1953 Fargo Panel Van project

[Geekay]

My first project.

 

 

The van was "parked" on a farm next to my sister's farm for over 30 years. That farmer drove it there with intentions to restore it but that never happened. Now it's mine.

It is complete with only one hubcap and the starter motor missing.

The van was oringinally owned by Arthur Dykes who I am told was a professional fisherman of the Murray River in this area, netting Murray Cod etc.

 

 

[48Dodger]

Very very cool. Love the side windows!

 

48D

[Jeff Balazs]

Really....really cool. You folks down under sure got some interesting rides.

Have fun with it and please post more photos as you go.

 

Jeff

I just bet Davin will want to see this one up close.

[NiftyFifty]

Very cool project, I see the first thing it needs is a bath outside and in. Would make a great 4x4 project too

[Desotodav]

Welcome aboard GK. Glad to see you finally made it here!

 

I just bet Davin will want to see this one up close.

 

You're not wrong there Jeff. Garry and I have been chatting for a few months now and I've finally lured him over to our forum. I have a 'suburban' truck similar to his but mine is a later model, and it's in much worse condition than GK's. I expect that you will see a big change in appearance of GK's 'suburban' truck soon. He has already 'caught the bug' and recently bought a second truck. I reckon that there's just no stopping at one!

[dontknowitall]

Welcome to the forum mate, lots of great info and support here

 

 

Edited July 29, 2014 by dontknowitall

[ggdad1951]

awesome!  I look forward to watching your progress!

[Jeff Balazs]

Welcome aboard GK. Glad to see you finally made it here!

 

 

You're not wrong there Jeff. Garry and I have been chatting for a few months now and I've finally lured him over to our forum. I have a 'suburban' truck similar to his but mine is a later model, and it's in much worse condition than GK's. I expect that you will see a big change in appearance of GK's 'suburban' truck soon. He has already 'caught the bug' and recently bought a second truck. I reckon that there's just no stopping at one!

Davin;

Somehow I knew you would be all over that. You guy's sure have some nice projects down there. I can already tell that this one is going to be a real honey.

Have fun.

 

Jeff

[HanksB3B]

Real Nice !

 

Welcome to the forum,

 

Hank

[Conroe Powdercoating]

thats awesome

I love those, great save

[Geekay]

All i wanted was a starter motor!!

 

My sisters husband, Peter, who saved the Fargo, and "offered" it to me (he only restores old Fords) has contacts everywhere abd it wasn't long before he was told about this ute. Same model and same starter motor.

So now the whole ute is mine too! Lucky Peter has space on his farm to store it.

I am not sure yet whether I also purchased the auger and barbed wire in the back of the ute?

I can see how this restoring "hobby" takes off....and before you know it......you have two!!

 

For Aussie history buffs this ute was in Greta (about 1 hours drive from me) where our infamous oulaw Ned Kelly operated (stealing horses, robbing banks etc) in the 1860/70's, until he was eventually hanged in 1880. Glenrowan, where he was captured, is about 10 km (7 mile) away.

Greta is now just the name of the area with no town, just a church left and a cemetary.

He body was laid to rest just down the road at the Greta cemetary last year.  There actually were 5 non descript graves dug and he placed in one.  Only direct family know where.

 

 

[B1B Keven]

Awesome. Welcome!!!

[Young Ed]

For Aussie history buffs this ute was in Greta (about 1 hours drive from me) where our infamous oulaw Ned Kelly operated (stealing horses, robbing banks etc) in the 1860/70's, until he was eventually hanged in 1880. Glenrowan, where he was captured, is about 10 km (7 mile) away.

Greta is now just the name of the area with no town, just a church left and a cemetary.

He body was laid to rest just down the road at the Greta cemetary last year.  There actually were 5 non descript graves dug and he placed in one.  Only direct family know where.

 

Where was he from 1880-2013??

[pflaming]

Where, from 1880 - 2013? Easy answer, '. . . on a slow boat from China'!

[Geekay]

Where was he from 1880-2013??

He was previously buried at Pentridge jail in Melbourne were he was hanged.  The jail has been demolished and turned into a housing estate.

Strangely most of his skull had been removed before initial burial for "medical" study. Australia is probably split 50/50 on whether he was a victim of police harassment or just a thief and police murderer.

[Geekay]

Gradually the project moves on.

