daz76 Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 (edited) 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.... Edited February 5, 2009 by daz76 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyFowler Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 Nice one Daz ! Good to see these pics ! Very interesting ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz76 Posted February 5, 2009 Author Share Posted February 5, 2009 Cheers Andy! will post some more another time as I'm gonna call it a day until the computer speeds up. Think my broadband has lost weight....:??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thor698 Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 hi daz nice to see pics off as found:). my cab is starting to rot out so have started work on it:cool2:. but snow has stoped play:(. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz76 Posted February 7, 2009 Author Share Posted February 7, 2009 Right, here's a few more pics. This shows the intial inspection on getting the Scammell home. You can see the fairly typical rust in the side of the cab, doors and fuel tank surround. I had a new frame and tank surround made up and the tank professionally repaired as it had sprung a leak. The cab doors were really beyond economic repair as the frames too had rusted so badly. A favour from a friend sorted that out and we now have a beautiful set of doors waiting for the better weather to be fitted, along with the rest of the cab panels. More of that later. The front mudguards were removed and patched and painted ready to store. At this point the restoration was taking place under a tarpaulin. A new set of batteries was fitted and with a lot of bleeding the fuel system the Explorer was coaxed into life and ran well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz76 Posted February 7, 2009 Author Share Posted February 7, 2009 My parents had recently retired from running a coach company. This was a huge advantage as they still had the yard with facilities for 'heavies'. The nearside walking beam had wedged up when coming off the transporter. I removed the grease nipple and regularly squirted thin oil into the hole. I applied downward pressure with the jack and after a couple of days it came down after running the lorry back and forwards a few times. The scabby bulkhead can clearly be seen here. fortunately the engine side panels were still with the vehicle, although slightly damaged. The wiring in general was pretty poor and very few of the electrics worked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz76 Posted February 7, 2009 Author Share Posted February 7, 2009 One of the last jobs with the Scammel before it's strip-down was to remove some trees to make way for a new workshop. The tarps had to go! Finally installed in it's new shed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz76 Posted February 7, 2009 Author Share Posted February 7, 2009 (edited) The strip-down begins. It was decided to strip the cab and front end and restore this first as this would allow the vehicle to be moved around more easily. The cab was in a very bad way. All the panels apart from the upper panel in the middle of the back of the cab were rotten. We removed the doors and stored them to take a pattern for replacements. The badly made replacement screen was removed and the front of the cab just disintegrated. The roof cupola had been removed before my ownership and the hole patched over. The heater unit and all the pipework was removed. Many of the smaller air pipes to the wipers etc had been cut or badly damaged. The seats were intact but torn, so we found some suitable canvas and recovered them. The seat frames were cleaned, painted and stored. The radiator grille was buckled slightly, so this was removed and pressed straight. One of the air tanks was removed and a large leak repaired. We sought advice from Duxford, who gave us the correct paint numbers and the front of the chassis was needle gunned and painted with grey primer after steam cleaning. The two black pipes in the engine bay were quick replacements for the cracked water pipes. A proper set will be fitted at a later date. This is the end of 2000 and beginning of 2001. Edited February 7, 2009 by daz76 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz76 Posted February 7, 2009 Author Share Posted February 7, 2009 By this stage of the restoration we were concerned about what to do about replacing the cab. It looked like being a full rebuild from scratch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thor698 Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 Nice pics - will we see it on the rally field soon ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swill1952xs Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 How I'd love to have a workshop like yours. Sadly my Albion has suffered from being outdoors for so many years, although fortunately my donor vehicle has much better panels on it. Having a good workshop speeds things up no end, as you can lay things out to repair them and leave everything just where it is ready to carry on at the next opportunity. Sadly, all my restoration work will have to be done in the open in a field next to where I work. Other peoples restorations are fascinating and we all look forward to the next set of pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gps Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 hi mate you call that a shed its biger and better than my house do you live there :??? if so do you need lodgers if not what about squartters. im all packed and on way. ill ring when half way put the kettle on:rofl::rofl: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gritineye Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Looking forward to these new doors with great interest Daz, Keep up the good work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz76 Posted February 9, 2009 Author Share Posted February 9, 2009 Nice pics - will we see it on the rally field soon ?? I'd love to say yes Thor-it moves about (see HMVF TV) but has no brakes and no panels or electrics...May be a while yet :cry: Still, I get to play every now and then when other younger lorries get stuck on the farm and need a tug :cool2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz76 Posted February 9, 2009 Author