Leyland Wooden Oakley - Feedback please?

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FrecklesMum

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Have been gently looking for a nice, wooden oakley for a while and may have found one in budget with full history!

I was just wondering if anyone had any feedback on them and comments or just advice to look out for!

Alternatively - if anyone has one or knows of one for sale, I would be very interested!
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Wooden bodies tend to be rather heavy so it would be worth getting it put on a weigh bridge before parting with your cash.
 
I sold my 1988 Leyland Redline last year. Mine was a Terrier, which is probably what the one you are looking at is. Check the actual model - it'll be on a plate in the passenger footwell. Look for something like TR750 or TR850 or TR738 (what mine was). You also want to know which engine it has. Really I think you need the 6 cylinder.

I loved Delilah dearly, she ran for three years BUT she needed work doing. We couldn't find anyone who wanted to do the work even though she was a tilt cab - which the Oakley body probably won't be. Parts were available BUT it sometimes took a lot of ingenuity to track them down, again that was down to me, it could take a long time to get her back on the road. Heating was minimal, windscreen washers so pathetic that when I took her for her first test the very sweet tester said "Oh look, she is trying - bless" and passed her.

Look out for rust under the cab - mine went under the driver's seat. If it's not a tilt cab it would be "interesting" to fix. The rusty doors were "fixed" with tinfoil, cardboard and expanding foam (and passed two tests like that!)

tbh, although Delilah served me very well and I really loved her very much, if the horsebox is really good I'd get in touch firstly with Oakley and ask them how difficult and how much to put it on a newer chassis. I sold my old rolling chassis for £850 - not bad considering I'd bought her for a grand. Mine had an ally body with Oakley fittings.

When I sold Delilah I bought the later version - a Leyland DAF 45 - with an Oakley body on it.

I do know that with the wooden ones you need to check the sides where they abut the floor - and of course check the floor out.

Oh and btw if it IS a Terrier I had the last windscreen in the country (it had to come down from Scotland) about 13 months ago. They are apparently on special order now so you MUST make sure you have windscreen cover on your insurance. It was actually threatened that they would scrap my old girl and give me the insurance value rather than pay for a new windscreen to be made - then luckily I managed to track one down. In the end it cost me my £50 excess - but we were looking at hundreds of pounds to have one made. The windscreen fitter had to be a specialist, not the usual Autoglass chap as they didn't want to risk breaking it.
 
Thank you - Thats really usefull! How much would you value one at on a 1989 plate with oakley body - good condition but there is rust on the cab?

I live near oakley and have some really good local welders but how much would you say the welding would cost?

Can I just confirm, did yours have a oakley body on it or are you just making refernce to the chassis ie the leyland part?

Sorry, really have no idea! Was going to get a horsebox man to look it over.....
 
I couldn't put a value on it without seeing the body. I originally wanted a wooden one but couldn't find a good one. I also couldn't comment on the cost of the welding, I called in a favour to get mine done and of course mine was a tilt cab. There's not a lot of room to go in underneath if the cab doesn't tilt. It could possibly be done from the top but you've still got to get under to take the seats and insulation out to do the job.

Delilah had been adapted with Oakley partitions, i-beam floor etc, she wasn't AFAIK an Oakley conversion.

If you're near Oakley, I'd consult them. I have found them very keen to please with my new(er) lorry.

You do need to give the wood a good prodding over as much of it as you can. And the maintenance of the appearance of the wood can be a bit costly in time - or in money if you get someone else to do it.
 
Wooden bodies weigh a lot so you may not be able to carry much. If coachbuilt then the cab won't tip and it will cost a fortune when any repairs need to be done. Agree with comments re Terrier we had one once......... Can thoroughly recommend DAF 45, tilt cab, lovely to drive, easy to turn and very fast!
 
My DAF 45 with Oakley body doesn't tilt. At such time as I have to replace the chassis I'll be looking at getting the body altered so that it does though!
 
I would guess 1989 its a roadrunner (AKA roadrat
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) has it got a window in the passinger footwell??? if it is its basicaly the first version of the 45, ask has it got the old leyland engine or the later cummins which they started useing in about1989...better than a terrier both for parts and to drive
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I would guess 1989 its a roadrunner (AKA roadrat
grin.gif
) has it got a window in the passinger footwell??? if it is its basicaly the first version of the 45, ask has it got the old leyland engine or the later cummins which they started useing in about1989...better than a terrier both for parts and to drive
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[/ QUOTE ]

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You are so right! Mine was from the 70's not the 80's. *is so embarrassed*

My understanding then is that they are better for getting parts - and not so likely to need the chassis replacing soon, it's only a few years older than my current (K plate) DAF 45 then.
 
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