Thread: Anyone Travelling the Coast Road from Sydney to Brisbane - See if you can spot thiis!

Originally Posted by ramblingboy42

If I remember rightly , the bore fitters gang had an almost identical looking Dodge 3 ton tray 4wd with a 318 Chrysler V8 petrol which drank petrol at a prodigious rate.

Hello Rambling Boy,

From what I have been told - Bluey was made in Victoria for Telecom. Shipped across to WA where it spent all of its working life. Then the third owner back from me - some how got it to Western Sydney. It was then owned by a bloke who does Variety Bashes. It proved to be too much of a project for him. The bloke I bought it off then got the engine going and the van being able to drive around his paddock. It was then decided to concentrate on his Mini. Then I was dumb enough to look online at the classified section.... "come in spinner"!

A number of sleepless nights trying to work out how to get my future tow vehicle towed to Bundaberg later .... Ironically, the whole point of getting a tow vehicle is not to find myself in the same situation again.

Kind regards
Lionel

Originally Posted by p38arover

Lionel, where did you find the Inter? Kurrajong?

I saw a blue 4WD one just like yours recently out on Northern Road near Windsor and said to my wife "I wouldn't mind that."

Oddly enough she didn't seem to agree.

Hello Ron,

Close but not quite a coconut Ron...Try East Kurrajong!

It spent part of Monday being driven to the St Mary's weighbridge. Getting taken off the tilt tray truck. Put on the weighbridge - weighed and then taken back to East Kurrajong.

Hmmm - wife knowing about it ... that could be an interesting road I am about to travel on. I already have enough, to quote... "rusty vehicles that don't work, sitting in our paddock that spoil the look of our place"

Kind regards
Lionel

I wonder if the one (also blue) I saw at Windsor is still there.

Originally Posted by Lionelgee

It spent part of Monday being driven to the St Mary's weighbridge. Getting taken off the tilt tray truck. Put on the weighbridge - weighed and then taken back to East Kurrajong.

The weighbridge was closed on Friday when I went past about lunchtime. I thought the coronavirus must have caused it to close.

Lionel,
Well done. I have just acquired the majority of pieces of an Inter of similar vintage for the same reason - my father was a diesel mechanic in the Department of Civil Aviation and used the work van when he was doing airstrip lighting backup power systems in Western Queensland. Is the van body on yours steel or fibreglass? The van body I have is fibreglass.
Best of luck with your project!
Alan

Originally Posted by aussearcher

Lionel,
Well done. I have just acquired the majority of pieces of an Inter of similar vintage for the same reason - my father was a diesel mechanic in the Department of Civil Aviation and used the work van when he was doing airstrip lighting backup power systems in Western Queensland. Is the van body on yours steel or fibreglass? The van body I have is fibreglass.
Best of luck with your project!
Alan

G'day Alan,

Yes - fibreglass back. The same type of vehicle was made into ambulances for the RAAF and also the St John's Ambulance. Best of luck with your restoration too. Maybe we can help each other out on leads of where to get parts from.

IN the attached photo it looks like an IH emblem on the hood. As you know Dodges shared a similar origin to our Internationals. Not sure of the model or Series of the two-wheel drive ambulance. The ambulance in the other photograph shows its badge very clearly. Plus two more Internationals.

Photographs accessed 4th of April 2020 from Page not found | Facebook

Page not found | Facebook


Okay - you have to join the Australian Ex-Ambulance Appreciation Group to be able to click on the link and follow the photographs source. So much ambulance eye candy on display on that site. Some really beautiful cars were made into ambulances. For example, the 1966 Ford Galaxie Ex Ambulance.

A posting came up today for another Land Rover ambulance - so it makes the 1961 vehicle and my 1963 the only two Land Rover ex-Army Land Rovers on the Ex-Ambulance Appreciation site. I just looked further back and I found a 1969 Land Rover ambulance so that makes three - so far.

I just found the photograph in the Ex-Ambulance site I was looking for... Just a couple of ambos on parade

Last photograph is of an International Ambulance with a different looking module on the back.

Kind regards
Lionel

Lionel,
Thanks! There seem to be a couple of wreckers down here in Victoria that specialise in old Inters, so let me know if you can't find something near you. My heap of parts does not include an engine. One of the suggestions made to me is to install a Ford "Barra" 6, which are on Fleabay as crate engines so potentially an option.
How sure are you that yours started as a Telecom vehicle? (Mine began life with the State Electricity Commission of Victoria). The reason I ask is that Telecom seem to have generally used Dodges, whereas DCA seem to have used Inters exclusively. I've been trying for some time to match the DCA yellow paint (which is different from the Telecom yellow) so if you come across some yellow paint in good condition somewhere on your van please let me know!

One of the problems we are both going to face is paint removal from the van body. Normal paint strippers eat fibreglass. There are special (marine) paintstrippers for glass but they are expensive. Sandblasting removes the gelcoat, so that is a no-go. Soda blasting is gentle enough not to take the gelcoat off but is time consuming and therefore expensive. Which leaves manual sanding - and these vans are quite big! Any suggestions on this front will be very welcomed!
Kind Regards,
Alan

I would suggest the perkins, its a good solid unit and more or less period correct for the vehicle (not to the vehicle itself just the engine was available when the vehilce was) and parts are not too hard to get for it (not that you'll likely need them)

Originally Posted by aussearcher

Lionel,
Thanks! There seem to be a couple of wreckers down here in Victoria that specialise in old Inters, so let me know if you can't find something near you. My heap of parts does not include an engine. One of the suggestions made to me is to install a Ford "Barra" 6, which are on Fleabay as crate engines so potentially an option.
How sure are you that yours started as a Telecom vehicle? (Mine began life with the State Electricity Commission of Victoria). The reason I ask is that Telecom seem to have generally used Dodges, whereas DCA seem to have used Inters exclusively. I've been trying for some time to match the DCA yellow paint (which is different from the Telecom yellow) so if you come across some yellow paint in good condition somewhere on your van please let me know!

One of the problems we are both going to face is paint removal from the van body. Normal paint strippers eat fibreglass. There are special (marine) paintstrippers for glass but they are expensive. Sandblasting removes the gelcoat, so that is a no-go. Soda blasting is gentle enough not to take the gelcoat off but is time consuming and therefore expensive. Which leaves manual sanding - and these vans are quite big! Any suggestions on this front will be very welcomed!
Kind Regards,
Alan

Hello Alan,

Thank you for the information Alan. Especially about the note of caution about fiberglass and paint strippers!

Just wondering whether this yellow is bright enough for you? There is another photograph that I have to hunt down that shows the original paint on the dash. I will post it up once I find it. Okay I had to contact the previous owner because the photographs of the dash were deleted from the site after I bought the van. I have not seen the truck in real life yet. However, the paint on the dash seems very familiar to me with the Telecom yellow. The paint also looks original - well to me. That colour is one that is hard to forget - plus a number of previous owners gave the van the same origins. Hopefully the story has not grown and become a case of misinterpreted Chinese whispers?