Volvo G88 dress up!

Hey Guys

I am soon going to have a Volvo G88 in the stable, hopefully a truck to Haul and Crawl the Hume in! It is a very tidy and original truck that has still been out earning its keep every week. Amongst things like a general tidy up I want to dress it up a bit, not like a modern Kw or alike with all the bells and whistles but with the period parts and shiny bits of her era. I found a few photos while scratching around on the net and I particularly like this green G88 below. Does anyone know who owned this truck or even better have more photos of it? Any other suggestions on the good bits or G88 photos would be much appreciated!

Few more from the www

Mate, The dark green one with the load of Kegs, Is one of Burkinshaws from Lockhart/Wagga..........

CT, that sounds like a great project, how about some pics of what you are playing with..


/me

Cheers for that Hayseed.

Did a bit of reading up on Burkinshaw's they run some flash gear. Sounds like they ran more than one G88, didn't bring anymore photos to the surface though :'(.

Take delivery in a week or two Sarge, haven't taken any as yet but the photos will be forthcoming .

My thoughts/plans so far:
It's running its original alloy tanks so I will take them off and give them a buff up, freshen up the red paint on the spiders and add some chrome caps, get rid of the old broken plastic guards and maybe fit some stainless guards. I would like to repaint the chassis and cabin but that will come later then add some pin striping and scrolling on the cabin and she won't look too bad.
Also wondering about trucks that have chrome rims on spiders, are they the actual rims chromed or a knock in band?

Those alloy tanks on the G88/89's looked good, I think VDI in Brisbane made them.

The chrome rims- G88's had either American 20" spider or trilex. If it has American 20" you can get the chines chromies for around $250 a rim, only polished one side though, so you can only put them on the drive.
If it has Rockwell diffs it'll have the 20" wheels.

Congratulations on your choice, sounds like she has been maintained well so should be a good toy.
trilex spoke wheels were used on imports which stopped around 1973 (unless anyone knows better). As yours has alloy tanks it will be an Aussie build. There are a few common issues with this model to look out for, some easily sorted and some hidden and show up with a failure. The cabs rust from the inside out so before reaching for the chrome the first job should be to thoroughly fish oil every cavity, especially A & B pillars and around window apertures. Mechanical parts are dirt cheap when compared next to KW and are still available.
What gearbox does it have?

...recently (in the last couple of years) painted an ancient G88 for a fella in the Northern suburbs of Melbourne...orange with a white belt and roof...

...when the signwriter had finished his work she looked just amazing...period old banger which i've always had a soft spot for...

...good choice for a ''crawlin' the Hume'' rig, classic truckin'....cheers mate

Cheers Cam, yeah I think those alloy tanks look good too, these are even straight still!
It has 20" on Rockwell rear.

Thanks Mammoth, I am partial to pretty well any old gear be it trucks, tractors, cars or anything else. I don't want to own it all but can appreciate it for its success or failure, sometimes the looks were the best part and the rest never delivered or the owners adapted and modified until it coped with the conditions or job at hand.
I can admire an old KW or Mack lined up at a show as much as the next bloke but am always drawn back to the less common or unappreciated gear. I'm not trying to single out Euro trucks but plenty of early Volvos, Scania's, Man's or dare I say Magirus Deutz's (another passion) plyed the hwys and dirt tracks of Aus and yes some love to hate them, but others who gained an understanding of their servicability and intricacies got many, many years of reliable service from them and through this went onto bigger and better things.

I think this makes them a Classic in their own right!

Age wise i think she is a fairly late one, did all the Aussie builds get the black plastic grille?

It's still running the Volvo trans with splitter, most I have come across have had the road ranger conversion which prob helps the drivability but far as I know it has never given trouble so never changed.

Your comment of the cab rusting from the inside out sounds a little scary, hopefully the fact that this one got a new cabin in the eighties due to an accident and that its caring owner puts it to bed in the shed every night for the past 20+ years has kept the cancer away. In saying that fish oil will be good insurance!

What else should be checked?

G'day Classic truckin

Age wise i think she is a fairly late one, did all the Aussie builds get the black plastic grille?

The early 70s' G88s' had chrome flush grill
Looking forward to seeing the pics of yours
They were a good Truck.
Cheers

Slasha