G506

The panel van is a lovely truck, and very, very rare. If you still want a Chevy, I know of a £750 project............

Hi Degsy, already spoke to Steve, he believes OD but couldnt guarantee it for an earlier Chev, as I mentioned, info on these is very limited. Theres also the issue of which covering the cab seats should have, green canvas, black leatherette, brown leatherette. I should have picked something far more straight-forward to restore............

Im not far off painting the Chevy's engine, but information about engine colour on these old girls is very sketchy. The general consensus of opinion says it should be OD, however I've also heard that some GMCs were bottle green, and some earlier jeeps/Dodges were mid grey. Anyone have any thoughts on what colour a '42 Chev should have? Cheers

Yes Rosie, you certainly did.........

About five years ago I fitted a full set of 7.50 x 16 Goodyear 'Xtra Grips' to my Landy, and they're showing signs of cracking. Ive been using Xtra Grips for years, I've never worn one out, they've always perished on the side walls. Very frustrating!

I'm sure you're all already aware of this, but if in doubt try http://www.babelfish.com, they provide instantaneous free of charge translations for small sections of text G506

I hate to say I told you so Jack ...................... he he he sorry! So obviously you managed to source another front axle after the recovery incident? By the way, the Chevy resto continues, blasted/painted cab now sat on chassis, and looking very sexy (and thanks to the MV superhero, R cubed)

Hi Ben, to me, what you've described is what its all about. My Chev restoration is coming along nicely, I'm a year into it, aprox 1/3 completed, and already the money and work Ive ploughed into it is terrifying. But thats fine, because Ive always wanted one, and I wanted to save one from being cut up, which I achieved. Same as me, it sounds like you've done it for the love of it, and had to make lots of sacrifices, hats off to you fella. I would like to see some photos too, sounds like a very cool truck. But to get back on track, my thoughts are that maybe the older unrestored vehicles still in hedgerows/barns are obviously now in a very poor state, years of abuse and the elements taking their toll. They need heavy restoration, and thats only for the more foolish/ambitious/brave amongst us. Not everyone has an understanding partner (Im very fortunate in that respect, Mrs G506 knows how important this is to me). Its hard for the average working man to be able to justify the expense of renting/buying workshop facilities, also time restraints in this busy modern world, and a hundred other reasons. To sum up, restoration is still happening, possibly even more than ever, but in a different way to 30 years ago. These projects are now more in depth, by an even more dedicated bunch. I would certainly agree with the comments raised by Tony B, in this comuter driven world less people have the necessary skills to before embarking on a major restoration, but instead now many learn them as their project progresses. Im just glad we're still saving them, because if we don't, who will? G506

Just looking beyond the colour (which doesnt matter in the slightest), what a great looking truck. She seems straight, original, and pretty much un-molested, I am very jealous! Good work mate! Im looking forward to hearing about your progress Cheers G506

Thats good news mate, glad you won! Cheers G506

Just a word of caution there Jonathan, dont forget that on an A frame, your 109 becomes a trailer, any trailer over 750kg must be braked, the 109 is well over double that. Lots of people do it, (and for a smaller vehicle like a Jeep, I would be tempted to do it myself), but I think they've been lucky so far. Sorry mate, not trying to p### on your bonfire, just dont want you ending up a guest at your local police station.......... :cry: Maybe your best bet is - 1 Engine tune up, and thorough service of the rest of the vehicle 2 If you have a Solex or Zenith carb, replace with a Weber 3 Save up for a good second hand Fairey overdrive. Best 300 quid I ever spent.

No worries fella :-D

You know, in a masochistic kind of way I know what you mean............

1) I think LeeEnfield made a fair point, we lost staggering amounts of vehicles at Dunkirk, after 1940 we began to rely heavily on Lend-Lease, so it stands to reason there will be a heavy biase towards preserved US wagons 2) Could it be simple logistics? The Americans realised the importance of standardisation long before us Brits, for instance, Willys Jeeps parts are pretty much completely interchangeable with Ford Jeep parts, there was primarily one main chassis in the 3/4 ton range, the Dodge, from that you have the Weapons Carrier series, the ambulance, carryall, command car, etc, using mostly the same parts. The GMC was the main 2 1/2 tonner. After the war, these old war horses had to earn a living in civvy street, my guess is that it was easier to keep a Jimmy on the road due to the plentiful spares situation than some of the more obscure British 3 tonners, that were built in smaller numbers, so presumably had less spare parts back up to match. 3) Many preservationists simply regard US vehicles as more glamorous! And before anyone has a swipe at me for restoring a US truck rather than British iron, may just be worth pointing out, I would love the next project to be a Leyland Retriever.............

As far as I know, Sankey didnt build this style of trailer. The British Army had a large presence in Canada, is it worth checking classified ads from there, in case any 3/4 ton Sankeys were sold off locally and not returned to the UK?

Ive seen that style of lettering before, but I cant recall whether it was an original vehicle photo or on a restored vehicle. When I get home I'll take a photo and put it up

Hi Degsy, good suggestions, but unfortunately the front bumper and entire chassis are in a similar state to the hood, ie not one square inch of paint left, just surface rust. The rear bumperettes were removed long ago, so no joy on them either (although I have replacements, ready for blasting). The only single easily read marking on the whole truck is the Prestone legend on the hood, which interestingly is stencilled using a very ornate script!

Hi Bill, no Im in southern England, are you looking for an early Sankey? G506

My last Landy was a '64 S.W.B, and I marked that up as Aden. A friend served there with the 11th Hussars, so I marked it up as a vehicle in his old unit. One of the things he said was that sand/black camo paint was always matt, but vehicles just sand colour were often gloss. I did question him as to whether gloss was definately right, he said it was, so thats how i did mine. He was kind enough to give me exact details of size and details of markings, positioning, colours, squadron markings, etc G506

Hi Bill, looks like a British 'Arrow' to me, 1980s to 1990s, the kind of trailer probably pulled by a Bedford MK or TM, or Leyland DAF. G506

Hi Degsy, its looking reasonably promising, theres no paint on the hood at all, the rust is slightly darker where there was once painted numbers. A friend has a very good quality camera which he used to photograph the numbers, and will try to play around with images on the computer. It would be fantastic to be able to paint her original numbers back onto her! Cheers G506

Hi TC, what a superb project. You may already know him, but there is a fella in West Sussex who is seriously into 'Inters', maybe he could be worth talking to? Good luck with it, I look forward to seeing the progress G506

Rick, you're a bad man! The chassis is in no worse condition to the Chevy when I started it a year ago, although I will admit that even though Chevy stuff can be difficult to locate, its a whole easier than parts for a truck which could well be the only survivor!

Degsy, an update on Oddball's hood number, I'm 95% certain there is a '3' in front of the digits I'd found, so I now have - 'USA 310***', unfortunately all I have to go on is slightly different shades of rust, but I will keep trying! Thanks G506