mk1 bullnose crew cab project

[oldskooler]

ive got this one sitting nearly two and a half years, having imported it from southern italy...... waiting for me to make a start on building it into the spec that i want...

it should be a very good base to start with, having almost zero corrosion issues to deal with, coming from such a dry climate....

the long term plan is to stretch the chassis, fit a recovery body and side loading door, making it more or less the same as the coach built crew cabs were done back in the day on this side of the world......

factory crew cabs with a bullnose front were only made for the italian market as far as i can see,.........and although some folks say the bully front aint as pretty as the flat front model, ive always had a soft spot for them, and of course it makes it a lot easier to get a decent powerplant in there....

this one turned up right in the middle of the first covid lockdown and i couldnt fly out to even view it, but the seller sent me lots of great quality pics that i could zoom in on the pc, so i could see that the cab and all structural areas were in great order.....so after the deal was done, i organised a transport company to take it home.....

ive had a hankering for a crew cab recovery for a long time, having given a mate a hand doing some work on his facelift mk2 after he got it a few years back, and having the loan of it on occasions...

the extra room for tools and bits is a game changer in comparision to the single cab models.....

so my immediate plan for this year is to just RHD it, fit a pas box ive got for it along with a disc brake mk3 front axle to replace the drum brake setup, along with dumping the york lump in favour of a turbo di and mt75 box....it already has a 4.63 rear axle, so thats one less thing to worry about!

im just gonna fit a big towbar and drive it as is for the moment.....faded paint and all.........

heres a few pics of it as it sits........


















ive never seen one of these genuine overmats before....guessing its there from day one......its certainly done its job as the original mat underneath is in perfect condition.....







as can be seen in the pics, the cab is in really good nick and the chassis and underside is much the same story, so im really looking forward to getting stuck into this one....

will keep the updates coming as i go......

[oldskooler]

heres my mates mk2 crew cab which i will be modelling my mk1 very closely on....

[Luke]

nice has the mk1 got a rear side door?

[oldskooler]

nice has the mk1 got a rear side door?

No, thats going to be the biggest challenge when i take it on...

Ive got a good side loading door to cut down to 2 ft wide (as the coach built ones were) along with a B post from a panel van to graft in etc..

Gonna be difficult to get right,..not to mention nerve wracking chopping up a mint cab lol!!

But as far as im concerned, the truck will be nothing without the side door....


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[hilton484]

Gonna be a really nice project something different to whats usually on the road, looking forward to seeing the progress. Good luck

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[oldskooler]

Gonna be a really nice project something different to whats usually on the road, looking forward to seeing the progress. Good luck

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cheers mate....im looking forward to getting stuck into it...

[oldskooler]

well i got this one pulled out of storage last week and down to the garage to make a start....

with the nice spell of weather we have been having, i actually started the stripdown outside!!

[oldskooler]

i had given the truck a good looking over on the lift when i got it and as far as i could see, it was mega solid all over,....but i was still looking forward to stripping the front end and interior to get a proper look around it...




first job i did was to chop off the rather ugly looking ladder rack, as i thought it was taking from the look of the truck......i may make up a tidier looking shaped one if i think i need it when i put it on the road...




looks better without it i think!!

[oldskooler]

first i started stripping the front end off.....the old york will be replaced with a turbo di and mt75 box i have ready to go into it along with a pas box when ive done the rhd conversion...

i left the engine hooked up and running for the moment, as i want to keep the truck mobile until the lift in the garage is free....ive a few other wee jobs to get out of the way before this project goes on the lift for the long haul.......





when i got the front end panels off i was happy to see the theme was continuing with no severe corrosion found......just bits of surface rust here and there, but all problem areas solid as a rock......goes to show the difference the dry sunny climate made to this 48 year old vehicle......










next i tackled the inside of the cab,,,,taking out the seats, floor mat and arch liners etc.......i also chipped off the hard tar like sound proofing on the front section of the cab floor as some of it was lifting up easily, and besides im not a huge fan of it......can be a bit of a rot trap if dampness gets in under it ive found before....a couple of layers of soundproofing on the bulkhead can be more effective in any case.....



again after cleaning all the crap off the cab floor, i was delighted with the condition its in......with the only welding its ever seen, having been a couple of patches where the floor had cracked under the seat mounts which is a common enough issue......












the steps and lower A posts are also bang on both sides, so all in all, this should be one of the nicer projects where i can get on with the process of building a nice useable truck with a few upgrades, rather than getting bogged down with a ton of rust repairs.....will make a nice change from the usual transit builds!!




ive got its RHD donor sitting in waiting a good while at this stage.....have sold more or less everything apart from the rhd parts off it,.....including the pop top roof!!





more updates soon hopefully......

