Rootes75

We had a look round these two in the heavy haulage section. Wonderful.

Doesn't sound good to me, there are a lot of would be restorers out there working as businesses. But at the end of the day if you are paying a premium for a service you should get that premium work. Hope you get something sorted.

Now that is looking good.

It looks great and very thorough.

The K5 is a nice truck, I like the military number plate.

Looking great and I love the workshop.

This work is superb. Attention to detail and skills are A1.

So, I have finished restoring the windscreen frame after I couldn't find a replacement. Its taken a long time and has been really quite tricky, the following pics show its progress but not sort of skimming through it. Firstly, when we removed the screen from the cab this is what we were faced with... I cut out the rotten sections and then through fabricating the form and welding in and then skimming with filler I was able to replicate the insert shape required for the screen rubber T section. This shows the screen when the repairs are done and its masked up and primed. Next up, this is the screen surround with 3 top coats applied, its the same corner as that in the first pic so you can compare the repair. I was please with it. Lastly, the screen in place, with the screen rubber fitted and the masking materials removed. It took an awful lot of work to actually fit the screen back in place. Due to the opening mechanism it has to be spaced in a certain way to get it level and to also make sure the seal comes into contact with the aperture. The one issue we have is that screen rubber is smaller than the original, its the largest depth we can get on the market for this type of T section but in some places it only just reached the aperture so obviously wont seal too well. I may even just seal the top corners and just accept that we don't use it as an opening screen. Overall though if you consider its original condition when stripped I am more than happy with the result.

Is that for the Ohv 6 cylinder or the Sidevalve 6 cylinder?

I am still keen on a suitable trailer to go with our 1942 Commer. I know of a water bowser locally that we are planning to look at to restore but my thoughts are the costs involved are quite high compared to that of a GS trailer, if we could find one that is.

Apparently, by 1946 there were approx. 1000 Type 1 Beetles being produced each month. So I would presume by 1948 it would be possible to see a few of them on the roads of major cities?

Where on earth do you find them, this one looks in very good shape.

Its not a home made growing/potting shed is it?

Well, I am sticking with the existing plates. I will rub them down and repaint the white letters. They have been on the lorry since the late 1940s so I think they should be kept.

So, I have the original number (civilian) plates for my 1942 Commer, they are hand painted white letters on black background but are not in great condition. My plan is to rub them down and repaint them but a couple of my friends have told me they don't think they would be road legal. I have had a google round and to be honest have found some conflicting information. So my question is would they be legal as long as the characters are white on black background and they are of the correct heights?

I always like to see an MV especially wartime that is workmanlike, hand painted or touched up in places. My thoughts are it does make it look more authentic, in theatre vehicles would have a hard life and never look showroom condition.

Totally agree with that. Support smaller shows, they all have to start from somewhere and build up with our support over time. We have a lovely show down here in Somerset, Westonzoyland Warag. Only been going a few years now but it's grown each year, is free to exhibit, has lots of vehicles and reenactment groups and is well attendee by the public. We enjoy that much more than the larger shows these days.

This is an interesting site: https://www.steeringwheelrestoration.com/lorries-trucks

That's the only Sapele I am going to use. As per the original spec the bed will not be hardwood so that should be cheaper and easier to source.

From my experience, the lorries I have are all metal steering wheels with a thick coating applied. Its quite evident when they have been chipped.

I found that the most sensible way and cheapest when making small repair sections Pete. I was buying offcuts of Sapele planed all square sizes sort of 45 x 45 x 5-700mm for about £10, I found 2 or three that size. And then I got 3 off 1.5m lengths of 95 x 45 PAS for £45. That was enough for me to be able to cut and shape all the repair sections. The only thing I found with ebay was that I couldn't get lengths over about 1.5m. A complete cross member on the Commer is 2m and the side member length is just over 3m.

It is so expensive. I have got round it in a way by taking my time and buying offcuts from ebay for the repair sections. It'd taken a while cause the right widths don't come up often. It meant that the main timber, the outer rails and the rear complete cross member are the only sections I had to buy outright from the sawmill. With VAT and delivery these 4 pieces were about £250. It's sort of out of our control isn't it? We can fabricate and paint and weld but you can't get by going half measures for actual raw material like a good hardwood.

Hi Pete, I have used Sapele for all the replacement timber, its a lovely tight grain, you get nice cuts and its good to plane and shape. It is expensive but its well worth it when you can get results like this.

And next, whilst I have been working on the timber repairs, my Father has been rubbing down all the side panels and giving them an undercoat so the two of us could fit these back on aswel.

So, after many months of hard work I have cut out all the rotted timber, fabricated repair sections in order to keep as much as the original as possible, and marked and drilled new side members and a full new rear cross member assembly. I am quite pleased with the result.