Vintage Driving
Meet The Truck ...
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The Old Rope Salvage truck is a 1941 Ford Pick-Up from North Dakota with a '49 flathead V8 engine. Having spent the winter of 2014-15 restoring the 74 year old engine, I finally realised my dream and the pick-up has been on the road ever since.
The truck had been in my possession for about 12 years after being imported from North Dakota but had languished in my old garage for some years whilst I tried to decide what to do with it. A move to Cornwall forced my hand and I towed the 1 ton truck down here from East Sussex behind my less-than-cool Freelander and decided to bring it back to life. Being tax exempt and with cheaper insurance, it later became my only car and the expensive to run Freelander was sold. |
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It took me about 2 years of hard work to put the truck back on the road. Apart from the machining for the engine, I did all the work myself, including scraping a rat's nest out of the '49 flathead V8 engine. Admittedly, the rust patina was created by the Cornish weather, but I liked it so much that I kept it, only adding my top-secret ingredient to protect and shine!
The sign-writing on the side was added later, also by myself, and The Old Rope Salvage Truck was born ... For the full story, keep reading ... - Tim |
What's this? Teething troubles? Not feeling too worried on an early outing along the sunny coastal roads at Whitsand Bay - Summer 2016
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A Life in Cars
In The Beginning ...
The story of the Pick-Up Truck goes back to 2005, but my story with custom and classic cars goes back much further, right back through the long tunnel of time to my teenage years growing up with magazines such as Street Machine, Custom Car and also Volksworld, the magazine where I did my work experience during college. For a kid obsessed with classic and custom cars I was lucky enough to live just a few miles from Santa Pod Raceway in Rushden, a town which during the summer months would be transformed by the rumbling of big V8 American cars.
At that time, those big cars were way out of my budget and the budgets of most of the people I was friends with. Instead, we were drawn into the early days of the growing Volkswagon movement. It seems crazy to think back and remember how cheap the old splitscreens were in those days. I bought mine for a mere £350, a vehicle which would be worth many thousands now, not to mention all the other VWs which came and went in my life. Those were great times and I loved those cars, but the call of the Hotrod never quite left me ...
At that time, those big cars were way out of my budget and the budgets of most of the people I was friends with. Instead, we were drawn into the early days of the growing Volkswagon movement. It seems crazy to think back and remember how cheap the old splitscreens were in those days. I bought mine for a mere £350, a vehicle which would be worth many thousands now, not to mention all the other VWs which came and went in my life. Those were great times and I loved those cars, but the call of the Hotrod never quite left me ...
Meeting The Truck ...
To build a car, or to embark on any large project, 4 things are usually needed: Time, motivation/commitment, space, and money. I should probably add skill and expertise to that list, but they can be learned - (if you have the time!) - so I'll stand by the 4.
So it was in 2005 that I found myself with those 4 things ... Well, as it turned out I still didn't have the money to buy a 1932 Model B Coupe - (and I still don't!) - but I did have the money and the opportunity to acquire a complete and unmolested pre-war steel Ford pick-up. Dug out of a farm in North Dakota and shipped across the ocean into my possession, I was introduced to my grubby 'new' truck.
So it was in 2005 that I found myself with those 4 things ... Well, as it turned out I still didn't have the money to buy a 1932 Model B Coupe - (and I still don't!) - but I did have the money and the opportunity to acquire a complete and unmolested pre-war steel Ford pick-up. Dug out of a farm in North Dakota and shipped across the ocean into my possession, I was introduced to my grubby 'new' truck.
Taking it All Apart ...
Much work was done over the next few years: Dismantling, labelling, photographing all the parts and where they belonged, panel beating etc. etc. It was slow going and progress was not helped by my indecision over what exactly it was that I wanted to build: A sleek, lowered, high-tech street cruiser perhaps? Propelled by the 7.2 litre big block Mopar engine I had already acquired for it? Or maybe a roof-chopped, fender-less, old school hotrod using the existing flathead engine, should I ever be able to unsieze the ancient thing? There were so many choices, and I liked them all!
... And Putting it All Back Together Again ...
Getting ready to tow the 1 Ton Truck from East Sussex to its new home in Cornwall, a journey of 300 miles. That was a long day. And yes, my registration plate did spell 'MAD' ...
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The work continued at this leisurely pace until a dramatic life change several years later suddenly found me living on a fishing trawler in south-east Cornwall - (Most of you reading this might already be familiar with that 'other' well-documented story) - Unfortunately, the truck was still living in its home back in East Sussex and it was then that I was faced with the ultimate decision: To sell or to keep.
I chose, of course, to keep. My rather naive solution at this point was to tow the truck and all the associated parts the several hundred miles down to my new home in Cornwall, clean it all up, bolt it all back together and start driving it around the little Cornish lanes like any other regular car ... "Should only take a couple of months" were my famous last words to my sceptical new girlfriend. Hmmm, it didn't. It took 2 years. |
In some ways, this is the longest part of the story. It was certainly the hardest, but also of course, the most rewarding.
Remember those 4 things I said you needed for a big project? Time? Well, yes, in-between working on the 55ft houseboat. Motivation? Not much choice with that one. Space? Try rebuilding an engine in the boot of your old Freelander, in the corner of someone else's storage container and on the deck of a fishing trawler. Money? At the start, yes. By the end, no ...
Remember those 4 things I said you needed for a big project? Time? Well, yes, in-between working on the 55ft houseboat. Motivation? Not much choice with that one. Space? Try rebuilding an engine in the boot of your old Freelander, in the corner of someone else's storage container and on the deck of a fishing trawler. Money? At the start, yes. By the end, no ...
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It took a lot of very, very hard work. It took all my money and selling most of what I had of value to pay for the several thousand pounds worth of parts just to rebuild the engine, the existing '49 Flathead V8 which in the end I decided had to stay. And the style? Somehow, the truck chose its own style. Aided by the Cornish weather and the new direction of my own life, I simply allowed the truck to evolve into what it is today ... Honest, a bit rough around the edges and just a little hot-roddy ... sort of like its owner ...
- Tim January 2020 |
... As for the girlfriend, she came round to it. In the end.
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*Special thanks go out to the Huggins' Boatyard for giving me their patience and the space to carry out this long project. To Steve for the use of his storage container and to Geoff and Jenny and all the boatyard folk for their support and friendship and helpful advice. And to Nick Turley for the incredible photos which have immortalised the truck in our memory forever.*
And Finally, A Grand Day Out at The Mount Edgcumbe Classic Car Show - Summer 2018 ...