Share Posted February 9, 2009 How I'd love to have a workshop like yours. Sadly my Albion has suffered from being outdoors for so many years, although fortunately my donor vehicle has much better panels on it. Having a good workshop speeds things up no end, as you can lay things out to repair them and leave everything just where it is ready to carry on at the next opportunity. Sadly, all my restoration work will have to be done in the open in a field next to where I work. Other peoples restorations are fascinating and we all look forward to the next set of pictures. It was a lovely place to work and a nice change from being outside. Dad had it built for his retirement to restore tractors, but then my parents moved house!! :shake: Ever since it's been back to the good old tarps, but I've persuaded my in-laws that in return for all the free recovery I've provided there's room for a pole barn for the Scammell at their place. Roll on the summer!! :yay: Sorry GPS- I'd put the kettle on any time mate, but sadly all you'll find in that shed now is plasterboard by the lorry load I could find space for a Yurt or Teepee if you don't mind a few sheep around the place? :rofl: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz76 Posted February 9, 2009 Author Share Posted February 9, 2009 Removing the cab. I should have mentioned that the floor was completely rotten and held in place by bits of rubber matting. The first pic shows how bad the bulkhead was. You can see the holes in the bell housing firewall. Oddly enough the bulkhead was much worse from the centre to the nearside. We used a block and tackle to hoist the rear cab frame clear in one piece after removing the the (totally scrap) roof frame. At this time we still thought we had to rebuild the one we had as nothing else was around. The photo from above shows the rust on the nearside of the bulkhead quite clearly. The 3rd shot shows the very impressive wiring layout! So much wire, yet nothing worked! Wish I'd taken more photos at the time as these are all a bit general. I tend to get stuck into the job and don't stop for photos really. Sorry about that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyFowler Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Nice one Daz ! You've done well to get her back to how she is ! We can always have a Scammell show as long as we finish em before the fuel runs out ! :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz76 Posted February 9, 2009 Author Share Posted February 9, 2009 Nice one Daz ! You've done well to get her back to how she is ! We can always have a Scammell show as long as we finish em before the fuel runs out ! :-D Thanks Andy mate. If I can get him back on the road before I'm too old and infirm to drive I'll be a happy man! The weather's been so bad when I've had the time to work that I've only managed a couple of small jobs since summer 08 and now the land rover resto is my priority. Still, the chance of getting a barn up is not to be missed and should speed things up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thor698 Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 nice pics daz im the same get on with the job and dont take any pics. taking more now to post on thread:cool2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyFowler Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Just thinking the bottom picture looks like it could have been part of an old shipwreck ! Well done again :-D! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gps Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 dont worry the cab is not as bad as it looks to do.today i folded up the panels for thor i have got to say it was not as bad as i thuoght it might be , thor marked it out and there is no left or right the pannels from one side fit the other got both sides ,the roof front bulk head and one roof curved pannel from one 8x4 sheet of 18 gauge it took about 3 hours all he,s got to do now is paint and fit .ill have to do mine now :-D iall the hard work seem to be in the preperation and striping. good luck looking good :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thor698 Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 and drilling the frame work:sweat:that is some good steel:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz76 Posted May 18, 2009 Author Share Posted May 18, 2009 (edited) A replacement cab frame in good order, along with several other useful bits were taken from this Explorer being dismantled by Alan Rogerson. (Thanks Alan!). Once home this was stripped wire brushed and painted ready to refit at a later date. Edited May 18, 2009 by daz76 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz76 Posted May 27, 2009 Author Share Posted May 27, 2009 (edited) With the body off the running gear was steam cleaned. I still can't believe how solid old grease can become. The refurbished cab frame was put on and the bonnet and side panels refurbished. The engine and front chassis were painted silver after needle gunning and priming. This is an idea from our days of running coaches, as the silver paint shows up any oils leaks very easily. At a later date the chassis will be returned to DBG. The idea was to replace the cab as soon as possible to enable the Explorer to move under it's own power. Everything else will then be stripped and restored bit by bit as a rolling restoration. Some of the rustier bits of the chassis and frame can be seen in the photos. Edited May 27, 2009 by daz76 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz76 Posted May 27, 2009 Author Share Posted May 27, 2009 (edited) We found a windscreen frame which was salvageable and rebuilt it, although I'm still not happy with the fit so I make another from scratch. |The second photo shows the final check before starting him up for the first time in a VERY long time. A great point to get to in any rebuild. :banana: To my ear an AEC 760 with a 2 ft exhaust pipe sounds as good as anything else! A friend in the joinery trade recommended Keruing as the wood for the cab floor. This is now in place and has shown little problem with 18 months standing out in all weathers as no panels have yet been fitted to the cab. Edited May 27, 2009 by daz76 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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