Love at first sight...

After yesterday's truckin' across the UK, today's job was to get 519 unloaded and into the shed.

Unloading was simple enough, although nerve-wracking given that the foot brakes don't currently work and the hand brake is weak to say the least! Still, with Tony's gentle guidance, 519 eased down the ramps and onto the concrete.

I then spun it round across the concrete pad so I could unpack the Ikea-style flatpack bodywork on the back! As promised and confirmed by a cursory check yesterday, it was all there - tail board, side boards, corner posts, hood sticks (with hose layer adaptations) and the centre partitions. Excellent! Now just to wrestle with the bits and get them back on.....:

Once that was done, out came the pressure washer and years of grime and dust were blown away, as were a few birds nests underneath!! The finished result looks much more pleasing.....!

Once that was done, 519 was moved inside and over the pit in the workshop so that some oil could be removed from the engine, which had been over-filled. In the end, I guess about 2-3 litres were dropped, and I almost kept my hands and arms oils free!!

This did give a great chance to see how good the engine access is on a Q4 compared with the Bedford RL where you have to fold yourself around the cab in various contortion exercises!

Before it was put to bed, I also had a good nose around to see some of the other features of this strange vehicle! It is like a complete time warp, it having only really had two owners since it was in AFS service, service to the nation which finished in 1989 with only 600 miles on the clock.

The 'flared nostrils' look at the front:

The cosy but well laid out cab with additional, more modern AFS switches on the drivers side:

The four wheel drive controls with low and high range and front axle de-clutch unit:

The original trim intact and unmolested, including the headlining:

The proof that it's hardly even broken in!! Just 1,742 miles since 1954......:

It may well be a good few months now until more progress is made, but please do keep watch on the restoration of this fascinating and increasingly rare vehicle!