Rootes75

Through choice we are painting our 1942 Commer Q2 in SCC2 Brown, yes because it's appropriate to the year but also because we've found traces of service brown under layers of postwar greens.

We have plastic push fit versions of these where I work. We use them on cable and conduit runs.

I think it looks brilliant. And making up your own barbed wire to go round the display is an idea that I think I may well be doing to looking at how yours has come out.

Would be lovely for as many of us to make the trip over.

The work on the body floor has started. Firstly all the lengths need to be trimmed back and then the front 20mm needs the thickness reduced to around 15mm (from 20mm) to allow it to sit under the headboard timber. There is a metal capping strip that gets fixed along the rear to cover the timber ends. The first few boards trimmed up and being trialled in place. Trimming the front ends thickness down to 15mm. All the boards trial fitted in place, the fit is very good. As they say, measure twice fit once. They will now all come out again and I will varnish the boards before re-laying them and screwing them down.

Quick update. All the cross members are painted with top coats and this week I have had the timber for the bed delivered. This weekend will start the marking and cutting and varnishing the timber planks before they get fitted. Once done it will be a case of top coats on the rest of the body and that will be the body finished. I would anticipate finishing the body by the end of February. I also had some very good news from RCH Canvas this week, the custom made canvas for the Commer is only a week or so away from completion.

My boy took one look at the pictures and was very keen for us to get a bike...

Interesting. I have a question though, why would a 15cwt have a 5 ton bridge plate? I take it would be because of what it's towing?

Do you have any photos? Would be interesting to see.

I saw your posts on FB today and I think big project but definitely worth saving!!

Chatting to my Brother on Boxing Day and he was saying they are storing his Jimmy outside at the moment and the condensation in the cab is awful. Mirrors your experience totally. I have said to him about the silica bags so reading this I think he ought to try them.

Looks like a lovely little bit of kit to me.

I could do with that air cleaner set up for mine!!

Some aspects from these cover the Q2 but not the Q15.

That is brilliant news!!

So, with the body rebuilt and only awaiting a new floor I wanted to get the body on the truck and inside the shed out of the awful wet weather we've been having. The body has been double sheeted but still the water gets in and in places the timber needs a good drying. It was then a case of rearranging the shed to accomadate the lorry with its body on and trying to do it on a dry morning when someone in our yard was about with one of the forklifts. I took a couple of pics whilst we were doing it, and for the record, literally half an hour after we finished the heavens opened up and it rained all day!! In the last photo we trial fitted the repaired rear wing and its a pretty good fit too.

I'm sure there's some good mechanical spares on that.

We finished the 6 parts on Saturday and to be honest I would have watched more. I did quite like it, yes parts of it felt wrong but overall I thought it was gritty and clever in places and it was mainstream TV, so many of my friends at work even watched it and have said they thought it was good, giving it a modern twist with the music opened up a bit more to people outside our spheres. I thought the rawness of punk and rock music did help express that gritty rough and downright hard as nails out look of the original chaps involved.

I watched episode 2 last night, it moved faster than the first episode which was better. I pointed out the Reo to my wife and she simply said 'to us non Military types we wouldn't know its not right?' In a way I can see that. But, surely researchers for the TV company research the history and period and whats right to fit in or not?? The Humbers are lovely I would say though and they only ever show the Reo in distance shots of the column so I resume they are just filling out the line??

Yes, it stood out like a sore thumb didn't it??

I have visited NZ once, we actually went on honeymoon... I spent most of my time stopping to photograph anything old and chat to some amazing people. I did particularly like the aircraft under restoration in MoTaT at the time.

The pictures look good, do you find there is a lot of interest in NZ?

Those pics are definitely Ford E88w, from memory the E88W is a Model 61 and your right was produced up till 1939. The English range went upwards in weight from the E83W, then the E88W then the 7V.

The Bristol Hercules was a very good engine, underrated.

I would agree with that. Its the nature of our hobby isn't it, something goes wrong and if its not something we can fix we then have to search for the proverbial hens teeth. Parts are out there, it is a game of advertise and put the word out to everyone you know and then wait...and wait..