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It has been 15 years since Sam Cooke transported the rusting hulk of a 1940 ex-Army 1.5 tonne Ford truck from under a tree in Fernside, Canterbury to his shed in Kaipara Flats.
The truck cost $1000 and he estimates that in the intervening years, he has probably spent nearly $50,000 on its restoration, but wasn’t keen to put an exact figure on it in case it upset his wife.
The project has also absorbed “hundreds and hundreds” of hours of his own time, without spending a second on the road yet.
“My enthusiasm comes and goes, but I am looking forward to taking her for a drive one of these days,” he says.
“It’s probably about 80 per cent done.”
What first attracted Cooke to the truck was that despite the poor state it was in, it was original without modifications.
“You could tell it was ex-Army because the headlights had been modified so they didn’t reflect light at night and it looked like aerials had been fixed on the back of the cab.”
The restoration started with the removal of the cab, the V8 engine and all the running gear. The chassis was rebuilt, the engine reconditioned and rebored, and the cab rebuilt piece by piece. Grandson Joshua Kennedy helped with the paintwork.
“I’ve tried to keep everything as original as possible, but there have had to be some compromises. For instance, when the truck was built, they were adding petrol to the paint to give it a matte finish. We used flattening agents instead but the colour is as close as we could get it to the original.”
As a retired builder with an engineering background, Cooke has had an enviable workshop full of tools, timber and material off-cuts at his disposal.
“I’ve never done anything like this before so sometimes it feels like I’m taking one step forward and five steps backwards. I’ve used expertise when I’ve needed to but otherwise, I’ve done all the work myself, including manufacturing some of the parts and doing the wiring.
“It’s enjoyable most of the time, but I do get brassed off when I feel like I’m not making any progress, and the setbacks are frustrating.”
Sourcing parts has been a major mission and shipping has added significantly to costs. One wheel, for instance, took four years to secure and the US company making the required rubber gaskets shifted its manufacturing plant to China and started using inferior rubber.
“I’ve got gaskets that have only been in five years and they’re leaking already.”
The truck is undoubtedly now a collector’s item.
Cooke knows of three other similar trucks in the Mahurangi area, one in Auckland and another in the National Army Museum in Waiouru. Eventually, he would like to see his truck on public display as well.
“I guess I’ll get to drive it one of these days! In the meantime, I start her up every now and again, just to hear her run. She sounds pretty good.”
