Gaz's Mk3 truck

[Mr RVM]

Right another days work.....cut out top of chassis above rear shock mounts.......



and cut new reinforcement plates that go full width through chassis...







and rewelded top back in.......

cut out the bottom of the chassis both sides and welded in new steel in 2 layers same as original, first layer welded to back of new bottom skin both in 2mm cr4 steel...

replaced all strengthing pieces where crossmembers meet main rails and sent it off to be blasted and primed, this is what i sent...



And this is what came back....







Couldnt wait to get it back on, was working alone and thought i'll have to wait till sunday (from thursday) to get a hand but on the friday i went to the farm and just told myself "i can do this" so set about getting fom this...



to this....





took all day but managed to get it tacked up ready to weld the followin day....

While cab was on its back i stripped the roof to bare metal, repaired the dents and got it into etch primer...



then into grey primer...



also did the bonnet...



underneath too...



Completely stripped out the cab, doors windows,seats, dash, heater the whole lot....



only snapped 2 bolts in the floor so not as bad as i was expecting....plenty more to come

[oldyellar]

brilliant work this will be THEE mk3 truck when its done what type of body you going for beavertail?

[Mr RVM]

No not a beavertail this truck only gettin light duties from now on just like its owner its too long in the tooth to be pullin its guts out to make a livin will just fit a nice flatbed with alloy sides to keep weight down as its a petrol if i'm lucky i'll get 30mpg on a run with nothin on the back, so semi retirement and the chance to get old together

[karl]

If I was you I'd be putting a di in it while its the was it is you would even have to change wireing loom

[oldyellar]

No not a beavertail this truck only gettin light duties from now on just like its owner its too long in the tooth to be pullin its guts out to make a livin will just fit a nice flatbed with alloy sides to keep weight down as its a petrol if i'm lucky i'll get 30mpg on a run with nothin on the back, so semi retirement and the chance to get old together

ah nice

[Mr RVM]

If I was you I'd be putting a di in it while its the was it is you would even have to change wireing loom

Dont want to do that I've already got one with a Di in it, this project is a restoration not a modification so hopefully it'll end up lookin as close to the way it did when it rolled off the line tho some bits of it will be changed where it is not practical or due to budget constraints possible to get exactly as per original but i am aiming for 90+% originality

[Mr RVM]

When i was setting up chassis for reattachment i noticed the very bottom of the cab back panel was shot, at best it was only 50% attached to the floor now i dont know if there is a repair panel available but once again time and money issues lead me to make a decision to cut it out and make something to replace it from what i already have, so came up with an idea to make a steel panel that sits on floor as per original and weld it in but rather than use filler to lose the joint and have a flat plain panel where once it had a bit of profile, I'm goin to make a cover for the outside from polished aluminium chequer plate you can see in the second picture where I've marked it roughly to get an idea of the shape of the ends Its one of the very few changes to original that it has/will have but i'm sure it wont upset anyone if i make a nice job of it







also you can see i've started to get the rest of that horrible green paint off along with all the other colours under it
few days off now (have to go back to work ) wont get back to it till sunday so i'll trawl thru photo's see if anything worth puttin up in meantime

[AlanN]

absolutely brilliant work, please say your going to bring it to Transitmania, Id love to see this in the flesh
Id love to do a resto one day, but a LWB twin wheeler van, just wish I had somewhere to do it

[Mr RVM]

Thats the intention Alan but its goin to be tight for time sometimes look at it and think "not goin to get this done for august" but i'm goin to give it my best shot

[Mr RVM]

Obviously these came off earlier and were stripped and sent for blasting....





FRONT END...

New discs/pads (both genuine ford) 11 quid thanks to ebay, 4 pot calipers fully rebuilt with new stainless steel pistons, new flexi hoses, new bearings and seals, new kingpins, shockers blasted and painted as they were ok but did get new ones just in case, new trackrod ends and complete new drag link and ends

REAR END...

Everything stripped and blasted (with all internals removed) axle to be rebuilt (bit of a bugger) but should manage thanks to Minormatt (a god amongst men) and his technical knowhow, new shoes, springs and cylinders, all seals and gaskets

will get some pics up when they're done and ready to fit

[karl]

If I was you I'd be putting a di in it while its the was it is you would even have to change wireing loom

Dont want to do that I've already got one with a Di in it, this project is a restoration not a modification so hopefully it'll end up lookin as close to the way it did when it rolled off the line tho some bits of it will be changed where it is not practical or due to budget constraints possible to get exactly as per original but i am aiming for 90+% originality

A see wot ya mean

Must say looks mint so far

[mrepson]

wow,thats going to be a mint mk3 pickup, i thought i did alot of welding,when i rebuild my mk5 transit pickup, keep the updates coming very nice work

[Mr RVM]

Just hope i can get it finished for Transitmania in August, cant see me getting a back on it but as long as i can fit rear mudguards for the mot i'll take it down as a bare chassis cab

[Mr RVM]

Not got much done this week as work got in the way and not off again till tomorrow but did get an hour or so in and started to repair cab floor just where chassis passes through rear panel on passenger side.......





as can be seen in pic i had to cut top of chassis rail out, it was rotten anyway but this allowed floor repair to pass fully through the chassis same as original floor, the rail at this point has 3 layers so i'm goin to have to make all 3 and fit them starting with innermost first (obviously) and make each layer longer than the one before to stagger the welded joints will try and take some pics during job and when its done

[oldyellar]

sounds good