Ford KL Welder truck restoration

[Kirk Armitage]

This 1943 Ford KL was picked up by Jim Fraser (Arnprior , Ontario) in early 1995 from the Truck Trader, advertised as " Jeep 3 ton with welder 25 amp ". It was remarkably intact except for the driver's door and front bumper guard .
Jim sold me the truck in late 95,and it was put in storage. The serial number was given to the late Peter Ford and a build date of 1943 was concluded. In 1999 , a full tear down was started, the welding unit was removed and set aside to wait it's turn. After sandblasting, the axles were resealed, transfer case rebuilt, brakes done all round, re-arched the springs and added a leaf front and rear. Michelins were installed, with an original tire for a spare. Didn't have access to a large lathe at the time to cut the rims, managed to get the Michelin's on, they were tight, NDT Mohawks wouldn't go on . So the truck was in primer, with the brake lines to be run , in the spring of 2000 . Then other projects came along, also a couple kids, and I don't like running brake lines . The project went to sleep for 14 years in a heated garage....................... to be continued. Picture quality is poor on these old photographs.
Kirk Armitage

[Bob Carriere]

I tried buying that beast before it went up on Auto trader but they wanted too much at the time.

It was at a campground in the Wolfe Lake area..... Tantetine campground I believe.

We found that if the rims are sandblasted and painted on the inside in glossy black with plenty of wet tire snoot from the tire shop the tires slides on much easier. The local tire shop sold me a half pail of the "snoot" for $10.00 so we have a life time supply... messy but it works.

Glad to see you working on it.

Cheers

Bob C

[Kirk Armitage]

Yes Bob ,that was the area, judging by the spruce trees it was sitting there for a while.
So now that there is a team of three, hopefully things will progress faster. Were doing a small dozer at the same time, hope none of the parts get mixed up ! Although after 15 years since tear down, things are a little on the fuzzy side.
Paint wise there was a little deviation, went with some surplus olive drab I had been sitting on. Were already at 3 1/2 gallons used and having been pricing automotive paint for our other project ,I can live with it.
The brake lines were run, got a good pedal and managed to get a few good days for paint. Still have to find the shock links, have it narrowed down to a couple buildings.
Kirk Armitage

[Kirk Armitage]

Few more pieces of the puzzle got some paint.
Kirk Armitage

[Robin Craig]

I also recall that truck, I like Bob, also lusted after it and had delusional fantasies of owning it and restoring it and showing it.

Grand job your doing

R

[Kirk Armitage]

It's nice to feel re-energized about a project, after all this time. This forum is probably the main reason , when you see the different builds taking place all over the globe. Thanks Robin
K Armitage