1952 Jowett Bradford Utility

Bulkhead to radiator stay made up & fitted 



Some of the fastenings have to be rebated / modified to clear other panels such as the bonnet sides 



Other brackets cleaned up and fitted but I will have to look at lengthening the radiator hoses which are now fouling the diagonal brackets that support the wing & headlamp brackets 



Quarter panels fitted to the radiator cowl 



Then the nearside front wing was fitted 



I'll fit the offside wing in the morning 



Meanwhile I headed over to the shotblaster to drop the rear door skins off 



Whilst out that way I called in at the barn to collect the last few pieces for the van that I had in storage - namely the seats 



One of which I have stripped so Mrs GN could see what's involved in making up new covers for them 



I'll strip the other one in morning and the frames can go to the blaster for de-rusting 

I need to get the rear door skins cleaned up as these are going on the stand at the forthcoming Restoration Show 



I'd already removed the paint off the nearside one but still needed to get the offside back to bare metal - a quick soak with a suitable paint stripper 



The a buzz over with the DA sander 



The bottom section of the skin is being replaced on both doors 



2 new repair sections folded up to replicate the original flange 



Inner face of the skins along with the flange edges were treated with Hydrate 80 



Centre panel that covers the timber crossmembers was made up 



I already have the 2 rear quarter panels and the door for the spare wheel in stock that were supplied by Jowett Car Spares 



The two rear pillar sections had been poorly primed previously and were showing signs of rust hence these have been cleaned back 



And treated to fresh primer 

Undertook some modifications to the new rear door frame to enable it to accommodate the larger rear windows that were fitted to the utility 



Then primed any bare metal areas on the inner face of the repaired door skin 



A few further frame modifications required in order to provide mounting points for the inner window frame surround 



The commenced attaching the door skin to the frame 



Originally the skins were pinned with nails to the frame but I've opted to countersink the skin flange and use screws to attach it 



The skin will require some further reshaping along with some heat shrinking in a few areas to remove stretching / distortion but I'll hang the door to the hinges first before undertaking this 

Offside rear door was trail fitted 



Several adjustments made to ease the fit and achieve the correct gapped overlap onto the surrounding panels - This is much more difficult on a timber framed vehicle than you might first imagine



Repairs to the nearside rear door are virtually identical to that of the offside door 



The bottom 100mm along with the flange edge that secures the skin to the frame were very weak 



New bottom section let in 



Followed by a repair section to the underside of the window aperture 



Both repairs dressed back 



I used swaged / rebated flanges to effect the repairs and to mitigate heat distortion from the welding process to a minimum 



The ash door frame was then trimmed back / eased to suit the door skin 



And the skin trail fitted to the frame



Door trail fitted to the van but requires many adjustments 



Which requires the skin to be removed from the door frame and adjustments made 



Internal edges to the skin now primed it can be refitted to the frame - more later 

The welding of a 4mm round bar to the edge of the offside rear door in order to close the gapping 



When dressed back gave a much more acceptable 5mm gapping rather than the previous overwide 10mm + 



The original door stays have been refitted



Pozidrive screws used initially to create the thread into the frames - Ill replace these for period slotted head screws when I finally assemble the van after paint 



The central sprung loaded catch was rebated into the door frames  



And checked for operation - its all tight currently but will ease with use
 

2 of the side frames for the sliding windows were fitted with new corner fillets 



The seized window catches were freed off and will live to see another life with the van 



The rear wings were worked to remove the acres of excess weld and were then made good with numerous pin holes that had been left by the previous repairer in the weld beads 



Slowly building a small pile of completed panels & fittings 



Followed by the nearside rear wing 



Which was then trial fitted - there's a wing piping that fits between the wing & rear panel upon final fitment 


 
I then trial fitted the offside rear wing - this needs to come back off and the bolt aperture holes elongated to allow the panel to rebate into the side panel further so that it matches the nearside 

Offside door with door catch & inner door plate fitted 



The latches & keeps were refurbished and rebated into the B post then adjusted to suit the door fit 



Which overall give a reasonable door fit & aperture gapping 



I still need to fit the lower buffer to the B post / door frame 



But need to attend to the bottom rear corner of the door first 



Which will require a welded repair 

I need to progress this further and finalise the panel fits along with the last remaining areas of welding & minor fabrication 



First job was to fabricate & fit the wing stay & bracket to the rear of the offside front wing - I had already previously completed the nearside one 



This in turn trues up the profile of the wing - I make them adjustable to allow for final alignment 



Next was to make adjustments on the front quarter panels to allow them to align with the front wing 



Soon sorted by slotting the panel with a slitting disc then closing up the difference before welding up & dressing back - the gap between the wing and the quarter panel will be addressed when I next remove the front wing 



The nearside was a repeat process of the offside 



Minor welding repairs to the base of the radiator cowl 



Next was the panel fit & gapping of the offside front door - Now Bradford vans were obviously built as light commercial vehicles and to a reasonable standard but that standard was somewhat agricultural - whilst this will be no museum piece the door fit needs to be better than what they currently are 


 
Fit at the top rear of the frame was fine 



Bottom rear of the door is a different story with it standing out some 7mm of alignment with the rear panel - there is also something decidedly bodged about the bottom corner of the door skin 

 

Front of the door and the gapping is all over the place - uneven in some areas 



And its way too tight against the bulkhead between the door hinges 



Sid called into carry out a progress inspection then went on door security duties for the afternoon 



The front door edge was trimmed back then welded & dressed back to achieve an acceptable gapping 



All of the van from the bulkhead backwards is ash framed including the doors 



Firstly I made some adjustments by packing out the bottom of the B post which in turn reduced some of the difference between the alignment of the door & rear panel 


 
Then packed the B post out permanently



Some adjustment on the door catch brought the alignment of the door much closer 



I then removed the bottom corner of the door skin only to find a fibreglass bodge behind the skin 



By locally reducing the ash frame of the door in the bottom corner where I removed the sectioned piece 


 
Then letting in a newly fabricated section and dressing it back the required alignment with the rear panel was achieved - Thanks for looking - more later  

Swaged bead now fixed to the offside bulkhead in the correct alignment for the door to the bonnet 



Nearside front door then - lower section front aperture gapping isn't too bad and will go as it is 



But the upper frame gapping against the windscreen pillar is too tight 



Upper rear aperture gapping is ok 



But the lower gapping is too tight - Now applying theory if you packed the top hinge off the A post it would open both the aperture gapping's at the front top & bottom rear of the door - But at the risk of closing the gapping at the top rear and run the risk of the upper door frame fouling against the B post - More critically it would lower the fixed raised half round profile at waist height on the door to the point that it runs at an angle - Hence we wont be packing the hinge 



Instead I reduced the door skin width with the angle grinder - in turn this splits the lapped flange bead between the door frame & door skin - this then requires welding back together & dressing back 



Tacked in / trail gapped 



Then fully welded / dressed back 



Same exercise with the rear lower gapping 



Front bottom corner of the door looked slightly thin & bodgey 



More of the fibreglass rear bodge from the previous owners attempts 



Now sectioned with a fresh steel repair let in 



That's the nearside front door to an acceptable fit 



Now on with the bulkhead repair & misaligned swaged profile bead 



Repair area removed and new section trial fitted - a few minor adjustments this morning and it can be welded in