Thanks for that…
Re. the Foden, I’ll try and get some further info. from the current owner in Malaysia… The only thing I know is that it was purchased from an owner/operator in the Hereford/Gloucester area…
Apparently the engine blew in Europe (think it was northern Italy)… Anyway, the guy had it towed back to the U.K. and then spent around £8k on a recond. engine and gearbox…!!!
I’m pretty sure he had the fuel pump/injectors tweaked at the same time because she pulled like a train but was slightly thirsty…
Unfortunately things didn’t work out for him as he experienced a lot of problems with air valves etc…
Heard that he bought a newer truck, not sure but I think it was a Renault Premium 6 x 2… (again, not sure if 100% accurate but that’s the story I was given)…
However, one man’s loss is another man’s gain and we were able to pick it up really cheaply in Sep./Oct. 2005 …
1 week later it was driven to Southampton along with a load of 4 stacked artic trailers and shipped to Singapore…
The good thing about Asia was that generally speaking, the funfairs lasted between 4-6 weeks at each town and didn’t open before 6pm due to the heat and intense humidity…
This gave us plenty of time to work during the day and iron out all of the problems… after 3-4 months we were on top of it and she ran like a dream… most of the trouble was caused by the A.B.S. system and load sensing valves…
The fuel consumption wasn’t an issue as diesel on the pump in Indonesia was approx. 30p a litre at the time!!!
The first journey after I left was from Sandakan to Keningau through the mountains near Mt. Kinabalu (S.E. Asia’s highest peak)…
A Thai replaced me and he managed to rip the clutch straight out… 
Another guy got the old B-series red hot and she seized up on the side of the mountain!!!
Nothing like local labour…
Thankfully they’re both back on the road now and still attracting a lot of attention from confused locals…
I’ll try to post a few more photos of my experiences next week…
I was looking at Wire’s diary from Canada and the USA, that gave me the idea to post my story…
You’re right about a lot of hard work/stress but it was more than worth it…
Didn’t come home rich but I’m a millionaire experience wise…
I imagine it’s an adventure over there too…
Was also wondering if yourself or other ex-pats ever run through Massachusetts■■?
I spent a month in the Albany/Troy area (New York state) back in the spring this year…
A customer bought a machine from us and I had to set it up and do the staff training…
Flew into Boston Logan Airport then drove down the West Mass. Pike (think that’s I-95■■), eventually turned north towards Montreal but I only got as far as Saratoga Springs…
That’s a very beautiful part of the world too…
Sorry if I’m going off topic here but it just reminded me of one of our trucks that has been sold to an operator in Zimbabwe…
Sorry for the comparison, I know it’s not in the same league as that Pete 379 extended hood…
Think I may be taking this to Immingham or Tilbury in the next 1-2 months after the buyer has finalised the shipping…