[mk2 transit crew]

looking good, looks way better without the ladder rack i think.

probably the most difficult bit to restore or replace on a crew cab are those sliding rear windows. i have a quote for getting some new ones made in a similar style but it isn't cheap!!!

keep the updates coming!!

[oldskooler]

havent got a lot of time at this one in the last few weeks, but ive made a bit of progress.....

after getting the front axle, engine and box dropped out, i wire brushed off the front end, chassis legs and engine bay to make sure all was good, and i was even more delighted with the condition of everything....

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[oldskooler]

before making a start on the rhd conversion, i got the turbo di engine and mt75 box dropped in to check out a few things for fit and to see if i might have a factory propshaft lying about to get me going....i didnt want to go down the route of getting a prop made as i intend to stretch the chassis to take a recovery body when i do the second phase of this build in a year or two hopefully...

looks ok sitting in there!!



also got the gearstick hole taken out for the mt75.....will blank off the old gearstick hole when im closing up all the lhd ones in the bulkhead.....





i did indeed get lucky with the prop, as i had a mk3 twin wheel mt75 prop in stock that i was thinking would be pretty close....so i fitted a later type 30mm carrier bearing and drilled new holes to mount it.....another box ticked for the final fit up.....





so next i started on the rhd swap over....

i decided to drill out the battery tray and make it bolt in,...simply to make life easier and leave more room in the bay when fitting the rhd bits...





i also removed the lhd steering box mount so i can blank it up, rather than leaving it there as some do,...as it will obstruct the di air box im fitting...




i also removed the steering box mount on the r/h side as ill be fitting a mk3 mounting plate to take the pas box.....again it was great to find no corrosion between the mount and chassis leg......does my heart good working on this truck!!

[oldskooler]

i also stripped out all the bits i need from the RHD donor i have.....







as the scuttle was 80 percent rotted out, it was as easy to chop out the entire dash panel, even though i only need a couple of bits out of it....





thats as far as ive got for the moment....

hope to be back with another update soon!!

[oldskooler]

ive since made a nice bit of progress with this project,.....and ive also decided to change direction a bit with the build.....

the original plan was to just rhd convert it and drive it as is for a couple of years,....but ive now decided to go the whole hog this time, and build it into the crew cab recovery truck ive always wanted...the turbo di lump wont be going in either as ill be using a low miles 2.9 12v efi v6 engine...

another feature i wanted was a side access door on the passenger side, same as the coach built trucks of old had, which was basically a side loading door cut down to the correct width to fit.....i had a pretty decent mk1 van side loading door sitting in waiting a few years, and a couple of van B posts from scrap vans, none of which were in great condition especially at the bottom...

so with the search on to try and find a new old stock B post to hang a door from,....i got brave with the cutting!!!!









i had a pretty decent closing door shut panel from a scrap chassis cab which was trimmed to fit....




so with the search still ongoing for a B post we started cutting down the side door....the plan is to just narrow the internal frame, and re fold the door skin at the end when we determine the final width when the post is fitted...










i did indeed get lucky with finding a new B post.......well as lucky as i could get,.....as i did get a genuine new old stock post,....but it was a r/h side post which was almost identical apart from the shape/width/length of the door shut for the front and side door being different. but we got round this by re folding and shortening one section which worked out ok...











so after trimming the post to go in leaving the front half of the original which was mint, i got it blasted and primed, before fitting itself and the rear closing panel with panel glue rather than welding any of the outer panels on this mint untouched cab shell....i think it will be better long term with less chance of corrosion etc...








so next job is to crack on with getting the side door made to fit....

[mk2 transit crew]

Wow that's brave!! looks good though. Be interested to see the detail of fitting the engine you are looking at for it.