Deals on Wheels' resident restorer Lyndsay Whittle shares the latest updates from his Dodge RG13 restoration project
I’ve always been reasonably self-assured when it comes to being in possession of the facts and figures surrounding Bedford trucks; after all, the marque has been my centre of attention for the better part of 70 years, while RG Series Commers and Dodges were much later additions to my minuscule knowledge bank — more about this later.
But before we get into this part of the story, I must share something that amused me when I read the Ed’s notes in Issue 378 last month.
The Ed’s always right
The boss’ reminisces on the noisy interiors of older trucks prompted me to not waste any time fitting a radio to the Dodge this time round. The Ed said that if an old-school truck did have a radio fitted, it was pretty much useless because you could hardly hear what songs were being played anyway — a phenomenon to which I have a recent example.
Just the other day I was listening to a 1978 recording of the New Zealand group Dragon song that has the line “take me to the April sun in Cuba whoa”. What I heard over the roar of my TK Bedford’s 330cu diesel engine when that song first came out back in the day, was “take me to the airport honey whoa”.
I think it was months later that I heard what they were really saying when I listened to the song on the radio at home. Well, I guess it just goes to show that the old Ed really does know what he’s talking about. Anyway, on with our story.
The Bedford obsession stemmed from a K Bedford my dad used to borrow from a neighbour from time to time in the mid-1950s, hence the reason for the restored 1953 K that’s a focal point of my truck collection.
I also set about finding and restoring an FGK Series Morris and a D Series Ford most likely due to the fact I drove examples of these trucks in my formative years. Finally, in getting to the point of this nonsensical rambling, the current restoration came about (at least I think it did) because I bought a brand-new G-1190 (RG11) Dodge way back in 1980.
I ran this truck on a general freight run between Auckland and Hamilton for eight years.
Although it’s long gone to the junkyard in the sky, the Dodge still holds a place in my heart because of the money it made during its tenure. The fact of the matter is that it turned over its initial cost ($32k complete with the body) in six months.
I’ll openly admit I’d like to replicate that kind of figure again, but then dreams they say, are free.
Mr know-it-all
Because of my years behind the wheel of the Dodge, I developed what until a few days ago, I thought was a knowledge of Commer/Dodge specifications that was akin to my storehouse of Bedford stuff.
Recently, all that bravado came tumbling down in a giant heap when a friend came to me with a Dodge brochure that came out of Australia dated 1975, but first, let me back up a stage or two so I can explain some of my previous inaccuracies.
In not just one, but in many previous DOW issues, I’ve boldly stated that Hi-Line Commer/Dodges were badged as Commer until around 1979/1980 when they started being released as Dodge.
While that may have been correct for New Zealand, it turns out that wasn’t the case in the land of Australia, so when my mate Neil Beleski phoned me from the Auckland branch of the Vintage Car Club of New Zealand to tell me he’d come across a brochure for a 1975 Dodge D3F, I didn’t have the foggiest notion of what he was talking about.
Being the know-it-all that I am, I genuinely thought Neil was having a senior moment from what he said over the phone, and it wasn’t until he produced the article in the flesh that I realised that I didn’t know half as much as previously thought.
Evidently, the Dodge D3F (how they came by that designation is anybody’s guess) had four engine options: an inline 6-245cu inch petrol, which produced 150bhp; a V8 318cu inch 191bhp petrol, two variants of the naturally aspirated 6-354; and, of course, the turbo 6-354T.
There was no mention of the V8 Perkins engine that was used to power the RG15/G1513 trucks, so perhaps that was a later addition.
Anyway, thanks to Neil for his input and donation of the brochure, I’ll be adding him to the ever-increasing list of people who have contributed to my restoration articles over the past 12 years.
Harking back to that brochure, it’s easy to see how Japanese vehicles took the world by storm — just look at how bland the interior of that cab looks.
If you happen to be old enough to remember how austere British trucks of the day were, you’d have to admit that even the Dodge was quite flashy when compared to the Bedfords and Fords of the day.
Back on the shop floor
I was feeling quite elated when my parts finder mate Kevin (Kev) Healey found me a set of speedometer cables for the Dodge, as this was one thing I thought would be a bit of a problem to find.
The two-piece unit had sat around in the workshop waiting for the day someone would get around to fitting it. Getting up under the dashboard of any vehicle is never a pleasant experience, especially for a less-than-nimble 70-something-year-old, however, the other day I was feeling in the mood to give it a shot (fitting the cable that is — just thought I’d clarify that) and thought it shouldn’t take more than half an hour.
Having checked the configuration of the hole in the back of the speedometer, I’d established which end of the cable looked like it’d fit, I wove the cable between the labyrinth of wiring under the dash, through what appeared to be the appropriate hole in the floor of the cab and along the chassis rail and up to the connection point in the two-speed diff change-over unit.
All was going well until I tried to connect the cable to the unit only to find the cable had the wrong-sized connection.
Well, folks, that’s about as far as I’ve progressed with that part of the operation for this month. So, I’m going to have to ask around to find out how I can solve this because right at this very moment, it’s got me stumped — or at least, words to that effect. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated, so until next month.
Images by Lyndsay Whittle