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Pakeha Horse (Kiwi Mk1 Truck)

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Pakeha Horse (Kiwi Mk1 Truck)

Postby not-a-jappa » Tue Apr 27, 2010 11:18 am

Pakeha (park-e-hah, Maori for white man, possibly derogatory)
The story started just after I'd put new springs in the back of the wifes Ford Courier ute. "You're not knackering this set, get your own truck".
Memories of a 150k trip running flat out with a traction engine diff on the back come to mind.
So, much casting around looking for something different to the jappas everyone seems to have. Rules, Its gotta be a Ford, its gotta be simple, and its gotta be cheap up front. Hmmm, how about a Transit .............. and can we find an early one thats not rotten. Nothing but wrecks locally, looking further afield, spot this on the local auction site
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VIR checks out OK, was a truck, then a motorhome, now a cab and chassis, hasn't turned a wheel in 6yrs but the owner has kept the rego alive so it doesn't have to be revinned, comes with a back wall panel and detailed reciepts for engine work 5000mls ago.

Only downside is that its 550k away and at the price we're not going up there for a prepurchase inspection.

Get owner to put hand on heart and promise that its not a worn out rot box and buy it site unseen.

Offer long suffering wife a trip up the island to a rellies birthday party, travel by 6 ton slide deck, and pick up the mighty Transit on the way back.

Straight into the workshop and this is where we're at today, or at least it will be when I figure out how to resize the images :oops:

Ok lets try again with images resized before they go on the server,

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Wall panel reinstated, when the team described how they were going to do this I thought "we'll see" sounds dodgy, but its come out real well. Trimmed out the opening and squared it then cut the replacement panel to fit. The only bits that are welded are around the window frame, at the floor, and at the cross member. The rest has been bonded much like you bond bus walls on. No distortion at all and once painted will be very hard to spot.
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Deck framing is coming along nicely, sides are away for galvanising
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That press in the background is a 250 ton mechanical brute. Once she's on her way there's no backing out. Just out of shot is a 600ton hydraulic press, much more docile beastie to play with. Before it became a Coachbuilding and Transport Engineers this place was a washing machine factory, the presses came with the building. Kinda handy now and then though.
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And just to finish off, a face that you can't help but love. The motor runs very sweetly, have fitted a set of extractors and sports exhaust to help with the breathing, and have got an overdrive box on the way. A Weber carburetor conversion will come later. Once the deck is on just got a replacement fuel tank to fit and a serious lack of brakes to fix and we can get back on the road. :)
Last edited by not-a-jappa on Wed Apr 28, 2010 7:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Pakeha Horse (Kiwi Mk1 Truck)

Postby madmark » Tue Apr 27, 2010 2:35 pm

8) 8) 8) 8) lovely truck :wink:
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Re: Pakeha Horse (Kiwi Mk1 Truck)

Postby not-a-jappa » Wed Apr 28, 2010 8:45 am

Big silly grin on face today. Some projects are a battle from day one and usually end up in the back row of the shed on the oneday list. Others seem to take on a life of their own and everything just falls into place, so far this is one of the good ones.
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Walked into the workshop this afternoon and the deck is sitting on the chassis. Just sitting on at present to allow the mounting feet to be welded on to match the feet on the chassis.
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Reckon we managed to fluke the proportions pretty damn good. The headboard post will have a stirrup step on the bottom of it so that the geriatric owner can get on and off easy.
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This is the hard bit to get right, get it too wide or the angle on the posts wrong and it will look like dog tucker.
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In spite of being "projects", the toys still have to earn their keep, not neccessarily working hard, but everything has a job to do. These plates will hold recessed D-rings once the decking is on, three down each side, 2500kg rated each. Makes tying things down like garden tractors, portable welders and the like easy. Also means you're not beating and bending the snot out of the sides tying over them.
The other reason for the silly grin was that I fired it up for the first time with the new exhaust on it. Yaaahhhh! :!: Who needs a turbo and a truck size pipe out the back when ya got a V4. The real secret to life is never to grow up. :lol:
Some days you're the statue, other days the pigeon.
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Re: Pakeha Horse (Kiwi Mk1 Truck)

Postby troppo » Wed Apr 28, 2010 2:03 pm

Gonna be a real good ute mate, love to see 'local' stories of these olds coming baclk to life
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Re: Pakeha Horse (Kiwi Mk1 Truck)

Postby Luke » Wed Apr 28, 2010 4:25 pm

nice truck mate 8)
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Re: Pakeha Horse (Kiwi Mk1 Truck)

Postby transitandy » Wed Apr 28, 2010 5:12 pm

8) 8) 8) 8) what a lovely old girl you have there m8 :D
TRANSIT M8, SAY NO MORE YOUR IN...... FORD THROUGH TO THE BONE......
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Re: Support

Postby not-a-jappa » Thu Apr 29, 2010 8:29 am

:D Thanks for the support guys. 8) 8) 8)

I'm good at figuring out what to do and how to do it, and can take things apart and put them back together again properly without leftovers, but when it comes to making things I can't cut straight and my setting out square has a variable angle in it :oops: :lol: so I'm super reliant on the workshop guys to turn the ideas into reality with the desired standard of finish.

Been reading ztorm's long running thread on his Mk1 and wondering what delights we are going to find down the track under the nice shiny paint. Not much in evidence other than signs of a very big hit around the RH pillar, but I've seen some very expensive machinery after its been stripped and never cease to marvel at the ingenuity of the bodger.

