‘IT TOOK 1200 HOURS TO RESTORE!’

Fuzz Townshend takes us behind the scenes of the latest series of Car SOS. This week, Tim and Fuzz go large with a Dennis F4 fire engine

Hurrah! At last the powers that be at National Geographic towers decided that it would be brilliant to take on a larger vehicle. Admittedly I had hoped for a bus, but when a compelling nomination reached the SOS team regarding a Dennis F4 fire engine, we were in unanimous agreement that we should take the chunky challenge on. The problem was that the little lorry was too large to fit in our workshop and our vehicle lifts were unsuitable for its sheer size and weight.

Having agreed to take the Dennis on, we were left searching for a suitable venue in which to turn the restoration around in quick time. Salvation came in the form of Redstone Fleet Services, Surrey, which normally maintains fleets of buses for independent operators, so at least I was able to satisfy my enthusiasm while learning about fire service vehicles.

On initial inspection, I was hugely surprised to find a 4.2-litre Jaguar XK engine, allegedly of the low compression variety, lurking in the Dennis’ depths. Mated to the rear of this was a David Brown gearbox, of a type more often found in Aston Martin cars of the 1960s, making this an appealing package of parts for 1980s scrap dealers, who also benefitted from the extremely high-quality and expensive metals contained within the Godiva manufactured water pump, sited snugly to the rears of these machines. In short, the stubby Dennis fire engine was a lucky and surprisingly rare modern-day survivor.

The main framework of the cab and body was of wooden construction, with glassfibre panelling to the cab and aluminium screwed-on panels to the rear. The aluminium panels, being flat on the top, had allowed standing water to seep in and get to work rotting the wood beneath, to the extent that the offside outer body frame had to be replaced entirely. Happily, Tim came up with the goods here, finding a company that was able to scan and replicate the original. Thus, a whole newly-constructed frame arrived back at Redstone and, when offered up, it fitted almost perfectly, with only a few minor adjustments, fast-tracking what would ordinarily amount to a great number of hours of work.

The engine was found to need only servicing; spark plugs, electronic distributor, water pump, fuel pump, belts and filters all being replaced. The fuel tank was rotten so a local firm constructed a new one.

The elephant in the room was the vacuum braking system. The Hydravac units (basically large remote vacuum servos fitted amidships) required servicing, as did the brake shoe actuators. Finding parts for these was problematic, especially so for some of the leather seals contained therein. However, Transaxle Ltd., a Midlands-based firm along with its knowledgeable and extremely helpful vacuum braking system guru, Roy Meddings, was able to resurrect the necessary components, giving the vehicle functioning brakes apparently for the first time in decades.

This 1973 Dennis F4 is the biggest project taken on to date by Fuzz, Tim and the rest of the Car SOS team – and that it meant that it presented plenty of challenges beyond the series’ usual classics.

One of the biggest obstacles was the sheer size and weight of the Dennis, with it being tougher to transport and too heavy for the ramps at the series’ usual workshop.

Fuzz found that one of the biggest challenges in resurrecting the fire engine’s tired mechanicals was sourcing parts, particularly for its braking system.