John Hobbs reports on Pat Hayes’ superb restoration of a Bonser motor truck.

JIf I’d been invited, as I was at the Launceston Rally, to select what I thought was the best exhibit at the Tavistock Steam Fair held on June 1, my choice would have been a superbly restored Bonser motor truck, the property of Pat Hayes of Sidmouth.
Pat frequently displays elements of his horticultural and garden machinery collection at rallies in the South West, and the little truck was the latest of his many restorations of what many might consider to be rather mundane pieces of our horticultural and garden history.

The completed restoration: the Bonser at the Tavistock Steam Fair. Photos: John Hobbs, unless stated.

The maker’s plate indicates that the truck, made in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire by Bonser Engineering Ltd., is a Model T, Serial No. 600480, and states the lubricants recommended by the company: engine, Castrol XL, gearbox, Castrol XXL, and rear axle, Castrol Hypoy. It is thought that the truck dates from the 1950s when the price, new, would have been a little over £200.

The truck had been entered by a scrap merchant in the auction sale at the 2002 Honiton Hill Rally and was in a pretty sorry state. I’m quite certain that many restorers would not have taken up the challenge that Pat did, for parts - mechanical and other - were undoubtedly missing, the butt was rotten and the tyres were beyond re-use. The photograph (above centre) shows a box of parts on the driver’s platform, and therein were two dismantled gearboxes - as it turned out, something of a bonus!

The engine is a Villiers MK40 (single cylinder) and Pat found it needed a new set of piston rings and an exhaust valve, which he had little difficulty finding. He also rebuilt the exhaust system, which he ‘capped’ with a part designed for a JAP system. However, the engine guard proved to be a problem for it was rotted through. That task proved to be easier said than done for the usual supplier in London didn’t have one, and another whose name Pat was given could not be traced on the internet. He then attended several auto-jumbles but again had no luck, until he left a note on a board describing what he was after. The response was the name and address, written on the reverse, of an enthusiast who offered Pat a new guard!

Drive from the engine is by chain to the Albion gearbox that sits beside the off-side of the engine. Both of the ‘boxes mentioned were individually beyond restoration, but by careful attention to detail Pat was able to create a good example out of the two sets of parts he’d acquired with the truck. From the gearbox another chain drops away slightly to the cog that is attached to the drive shaft which is itself connected to the rear hypoid differential axle. It was suggested, when Pat was looking for replacement bearings and seals, that the axle might have had its origins in those fitted to Land Rovers of the day and that they were fitted to the Bonser’s upside-down to match the direction of drive within the engine. The Albion ‘box has three forward gears and one reverse, selected through a lever on the driver’s right-hand side, the clutch being managed by a pedal below the driver’s right foot. The kick-start is also on that side whilst the throttle cable is conveniently located to the driver’s left hand.

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