Just a footnote about ‘loose’ 7MW cabs: at least two 7MW cabs (and I don’t know whether these were new or second-hand) were retro-fitted to non-NGC chassis. One was Pountain’s RHD 6x4 ERF and the other was Loste’s Pacific in France. Robert
Atkinson,ERF and Foden couldn’t get all the Gardner engines they wanted for their UK customers during the 60’s/70’s so I don’t see how ERF would have promoted the 8LXB for their very miniscule number of Continental customers.Others may have a different view ! Cheers Bewick.
I agree with Bewick as indeed the number of 5MW- and 7MW-cabbed ERF’s was minor to the total and I
don’t recall exchanges of ERF’s on the (close) continent. I assume that dealers claimed some adjustments
to fix for the customers during 24-36 months of service and wonder how the records/archives look like.
On the continent Van Steenbergen/Transport Arendonk were ERF-dealer with CDB as importer and their
6 NGC’s and 2 B’s in the (mainly CDB-origin fleet) did not experience problems on the cab whatsoever.
Perhaps ERF and his archivist could scan some (random) copies to please us all? Thank you in advance!!!
can i say John Simmons motor was Albert Dales from new Albert did only Swiss work…that was Dover Calais and back every week
that must say sea…salt…rot i am certain that would be one factor… all the MP cabs rotted away…how many MP cabbed
lorries are in preservation maybe 100 compaired to Thousend,s of glass fibre and aluminum cabs…i know of plenty vovlos mercs and
Scanias that suffered the tin worm…maybe the ones that have survived have been recabbed…just a thought… how other way could the
slip through the rot net.
So Carryfast, your bosses took you off the shop floor and put you out testing, I wonder why?
It’s a shame you never worked for me, you could’ve lived your dream of going continental, because I promise you that you would’ve got put on the longest run possible, just to keep you out of the yard for as long as possible [emoji38]
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so the yanks don t use any plastic,s on their cabs…is that what your saying CF
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Sorry you would’ve had an E290, but I would’ve got 400 badges put on it for you.
Plastic cabs were good for an o/d, a pack of Isopon repaired many ‘driver incidents’ a lot cheaper and faster than welding new panels into place! 
Pete.
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just thinking on did nt the yanks buy erf cabs to put on there yankiy chassis… was it the Mamoth or marmon i know they liked th ERF style
plastic on steel frame look it up CF… its been posted by me on the erf site…
3300John:
just thinking on did nt the yanks buy erf cabs to put on there yankiy chassis… was it the Mamoth or marmon i know they liked th ERF style
plastic on steel frame look it up CF… its been posted by me on the erf site…
Good point John- IIRC, the company was called “Mammoth Trucks” and it was based in Canada. They used EC cabs for a period.
I thought the SP cab was an inspired piece of design. ERF was, as a British company, averse to investment, which precluded the purchase of press tools. Rather than go down the glassfibre route, it chose a very effective middle ground. The steel frame could be made from stock sections and pressbrake-folded panels, while the exterior panels, with their compound curves, were plastic. Not just any plastic, but SMC, which gave superior control over dimensions and surface finish, compared to fibreglass. The steel frame, IIRC, was made out of thicker sheet than an ordinary pressed cab (was it 14G? You will know better than me). The strength of the cab was proved by testing- swinging weights at it. The pictures are somewhere.
An extraction out of Robert Burns’ book, the assembly of the GRP-parts on the chassis was ERF-patented
somwhere along the line glass fibre cabs was banned in january 1978 from running on the continent. so along come the sp or b series cab.
it was on the cards a while before you saw them on the road. the crash test was very good. the cab was bombed at MIRA where they
let a slap of steel swing into the front of the cab the screen cracked and the headlights smashed with some damage to the grill
problem how many times do you run into a flat surface its usually corner of a truck body but the cab was very good so much better then the
7LV and safer.
3300John:
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problem how many times do you run into a flat surface its usually corner of a truck body but the cab was very good so much better then the
7LV and safer.
That’s the problem with crash tests- how do you define an “average” impact? The tests can only ever be defined by guesswork.
Question- was the SP cab ever tested to the Swedish impact standards, or was it just the “slab swung at the front of it” demonstration?
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^^^Pour a bottle of whisky into a burger-flipper, then get him to talk about engine design.^^^
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