By John Eva
DAV E Pomeroy was actually looking
for a boat when he first saw this ’49
Ford pickup project in the same shed.
This was in Auckland thirty years ago,
when Dave was holidaying in his home
country while living and working
in Australia and New Guinea. He’s
an electrician and has also lived and
worked all over NZ, on hydro dams
and other big projects. The pickup
caught his eye, although it went
through a couple of other owners,
including John Pavlovich, before Dave
came to own it. It looked sharp with
whitewalls and, believe it, a Jaguar
engine! It went pretty good actually,
but Dave wanted a more conventional
powerplant. Personally, I think
E-type Bonus has quite a ring to it.
Dave’s first rebuild included removing
the beam axle, the Jag powerplant
and running gear, and fitting the
Holden IFS with HQ disc brakes and
master cylinder, with a Barina booster
adapted by Les Hunter, and Holden
power steer. A fuel injected 5.0 Ford
engine was chosen, with AOD Ford
trans to a 3.7 geared 9” Ford rear
end. In this form, Dave put 149,000
miles on it, before deciding to go thru’
the already-good body. But a quick
repaint turned into a full body-off
rebuild, including a powder-coated
chassis, rear end and front suspension,
thanks to Dave from Powder Coaters.
The engine got a freshen up; the
aluminium got polished, the headers
and exhaust system got HPC coated.
John Pavlovich had added the new
wellside; Dave changed the cab profile
completely by chopping the top 3”,
with the rear window at the original
height. The new firewall was made
from a truck tailgate, still with ‘Ford’
script; the front fenders were treated
to filled seams, while the rear fenders
were modified to align with the new
rear pan with LED taillamps. The
doors received hidden hinges, burst-
proof locks and one-piece side glass.
A hydraulically operated hard lid was
made for the deck, and once the bulk
of the body mods were completed,
Dave fitted the heater, demister,
seat belts, and wired the vehicle.
Steve Allan Customs prepped the
body before their shop painter Jeremy
Berg applied the dark metallic twilight
blue with a dash of pearl, and another
of Steve Allan’s crew, Al Wootton didthe glass, Wayne Patrick stitched the
door panels and kick panels, while Will
Sales upholstered the rest of the cab, in
black vinyl, including the original Ford
seat, which rests on Hi-Lux sliders.
The Chevy tilt steering column is
topped with a Grant wheel, and gears
are selected via a Gennie Shifter. The
Smiths gauges in the dash had already
been fitted before Dave’s ownership,
and still, look good. And the truck still
has the original Bonus radiator, cooled
by a computer-controlled electric fan.
Peter Duff from Pete’s Customs
built the aluminium gas tank, and
once Gary from PAD Racing got the
computer for the Fuel Injection up
and running, Dave just put on the
15x7 and 15x8 Cragar Chromies and
drove the wheels off it. The final
result is a tasteful, well-executed
hot rod truck, and the proportions
are spot on. Nice one, Dave!
A few years ago, Dave’s late wife
Joan had an ankle injury, and couldn’t
drive her manual Jappa. So Joan drove
the Bonus. But she didn’t realise the
speedo was in MPH instead of KMH
and was seen in an 80k speed zone,
travelling at 80mph! She didn’t receive
a speeding ticket, so that’s a bonus.66 > NZ HOT ROD SEPTEMBER 2019