Plan is to get the wee beast back on the road, use and enjoy her, and work our way thru whatever wonders await us. :)

How do you eat an elephant?
same as anything else .................. Mouthful by mouthful
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Re: Pakeha Horse (Kiwi Mk1 Truck)

Postby not-a-jappa » Fri Apr 30, 2010 12:18 pm

Down to the fiddly bits now, been a productive week though.
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Mounting feet welded on, deck timber will be fitted but not fixed and holes predrilled for floor screws before we take the frame off for painting. Will have rubbers under the feet when finally bolted up.
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Attention to detail in evidence here, fundamental rule of coachwork is that thou shalt not show end grain in timber or open ends in steel sections lest thou shalt receive a thorough rogering from the master craftsman without the use of axle grease. :evil: :evil:
The flat along the inside of the transom is what the deck will be screwed to, the other little wire bizzo is to clip the wiring loom to so there's no tek screws whacked into the transom breeding rust. :) :idea: :idea:
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The truck came with a set of original tail lights which after much cleaning of rust and assorted crap I managed to restore to working order, still got to redo the FORD letters in white, but my main man here has fitted them up and put an angle on the guard to match the shape of the light. I really love this guy. 8) 8) 8) Wee reflector to go in the corner for compliance.
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Mudguards, fresh out of the press, a spot of weld in the corners, drill the mounting and bracket holes and into the bath they go for zinc plating.
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And to round out the week, one tough mutha of a towbar, thats a 75 x 75 box section there with 10mm plate hangers and a 20mm tongue. That ain't gonna bend, ever. The joys of nanny state compliance! :P
By comparison, my now elderly father has a 1961 Morris Oxford project on the go, its a car he used as a daily driver for 46 years. When we removed the rear bumper we found that the towbar consisted of a 1/2" tongue welded to a piece of 1" x 1" angle bolted across the bumper brackets. Thinking of some of the loads that we towed with that car made the backside tighten more than just a bit, or did the old timers have it right and we're just a bunch of caftan wearers? :oops:

:arrow: Make the most of the weekend people, there's no point in dying wondering.
Some days you're the statue, other days the pigeon.
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Re: Pakeha Horse (Kiwi Mk1 Truck)

Postby not-a-jappa » Sun May 09, 2010 11:19 am

:D :D :D :D Drove the wee beast home on Friday. Light was fading when I took these so they don't do the finish on the deck justice, it really is superb.
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The story behind last time I had a grin this wide on my face is unprintable, but the lady involved is still with me 26 years later ............... :wink:
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Truly a thing of beauty, note to self, get a proper radiator bottle and get rid of the yellow detergent container behind the grille. :oops:
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Lotsa space for lotsa stuff, just going to have to remember thats its only a 3 tonne gross
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Primo job of fitting the original tail lights in.


We had to go into the workshop straight from purchase to keep the booking and to get a friendly price, which is a bit of an arse about face way of doing it, so now the work of undoing what not turning a wheel for 6 years, and only doing 5000 in the last 20, has wrought, begins, a few mewing noises, rumbles, and bangs as we came home, got a hunch many evenings are going to be spent in the man-cave this winter. The fridge is full too, chortle. 8) 8) 8)
Last edited by not-a-jappa on Mon May 10, 2010 8:10 am, edited 2 times in total.
Some days you're the statue, other days the pigeon.
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Re: Pakeha Horse (Kiwi Mk1 Truck)

Postby AlanN » Sun May 09, 2010 2:02 pm

Looking really great, a tidy finish to all the welding etc. 8) Id like to see some bigger pictures :D
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Re: Pakeha Horse (Kiwi Mk1 Truck)

Postby Luke » Sun May 09, 2010 6:08 pm

thats the style of back i want for my mk1 pickup :!: 8) 8)
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Re: Pakeha Horse (Kiwi Mk1 Truck)

Postby not-a-jappa » Mon May 10, 2010 8:21 am

Luke wrote:thats the style of back i want for my mk1 pickup :!: 8) 8)


:) Thanks chap, apart from needing access to a press brake to make the headboard panel and the mudguards the rest of it is cutting and welding box section and pipe. Obviously the real skill is in the standard of finish on the work. The floor and side inserts are 18mm treated ply which in normal service will last 10 years, with the sort of work I'll do with it weathering will cause more damage than abuse so 12 - 15 will be easy. If you're interested I'll post a sketch of what its made of.
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Re: Pakeha Horse (Kiwi Mk1 Truck)

Postby Luke » Mon May 10, 2010 8:11 pm

i'm a fair way off mine needing a back :( but when the time comes i think i might have a go at making one 8) mines a swb so i'll have a bit less welding :lol:
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Re: Pakeha Horse (Kiwi Mk1 Truck)

Postby greek » Tue May 18, 2010 12:35 pm

Nice job lovely looking truck. I do one or two vintage & steam rallies & there`s a guy over here in UK down in Somerset imports quite a few NZ oldies most of which look in reasonable nick body wise.
I`m to old to lie under Transits
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Re: Pakeha Horse (Kiwi Mk1 Truck)

Postby algieboy » Tue May 18, 2010 1:05 pm

I have only one word for this fine lady "Beautiful" What a fantastic job you have done there Well Done 8)
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