GOLD RUSH —

LS-POWERED HAULER

IN A PREVIOUS LIFE, THIS OLD MORRIS TRUCK USED TO HAUL EXPORT APPLES FROM ORCHARD TO WHARF. NOW IT HAULS EXOTIC RACE CARS FROM THE RUSH FAMILY’S COLLECTION IN FEILDING TO RACE TRACKS AROUND NEW ZEALAND

At any historic race meeting around the country at any given time of the year, you will no doubt bump into a member of the Rush family, with one of their spectacular historic race cars in tow. The Rush Collection in the Manawatu is home to a plethora of vehicles of all makes and models, but it’s the Formula 5000 or Can-Am single-seaters that they own that steal the show, whether parked up in the family museum or hard on the brakes into a hairpin. At a certain point, seeing important historic race cars turning up at tracks in a box behind a modern tow car just wasn’t cutting the mustard anymore. Tim Rush decided that something a bit more period looking was needed. The family also wanted the flexibility to take a couple of cars if they felt in the mood, and they wanted something that could recover broken tractors and project cars from paddocks — not that their choice has got dirty doing that yet, mind you. However, the task of finding a factory vehicle from the era that ticked all the boxes proved nigh on impossible, leaving them little choice but to build something, so that’s what they did. Tim loved the rounded looks of the 1965 Morris FG60, but, after four years of fruitless searching he settled on a 1946 Chevrolet six-ton truck instead. The Chev was quickly stripped and the build began. But Tim is not one to give up easily, so, while he was building and planning the Chev ramp truck, he still had an eye out for the Morris that he yearned for. One fine day, fate stepped in, all the planets aligned, and he found just the thing online. He had to have it. The Morris was purchased, a transporter was hired and a roadie to the Hawke’s Bay was embarked on to pick up the ex–apple hauler and drag it back to the family shed where it would begin its second career, transporting cars instead of apples. The Rush family are a hands-on bunch, and this build was no different. The Chev idea was quickly mothballed the moment that the retired apple truck rolled into the shed, and then the ‘Morris dancing’ commenced! As you can imagine, the planning that goes into such a one-of-a-kind build is extensive. Tim is not one to cut corners, unless it’s on the plans. He’s your classic measure twice, cut once kind of guy, and that’s exactly what he did. Twelve months later, the list was complete, with all the bits and pieces needed to create his vision purchased. It was time to roll up his sleeves, dive into the build, and create the perfect centrepiece for the family race team. In their day, these old trucks, with their engines sitting in front of the cabs, were renowned for their impeccable heating capabilities and were

referred to as ‘glass houses’. The only way to combat the sauna-like conditions inside the cab was for the driver to open up both doors and drive down the road with the interior open to the elements. Today’s WorkSafe regulations mean that this was no longer an option, so a major rethink on engine placement was needed. Mounting the 2006 LS1 V8 and 4L60E trans aft of the cab, underneath the deck, not only helped to make the cab less like a tropical rainforest, but it also helped with weight distribution. Wait on, did you hear us say mounting the LS1? Yep, the asthmatic engine that this old Morrie left the factory with is but a distant memory. Tim wanted modern reliability and decent pulling power for this build, so, again, he looked online and snapped up another bargain. It just so happened that the seller had recently written off an HSV Maloo ute and only wanted the shell, so the condition of sale was that Tim had to take what was left over — doors, glass, suspension, interior, wheels, the lot! Being the cunning bugger that he is, Tim sold off what he didn’t want and was left with a very cheap motor, trans, and wiring loom for the build. Winning! Engine upgrade aside, the brief was to build something as original looking as possible, so retaining as many of the factory items as feasible was essential. However, the standard Morris rear end was given the biff and grafted in place was a dually diff donated by the kind folks at Chevrolet. The front and rear leaf springs have also been reset, while, mounted in the original position on the side of the chassis is another Tim Rush piece of engineering. He sliced the top off a Holden fuel tank, which held the fuel pump and sender, then grafted it onto a Toyota Dyna diesel truck tank to create the right look yet still with decent functionality. The truck chassis was sandblasted then coated in POR-15. When it was a roller and all mocked up, Tim asked heavy-vehicle design engineer Kevin Englebretsen to look it over. Kevin gave things a thorough going over, and, when he spied the cradle that would hold the LS1, he pointed and asked who made it. Tim puffed out his chest and said that he not only had he built it, but he had designed it too. Impressed with what he had seen, Kevin told Tim that he clearly knew what he was doing, gave him a few pointers, and told him to crack on. With the chassis and driveline well and truly sorted, it was time to move forward and deal to that glass house. The cab, like the chassis, was sandblasted then sent to Terry Price at Restorations Unlimited in Whanganui to be beaten into submission. Once that had been done, Colour Code Auto Painters, also in the River City, doused the freshly smoothed shell in a custom Winfield gold hue to match the colours of the Winfield Tobacco Racing Team Begg F5000 that the family owns and now regularly transports on the back of the truck. Moving inside, the original seat frames were sandblasted and reshaped before Feilding Upholstery covered them in pleated black leather. Tim modified a Hot Rod Shop column shifter and mounted it to the original Morris steering column for an

authentic look. He also fitted two Morris Minor speedos. One he converted with an electric motor to run a needle, a massive headache in itself, while the other was painted up and adapted to look and perform like a rev counter. “This took a lot of tinkering,” Tim explains proudly. Once the cab and chassis were completed, it was time for the two to be reunited and made to work in unison. Wiring up a vehicle is never easy, and when you are dealing with something completely custom, it is often best left to a professional. Tim approached good friend Huw at Feilding Auto Electrical and asked if he would be keen to tackle the project. “We can bring the truck in here, and you can be the apprentice,” was Huw’s reply. So Tim grabbed his side cutters and soldering iron and set to work again. Over the next few weeks, the mass of wires started resembling a proper loom. Normally, a basic wiring job such as this wouldn’t take that much time, but, with regular “What have you got there?” and “What the hell is that? [Punter points at motor]” breaks every time someone walked through the door, the time frame was pushed out a bit more than normal. Finally, the big day: it was time to turn the key for the first time and to see which bit of the wiring smoke would come out of. The key was turned, the Arcus Performance re-chipped engine roared into life for a brief second, then stopped. Apparently fuel-injected engines don’t run for too long when you attach the feed and return lines the wrong way around. With everything all finished, it was time to get the paperwork in order so that the reborn Morris truck could start earning its keep hauling race cars. The last of the headaches for Tim and the family to overcome was uncovered when the truck was put through its road and brake tests. The re-shoed drum brakes performed a little too well. When the vehicle was loaded with two and a half tonnes of ballast on the back, the stopping distances were well within the realms of acceptability, but, when empty, the big Morris erupted in tyre smoke from locked rears as soon as Tim touched the brakes! But a bit of fiddling with brake and tyre pressures soon solved this issue, and the truck received its braking tick of approval. The journey from apples to race cars hasn’t been a straightforward one, but, stepping back and admiring the work that produced the perfect partner for the exotic machinery that it has been designed to haul, both builder and casual observer can agree that it’s been well worth it. Those with a keen eye and an urge to quibble might say that the rear ramp could have been built with a less aggressive angle. To which Tim responds with a wry smile, “That’s for stage two … the supercharger.”