Hi Leightonlad , i remember seeing lot’s of feddie rays as a kid in the 70s when accompanying my old man. He drove for Swifts of Northampton- the red motors & alot of their work was automotive stuff ( they had the ford parts contract for several areas ) so i recall seing your motors at Vauxhalls parts DC @ toddington , Delco’s @ Dunstable & did you go in to Livingstone Allpacks @ Watford gap? , all on flats of course & on the recon engines, Swifts used to trunk them to Howard tenens at Swindon & also Beans engineering @ Tipton( lorry engines ) & right pigs as you say to sheet with them wooden crate/ boxes with loose lids 
& nails to rip the sheet oh & oil leaking out the bottom
Hi Tonyhogi… thanks for ur recollections well observed as a kid …amazing what you take in and remember… i can safely assume you loved the atmosphere.when accompanying ur dad on those jorneys …My two daughters have grown up with an appreciation of how hard the truckers job is and was from excusions just such as yours.even though the youngest spent most of her time snuggled in my sleeping bag only surfacing for a mars bar or a coke…to this day god knows how she still has perfect teeth… i remember swifts …yes a red body colour with the swift emblem emblazoned on the side at least the early ones did and i do recall them being in the stanbridge road depot… loading end of life engines… and i think sometimes KD components for shipment abroad… as i pointed out earlier most of my work involved collection from cowley … unipart stuff for cullingworth and sometimes into the .MG body shell store on chalgrove airfield and bringing heritage body shells to leighton for onward shipment In those days… my job was constantly under review, because of the ever present problems faced by BL from stike action over pay,and conditions … and the inability for Bl to produce a car that the general public liked,. and produced in good quality…Luckily the KD work and parts transportation from vauxhall and bedford … …
from both toddington and luton seemed solid business…but even in 1979 the writing was on the wall for Frdk Ray.
There used to be a Tony or Tommy that used to run to Austin Morris Engines in Durbar Avenue, Coventry 1978-1980. He used to drive Bedford TMs , Marathons and Big Js. Is this the same person?