The Muntz Truck Project: Simon Muntz’s Cummins-powered Ford F4

Castlemaine is well known as Australia’s hot rod centre and a major centre for the transport industry. Simon Muntz’s Ford F4 shows what happens when the two collide.

Original ACT archive feature. Images from the ACT archive; no individual photographer is identified in the retained feature.

Simon Muntz's Truck project started back in late 2001 with a purchase of an original 1948 Ford F4 cabin and chassis.

The F4 is a bigger version of the more common Ford F1 pickup and the forerunner of the F series of trucks.

This truck had seen service as a Farmers truck at a small place called Lorquon in Western Victoria before ending up at another small town also in Western Victoria called Marnoo, a place Simon often travelled through whilst relocating his business from Dimboola to Castlemaine.

The F4 was reasonably straight and very little rust for a Farm truck of the era. A later Ford F-350 chassis was found that had a disc brake front end as well as a suitable rear end.

The Sidevalve V8 Ford motor was later sold off (to another Hot Rodder) and the original Chassis then sold to a restorer.

The slow process of stripping the truck, designing a mock up as to how the vehicle would be assembled and sourcing parts for the build then began.

“From the start it was intended that this would be a real truck and have a real Diesel truck engine, so a connection was made with Cummins who then helped locate a rebuilt 6BT – 5.9 Litre Turbo inline 6 Cylinder – and the parts required to adapt the Ford C6 automatic gearbox,” Simon explains.

He says fitting a Japanese Diesel was not an option as that would have been like asking a Harley Davidson owner to ride a Japanese motor bike.

As much as possible from the later chassis was used so as to make the registration requirements with Vic Roads as easy as possible.

An artist’s conception of what the F4 would look like was one of the first things to be done and the little logo has appeared in many places during the building of the project.

A US Gear Overdrive was sourced from Wignell's in Euroa and then the process of joining the 6BT Cummins with the Ford C6 and overdrive began with an adapter that Cummins helped source.

A Castlemaine made Hi Torque starter was also used with this application as a conventional Cummins starter could not have been used.

Tim Rhone from Rhones Mechanical Repairs was called on to source a suitable Torque convertor and then put it all together.

Next was to fit the Engine and components into the chassis. New engine mounts had to be fabricated along with modification to the sump (pro-stocked) so as it would sit correctly in the chassis as well as hold more oil than standard.

Lionel West Fabrication helped in this area with the fabrication of many parts. A new radiator was made by Aussie Desert Cooler along the same design as the original F4 radiator but with the intention it had to cool the Cummins. Simon fitted Cool-Flex radiator hose from his business. At the same time a Peterbilt Sleeper cab was located and with Frank Chrytstie's (Customs by Chrystie) help it was soon fitted.

“Frank took on the job with the sleeper and it got the full Hot Rodders treatment being a Chop and Channel or perhaps most would understand that it had a shrink in size to suit the F4 cab,” Simon says.

The Diesel Fuel tanks have been handmade as have the rear guards and battery box cover all fabricated by Allyworks in Castlemaine.

Simon tells ACT many of the parts on the back of the F4 if not powder coated have been Jet Hot Coated, by Jet Hot a company also based in Castlemaine. He says this silver ceramic finish is so much easier to clean which is very different to Chrome.

One of the requirements was it be easy to clean as the F4 was built to be driven but at the same time it had to be a practical work, tow and show vehicle to promote Simon's business.

The full exhaust system is also finished with the Jet Hot Coating with the exception of the Never Rust Stainless Steel Muffler.

ALCOA Hot Shot wheels have been fitted with MAXXIS Bravo Radial Tyres. The spare wheel and inner duals are Canadian Imports and not the usual Split rims that you see on the Australian F-350 Fords.

The Air Conditioner was set up with most of the parts located under the chassis and behind the sleeper cabin as well as the transmission coolers so as to keep any heat well out of the way from the Engine bay and at the same time to make the Engine bay look tidy.

A surprise to many once the bonnet is opened is the 6BT Cummins fits in place of the Sidevalve V8 with no modifications to the F4's cabin firewall at all.

