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Bedford MWR Z4904605 Restoration

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Bedford MWR Z4904605 Restoration

This page follows the restoration of MWR44502 - One of 1700 Trucks ordered in August 1941.

31/05/2026

A full weekend of 'Bedfording' this week. Following the return of the Bulkhead from Dan with the completed metalwork repairs, this weekend we set about a few smaller jobs which still needed to be completed... Lots of old bolts had been sheered (about 40 years ago) and left. Not a bad thing, as it has protected some of the threads in the captive nuts, but all required extracting this week. Some came out nice and easy, some required a bit of heat...

The bolts in the cab mounting cups were replaced as they had all seen better days, but it took some time to get the cups in a position where we could remove the old bolts. 70 years of dirt, grime and no movement didn't want to be broken...

There was also a few brackets / plates that required removing before painting could commence.

With that done, we rubbed the bulkhead down and gave it, what we hope will be, it's final topcoat of green. Dad's away for a week or two now, but there's still a few jobs I can get on with.

25/05/2026

One step forward and 3 steps back. We were very excited to get the bulkhead back last week and set about fitting it on Sunday. We soon discovered that we had made an error with the depth of rear crossmember of the cab and so we've had to set about unbolting a lot of bits and dowelling the holes ready to raise the floor. It's frustrating, but we've learned a lesson and we certainly know much more about how they go together, should we ever buy and restore another MW.

When our truck was originally taken apart, the bolts linking the wooden rear crossmember of the cab to the bed were not undone - it was simply pulled apart. The crossmember was badly damaged with parts of remaining attached to the cab, other bits on the bed and some pieces entirely missing. We thought we had measured a complete piece - apparently not.

The floor will be coming out this weekend and then we'll set about making a new rear crossmember for the cab floor. It's not a difficult problem to solve, just more time.

On the plus side, it was nice to see something resembling an MW starting to take shape - albeit briefly. One way or another, 2027 will see our truck on road.

21/05/2026

A major milestone achieved today as we've been over to Dan's to collect the finished bulkhead. He's done an outstanding job and we're very pleased with the results. All being well, we'll get it fitted on Sunday.

04/05/2026

Some more progress from Dan on the cab bulkhead! Most of the major parts are now complete and it's on to some of the numerous smaller repairs required.

23/04/2026

Got home last night to a nice update from Dan on the metalwork repairs on our Bulkhead. When first left the bulkhead with Dan, we explained that we really wanted to keep as much original material as possible to we wanted to repair, not replace panels if it could be done. As a military vehicle owner himself, Dan is someone who values originality and he has really taken this philosophy to heart. It might take a little long, but the results will be well worth it in the end!

01/03/2026

Another update from Dan as he continues the repairs on our MW cab bulkhead. The bottom of the 'tunnel' had rotted away to the shape of the crossmember and there was very bad pitting / holes so this section has been replaced with a new piece.

Dan has also replaced the lower strengthening piece in the passenger footwell and repaired the centre one.

Very excited to see this coming together now! Dan is doing a fantastic job of saving as much original material as possible for us.

21/02/2026

It might have been a bit quiet on Facebook lately, but that doesn't mean we haven't been busy!

The engine is back from the machine shop, a shipment of new components from Chris Morter arrived this weekend and the engine is starting to go back together!

Dan has also made a start on the metal work repairs on the bulkhead. As you can see from the photos, the was a few holes that needed repairing... He's doing a fantastic job and we can't wait to have the bulkhead back with us!

15/01/2026

Some good news! Our engine has now made it to the front of the queue and is actively being worked on. The engine has been stripped and the crank, block and head sent away for skimming.

More to follow.

30/12/2025

Final update of 2025!

After a few weeks fighting with the mudflaps where it felt like we'd spent countless hours working away with very little to show for it, today was the complete opposite end of the scale...

We started off by re-attaching the brush bar to the front panel. It was a little more tricky than it sounds as this had also been bent at some point in it's previous life... That that done, we fabricated the retaining pieces and fitted the front grill. This grill was the first piece I purchased for our truck (before the deal on the truck had actually been completed!) - Somebody had been using it as a fireguard.

With the front grill in place, we then turned our attention to test fitting the fuel tank / trays. With a little fettling, they slid into place and we can now make a start on the fuel pipes in the new year.

2025 has seen some major steps forward in the restoration of our Bedford MWR. The bed was mated to the chassis and the vehicle now stands on it's own wheels and tyres for the first time in several decades. Hopefully 2026 will be equally as kind and we'll see our MWR take to the road for the first time before the season is over.

A big thank you to everyone who has helped us this year, particularly John Keeling, Darren Compton, Andy Cotton, Mark Elden, Ian Waite, Nick Dunford and the rest of the online Bedford community. Your help, support and encouragement has been invaluable.

Happy New Year everybody!

Rob & Paul.

29/12/2025

A busy day spent at the farm as we began fitting some of the parts that we had been preparing / painting. First though, we had to remove the front bumper and the original front panel. We also removed our headlight surrounds from the original front panel as these were in better condition.

This also served as a good opportunity to clean up and get some paint between the front panel and the mounts. We also took the opportunity to replace many of the nuts and bolts holding these parts together as they were very corroded.

With the parts cleaned up and a little paint applied for protection, we fitted the new front panel complete with headlight brackets and bowls.

We'll be back tomorrow...

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Stoke-on-Trent

Telephone

+447452858623

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