Too good for the scrapyard
Page 23
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Veteran body gets new chassis
Too good to sell for scrap. . . that was the verdict of W. G. Eales (Transport) Ltd,. Wellingborough, when the company took a closer look at the Bonallack light-alloy dropside body on a 1963 Ford Thames Trader normal-control chassis which was due for replacement. So Eales decided to have the body transferred to the new chassis — a Ford D1110 of 156in. wheelbase—and to give it a new lease of useful life.
Built by Bonallack and Sons Ltd—as the Basildon division of Freight Bonallack Ltd was then called — in February 1963, the body had carried 7-ton payloads regularly on journeys amounting to an average of 32,000 miles a year, over the intervening nine years. It had stood up so well to this service that it was judged fit enough for another lifetime of hard work.
The transfer operation involved shortening the D1110 chassis by some 9in. behind the rear axle and cutting one body cross-bearer off level with the outer faces of the chassis side-members in order to provide sufficient bump clearance above the rear wheels. Additionally, new rave sections had to be fitted to allow for the different position of the rear mudguards, while a new valance panel (carrying the original Bonallack reference plate) was fitted across the rear end to improve appearance.
Apart from these small items, the transfer involved no other parts. Even the original timber packing pieces were used again between body and chassis frame.
With dropsides no longer in use, the body on its new chassis is employed either as a flat platform or, when fitted with a timberframed container (itself a veteran), as a van delivering supplies to shops. Platform loads are often metal castings, motor components and leather scrap, but palletized loads of bagged fertilizer and other products for farms and agricultural merchants also constitute a major portion of the business. Normally all journeys are confined within a radius of 45 miles of Wellingborough.
Eales has also salvaged another Bonattack body of 1963 vintage, from a timeexpired 5-tonner. This body is being stored until the company decides to buy a suitable new chassis for it.