Worlds fastest Commer...?

Hi Toni,
Awsome.. that's cool.... the tach is what cracks me up... sitting at a light, zoom, zoom... the guy next to you egg's you on... you pull the knob and he see's the tach spin around on the hood... aahhh ha ha ha the look on his face ...Priceless..!!!!

Roach

 

That's cool!

 

Thanx alot!
Well, the plan also includes a second knob and wire for the exhaust splitter...
Just in case they missed the tach!!!
Go Edge pipes!

 

Very cool build. Been silently following along, but this thing is just plain awesome. It's gonna be a blast when your done.

 

Installed a gas spring for the hood, cut the Chevy Astro bench seat to a better fit and changed the throttle wire, since the old one (from a small boat) had too much resistance.

Next step is the front fenders, they are like Swiss cheese today, who will be used as plugs for wider fibre glass copies.
At least I hope so... never done that before.

Either...!

 

Toni
Hope that gas spring don't leak.... aaahhh ha ha ha ... inside joke. ha

Roach

 

Ha ha, I don't think so, it's US made!

 

Now to the fenders, or the remains...
Gonna add 90 mm on each side, fill the holes and just add a ton of putty on to make a plug for a mold for a fibre glass fender.
Never worked with fibre glass before, so that will be a challange!!!
Thank God for YouTube!!!
Btw, anybody know how much a mold and fender will shrink?
Gonna use Polyester resin.

The copper tube in the pictures is the new wheel opening edge, since somebody sometime made a new, totally different from the other side...

 

It depends on the quality of the fiberglass Matt you're using. The higher the quality of the Matt the less of shrinkage you'll experience. Don't forget to put gelcoat on Before laying the fiberglass cuz the fiberglass by it self won't hold the paint! And the final thing remember to reinforce your plug so it don't loose it's shape. Good luck


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Gelcoat?
Isn't that just polyester with some pigmets in?

Anyway, the fenders are not ready yet and some of the job Iv'e done had to be redone!
Our vehicle regulations says max 400mm from the outer edge of the headlamp to the cars outer sideline...
I had 490...
So cutting out 20mm from the 90mm widening strip and move the whole headlamp another 70mm made the trick, but it took some hours.
The copper tubing is now soldered in place, to form the wheel arch. Then some filler to build up the shape, or some kilos of filler...
Next step is... the other fender!!!

 

Detail, details. Very nice.

 

Sir, I like the way you think.
And yes, Gelcoat is just resin with a thixotropic added...like Talc (aka baby powder). The shrinkage comes from the resin, not the mat. Lots of good info on the net. Polyester shrinks about 2x that of Epoxy.

 

Looks great. I like your sense of solving problems!
Sweet.


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Very cool!

Oh and thats not a bad looking truck.

 

Wow,

Whata cool project with many interesting ideas going on!

On another note, anyone know where I can find out more on a Commer Model Q25, the post war coachbuilt ones? No info on these in the states.

Thanx, and good luck on the Commer build

" Humpty Dumpty was pushed "

 

Hi, "Knocker" is the term given to the horizontally opposed, Rootes supercharged, two stroke diesel engines, used in the "T" & "TS" series, Commer trucks. Once the mainstay of early trucking industry in Australia in the 50's.

I am sure that there are many resting quietly on stations and farms throughout Australia.

famous for not only their noise, but the fact that by using horizontally opposed pistons operated via a bell crank set up, the engine was very compact.

For anyone in early speedway, the principle applied to the blower drive shaft, in as much as it was necked down, was successfully applied to Austin A40 rear axles used in early speedcars 9midgets) in Australia. Neck the old A40 axle down on a slowcurce from bearing seat, to splined end, until the centre point was 1/16 th of an incch below the minor diameter of the spline, and presto, the axle became a torsion bar and didnt break any more!!

 

HI Jeff,

I replied to your query on Commer 'Knockers" (no not ugly English ladies with large mammary glanda!) but somehow it ended up on page 13!. I used to work on these from timr to time,as an apprentice in the outback of South Australia.

 

I like the look of the tubbed fenders

thanks,
Douglas Johnson
"Skrach"
www.VividlyVintage.com

 

Thanks everyone and Afrodizzyak47, very interesting info there.
I have a brother living in Margret River, south of Perth. I guess he need the BIG handluggage next time he comes to Sweden

 

Still fighting the fenders, but now its closer to fibre glass fabrication.
Bought myself a little shrink tool and tested it on a little piece of sheet metal.
The red fender still needs a couple of more sandings, but its better than before!!!
The paint is just a rattle can test to see the imperfections better.

 

Is that the color you are planning on painting the truck? Looks like it will glow in the dark!

 

Thanks guys, but don't magnify the pics, please...
The plan (this week!) is to paint the fenders and boards in that red colour and the rest in light beige. Just wanted to see how THAT red colour looked like.

 

Toni, that sounds like a great color combination. Don't worry about the details with that paint, it looks great in the picture.

 

64 Dodge 440, just went thru your thread and... wow!!!!
Love these time machines!!!
Keep up that good job.

 

Keep posting looking good!

 

Thanks Toni. The build is progressing rather slowly due to being retired and broke most of the time, but we're going forward and hope to have it running next year if not sooner.

 

Just found this thread, great work, who would have thought there would be another Commer build, here is a photo of what we are working on right now, just beginning to fabricate the pick-up bed...

 

Hmm, no rust? Guess there's a lot of metal work done to it.
Looking real cool. Like the grill.
Any more pics? Interior and engine...?

 

Hi Muller

Lonestar is a mate of mine and I have seen the posted Commer and yes there is alot of metalwork in it. He doesn't get on the HAMB much and he has been busy building the tray.

Yes there was rust in it

The grille was his design that he had laser cut from stainless steel and tig welded together.

The truck has progressed since this picture - I will prompt him to post more on here the next time I speak to him (he is a busy boy though)

Cheers Turns

 

Ahh, thanks alot, Turns. Been to his homepage and seen his projects.
Respect!
Whenever he's got the time...! Or PM me.

Thanks again.