What is the main headache while restoring your commercial vehicle?
just a thought on how we all cope with our vehicles preserving to the genuine shape and state
It all depends on the marque of the supplier as the majority of the manufacturers/assemblers did search
on the market…but a lot can be found at specialists, not often with extreme prices, lighting as an example?
Sometimes it’s the more modern 80s /90s lorries that are more difficult to get bits for ,example E series brown door cards to suit the early steel bumper model ,they’re slightly different on later models but not by much .the older 70s aren’t too bad in my opinion .
I think it depends on what sort of finish you want
I’ve had the rivet counters come looking round my lorry
It’s not perfect but I never intended to restore it to as new condition
It was more as a refurbishment as we used to with our own fleet after 5 years on the road
Some restorations look better than when they were first built but as I say it’s each to their own
I was very lucky in finding parts through old contacts and through word of mouth
Though some I’ve struggled to find so I’ve made some of my own parts from patterns and had some parts made up
Time money and storage are also a big factor
I’ve worked out it took me around 5000 hrs to restore my lorry so it can be frustrating at times but the rewards are worth it
I’ve posted some of these pictures before on other topics so apologies if folks have seen them before
I am also called rivit counter by another tnuk member !
gazsa401:
I think it depends on what sort of finish you want
I’ve had the rivet counters come looking round my lorry
It’s not perfect but I never intended to restore it to as new condition
It was more as a refurbishment as we used to with our own fleet after 5 years on the road
Some restorations look better than when they were first built but as I say it’s each to their own
I was very lucky in finding parts through old contacts and through word of mouth
Though some I’ve struggled to find so I’ve made some of my own parts from patterns and had some parts made up
Time money and storage are also a big factor
I’ve worked out it took me around 5000 hrs to restore my lorry so it can be frustrating at times but the rewards are worth it
I’ve posted some of these pictures before on other topics so apologies if folks have seen them before 01234567
BRING BACK THE BIG A…well, you really did!!! Compliments
In ‘real life’ trucks that did long service with a small operator or an OD had various fitments that were previously used on other makes. Light’s, fuel tank, even engine/ gearbox/ axles were swapped around (petrols converted to diesel power for example) to keep the thing on the road at minimum cost so I never worry too much about seeing them factory fresh. Ford rear lights used to be seen on all different makes, AEC front axles were often used to add a second steer to a six wheeler Leyland etc.
I restore and exhibit old barn engines and associated equipment and farmers and builders used all sorts of ‘bodges’ to keep them working and some were quite ingenious, I get folk at shows saying that “It wasn’t originally fitted with that magneto etc” to which I reply firstly that if you had a duff engine and 100 head of cattle to milk or sheep to shear you would fit anything readily available, and secondly I ask them exactly where THEIR restoration project is. Usually they haven’t got one! 
Pete.
gazsa401:
I think it depends on what sort of finish you want
I’ve had the rivet counters come looking round my lorry
It’s not perfect but I never intended to restore it to as new condition
It was more as a refurbishment as we used to with our own fleet after 5 years on the road
Some restorations look better than when they were first built but as I say it’s each to their own
I was very lucky in finding parts through old contacts and through word of mouth
Though some I’ve struggled to find so I’ve made some of my own parts from patterns and had some parts made up
Time money and storage are also a big factor
I’ve worked out it took me around 5000 hrs to restore my lorry so it can be frustrating at times but the rewards are worth it
I’ve posted some of these pictures before on other topics so apologies if folks have seen them before 01234567
An excellent and informative response! Thank you. Robert
windrush:
In ‘real life’ trucks that did long service with a small operator or an OD had various fitments that were previously used on other makes. Light’s, fuel tank, even engine/ gearbox/ axles were swapped around (petrols converted to diesel power for example) to keep the thing on the road at minimum cost so I never worry too much about seeing them factory fresh.Ford rear lights used to be seen on all different makes, AEC front axles were often used to add a second steer to a six wheeler Leyland etc.
