Bedford TK

[mylesdw]

The other rust area is in the front panel is in the middle where the Bedford badge bolts on. There is a moisture trap behind the badge where a reinforcing bar is attached.

For this I cut a repair section from the other cab, bolted it on using the badge mounting bolts to align it and then drew around it.

Cut the rusted section out and use the magnets to align the patch.

Then spot weld in place

Finish weld and dress with a flap wheel. I welded small sections and cooled the panel with the airline between each but there is still a distinct warp in the panel caused by the welding. I spoke to a local business who restore classic cars and their guy seemed to think this not a great deal. He said it was bound to do that and it would be simple enough to fix by shrinking but best to leave that until it is attached to the cab because the panel is quite floppy on its own.

 

[KimB]

Nice job, i love seeing these projects

 

[normspanners]

just been watching this and thought of you. A nice new one for you to compare.

 

[mylesdw]

Thanks Mr Spanners, some classic footage there!

I've now completed the first (and biggest) round of blasting and it was nice to pull all the bits out of the workshop and give it all a clean. My plastic tent makes a lot of difference and contains the grit well but the fine paint dust gets everywhere.


Apart from the odd little repair the remaining panels are in good shape.

Two upper engine covers -

Two lower engine covers -

Two mudguards -

Two mudguard outers -

 

[normspanners]

Two upper engine covers -

B******d things banged my head on them a few times!!
remember being nearly sucked out (no sex were British, please) from under the drivers side one, during a breakdown, me in my wet suit, on the motorway and having to grab hold of the cab to stop myself as an Irish scania 140 artic went passed inches away at 100+mph ----scary.

 

[mylesdw]

OK, so I have to ask, why were you wearing a wet suit? Were you a lorry diver?

 

[normspanners]

OK, so I have to ask, why were you wearing a wet suit? Were you a lorry diver?

I'm sorry when I say wet suit thats what we call it when rallying, I meant extreme weather suit Ie big padding and water proof one piece, they blow up like a balloon when they get wind in them and make you twice the size. No I was a mechanic called out to a breakdown in heavy weather. So was under the engine flap out on the drivers side so right close to the 'traffic'.

 

[jpmillermatic]

nice progress....Let us know how you get on with shrinking that nose panel....Ive not yet tried that and am wondering how to do it...

JP

 

[Tengtooltom]

an Irish scania 140 artic went passed inches away at 100+mph ----scary
That was probably Congo Mick running late as usual
The 140 was definitely Irish because "paddy would not drive anything else and the others could not afford them"
No Limiters or tacho`s back then

 

[mylesdw]

Not too much to say other than I sprayed epoxy primer onto all the stripped panels and here are some pictures! I sprayed them in two sessions over two weekends: first the insides of all the panels, then the outsides.

I think that there will be one more round of blasting and spraying later in the build. I still intend to paint the wheel rims, the lower grill panel and a host of small parts such as door hinges.

 

[normspanners]

Lookin good man

The 140 was definitely Irish because "paddy would not drive anything else and the others could not afford them"
No Limiters or tacho`s back then

Yeh i remember going down to olympia ( I think) for the commercial motor show in my mini cooper we followed an Irish 140+box trailer loaded (you could tell then, no air suspension) and we averaged over 80 mph.

 

[mylesdw]

With the panels painted I stored them away and fetched the cab back into the workshop.

The next task is to replace the rusty, dented front panel with the one that I cut off the old cab and repaired. The existing panel is rusty all along the lower front edge and it has a dent in one corner that has thrown up a crease. I could not see an easy way to pull the corner out so I decided to replace the whole panel.

The 'new' panel is rust-free but has plenty of repair work so it will take quite a bit of work to make it look reasonable. I wish I had bought this one that was on eBay a few months ago...

 

[mylesdw]

Does anyone know what this metal shelf/bracket is for (and the threaded stud)?

This is looking at the rear of the cab toward the driver's seat.

 

[mylesdw]

The good folk over on www.truckandbusforum.com put me right. It is where the jack should go. I won't be using it so I cut it off. I can make use of that space to mount the reservoir for the power steering fluid.

 

[mylesdw]

First job in replacing the front panel was to cut the old one off. I didn't need to keep the old panel so I cut it off roughly with the grinder and then removed the remaining flange with a grinder rather than drilling the spot welds. This leaves the remaining flange nice and solid without holes which I hope will make attaching the new one easier

With the front panel removed I took the opportunity to clean the threads on the captive plates that the door hinges attach to because it would be much easier to repair or replace one now

It seemed silly not to blast clean the bits exposed by removing the front: the door pillars and the back of the dashboard.

 

[jpmillermatic]

Im liking thorough progress on this truck...very nice work.


JP

 

[Cyberprog]

Aye, looks impressive!

 

[mylesdw]

Another job that needed tackling was to repair some rust in the cab floor just under the handbrake lever.

The old cab supplied a suitable patch.

Drop the 'new' panel in place :

Draw round it:

Cut it out, weld and dress with a flap wheel

This was NOT one of my better efforts! I got a bit over enthusiastic with the flap wheel which made the edges of my patch very thin and then I burned through when adding some more weld. It doesn't show in the photo but the underside is a bit gnarly. Lucky it's only in the wheel arch and can easily be hidden.

 

[mylesdw]

While the front of the can was off I blasted and sprayed the back of the dashboard and the door pillars.

The inside of the roof also had a little surface rust so I gave that a coat too

This I rubbed down by hand because I could not bear the thought of trying to get all the blasting grit out of the return that runs round the top of the inner cab.

 

[madkayaker]

Looking good