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Rootes75

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Posts posted by Rootes75

  1. One other major find today though was the chassis plate in the cab that was completely unreadable due to rust and muck etc...well after an hour or two of extremely delicate cleaning we have managed to read all of the writing on it...

    Biggest surprise is that it gives the Contract Number (the plate on our 1942 Commer does not)...

    So we can at least date the lorry to it's Contract, the contract being issued May 1944.

    • Like 5
    • Thanks 1
  2. Well, this morning we have had a really good look round and explore of the Commer. She definitely isn't a pre Heater Truck. No pto driven belts.

    We were confused as she has a compressor fitted on the side of the gearbox, that's what initially made us wonder about the heater truck possibility. But she isn't. 

    I have had a good look through all my later war Q4 3 tonner manuals and have found the compressor is actually a tyre pump compressor, it's only in my manuals from 1944 onwards, that's why we didn't recognise the set up.

    • Like 3
  3. Just a couple more photos..

    20240309_084923

    The plate you can see on the back of the cab are backing plates for gun racks fitted in the cab.

    20240309_085534

    She looks better on the outside. The lower 2 to 3 inches of the cab and lower 4 to 5 inches of the inner doors are pretty much shot. Both bonnet sides need sections re-fabricated as does the grill surround. Internally the windscreen frames are rusted through so will also need re-fabricating.

    20240309_080514

     

    • Like 5
  4. I find my work pc has no issues at all, no adverts. 

    If I use my phone even with an adblocker its pretty dire tbh. 

    So I simply don't tend to bother with using the phone to look at the forum.

  5. So, cutting a very long story short. After 7 months of negotiating and red tape and transport issues we have managed to buy and import (From France via Holland) another Commer to our collection. We have already restored a 1942 Commer Q2 30cwt but once we were pointed in the direction of this one we pulled out all the stops to save her and bring her back to the UK.

    She's a 1944/5 Commer Q2 6 cylinder 15cwt AM Load Carrier (Q2).

    She is in a pretty poor state, the engine is seized, she requires welding to most panels and she will obviously need a body to be built and a full chassis up restoration. But, most importantly, she is saved and being such a rare truck its important that we restore her back to her original guise.

    There are a lot of different features on this truck compared to our earlier model so although both Q2's and only a couple years apart they are very different.

    20240309_084951.jpg

    • Like 18
  6. 12 hours ago, ruxy said:

    I would agree  -  Facebook has taken over and it's not difficult to determine the reason(s) why ,  however FB is not without problems - there are many groups , for in example military vehicles - for just a specific make/type of vehicle , somebody starts a interesting thread and rude people bust in and take over with another query or answer / suggestion not relevent  (moderation seems very poor).  FB  -  it's useless for a long restoration blog.   IMHO  the  HMVF still has it's head above water , mainly for the reason it is a forum covering many types of vehicle - so the pull-in for readers / commentards has a greater head count , they may come for their specific vehicle interest - but read about others and further educate themselves.

    I'm on a few FB groups too, its another good source of information. But, I feel on FB there are a lot of armchair experts who can quite easily offend. When we finished our truck last summer some photos of it were posted on FB, not by us but it was nice to get he exposure.

    Trouble is, then we started getting comments about how we'd done this wrong, painted it the wrong colour, something didn't look right etc etc

    At the time it really got under my skin, after all our hard work to be sort of ripped apart, quite cynically tbh. 

    Whereas on the Forum, people have followed my restoration blog, really helped me at times where I've had decisions to make, made good comments and gave good advice that has really helped. I've also closely followed other restorations which have given great insights into things I didn't really see before.

    I think that's the difference.

    • Like 2
  7. Over the years I've made some very good friends on the forum, albeit never meeting in person. I check in quite often each day to see what's going on. Some days I just hit some likes, others I may comment. But sometimes its just reading. I have noticed fewer posts from some people but there may be quite a few just happy to read without comment.

    • Like 2
  8. 20 hours ago, Rob.Brindley said:

    Thanks Andy - we're really enjoying working on the truck and sharing the porgress as we go. Both the forum and facebook have their merits, but it will definitely be easier to look back here once it's done and follow the progress more easily. I've also started putting together a book (nothing special) that we'll keep in the truck at shows for people to look through if they're interested. 

    We're lucky that we have time to work at the minute. We've put in 9 or 10 hour days every Saturday/ Sunday and worked most Friday nights since we've had it. I play in a couple of bands so, come Spring, I'll be out on the road most weekends. Got to make the most of the time now and try to get all the jobs that require 2 people done before I'm not available much.

    Will put up another update on Sunday evening.

     

    Rob

    That's a lot of hours you're getting in but like you say you have to make the most of it when you can. 

    • Like 1
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