Recently in Restoring old trucks Category

Can't you hear 'Greensleeves' already asks Biglorryblog? "Can you remember the Commer Karrier Mr Whippy vans from the 60s?" says Ian Smith (AKA Mr Whippy of Leeds.) I have recently purchased this lovely 1962 fully working van which has had a 2-year restoration believed to be 1 of only a handful left in the UK.Ian." And click through here for a shot of what it looked like before restoration....an another Classic ice cream van...

Sorry about the gap in your favourite trucking blog -- BLB was out working yesterday...no jokes please. Anyroadup Ron Johl has a Saturday 'Pie competition'. "Here's a truck for you", he says..."but what is it? the vehicle in question will be restored though the owner is unsure whether to use the original engine or put in something 'modernish'. All the best,Ron." Well I expect lots of 'project photos' Ron whatever it is!

Biglorryblog's favourite tilt tray man in Queensland Cameron McFadyen has kindly provided me with an update on his 'Project Reo'---slowly coming together up there in the sunshine. Cam reports:" Hi Brian, this is the Diamond Reo before Phil, my apprentice rubbed it
back, with the bonnet etc all fitted up.See ya,Cam."

And as you can see it's rubbing shoulders with some pretty impressive company too. Anyone like to hazard a guess at what they are? And click through here for one motre shot of the Reo.

Off to the recent Scania new R-Series launch which is held at the plant in Sodertalje and before the actual bunfight on Wednesday afternoon I potter about the museum and take a few pictures. Some of them have been seen before on BLB. However, You learn something new everyday as there 's somthing unusual about this Italian-registered Scania LB141 V8... Can you guess what it is from this picture? I'll tell you at the end of this post...

And if you thought gas-powered vehicles were a new thing Scania has been making them for a lot longer than you think. This 1941 artic was powered by 'producer' gas--look behind the right of the cab and you can see the burner and storage tank..Per-Erik Nordstrom tells me that the extra long bonnet was so it could accommodate a variety of diferent sized engines up to (I think he said) a 10-cylinder. This has an eight-pot in it which produced 125hp on gas and 180hp on petrol--which wasn't exactly in abundant supply in 1941 in Sweden... STOP PRESS... I think I may well have been at the producer gas myself (or some such liquid equivalent as per-Erik has e-mailed me to say: "Brian, it might have been too far into the dinner, but I distinctly remember intending to say 10-litre 8-cylinder, not 10-cylinder... PE." So that's another black mark for not paying attention BLB... D'OH

Something a little older, from 1919, a 5.0-litre four cylinder petrol-powered four-wheeler (with litter tray underneath) . now click through here to see an immaculately-restored LBS111... And the answer to that original question...

And you thought Charlie Russell's Scania was a cracker...? Well just take a look at this beauty too. I am grateful to Fred Everiss for sending me these shots of a cracking restoration. Fred says: "Hi Biglorryblog, please find some details of my Scania LB111 4x2 Dutch spec AIR SUSPENSION (oh yes she's on AIR) direct from the factory and Scania say its one of the first..."

Fred continues: "Scania fitted it to the last 1 Series to trial it before fitting to the 2 Series, so the last 1 had it and the first 2 Series didn't. As you can see from the first owner [see overr] he needed it, I am the 3rd owner."

Now click through here for more and the complete history of this magnificent motor...

Cam McFadyen the clever tilt tray man from Queensland and BLB regular with 'Project Reo' has sent me this shot of what can happen when the mice get to your White...or perhaps it's a an Aussie outback Glider Kit...? Anyroadup Cam says: "Hi Brian, while we are waiting for my painter/panel beater to come through I thought I`d send you a couple of pics of some of the bits and pieces I`ve picked up a long the way as part of my restoration efforts."

Cam continues: "One of my customers supplied this gem in return for services rendered.It was originally a 6 x 6 White--although aAs you can see it was reduced to a 2 x 2,and I've further downsized it to a motor and gearbox ! There's actually a lot of usable cab parts in it as well.This one has a 6V53 Detroit.Meanwhile my panel beater has actually been in top gear, I think he`s done about 1/2 a day in the last month or so, productivity is up!" And click through for one more shot of the castrated White....

