Special feature at e83w.co.uk featuring the restoration of Pats E83W pickup truck
E83W Homepage
This section is a special feature on the E83W Ford truck website

Restoration project

Restoration Articles
Restoration Homepage
Recovering the pickup
1. Introduction
2. Stripdown begins!
3. Rolling chassis stage
4. Chassis stripped down
5. Further chassis pictures
6. Cab & panels removed
7. Springs and front axle
8. Refurbished chassis
9. E93A engine overhaul

6. E83W Cab and other body parts.

Photos showing the mixed condition of the bodypanels.















The first photo shows the cab interior before this unit, along with doors etc, was lifted from the separate chassis.

The screw-in floorpans have already been removed in this photograph, as has the drivers seat.

"I have been very fortunate with my vehicle, in that the woodwork, particularly in the cab, is almost perfect. It only needs sanding down, and repainting. The woodwork on the body might be a bit different. As an 'in between' job, one weekend, I spent the whole weekend with an electric heat gun burning the old paint off the wooden tailboard, and then removing the ironwork. Unfortunately, I found that the old woodworm had been having a good old chomp on it, whilst the truck was laid up, and had seriously weakened the timber, so it will have to be replaced, which is a great shame, as I wanted desperately to keep as much as the original vehicle as possible.

There is a bit of worm in the dropsides, too, but I will still burn the old paint off, and strip them out first, to see if they are reusable. It might be a waste of time, but what the hell. The framework timbers on the body seem to be OK, and I'm pretty sure with a bit of doctoring, will be reusable. Due to a leaky roof in the shed, where it was, the bed had rotted away, so will have to be renewed.

Alongside are photos showing the cab, ready to be covered up and left in this out of the way spot, until its turn on the restoration programme comes along.

I'm very lucky, the grille is almost perfect. It has a little kink in the middle, near the top, but otherwise very sound. The bracing 'tray' thing, bolted to the back of the grille has rusted through, a bit, at the bottom, but the rest is sound. It's obviously a water trap. When I put it back together, I'll paint a bit of Waxoyl between the two. We will probably make up a new bottom bit, and cut the manky bit out completely, it will make a better job.

You asked about the condition of the original wings, so I've enclosed three shots of them for you to see. If someone was really stuck, and doing a very tight budget restoration, I should think they could do something with them, or if they were mad enough to take on a complete derelict, without any wings, they would at least have a pattern, so perhaps one day, they might help someone, so I'll hang on to them, and sell them if someone needs them, and plough the money back into my vehicle. New wings will need to made for my truck as these originals are in a poor state.

Incidentally, I took the truck to a rally, unfinished, last weekend, locally. It provoked a lot of interest, especially as I have kept a detailed photographic record of the work carried out. I was lucky enough to be approached by a bloke, who remembered it being used, when it was owned by a large country estate. He remembers it going around, collecting up milk churns from the estate's farms, and then unloading them at a milk collection point, (which I can remember seeing, years ago,) ready for the milk lorry to collect, for transport to the bottling plant. "

Details of how the new E83W wings were made up will be covered in a later article in this Ford restoration series.

 
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