So what I mean by stepped chassis is, when they went to the taller G65 engine they changed the front a little bit to drop the engine down into the frame to clear the bonnet, you can see the front of my machine is a bit different withe the flat sides. And I reckon this happened at the same time as the bonnet change.
Yes the steel deck exists, I have now seen 2 being sold with it, it was unusual was like a pressed steel deck.
Prd that's why I went the 1.x system, we can juggle them around to no end as more pop up, should possibly start a new thread for it and get some pictures happening as well. Its a shame no one from the company itself is still around from back then. I am sure more would have been documented but I think Lewis mentioned a fire in the early days, and with the cox buyout who knows what would have survived, I dearly hope someone saved that #2!
Fxxxrr My thought would be more likely that the front end cracked or it was run into something causing it to be welded back together, the rest of the frame is different to later models as well. Unless, there is the chance this was like a guinea pig and in the factory they were trying different things to see what worked. Yes the deck would have been alloy, even model 1 had an alloy deck, that is one thing that stayed with them right up until the end, not sure what the new ones have.
Hope everything is going well for you, I know that the big C can be a tough one.