The task of the electrical wiring of the F4 was given to Neil Davis from Romsey Auto Electrical. Neil wired the whole truck as well as the Cruise Control and Clarion Radio/CD/DVD system, the head unit is hidden in what should be the glove box and the Amplifier and speakers along with the TV are all in the sleeper cabin.

CB radios and mobile phone have also been fitted. Having so many electronic components in the vehicle required a Matson Surge protector to be fitted for electrical protection.

Late in 2007 the truck was started for the first time. Then the hardest part of the build, the truck had to be torn down, panel beating and then painted.

Peter Clapton who mostly restores Mack Trucks at his business Sherwood Restorations in Castlemaine was chosen for the job to restore and to modify the body work of the F4 and to apply the paint.

Many subtle changes have been made to the cab whilst the body work was being done, some are not obvious to the casual observer others may pick the cowl vent is no more and that door locks are missing and now included as part of the original looking handles. Also missing is the fuel tank that originally sat in the back of the cab and behind a bench seat, this was removed giving access to the sleeper and more seat room in the front cab for the new sports seats. The running boards have been painted in a non chip type finish and have also had rubber strips added to the steps as to keep those boots from creating any wear and tear on the paint finish.

As Simon's main business is Street Rod Parts (Simon Muntzs' Street Rods & Accessories – www.streetrod.com.au ) so he used many of these parts to showcase what he sells, Bear Claw latches are fitted to the cab doors, along with inertia reel seat belts in the cab and lap belts in the Sleeper, just some of the requirements with the Engineer needed to register the F4. The decision for the colours when the time came was easy for Simon as he has used these colours before.

The Cab and Sleeper have been painted a 1960's Ford Colour called Green Velvet Metallic with some extra metallic added and the front guards another 60's Ford Colour, Merino. The chassis has been painted flat black for practical reasons.

Peter Clapton's connection with Grant at Tylden Trim was also very handy as much of the trim work was done whilst the truck was apart for body work and painting.

One of the last things to be done prior to obtaining an Engineers Report for registration was for Tim Rhone to again work his magic on the C6 Automatic gearbox setting it up with a full Manual Shift kit to handle the torque from the 6BT Cummins. The manual shift Auto makes the F4 much easier to drive.

As pointed out earlier Simon's business supplied many of the parts that he could use such as the LED lights on the F4 as well as the Automatic gear shift indicator in the dash and on the gearbox from Watsons Street Works and the Purple Cool-Flex radiator hose on the engine, the matching Purple Air Cleaners and the Sports seats in the cab, the trick manual looking floor shift for the Auto, the transmission coolers hidden in the chassis rails, the Smiths gauges in the custom made dash, the TV, Electric brake controller, turbo timer, Air horns, head lights, mirrors, rear wing with the hidden LED's (that you only see when they are on), all just some the parts Simon got from his business and what parts he could not purchase he made himself or had made for him.

Not long after registration was obtained late in 2009 a problem with the rebuilt 6BT came about and Cummins once again helped out with a brand new 2008 East Wind (Cummins Dong Feng) built 6BT. A lot of the parts from the old Engine simply swapped onto the new engine as the Cummins block has kept the same design for many years. The new Engine has a waste gated turbo, with the newer style injection system and it is far more responsive to drive than the older Engine.

More recently the Truck has under gone some updates and a compact Davies Craig electric water pump was added to the system mostly to move water to the heater air con system in the colder months.

Simon would like to thank Cummins (Laverton, Campbellfield & Swan Hill), Lionel West Fabrication, Peter Clapton – Sherwood Restorations, Tim Rhone – Rhone Mechanical Repairs, Frank Chrystie – Customs by Chrystie Neil Davis – Romsey Auto Electrical, Grant – Tylden Trim, Travis – Clarion, Loctite, Jet Hot, So-There Speed Shop and my many friends that came to help when called.

Rear Vision: where are they now?

Do you know where this truck is today, or have an update on its story? Tell ACT what happened next. We will verify current updates before adding them to the archive.