I owned two Fords and those silly-shaped rear lights were forever leaking and blowing bulbs. I replaced them with second-hand Rubbolite units off derelict trailers and never had any more trouble.
Pete.
I have absolutely NO idea how I managed to do that!
Put it down to my age & the fact that I have had a hard day. 
If it’s a really old motor like mine, (1938), and if it’s not something mass-produced in huge numbers like a Ford, biggest problem is that parts supply is non-existent. Everything has to made, rebuilt or adapted, so it takes time and is costly. In some cases there’s little or no information available to tell you how to do it or what it should be like, as many mods are likely to have been made in service. Also, it helps if you’re a carpenter as well as a mechanic, they get woodworm and dry rot as well as rust!
Bernard
It’s not rocket science but another trick I picked up on was to use curtains or bed mattress material to recover seats with as with these 80s/90s lorries the seats are patterned unlike the older ones which are mainly one colour plastic or leather .
Sometimes it’s easy, however the long search for that particular item you want to have
in your dashboard-box or on your office-desk close to other memorabilia…
Attached a “Gardner sprayer key” with following instructions on the brass:
‘tighten the clamp nuts only with this key…if the nuts are screwed up too
tightly the sprayer cannot work properly’
Don’t know where/how I got this item but at least it’s old and priceless to
the person looking for this ‘missing’ item.
By the way, I am not a trader but pleased to highlight some nice items from
my collection.
I had the Gardner tool kit, spanners for cylinder block and head nuts, timing chain adjuster plus the sprayer extractor, reamer and key. Binned them when I finished fitting for a living, though I think that I still have a reamer? I do still have the ‘special tool’ for setting Foden gearbox selectors…a piece of 1" square tube! 
Pete.
Wonderfull Pete and I hope the memories are kept alive somehow. Do you have an idea
on the timeframe of the Gardner-spanner?
A-J
ERF-Continental:
Wonderfull Pete and I hope the memories are kept alive somehow. Do you have an idea
on the timeframe of the Gardner-spanner?A-J
Well the ‘sprayer key’ supplied for the LXB/LXC engines was very simple, just a flat plate with a bar welded across it like a letter T so I imagine that your one is very much older and possibly for the LW engines? Regarding memories, I enjoyed rebuilding Gardners and I certainly got plenty of practice where I worked, however I reckon that I have rebuilt my last one now. 
Pete.
some more extremly expensive items are the plates to trap the air bags ,I know if I had to I could make some modern bags fit but the genuine ones come to about £ 560 per bag ,not including the bag it’s self ,and one of the plates wasn’t avalible last time I checked .
personally i think that the hardest thing can be tracing trim and lights especially for the atkis.When people try to find fault by saying stuff like "thats not original " i tell them that the driver isn’t either nor is the fuel in the tank.my motor id now on tubeless tyres and i had a bloke demanding to know why I’d taken the split rims off! i asked him if he ever changed one he obviously hadn’t so i smiled sweetly and bode him good day cheers jamie
atkiman:
personally i think that the hardest thing can be tracing trim and lights especially for the atkis.When people try to find fault by saying stuff like "thats not original " i tell them that the driver isn’t either nor is the fuel in the tank.my motor id now on tubeless tyres and i had a bloke demanding to know why I’d taken the split rims off! i asked him if he ever changed one he obviously hadn’t so i smiled sweetly and bode him good day cheers jamie
Exactly as I said earlier, just ask those ‘rivet counters’ where their restoration project is! One of our club members made an observation recently at a show, there was a restored Moggy 1000 there and the chap had fitted a replacement engine/gearbox, all new replica wings, doors, boot and bonnet plus other new parts. Our member asked him if he still considered it a ‘classic car’ as the majority of it was brand new, the chap agreed that it probably wasn’t now but nobody would bother about that! 
The ‘problem’ with old vehicles is, if they are road legal, they have to be made roadworthy so obviously new parts are required to meet that standard.
Pete.
i draw the line at taking the engine out .