Before all the fancy stuff, place the chassis on a flat surface. Drill press is very good. No debris! Slide it back and forth a few times on the wheel bosses to be sure it is flat. If it wiggles, usually corner to corner, you need to straighten it so it is flat.


Figure out which wheel boss is high and low, then a slight twist of the wrists should do it . Some of you guys may be working out on the side, soooo just looking at it will probably do the trick. Not much torque is what I mean.

  This is the last portion, fittingly the rear bodywork. It is split into 2 sections. The first section is the original plain Flatbed. Although I have made the Flatbed with Chains and a Tanker = no pictures to show. The second section I have pictures of the Foden Cole Crane. 

Start with Flatbed. Place the cab on the chassis and then the original uncut flatbed on the chassis. Leave a little space between the cab and flatbed headboard and MARK the chassis at the location at the front of the front headboard. *** HINT = Often a post hole will line up centered between and above the two rear wheel fenders. This works good.


Now mark the flatbed rear where you plan to shorten it. ***Hint = Plan behind the parallel frame mounting rails under the flatbed where the rails end. Plan the rear mark to leave some extra space and material. This will allow you to attach an upright board, or notch the board ends  as the picture illustrates simulating the wood decking.

Long boards or short boards, its up to you. I have made more than a dozen and no two are alike. 
 



Cut the rear off the flatbed. If the chain posts age in good condition I leave them. Otherwise I remove them. Save the end piece for a future project or attach to flatbed as upright rear board.





 






Above, I try to retain the lower hammered bottom of the post that has part of the post remaining in the bed. They appear like buttons and make good tail lights.




 


If flatbed is planned and the posts remain or were broken off, I remove the remaining with a flat file, When flush with the bed, easily punch out and catch the post "buttons" as described above. I apply JD Metal filler in to post holes and later again file flush to the bed. I also file a slight groove to to keep the line.

Reposition and align the cut flatbed onto the chassis where the front mark was made earlier. Mark the position of the rear mounting screw/spare tire mounting screw on the top of the flatbed.

Easier than you think.

If you set the whole affair on a flat surface, align a right angle square next to the side of the body positioning it with the of the mounting/spare tire screw hole. Now straight across from there mark the center groove of the flatbed. Eye ball measurement is what I use. Any form of measuring, it's up to you. Whatever you feel comfortable with.

That is the reason you do not butt the cab rear and headboard together and allowed some space.




After drilling the hole, position a screw from the top of the flatbed through the hole and super glue(Gel) 4 stacked rivet backing washers onto the base of the flatbed around the hole. The washers should be flat across between the two parallel mounting rails. A slight filing may be required to the washers to make it flush.

The screw is for alignment. These washers provide support between the the chassis and flatbed so that neither will bend nor give when countersinking the hole on top of the bed and fastening the screw tight.






 Counter sink the screw hole to match the flathead tapered mounting screw. I use a single slotted head so that it matches up with the board pattern. I don't like the feel of the screw head sticking out, so I file the screw head for final fit to be slightly below the bed = not flush. Trim Painting the head will adjust it to flush. . Many ways to countersink, but all require a slow careful approach. DO NOT USE A DRILL BIT!!! I will pull through.........

As previously mentioned, I notch the rear end of the boards for a personal touch. Again it is up to you.





 Viewing both last and above picture, the illustration is simply that I include the front part of the headboard  as part of the paint scheme. The flatbed is generally the only place I tape for painting.

Inspect your paint scheme application.


Now Final assembly of the Cab and Chassis, and Flatbed and Chassis.



********************************************************************


 


Next is section number two.



This is for the Crane body. I used 1/8" flat steel and aluminium stock. A steel reinforcing plate was installed the full length of the chassis, from under the cab in front of the wheel fenders to the chassis rear edge. Attached separately.


Remember back to cab and chassis, these instructions required alteration to fit the  chassis mounted reinforce steel plate. The cab rear wall required additional trim filing  for enough clearance of the steel plate and the additional center clearance for the cab mounting fixture.  Don't forget to plan ahead.  






The 5 plates were doweled and screwed together. Rough cut with hacksaw then hand machined, no surface grinder (I wish). Filed. Formed, drilled, countersunk, and tapped for screws. The crane cab and jib were together, minus the truck portion. A relative cheap purchase.

 Most screws are hidden. During final assembly, screw-lock was applied to all the screws making them permanent.





Hand made jib rest made of same aluminium stock. Later modified.




Just a visual of the stacks going together. Dowels were removed for additional drilling of the inner plate relief holes for the crane base plate turret shaft.




Just to see what it is looking like. Steel top and bottom reinforcement plate have blind dowel holes to keep the surfaces uncluttered.




 The body and crane are assembled to really see what it looks like. A final paint removal and metal cleaning process after disassembling. Then painting and final assembly.




Another look over before taking apart. You might notice that the jib rest was altered compared to the finished version.


FINAL PHASE next.............

This is starting to look like something now.

Nice work and great idea for repairing the Fodens. I,m sure it will inspire a few people to give it a crack.

Thanks Dinkyboy, it looks great.

I am not such a good metalworker, have not got all the right tools (and the space in my little shed is limited too), but a good drill and sharp drills are an absolute necessity

I wondered: how do you attach the upright rear board to the end of the flatbed?

Do you glue it or solder it?

Knowing Erwin, I would think he would drill and tape it and use screws like he did with the base mounts. I want to know how he did the mounting of the crane to the body of the truck as it looks like he has sandwiched the plates with large holes in the middle therefore closing off the holes to mount the crane body.

Ronson, Thanks, and the idea behind all those phases is just that. I hope others will give it a try.......

Routemaster, a drill and sharp bits and you are on your way. Note the files as well.
I believe your question is about the jib support as being the upright.
Look at the last picture above, the assembly complete and looking down on it.
Those two dark spots at the base of the jib support. They are counter sunk flathead screws. Jim was correct! The jib support is flush with the plate below and the stacked plates. Remember I doweled, tapped, and screwed those plates so they could be disassembled and reassembled without loosing position. I hope that answers the question? Thanks for asking. dinkyboy

Nobleco, you are correct about previous question.
The plates offered depth, required because of the turret extension of the base plate. I was uncomfortable using a rivet and back plate for mounting. Too tight and no rotation, too loose and wobble. The  top stacked plates were drilled the diameter of the turret extension. One plate drilled only the diameter of a steel screw. The lower 2 plates drilled slightly larger than the bolt head and flat washer. Tightened to adjust for the turret rotation. Nut + Jam nut inside the turret extension include thread-lock to make permanent.


  The pictures of the plates at the beginning of this section show two plates with holes for the turret extension, and one plate drilled for the turret screw. The top and bottom steel plates were not yet drilled. Some of the work is done backwards/inside out to make for secure fittings. I hide the screws as much as possible and always apply thread-lock.


  Thanks for asking. dinkyboy

I thought it was something like that. Thanks for explaining.

A Foden mobile crane one to think about. Thanks for sharing this Dinky boy.