As I've now found the photos I thought I'd lost moving house I thought I would start a blog. These are all pre-digital so it will take me a while - bear with me! The first 5 shots were taken in June 1997 when I went to look at the Scammell (BSV 704 'Thor') Chassis No. 8004. Built 1955.
This was in a haulier's yard at Narberth, South Wales.Formerly operated by Octogan Recovery along the M4 I believe, the Scammell had been used for recovery on the road and in a quarry by the haulier and was in a fairly bad way cosmetically. The chassis was very blistered in places and the rear crossmember rotten. None of the tinwork on the cab was salvageable and the rear body was like sponge. The engine had been replaced with an AEC 760 diesel and the vehicle itself had been vandalised. It looks better in the photos than it was in the flesh. A deal was done and I had it trailered back to Cambridgeshire to start work. This blog will cover the twelve years to date, as the restoration has been very slow due to the fact that that the Scammell and my college/work have usually been hundreds of miles apart and therefore work has been done on it only a handful of days each year.
Here goes....