Cleaned it up inside and out then removed doors, bonnets, fuel tank, oil filter and radiator.

Now working towards getting the motor firing.

First item was finding a starter motor.  I had a 6v (Fargo is 12v) so opted to get that serviced and about to bolt it on.

Then make sure fuel lines are clean and fuel pumping working.

What are the chances that the fuel pump will work?

Then next is make sure oil is pumping.

The engines turns over with the aid of the "manual" Armstrong starter (i.e. crank handle) and seems to have compression iin each cyclinder.

BTW: has anyone actually hand cranked a motor and started it...I reckon it would take some effort?

I haven't yet taken of the side plates to look at the valve stems to check spring etc.  Hoping for the best that emough valves are functioning to get it to fire.

 

[Geekay]

Couple more pics after clean up.

[Desotodav]

Looking good GK.

You may find that you need a new diaphragm for the fuel pump (as I did), but fingers crossed that it will start for you!

[ruff1148kr]

Real cool truck got to say those rear windows reminded me of this cool video  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWLSk_Uk1JM

 

Welcome and good luck with your project   looks like a great start

[50plymouth]

Have a look at the AoK  blog. Kingsbury has a 1951 Fargo panel truck entry over there and likely worth contacting him. Before I had seen his entry I didnt even realize these existed. Now I see two of them  Where did you find this ?

[Geekay]

It runs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Milestone day yesterday with the motor running continuously and restarting another 4 times since.

Not bad considering it was driven to a farm 30 years ago and parked.

I just had to install a starter motor (which had been removed) but everything else original.

Same plugs, coil, plug leads, carby (not touched), distributor and points.  Removed fuel pump and sealed the diapragm as was leaking, and a new cork gasket in glass bowl....it is still not functioning and I suspect I have not installed it correctly.  I think the lever arm is not riding on the cam.  It is a bitch to install as diddficult to get at, but I will have another go.  Stared a new post asking for tips on this.  So set up a temporary fuel tank with hose direct to carby and gravity feed.

Once it coughed and spluttered a few times and i played with the choke it puffed out clouds of blue smoke (I had put some engine oil down the cylinder heads reguarly over weeks and turn the motor over with the hand crank) and kept running.

It seems to be idling quite well. One cyclinder may not be fiiring consistantly as getting a bit of a "puff" out the exhaust.  How well do these motors run on 5 cylinders?

And has anyone ever started one just using the hand crank?

[Desotodav]

Congratulations, and well done GK! The old truck lives again hey.

I have a few hand cranks but I haven't been game enough to start a truck with one yet.

I guess that a compression test of your motor will be next? An exhaust pop could be as simple as a stuck valve.

I have been down a bit closer to your place for the last week (at Kiama), so who knows maybe I'll travel a bit further down the coast one day!

[48Dodger]

YES!!!!!! Congrats GK!!

 

I'm thinking 6 cylinders is better to start with, but I've been known to cross the finishline with only five. lol

 

The greatest thing ever, will always be, the ability of a truck to move under its OWN power!!! Oh....and bikinis.

 

48D

[Geekay]

Brake drums are off rear wheels!

 

A job that has been challenging me for months is the removal of the rear drum brakes.

I read all the great Tech info and various posts about this common situation and gradually moved from hoping it would be easier to being bloody near impossible.

Finally, with help from local Chrysler enthusiastic who said his dad had a decent puller.

So, thanks to his dad Arnie at Japo Donks Wreckers (Aussie for "Asian built Engines"  ) here in Wodonga who lent me this multi fit beast.

And, yes, I had to belt it with a sledge hammer a lot harder than I was originally comfortable with, as someone had posted, no room for the feint hearted.

 

 

 

The inside looks okay (I think??)

 

Now the front drums which should be easier.

Remove the squared top of the brake fluid reservoir under the drivers feet. Already tried this and it is going to take some persuasion.

[Desotodav]

They don't look too bad GK. Have obviously had leaky inner and outer seal/s over time, but they should clean up alright.

It's not an easy job removing the brake master cylinder as there are plenty of other things in the way (in our Oz trucks), but it can be done. I've removed the whole assembly in my trucks before I had them rebuilt, but this was made easier as I had the floor/firewall panels removed at the time. The bush where the brake pedal meets the assembly can become worn, so check for excessive play while you're working in that area. Looks like your little project is coming along nicely!