TRUCK REBUILD J&G RIDDELL SCANIA T-CAB R730
66 TRUCKING August 2019 http://www.truckingmag.co.uk
top-power FH16-750 tag-axles, which
the firm prefers for going off-road into
the forests.
The fleet is maintained by a mix of
Riddell’s in-house mechanics, plus
local Scania and Volvo dealers.
UK rarity
Gordon Riddell is the proud owner of a
fine collection of vintage trucks and
tractors, and he has gathered many
spares over the years. At the end of
2018, Gordon approached Billy Will,
who runs Billy J Will Transport in
Aberdeenshire. Billy’s father had
worked with Gordon years ago, so
Gordon was well aware of Billy’s skills
in restoration work. Gordon had a
Scania T-cab shell, and he asked Billy if
he could build an original Scania T-cab
730 with flat floor – and the resulting
truck, he believes, has turned out to be
the only one in the UK.
Billy accepted this challenge, which
would require a lot of detailed
planning and months of long hours
spent in the garage alongside his
brother, Arthur, who also runs a firm
called Hedley-tech.
But the challenge was well worth the
toil. As with any big restoration
project, locating parts took time and
energy – but the end result is that
everything on this build is genuineScania, right down to the finer details.
Of course, such attention to detail is
something Billy, Arthur and Gordon
insisted on to make this stunning
truck complete.
“Most people thought we would not
be able to complete this work, as we
are only a two-person company,” Billy
tells us. “But we are proud to say we
completed the restoration to the
customer’s satisfaction.” ■Rebuild: In detail
According to Gordon, this T-cab first
started out as a brand-new unregistered
R-series tractor unit. The goal was to
remove the original cab and replace it
with a brand-new, genuine T-series cab
with flat floor.
All the bits and pieces used in the build
were brand-new, genuine Scania parts- nuts, bolts, washers, clips... basically
everything that was required to adapt the
vehicle was sourced from Scania.
The brothers have tried to keep the
vehicle looking as standard as possible.
All the work undertaken was done on
their own premises in the North East of
Scotland, and amazingly they required
no involvement from any third parties.
The bonnet was modified to fit a new
Streamline grille, and the cab and
bonnet was painted before the vehicle
had even arrived on site. The vehicle
livery was manufactured and fitted by
Billy and Arthur, as requested by Gordon
and John. Twin stacks and lightbars were
installed along with the susie A-frame
and skirt extensions, which the brothers
fabricated from scratch to the Riddell’s
own design.
All in all, the T-cab build required an
awful lot of work – but what a project
to be involved with! Billy said Arthur
rose to the challenge of putting tartan
vinyl coachline graphics on the truck,
and completed wiring the electrics for
the lightbars.
They believe this truck is a true ‘one of
a kind’ – and the brothers are looking
forward to many more projects to follow.
This amazing truck took pride of place
on the Scania stand at the Ciney Truck
Show in Belgium, which occurred in April
this year.
Gordon Riddell and the family reckon
they are extremely satisfied with the work
carried out – and who can argue with
that! This truly is a truck to see.ABOVE Finished in J&G Riddell’s stunning colours.
Tartan lines were put on by ArthurABOVE Everything inside the cab is completely
standard Scania kitABOVE Cab conversion took months of work, but the
result is superbEverything on this build is genuine Scania,
right down to the finer details.