the vans have a seperate chassis as well or just the pick ups?
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Jun 11, 2008 17:35:00 GMT
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Thanks gentlemen for the kind words. If anybody needs bespoke truck bodies made, or custom truck beds, you know where to find me.
The chassis is universal to the whole 400e range Dave.
From new I understand her were 3 variants, panel van, minibus and chassis cab. This was by far the most popular option. Then coachwork would be added by local firms to suit the owners requirements, so all coachwork is different. Now with Nicks' truck above, I simply copied my measurements, but modified the height of the outer rails, because he wanted a flatbed. On mine there is quite a lip at the sides, but a flatbed would have a lot less for forklift access.
Technically the chassis cab is a 402e, and the panel van is a 400e, but over time they have become all known as 400e.
Panel vans are the rarest, I think I have only seen about a dozen in the flesh and on www, mainly because as a commercial used, abused, and scrapped, but also a lot that survived were customised with portholes etc. Also considerably more gutters to rot out.
Hope this information is useful.
Andy the wood butcher
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1960 Ford Thames 402e resto 1965 Ford Thames 400e van 5.7 ltr 1965 Ford 100e 2.1 Pinto power
It all takes time and money, why do I never have them both at the same time?
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Jun 11, 2008 18:29:57 GMT
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Hi Sid! There is a panel van about in the film biz, it is a bit of a street legal shed though.
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Ether
Posted a lot
Posts: 4,450
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Jun 11, 2008 18:51:07 GMT
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That's soooo good! Top marks
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Hello all, I'm back. I bet you all thought you had got rid of me, but unfortunately I'm still here. It's been a while, and progress is a lot slower than I would have hoped, but starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel so to speak. I have nearly finished the repair to the roof, welding in 1.5" all the way round in bits 12" long. I think the problem is I'm being far too fussy, after all the roof is well over 6 foot up, so few people apart ffrom Herr Oldbus will be able to see it. I still have the gutters to fabricate and fit, and still need to repair one door inner, and roll the skins for both of them. I have started collecting new shiny bits for putting it back together, badges, door handles been re-chromed, new lock barrels, window rubbers etc. Looking for a couple of halogen headlights, which should be easy to find, but there seems to be a lot of Taiwanese quality wibblepoo about. Just a few pictures, to prove I have been busy. Thats the detail on passenger side, behind the bumper. A well known rot point on Thames, water from the foowell gets out at this point and rots it from inside. The chap painting it will be asked to get plenty down there. Talking of paint, one of the front, with etch primer on it. I'm not sure of the correct order, filler then primer, or primer then filler, but I had a can kicking about and decided to get a coat on the bare metal, to keep it protected and act as a guide for fillering. Just couldn't resist trying the lights in, and getting a bit of mental inspiration. Hope you like. Andy
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Last Edit: Aug 12, 2008 16:34:32 GMT by sidspop
1960 Ford Thames 402e resto 1965 Ford Thames 400e van 5.7 ltr 1965 Ford 100e 2.1 Pinto power
It all takes time and money, why do I never have them both at the same time?
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Looks nearly finished mate !!! I know what you mean about being too fussy, nothing wrong with doing it right but don´t overdo it Andy!! ;D
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luckygti
Posted a lot
I need to try harder!
Posts: 4,912
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Workmanship on this is awesome, keep at it, cos it's gonna be a beaut when it's finished!
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Aug 10, 2008 21:10:53 GMT
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Hello again, another weekend of good progress, but not as much as I would like. I spent Saturday tinkering, filling holes with weld, and linishing off. I sorted through some of the boxes of bits, trying to make mental notes of what is where, and then tidied up a little. I always find I work better without clutter, and try to tidy up at the end of the day. I even went daft and painted the garage floor. Sunday into the garage about 9.30 AM, finally came out at 9.30 pm. I started by chopping some steel to make gutters, but after a phone call to a mate, I decided to get them press braked. I don't like spending money unless really needed, but at the price and accuracy offered by a commercial place, it would be silly for me to spend all day trying to make my own. So the bits I had cut went into the scrap box. I have been looing at the doors for ages, and decided to attack one, the one I have repaired the insides of. Only one corner left to do of the inner skins, so I did it. A bit of a swine, but got it done. The only thing I could do then was the outer skin, rolled on my english wheel, and stuck on. That took me about six hours, but as with most things of this age, they are virtually unobtainable, or obtainable at a cost. The original panel appears to have had a fight with a gatepost at some stage, this is the panel after chopping out Repair panel cut, before wheeling. If the door was only curved one way, it would be easy to roll it over a tube to bend it, but it is a compound curve and bends up/down, and front to back, so I had to wheel it. The insiide of the door, not too bad at all. I toyed with throwing some paint in, but deceided to Waxoyl it all later. About 3 hours later, the skin was fitted, joggled edge, tack welded then seam welded in small sections. A lot of time spent folding the edges round the inner skin, as per the original way of doing it. Finally, I had to try it for fit in the door frame., and glad to say it fits near enough. It's about as accurate as it was from new. It may need a little shimming out, but I am more than happy with it. More next week.