Cam in Queensland has sent Biglorryblog this curious phto regarding the ongoing restoration of his mighty REO tractor. "Hi Brian,this is the standard White/Diamond T/Diamond Reo/Reo pedal arrangment with the accelerator in the middle.I can assure you it takes a bit of getting used to.See ya,Cam." I can imagien it would. And click through here to see how far Project REO has come...

Biglorryblog is delighted to showcase a superb piece of truck restoration from Poland--and with an unusual Volvo Eurotrotter too! But first the 'before' picture above..."Hello!"
says Andrzej Lazar "In Polish, the first letter is like one GPB,but I don't have it in my keyboard", he says. Anyway he continues: "I'm big classic truck fan (Volvo F series,Berliet R range, Ford Transconti)." 

And here's the after to which Andrzej adds: " Between 1992-2003 I used to read TRUCK magazine. I'm e-mailing you as I see you like classic trucks too. Therefore I'm sending you a couple photos of my truck, which I had between 2004-2007. I was only person in Poland with a 'young-timer' truck ,which was used only for weekends and car or truck shows (see the silver fifth wheel)! Now click through here for more...

Cam in Queensland has come up with the latest update on Project Reo for Biglorryblog and says: "Hi Brian,the panel beater has got the doors back on,and has worked his magic (with aid of a considerable amount of bog) on the mudguards.I made a new bumper bar as a copy of the origonal,only to find when we put the guards back on that it was 6" too narrow, so I cut it in half and stuck a bit in the middle.It is one of the frustrating things when you're fixing something,to spend hours on a part, think it looks great, only to find that something doesn`t fit,and you`ve got to spend more time on it. All the best,Cam." Ahhh, the pleasure of old truck restoration Cam...

And it all makes work for the working man! Keep the pics coming Cam!

"G'day Brian," says AtkiPete Lynch in Oz. "I took a run up to Colac today to see how Merv Brunt was getting on with his Brockway restoration. This is the truck he was doing up in preparation for a fund raising trip to Alice Springs in August 2010 on behalf of local charity Anam Cara house."

"Knowing how long truck restorations take, I was surprised to find the 1935 Brockway all beautifully sorted and Merv showing it off to Michael Stewart from the Anam Cara committee. Merv is a veteran Australian truckie who fails to let things like being 74 years of age and suffering a severe stroke affect his schedule. Will keep you posted." And good for him says Biglorryblog...meanwhile Pete captioned the above engine 'Lycoming'... So I assume it's the same company that made aero engines Pete? Now click through here for a couple of care-worn corkers!

Remember this magnificent beast? And why wouldn't you asks Biglorryblog? It's a bit of down-under history!

Cam McFadyen has sent me this selection of shots showing the up-till-now progress of 'Project Reo' - the restoration of his classic Aussie battler that's now being featured on Biglorryblog as Cam and his mates turn old knocker into a beautiful swan... And he tells me: "Hi Brian, we`ve fitted rubber guards over the drive, a Holland turn table,and a new, second hand air tank off a Western Star. Also new 10.00X20 tyres on the drive, none of that Michelin stuff either, all top quality Chinese gear!"

"Now here's a couple of shots of the exhausts - I put two 3" straight through mufflers on it,and I used a fair bit of Fuso exhaust pipe as it is 80mm, close enough to 3" and I had heaps of it .As you can see, there`s more twists than a good Agatha Christie novel! I also replaced every air valve and air line on the truck..."

Now click through here for more!

The moving hand having blogged..blogs on. After following Andrew Cooper's terrific restoration of his Peterbilt... Biglorryblog thought it was time to have a new "New trucks for old" saga. And BLB regular Cam McFadyen has kindly offered up his Diamond Reo to fit the bill. So welcome to Project Diamond Reo!