Another survivor found - Max Keough's K125CR

HAULIN THE HUME

Just love that ole Inter

Great pics thanks Chipmonk
So I got the truck into the garage and began the pull down. As I'm getting older I'm forgetting a hell of a lot and was worried that I wouldn't remember how it all went back together.............so out with the Canon!! I've pulled a few things down for resto over the years but this project is the biggest challenge I've ever had. The Commer was like Slospeeds Inter and is unique in itself but this cab!!! It is the most intricate, detailed time consuming thing immaginable and I already wish that I'd just left it

Anyway, I chose to keep going. Here's a few pics.......

Like I said, a tight squeeze into the shed. The Commer has since gone to a foster home for 18 months so I would have room to put all the bits!

If anyone has, or knows of, a decent grilldensor, I need one. This one has had a hard hit in the front and is beyond repair.

There were a heap of these peep hole windows retro fitted to KW's over the years but like everything else on this truck, Max optioned it. I've been told by one of the KW guru's that this was one of the most heavily optioned KW's that had rolled out of the factory at the time

Even the little bloke has been lending a hand

The trim in the sleeper is flawless and all of the curtains are intact and unmarked. After some digging in the States, I have found a company over there who will remake the vinyl in small quantities which means I can leave the sleeper alone and retrim the front half back to original. The vinyl is obsolete and there is absolutely nothing out there that comes remotely close

And here's the original front seat, not in the truck but miraculously it has survived. Max pulled it out when it was only a few years old as it made his back so sore. It floated around a workshop for years before being donated to Reg Anderson for his BABYKW project. It has a seatcover on it and it meant that I could photograph and measure the flutes so that I can trim the seats and doors back to their original yellow and blue stripes. Gotta just LOVE the 70's

Reg's 4/71T powered BABYKW. A lovely bloke

To the right of the sunvisor is the moulded plastic sides of the headlining. I can repair and resin the rear of these before painting them and as they are like rocking horse sh1t, I have no choice. The headlining though was cracking in my hands as I pulled it out and is beyond help. However after approximately 2.63 bourbon & cokes, I managed to work out a way to remake it...........time will tell if I needed another one or two

I lack a bit of mechanical knowledge but even moreso, electrical. The next few pics will show why I've been in therapy for the past week. I love all the retro stuff like the old UHF.............

...........but this here is less than half of what I've pulled and binned so far. I've gotten rid of every bit of auxilery wiring that has been spliced and added to over the years and there's a bit more to go yet :'(

Another shot of the clean sleeper compartment but the now obsolete storage boxes are damaged with things like, as in the pic, an electric aerial. Put something this heavy anchored off brittle plastic and drive half a million kays.......not a good outcome!

The more I took off, the scareder I got

As I got into this console above the engine cover, all I found was an absolute mess. The maxi brake valves all exhaust behind the dash and everything was covered in oil, dirt and dust along with the wires that have been added over the years. Also when it was converted into an electronic engine in the early nineties they ran the harness up in here for the cruise control >

And all went well until I went to remove the dash panel and found that the harness had been fed through before the plugs were fitted. I persisted for sometime with trying to leave it all intact but the oil and mess got too much so one by one, out they came

And here's what's left! any volunteers want to come and help me reassemble it let me know :-[

I've since been stripping the seat areas out and starting to clean up the floors............

The remains of the factory blue carpet he specced it with!

The last two piccy's show the nut cracker area behind the drivers seat. The seat has been rubbing up and down and broken the panel fairly well so a new one needs to be made and riveted in. And apart from this and some rust on the passengers side from leaking a/c, it's a very clean nice old thing that has thankfully remained fairly original. Another day stripping the remains of the doors then it'll be time for a pressure wash before the paint stripping begins

Hi Cunning,

Thanks for the updates and keep the piccies coming.

Mate you have taken on a fair bit of work! Be glad when it is all back together and proud because it is a BIG job. Keep on chewing at it because it will all come together with a rush.

Gr8


Pic pirated from Flikr (rowdy01)

Cya

Why is it with old trucks and wiring they just kept adding never reducing or removing obsolete wiring
Bruce we found it easier to just rewire the whole lot

CS, Not sure if the guy in the usa you spoke with was Travis from Truck Interiors from Washington state, if not he's your man. helped me when I was doing my A-Model (w model). haven't got his number but he has everything from the original manufacturer in the States that supplied KW.
Truck It Up!

Enjoy, I don't envy you now that you have it all apart!

Me either Ryan . I did speak to Travis and he told me that Rogue (factory blue vinyl) was discontinued so I'm pretty happy to bite the bullet with SMS to have the trim remade. John, the only thing I'm chewing is my finger nails. And Geoff, I'll leave it alone as so far, what's left in there looks okay.

Spent a few very late nights pulling as much apart as possible. The doors are stripped down to a shell.............

.................... and apart from the harness, all that's in it is the steering column and these frustrating little pains in the A, the windscreen washer heads.

These are in the most annoying position and although very small, I couldn't handle the thought of leaving them mounted when the remainder was stripped - so out with the heater which, in hindsight, was a great move!

Obviously a leaking AC unit will cause corrosion and taking this unit out revealed the extent of the only real rot in the cab............gotta be thankful for small mercies I guess : :

It's treatable and repairable and thankfully, not as bad as others I've heard about.

So finally, time to drag it out and begin a 2 day effort in washing, degreasing and pressure washing everything. What a mammoth job :'(

But, the result is worth it ...............

The paint is exceptionally good and the painter is coming up next weekend to determine the extent of the paint strip. He believes that it won't need to be taken back to aluminium and the paint on it now, considering how well it has been applied, will act as a primer to a certain extent and is best left on. There is next to no electrolosis so fingers crossed. I have stripped a few sections back and there is no sign of blue so the thought is that Turners did remove all of the existing paint before putting it in their colours. Apart from some minor cracks and a slight bow in the front panel, repairs will be minimal and as long as it's in and out of the paint shop quickly, should be on track for Alice as planned.