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Last Edit: Aug 10, 2008 21:14:39 GMT by sidspop
1960 Ford Thames 402e resto 1965 Ford Thames 400e van 5.7 ltr 1965 Ford 100e 2.1 Pinto power
It all takes time and money, why do I never have them both at the same time?
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What do you mean..."fits near enough"
...looks spot on mate! ;D
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Aug 20, 2008 22:11:58 GMT
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It may look spot on Dave, but believe me it's not quite right. One thing I've learned about the Resto Guys, accuracy is paramount. For my own knowledge and piece of mind, I want it as close as possible. I'm one of those blokes who is never happy with "that'll do". If it's right, it's right. Wrong is not usually an option. That's not to say a bit of compromise won't hurt, but I always try to do the best that I possibly can. I can do no more than that. Now the accuracy of these things from new was wibblepoo, 3mm difference across doors left to right, I suppose due to presses wearing, or Friday afternoon jobs, who knows. But because it was wibblepoo to start, don't mean I can't improve. I'm not after trophies, or cups or whatever. This may sound daft, but I'm after an MOT, in the knowledge it's safe, reliable as poss, but the main thing I want is the satisfaction of knowing I bought an old knacker, and through lots of midnight candle burning and hard graft, I have done the best I can. Any more is a bonus.
When I was fetching it home, I stopped at services for caffeine and a wet, and came out to see an old boy looking at it. We got chatting, and after he had a look inside, he had a tear in his eye. It had took him back to his childhood, and made a memory come back to him. Now THAT meant something to me. I know this sounds a load of sentimental slush, bu tif I can turn heads, put a smile on old duffers faces, and questions asked by the yoofs of today, I will know I've done good.
Andy
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Last Edit: Aug 20, 2008 22:32:40 GMT by sidspop
1960 Ford Thames 402e resto 1965 Ford Thames 400e van 5.7 ltr 1965 Ford 100e 2.1 Pinto power
It all takes time and money, why do I never have them both at the same time?
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DutyFreeSaviour
Europe
Back For More heartbreak and disappointment.....
Posts: 2,944
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That looks fantastic Andy - amazing work you're producing. I'm in awe of anyone who can knock out any of this from scratch Glad you're getting there, definitely on my must see's list As you say - evoking the memories and inciting interest from those less informed gives a great sense of accomplishment. Good on yer. John
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Back from the dead..... kind of
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Anglia68
Posted a lot
Powered By Boredom.
Posts: 2,049
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Aug 21, 2008 16:33:58 GMT
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Very impressive.
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Aug 23, 2008 23:11:21 GMT
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Well we're getting there. Todays exploits have been two fold, one to make something useful, and two to get rid of some curse word. Started out with a load of offcuts of tube, and quite a few hours later I had a lot of bits of tube welded together. As Rolf Harris used to say "can you tell what it is yet mate?" One of my aims from day one was to make this thing look original, and I rather liked the idea of it looking like it's carrying a load of some kind. All false, but with a tarpaulin over the top it will look like it, and give me somewhere to store the gas bottle and stove for having a brew at shows. Plus it will give me more storage space at home till it's finished. This was close of play today
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1960 Ford Thames 402e resto 1965 Ford Thames 400e van 5.7 ltr 1965 Ford 100e 2.1 Pinto power
It all takes time and money, why do I never have them both at the same time?
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I do like that wooden flatbed you´ve built mate, makes me want to go out and get a pick up just so you can build me one!!! ;D ;D
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Sept 1, 2008 20:21:47 GMT
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Well i could just whittle one up for you, but I think the transport costs might be a bit prohibitive.... Here we go on the next exciting installment. Previously I mentioned about the gutters. I got some press braked at a local place that specializes in one-offs. Only problem was the apprentice cocked up a measurement on the first lot, so i had them aswell to practice on. Saved me aa hell of a lot of hammerwork, and cost me all of £15 for 8 lengths. So all in a good deal. Started to work out a plan (that would be a first on this truck, I generally make it up as I go along) and decided to play with the spare bits, to get the hang of it. This was on the plywood base board I screwed the roof down to And screwed down to weld it, the cut and shut technique Front and back shrunked roughly to shape Sharp corners, using the roof as former And a couple of the finished artihoke I'm now starting to see tha feint glimmer of a light at the end of the tunnel. Door skin needs rolling, frame needs a repair, then it's time to start filling and sanding and paint. Why do 6 month spam it up jobs end up being 3 years? Enjoy
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1960 Ford Thames 402e resto 1965 Ford Thames 400e van 5.7 ltr 1965 Ford 100e 2.1 Pinto power
It all takes time and money, why do I never have them both at the same time?
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