The 1418 Benz lookalike project.

I bought a used 1418 Mercedes Benz prime mover in June 1973 from Yorkstar Motors in Milperra, Sydney. It had been owned by Farley and Lewers and was painted in their fleet colours of "lolly pink". I wasn't game to take it home looking like that in case some of my mates saw me. ( be like driving a Volvo, Swishy). I had it repainted in what was said to be Carnation Red ( I now think it was Welland Red, a GMH colour of that time)

I knew someone who had bought a long wheelbase 1418 new and had used it for a year or two. Some months before I bought mine, he had decided he would rather have a prime mover and shortened his back to a standard MB prime mover wheelbase. I bought everything he had removed when he shortened his. Two pieces of chassis rail, tailshaft, exhaust pipe and even the piece of rod for the handbrake plus the 23 ft tray from his when it was a long rigid truck.

In effect I built a truck the same as he had. I sold this truck in 1974 to someone in Junee. NSW. I have tried to find it without success.

I have bought another 1418 to use as a base to build a lookalike to the 1418 I had.

We have made a start by cleaning up and repainting the tray.









Geoff.

We have started to turn the green Mercedes Benz into a red one. It was not supposed to be a restoration just a tidy up and a colour change. Yeah right.



The chassis had an L plate re-inforcement fitted on the outside when it was lengthened. We sanded this back to bare metal and painted it with primer. We had noticed that it had spread away from the main rail with rust build up between them, as often happens to double rail chassis, particularly on trucks that have carried livestock.

We initially thought we could live with it but eventually it got the better of us and an 8 ft section of the re-inforcement on each side had to come off.



Why do I have the feeling I have done this before. Now i remember, we did the same thing on an AB180 two years ago.

The main chassis rail has been sanded back to bare metal.



At least we won't have the same problem with the Dodge chassis.

looks good
when you put the bolt the fish plates ( reinforcement plates ) you can drill and tap them to take some grease nipples and the just pump some grease in every so often this will help to keep the moisture out

Paul

.....GDay Geoff........looks like you have been a busy boy over the last few years.........good going.......
.....................................Billy...................................

We can't help ourselves, we still weren't happy with the rust between the main chassis rail and the re-inforcement plate so off came some more of it. We are now going to replace 15 ft of the re-inforcement L plate on each side. One advantage is that the outside of the chassis will look like new without any surplus holes in it.

your getting stuck right into that can of worms you opened, at least you know it is right now

Paul

We keep reminding each other it is not a restoration, just a bit of a tidy up of the chassis, a lick of black paint on it and change the colour of the cab so we can replicate the photo taken back in 1973.

We just can't help ourselves. We have now removed all the outer L re-inforcement plate from where it started at the front just behind the cab to the back end of the chassis, 22 feet of it. ( The re-inforcement does continue forward under the cab but it is only a vertical plate not a L plate and does not seem to have rust between it and the main chassis rail.)

It will be all worth it, won't it ?.

what have you started Geoff LOL that can worms is looking good though I have opened worse cans before


Paul

Geoff, what you need at this stage is a six pound tub of Freylube No Rim Rust. You slap that stuff between your rails and re-inforcements, snug your bolts up so it squeezes out of the joints, and when your great grandkids do the next tidy up and paint, they will find NO rust there. I've used it for everything over the years, anywhere ya got steel to steel, aluminum to steel, whatever. It's not grease, it won't hurt rubber or paint and it won't wash out.

For a non-restoration, that's lookin' pretty dam nice.

Mark