A little light entertainment: 1939 Ford 1 ton Utility restoration

[jack neville]

Fits in place quite well. I will get it sandblasted and then tidy it up with a bit of filler before it gets welded to the floor strips and the side corners.

Then it is on to making these rear outside corner panels.

[jack neville]

A wartime photo of a well equipped Ford roadster ute.

[jack neville]

I was recently talking to good friend Euan Mac Donald and he supplied this for me.
I will need to make another one to match but how cool is it that something like this has survived? And in such good condition and so complete. New timber and canvas and a sandblast. Very happy to have this.

[jack neville]

The rear corner panels are another quirky feature of these vehicles.
The rear timber corner has a strip of steel nailed to its edge which acts as the anchor for the outside edge of the rear corner panel.

[jack neville]

I formed up the rear corner panels which have the outside edge rolled over to engage the steel strip and the inside edge folded at right angles to nail to the inside edge.

[jack neville]

I've sent the panels and a few bits off for sandblasting so I moved onto the tailgate.

It is a bit sad across the bottom and needs some extra strength in it to hold its shape due to being dented and stretched. I straightened it as best I could. I got a 2mm repair panel folded up and cut the bottom rusted section out up as far as the bottom line of pressings and welded this in.

[jack neville]

To iron out the imperfections in the top edge I clamped a piece of 50 x 25mm RHS in tightly to the top lip and welded it in. Another 25 x 25mm RHS was added to straighten the centre section. The wide piece is 5mm thick and will be used to tap into to take the tie down hooks. Originally they were rivetted to a thinner piece but bolting on with countersunk bolts will be easier.
The tailgate will be a bit heavier but in came out straight and flat.