1952 Jowett Bradford Utility

Offside rain channel formed & trail fitted 



The most difficult channel to form is the one over the rear doors 



This wraps around the rear pillars of the van and then joins the side rails 



It needs to sit slightly low on the corner and have a drain spout formed to it in order to allow the channel to drain away from rear door apertures - Has previously stated Bradford vans were built like most vans of the period 'To a virtually agricultural quality' Hence they weren't 100% water tight - needless to say I'll do my best to improve on this but without altering the original appearance of the van    

I formed the radius arc section from the middle by stretching it then fastening it into place as I worked towards the door pillars - the wrap around the radius of the pillars this time was done through annealing (moderate heat to until the channel turned a light straw in colour - then cooled with the blow gun / airline) I then just gently tapped it around the shape of the pillar - then trimmed it to length & fastened it in situ - just a light block sanding to remove any marks in the face of the alloy to finish 

Horizontal panel bead cut & fitted to the offside rear 



Final panel bead is fitted to the top of the bulkhead 



This secures the front edge of the fabric roof 



I'm now on with trial fitting all the external hardware to van 



First up is the nearside door handle which locks internally hence no external key locking 



The offside being externally locked - the handles required several modifications to make them fit - The PZ screwheads will be replaced with slotted chrome head countersunk screws upon the the final fitting up 



Rear door T handle fitted - next up is the glazing 
 

Unfortunately there's lots of smaller parts missing from this project and its not the type of parts that are easy to come by unless you are not looking for them - then you fall over them - This is typical - the correct bracket for retaining the semaphore arm trafficator in position - I have various brackets just not the correct one - All my likely contacts / suppliers have drawn a blank too 



Thankfully I had one to pattern from and modified another bracket to suit 



Then fitted - the top of the panel aperture is incorrect and I'll close this up as I work on the panel profiles 



Sliding door glass next 



The bottom channel for the window regulator is corroded beyond use on the nearside glass and its completely missing on the offside one 



Ready made channels are available off the shelf from a specialist supplier but you then have to trim them to length and hand them for each side - The Bradford van is fitted with a sprung assisted window regulator that holds the window in position 



To the top of the glass is a bracket handle to allow the glass to be opened / closed by hand - these were chrome originally but are going to painted 



One side is corroded beyond use and the brackets are not commonly available 



I replaced the side with a fresh steel section - welded in & dressed back 



The vans were fitted with a tool box behind the drivers seat - this was missing but our club registrar supplied me with an original pattern  



I fabricated a new one from the pattern and fitted it - A wooden hinged lid will be fitted 



Wiper motor & nearside spindle fitted - it works on a tandem arm system with the powered offside linked by a rod to the nearside wiper arm 



Radiator cowl badge checked for fit 



I'm now on with the lighting - the van came with nothing hence all light fittings are new 



I'm having to modify things to fit - the headlamp bowl apertures have to be lengthened in order to get the lamps to sit level / at a upright angle 



More soon 

Jowett vans were 2 tone - black wings and sometimes the radiator cowl was black too over a handful of basic solid body colours - the roof is fabric and is also black - The owner has gone for a non standard Jowett colour of Prussian Blue (darker violet blue) which having seen the sample I think is very well suited - we still do the wings in black 

Is there a logic to putting in all the glass before paint? Will it be removed for paint?

I sort of expected that, but figured glass is usually relatively safe to assume it will fit. Although this type of hand built vehicle obviously follows different rules. It is for sure the best approach, though time consuming. Good to see the high standards maintained!

Offside headlamp now modified to fit 



The front quarter panels have been modified further to allow clearance for the front chassis rail caps 



Front bumper trial fitted - this required some straightening up of the bumper irons which were quite badly twisted 



Rear D lamps fitted - these are combination brake / tail / indicator & rear number plate - I'll add rear reflectors to the outer rear panels 



More soon 

Door mirror mountings have been drilled & trial fitted 



Originally the van had a long stem mounted off the windscreen pillar with a small round mirror - these tend to vibrate and give blurred / restrictive vision - hence a larger type mirror on a shorter stem mounting to the door 



The door hinge pins on the offside were quite worn and I've been tracking down a set of pins to the correct diameter



Both replaced & shimmed along some adjustments made to the catches & striker plates 



The original alloy door shut covers were fitted on both sides - I'll change the screws over to slotted before the apertures are painted 


 
Metal dash panel trial fitted - this requires a few welded repairs but I wanted to check the fitting of it first 



Inner frames for window apertures were also checked for fitting 



Some of the metal frames have been repaired and bearing in mind that the ash frame of van is new this is an essential task - Just one of the frames requires slight modification - apart from the one around the windscreen which I have yet to fit 



New spare wheel tray requires trail fitting and is next on the list 



More soon