Australian Army Ford D Series truck

[Wayne Henderson]

Hello Aussie type MLUppers... I am looking for any colour photos of the Ford D series that was in service during the late 1970's. Any pics of the inside would also be good, brush guard or parts even better.
Thanks.
Wayne.

[Dinty]

G'day All TommyK had some pix of those in REMLR if my memory serves me correctly, no doubt he will post them for you when he sees the thread cheers Dennis

[Ken Smith]

Hi there Wayne
It sounds like you are trying to restore a good old D series,I have 2 of them, 1 that I use to bring home all my treasures on and the other is my spares truck.I have done a ton of miles in the good one,a lot of it towing my 1950's 1 ton trailer.I have kept it original even though it is under powered.I remember when I was in the army in hilly country the drivers would be changing up and down gears and revving the ring out of the old 240ci engine in the Fords but the Studebakers just cruised with hardly any gear changes at all.I have only ever seen 1 photo of a D series I think it was a post card from Bandiana maybe.There is a really rusty one in our local truck wreckers brush guard is gone,another one is on a farm nearby but it is pretty rusty as they use it to cart water,there is a very tidy one in a little museum in Uralla in N.S.W.and lastly there is a little bit left of one in Toowoomba Qld.I would put a photo on but I still can't post photo's,I am determined to learn though,I hope your restoration goes well they are a pretty truck in military trim.
Cheers Ken

[Wayne Henderson]

Hi Ken, Thanks for the information, My truck also has an aversion to hills but pumps along at 80kms along the flats. A kind MLUpper sent me photos of the D at Uralla, complete with bird droppings. Our truck now has a beaver tail and is currently used for recovering dead Ferrets and other things under 8 tons.

[Ken Smith]

Hi Wayne
Just as a matter of interest there is a D series Ford with the Australian army brush guard in the 1971 movie Carry On At Your Conveniance.I have often wondered if it was the prototype truck for the Australian one and then sold off.Yep 80kph is top speed I drive mine at 45mph and I have stencilled max speed 45mph on the tailgate which has cut down a little bit on the agro from other drivers.I could only get mine registered as a 4 tonner.Is yours a May or June 1969 delivery?
Cheers Ken

[Stuart Kirkham]

Originally Posted by Dinty

G'day All TommyK had some pix of those in REMLR if my memory serves me correctly, no doubt he will post them for you when he sees the thread cheers Dennis

G'day Dennis and Wayne

This 'D' Series was for sale here in Perth about 20 yrs ago (when this photo was taken). I understand that it was used by a local scout group.

The brush guard looks to be constructed from 40mm flat plate, horizontal round bars and 50x50 square hollow section supports. Doesn't look as if would be difficult to replicate.

[Mike Kelly]

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

I remember when I was in the army in hilly country the drivers would be changing up and down gears and revving the ring out of the old 240ci engine Cheers Ken

If the motor is same as a falcon motor, you can do many things to 'improve' its performance . My neighbour owns a hotted up XL falcon with a 4.1 motor . It goes like a bat out of hell . It's fitted with a high compression 2V head and extractors , standard cam . Mustang rear end , disc brakes . C4 auto . The later X-flow motors are so de-tuned for low pollution - it's a joke . My XF is a slug .

Mike

[Ken Smith]

G'day Mike,
The 240ci engine is a bit bigger and heavier than the Falcon engine,I have always known them as a Canadian engine.I had one in a civilian 1970 F250 I once owned and worked hard,it was powerfull enough in it but you have to baby them a bit or they spit the rings out between 40 to 50,000 miles which mine did twice, in the F250 that is.When I went through the ARN lists at the War Memorial there weren't many D series that hadn't had an engine change or two.My D series had 57,000 mile on it when I bought it and its army fitted replacement engine was fairly worn in the bore in a bad way as the top rings were broken on all the pistons and had been for a long time.The annoying thing about it is Ford had an identical 300ci engine which was optional and from what I have seen of them in farm trucks was marginally more reliable,the gearbox and diff are unbreakable in the army D 400 so the extra power would not have been a problem.But I guess that the bean counters didn't want to pay the extra couple of dollars to option up to the 300ci.You would probably attract a fair bit of attention doing burnouts in a hotted up D400 at the traffic lights on a Saturday night cruise with the missus.The pictures that Tommy K put in show just how good looking they are maybe I am biased though.Cheers Ken