“I decided a project truck was required in my life, so for the princely sum of a bottle of scotch, I had myself an AEC,” says Kevin Gillin, as he recalls the moment he exchanged liquor for a 1972 AEC Marshall.
- Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter to receive the latest news and classifieds from Australia’s transport industry.
- Don’t miss a second and subscribe to our monthly Deals on Wheels magazine.
- Sell your truck with Australia’s #1 truck classifieds
Kevin realised the restoration of this truck wasn’t going to be easy, as it was in far from pristine condition.
To some, it seemed like a waste of time – but Kevin saw the rig’s potential.
“On the day of pick-up, my mate was driving off the property when he looks across to me and says, ‘I think the bloke with the bottle of scotch got the better deal.’ Such is life!
“While the truck was mobile and being used as a rubbish truck on a ginger farm, it certainly was a bit ‘how’ya going’, to say the least.
“Some advice I got from fellow acquaintances was to save myself some heartache and take it straight to the recyclers.
“Being one not to die wondering, I started the journey.”
To say the truck was in rough shape would be an understatement. The cabin was a rusted disaster, the chassis was riddled with issues, and the engine was a mystery.
But for Kevin, this was just the beginning.
A hot water blast made things a lot clearer, and a major dismantling project was next on the agenda, stripping the rig to bare bones.
“After removing the chassis rivets, I tack welded the inner rails to the cross members so I could get some purchase on the porta-power to spread the outer rail slightly.
“The growth in the rail was mainly confined to the flange areas, and the web surfaces were in great shape. Upon removing and cleaning, rust converting, priming and painting they came up well.
“When I went to put them back in, I had to slightly prise the outer rail open as it had closed upon the removal of the inner.”
Kevin says after that process was complete, he could now concentrate on more mechanical pieces.
Slowly but surely, he was moving forward, from checking the six rod trunnion bushes to replacing the radius rod bushes, the shackle pins and removing the hand brake mechanism, as it was replaced with maxi brakes and late model valving.
The AEC gearbox was an RTO-610 and wasn’t staying in one gear, so it was removed and rebuilt, along with a new clutch.
“I fully flushed the engine, rebuilt the water pump, the compressor, the injector pump and injectors and now it runs well,” he says.
“Being an eight-wheel Marshall, it’s not exactly overburdened with power, compared to my 680-powered Beaver which would fly.
“A gantry was built behind the cabin to hold the air cleaner, vertical exhaust and a header tank to replace the plastic water bottle on the front of the engine.”
Then it was time for the cabin, which was in a terrible state, so Kevin scoured the Australian countryside for any spare parts he could find – cabins, doors, panels or anything else that looked handy.
“The finished product is from an assortment of trucks, doors, windscreens, external sun visor, mudguards and tray body.”
Along his journey, he ran into many people willing to help him create a trucking masterpiece.
“It was a very big, involved circle of everybody trying to help each other and looking out for me,” he says.
“That’s part of the old truck game, the camaraderie that goes with it.
“When you see a photo of a truck, that’s not a one-man job. I didn’t do this truck all by myself, there were people helping me along the way.
“It was painted by somebody else, and I did all the mechanical and donkey work.”
He completed trial fitments for lots of components, lengthened the chassis and shortened the tray from 8.5 metres to 7.0 metres, only then was it ready for the sandblasters and painters.
The tray, chassis and cabin were painted as separate items and put back together.
“With no labels legible on the wiring, I spent many hours on a circular bench testing and marking the ends of the cables and cleaning up a distribution and fuse board, only to then rewire the truck from scratch with all new instruments and 21st century wiring.
“An extra gauge was added to a newly cut 3-millimetre aluminium dash fascia for a fuel gauge.”
The diff ratio is 7.14, which gives the truck a speed of about 72kph, and it includes a front diff with a power divider of a 5.87 ratio.
Now that the truck was up and running, it was time to make it into a showpiece.
Originally a Kiwi, Kevin was inspired by a New Zealand company called Emmerson Transport.
Flying back to his roots for a holiday while rebuilding the truck, he noticed the alluring green colour of Emmerson’s fleet taking off from a port.
As he stopped and stared, he decided he loved the look and immediately reached out to the owner for his permission to use the same colour on his truck.
After receiving the go-ahead, the resto was finally complete after eight years.
But the Marshall wasn’t always the attention-grabber that it is now. In fact, in its past life it was a red tipper.
Its work involved varied roles, from carting cane to having a makeshift crate that carted cattle and later was used by a fencing contractor who hauled posts and a bulldozer.
The rig is living history, with photos chronicling its restoration journey down the driver’s side of the truck – with images of the state it was in when Kevin first found it, with its tipper body barely hanging on.
The truck’s story is also told through its past owners. Kevin has tracked down and spoken to most of them, piecing together the history of a machine that has been on many adventures long before it became his, with the original owner still unknown.
But how the Marshall Ergomatic came to be Kevin’s was via a simple catch of the eye.
Starting in the field of transport at age 13 scrubbing grease-caked floors, by 16 Kevin was driving freight and by 18 he was assigned his first truck, a 1958 J6 Bedford Diesel.
“Shortly after, along came a bigger unit, a KH (Leyland 400, Power Plus) Bedford truck and trailer stock unit, then the same style Bedford, truck and dog tipper unit,” he says.
“Following this, the company purchased an AEC Mammoth Major (Ergomatic) 8×4 tipper and trailer unit.
“I thought this was light years ahead, in power, comfort and drivability. From all the trucks I drove in those early years – the K900 Dodge, the Benz or an Isuzu – the one that grabbed me was the Ergo.”
Moving to Australia in 1974, he owned a transport business for 35 years and when it came time for his retirement in 2011, he found his passion for trucks was far from extinguished. After previously driving an Ergo, Kevin stumbled upon this wrecked machine close to where he delivered fuel, igniting the beginning of his eight-year journey.
In a world of disposable goods, this labour of love was a reminder to Kevin and his sceptics that some things are worth saving.
Read more:
- Perth’s Camp Quality Convoy raised $400,000 for sick children
- Former ambulance driver shares 1942 Ford Flathead resto story
- Truck lover discovers Belgium’s Holridge fleet during European holiday
- Rock star lyrics adorn Rasmussen Bulk Haulage’s dazzling Kenworths
- Truckies Toy Run brings Christmas cheer to families
Check out the Deals on Wheels Facebook here.