Highly modified CGT

[badger1bear]

I thought some of you might like to have a look at one Chevy that will not rust away, she is constructed from fibre glass with quite a few bits of artistic licence thrown in to boot. She still retains some of the lines in the fibre glass conversion of her original metalwork and that quite unmistakable front end still retains that bullish snub nosed beauty. The original petrol engine is long gone but she has in its place a very reliable Perkins P6 Diesel. The chassis for the most part was left original but there have been a few tweeks here and there to facilitate her post war working life. It has taken quite some time to get her back to her "second " glory days but I think she is worth it.
Now to all those "Purists" out there who look down your nose at this old lady, just remember she has served her time in WWII and she has worked well into retirement as well, just because she has had a facelift doesnt make her any less of a Chevy does it??

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

Magnificent truck, Simon! It bridges the gap between then & now. There's no question as to its validity, because it's one of those which served its owners well far longer than its brief yeoman service in the army in the war. I hope you'll give me a ride in it someday!

I'm moving this to the Softskin forum where it properly belongs...

[badger1bear]

I will buy the beer, you can have your ride Geoff, thanks for the kind words

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

Please remind us of her history and of your experience in restoring her!

[badger1bear]

During the World War II, many companies produced vehicles for the war effort, these vehicles came in all shapes and sizes,
some were extremely good in their roles while some otheres were so poor they were discarded almost on entering service.
One such vehicle that stood out then for it’s reliability and character was the Canadian Chevrolet as it still does today.


Here is one such story

In the early post War years Mr E.W Tyler formed a precast concrete manufacturing company in Bromley, Kent. The business soon expanded into the production of agricultural buildings and the company relocated to Tonbridge.
With the development of larger structures, problems arose on site in finding suitable cranes to operate in areas with poor access and ground conditions incompatible with the conventional vehicles. Another dissadvantage was that all cranes for hire in those days came with an operator, which did not always fit in with the working practices of the Tyler erection gangs. It was soon realised that there was a need for a smallrough terrain crane. Not being able to find the ideal vehicle ready made, the robust construction of the Chevrolet 4x4 was identified as the perfect basis for such a vehicle. Development was carried out in the Tylers Company’s own workshops and over a number of years of additions and modifications the Chevrolet mobile crane was created.

The Tyler company fleet of “Chevvies” expanded to 10 vehicles, operating all over the country, erecting buildings for many years until the more manoeuvrable hydraulic cranes became available in the 1970’s


I purchased the old lady about two years ago from a farmer for the princely sum of a Monkey, he told me he used it to cart hay and straw bales on a forty foot trailer, she had been stood up for two years in the field and had not been touched, mainly due to the lack of brakes. The crane lattice jib had been left in a stream for five years under a load of scrap metal, after a lot of climbing over and under bits of metal and getting stung by nettles and brambles we finally managed to dig the jib out, bi heck after five years in a stream she was in a sorry state, we transported the jib back seperately from the Chevy on a fifteen foot trailer behind a short wheel base Landy, the only problem was, the jib is roughly twenty one feet long and the fly jib is another nine feet roughly and weighs about a ton and a half, luckily for us the fly jib was still inside the main jib, that was one hair raising trip coming home


I used every bit of holiday up before the end of May, even the holiday I must save for Christmas, the boss was quite understanding well as long as I bought her another horse I must admit I have spent a shed load of money on her and no end of hours but I think she is worth it. This is the oldest vehicle we have but we do have two others, gluttens for punishment huh

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

Is any serial number known please? Nice cab though, and won't rust! By the way are you a Hall & Woodhouse BADGER BEER drinker? Not seen and badgers around here yet but we have deer, pigeons, crows, magpies, green woodpeckers, and a fox. Oh and Pheasants.

[badger1bear]

If it has a bit of fizz, not too warm and there is the word beer in the name, I am happy with that
Sadly there are no data plates left in the cab so we cant get an exact year on the beasty, if there are any other things that you know might give you any information on the beast please ask. I believe it cant be before 1943 because it has a wooden steering wheel, I stand to be corrected here
I feel it would look better if I could get an age related plate for her but what would the year be ??????? : If your going to War and Peace this year you can have a poke and prod and maybe you could turn up something on her

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

The age-related rego allocated would be in the VSU XXX series or similar since they allocate these old unused Scottish style prefixes.

[badger1bear]

Appart from joining a club for X ammount of pounds, is it possible to get one of those registrations and if so do you know how I might go about it ? Any help on this would be great

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

There are application forms available off the DVLA website:
http://www.dvla.gov.uk and also your local registration office..I don't know where it is in Kent. To confirm age of truck I can assist as I have done this with Chevrolets in the past. Theoretically you should have a 1945-50 rego as that's when such trucks were demobbed and registered [more or less]. That's therefore before the XXX VSU reversal of the plates.

[badger1bear]

Hi David

I have had a look at the DVLA site but it doesnt seem to mention re registering a vehicle which already has a rego, can you post a link to the specific section and I will try and take it from there

regards Simon

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

Contact Customer Services in the Vehicles section, or better still try your local registration office.

[badger1bear]

Hi folks I Know I havent been around for some time but I just thought I would let you know that I am selling the old lady

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=4602630862 (Item number: 4602630862)

The majority of you have been friendly with your advice as well as praise for my restoration, there have been the odd bad apple in the barrel that turned their nose up at her but hey we cant all be olive drab can we.

To all the genuine people here at Maple Leaf Maybe one day we will cross paths and I will buy you that Beer Geoff if you make it over here to the UK

All the best

Badger

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally posted by badger1bear
To all the genuine people here at Maple Leaf

Hi Simon,

Thank you for bringing this old lady back to life, here's hoping the next owner will take equally good care!

See you around next time at Beltring?

H.

[badger1bear]

I will still drop in from time to time and if you still have the same mobile number Hanno I will call you if you come over to Beltring and we will have some Beer !!!

Thank you my Friend

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

That's a fine truck you have there, Simon, and I trust she'll find a good home -- it's a quintessential example of how these beasts of ours have endured!

One of these days I WILL take you up on that offer of a pint or two.

Good luck, and keep in touch. We've missed you.

Geoff

[badger1bear]

Thank you Geoff

it meens a lot that genuine peole appreciated the old lady for what she had become

The majority of war vehicles stay in the drab colour they were born with, a bit like a caterpillar, I guess my old lady made it through to become a Butterfly

You just get your Canadian Butt over to Beltring Geoff, meet up with Hanno and were sink a few jars

I am afraid the guestlist will be selective

[Richard Farrant]

Originally posted by badger1bear
The majority of you have been friendly with your advice as well as praise for my restoration,

Hi Simon,

We have met at one of the local shows a couple of years back. It was a pleasure to see your vehicle as I remember that company operating around them Kent and Sussex, when I was a kid......and mad on lorries at the time, so they did not go unnoticed.

regards,
Richard

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

Originally posted by badger1bear
Thank you Geoff

it meens a lot that genuine peole appreciated the old lady for what she had become

The majority of war vehicles stay in the drab colour they were born with, a bit like a caterpillar, I guess my old lady made it through to become a Butterfly

You just get your Canadian Butt over to Beltring Geoff, meet up with Hanno and were sink a few jars

I am afraid the guestlist will be selective

Butterfly indeed...

I have no problem with the drab crowd, in fact I endorse it (that should be obvious ). But I DO respect the new life given to these vehicles in civilian service after the war; would I have taken your truck apart and attempted to turn it into what it was in military service? No. You did the right thing, Simon.

I would be honoured to be hosted by you at Beltring. Perhaps someday this will come to pass.