BUGA Community
General Category => Members Rides => Topic started by: Sammy on December 27, 2013, 08:55:41 PM
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Here is my new toy, plans are to fit it with a v8 and use it to tow my Gemini race car.
(http://www.oldholdens.com/images/cars/CF%20Bedford/body/P1110751.JPG)
(http://www.oldholdens.com/images/cars/CF%20Bedford/Engine/304/P1090631.jpg)
I am thinking to make the conversion complete I'll fit it with commodore wiring, steering column, dash, steats, fuel tank, brakes and diff.
While I'm at it I'll fix the rust spots I've found in it!!
I've uploaded some pics of its current state and the rust I've found so far in my gallery here:
http://www.buga.com.au/index.php?option=com_gallery2&Itemid=8&g2_itemId=48490 (http://www.buga.com.au/index.php?option=com_gallery2&Itemid=8&g2_itemId=48490)
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rust looks like in the common places, over looks like you got a pretty rust free van fairly rare these days.
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Yeah I agree!!
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Nice van, looking forward to seeing the finished product, I have just started the same conversion, however I am using the Beddy diff and Hq disks. I have trial fitted the V8, but I still need to move the engine back another 35mm to pick up the gearbox mounting holes. I turned the sump around so I could get to engine lower (not sure if it is needed or required) The VP commodore steering column fit well with not to much to modify.
Good Luck
Matt
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yeah I've had a look at your gallery a few times matt :)
what engine mounts are you using ? (the ones that bolt to the block) I've got I think hq/Torana and commodore mounts and I know the commodore mounts get the motor back a bit more compared to the others, so im hoping to have one of them fit! I have sourced a rear pan sump already but just need to get it all in my shed so I can start working out where it will all mount.
are you saying if the motor is back 35mm more the T700 will connect to the original trimatic mount ? that would be nice if that is the case :)
I have planned to use commodore diff lengthened and twin piston front calipers/discs on the Bedford stubs.
actually im interested to know if people normally use the Bedford booster with a different master cylinder on it or replace the whole lot ?
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Sammy I have the big VR commy discs all round on mine & still use the standard booster & m cylinder & they work fantastic Check out the brake& diff section Cheers Reid
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yeah but twin piston calipers need a bit more fluid.... usually they recommend 1 inch master, but I have no idea what the Bedford one is.
I'd also like to change it to a newer one with dual circuit fronts and light if they fail like the commodore has.
I have seen your diff widening posts, I am going to browse some wreckers, I am hoping a crewman commodore has a wider diff than the earlier models and hense can be widened slightly further than the usual.
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Oh also, I am not sure what year model my Bedford is, from this I think that means its june 1978 ?
(http://www.oldholdens.com/images/cars/CF%20Bedford/Info/P1110732.JPG)
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The master on mine is dual circuit & is 1inch & it is a 1976 & the master is standard
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Yep June 1978 built.
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when you say dual circuit are you referring to two connections on the master for the front brakes, or one for front and one for rear ?
thanks phullbore!
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One for front & one for rear
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Hi Guys,
Have just done the VN V6 into the beddie. should have done it 3 years ago when I got the donor vn... had new engine mounts made up, and used VN engine mounts. Had the vn gearbox mount grafted into the cross member, but had to extend the cross member mounting onto the body... I lashed out and had diff man make up new diff, used a hx one tonner as some of them have a thicker tub. 3.36 ratio. widened to suit the front track, so that close to original it doesn't matter. vn discs all round made new front caliper brackets. used the vn booster and master cylinder. vs steering coloum bedford foot brake pedal and vn foot brake bracket. a bit of thought to make it fit but no structual changes. ;D no problems with the drive up to brissy. apart from battery light could hardly see it through the day, end of the day no power flat battery. alt not charging bought new one,, same thing next day.. had a friend who had a vn sitting in there front yard, went through and started checking wiring, make sure all hooked up correct then started swapping fuses. 2 fuse i swapped, fixed. BLOWN 30 AMP fuse.. something very simple... beddie drives well, runs like a dream, up and down hills like a dream. Yes have lots of pics, just have to sit down and put them on here....
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Today I went and picked up this VS Commodore! its going to be the donor for my Bedford, dash, seats, wiring loom, steering column, fuel tank, diff the lot :) then all i'll need to do is mate the v8 wiring loom into the VS loom and it will be all happy days!
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Hi Sammy
Looks like some fun ahead you can buy new looms from Holden for the v8 which plug into the v6 loom the engine loom connects near the booster on the vs & the vr the engine loom is down near the battery. At least with the donor car uv got everything there doesn't look like a bad donor car either
have fun mate
cheers John
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yeah I agree, I reckon with little work this car could be registered!
I've spent this afternoon re-pinning my VN V8 engine loom to have the right plugs on it to plug into the VS computer and body harness as a matter of fact :)
while you can buy them I am a tight ass plus I had already fairly heavily modified the V8 wiring loom in other areas so didn't want to have to go back to square one! and while im in there I am adding a few extra features to the wiring loom that's not in a factory loom etc.
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hi Sammy, I have just done the V6 transplant, motor gearbox complete wiring loom , only beddie wiring was the lights. I spliced the VN into the beddie at the drivers side headlight parker and indicator and the taillights. going to put the full vn in as the fuel tank is incorporated in the taillight wiring. all fitted under the dash. had to extend the ones going tom gearbox, speedo and a coupl of others in the section of loom,, used a trailer 7 wire spliced in. had to do a few others same way. Most important the 3 plugs that fit into the vn dash will fit into the vs dash BUT THEY ARE DIFFERENT WIRES... I had smoke and frizzeld\ed a couple of wires. luckily saved it, used the a vn and vs wiring diagram to change them over... put one fuse box in the same place as beddie fuse box and the one with the big square fuses in the drivers side over the little box next to the accelerator pedal. computer in passenger side floor. all fits just a little planning...
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yeah that's why I wanted to get the entire VS commodore and put it all in so there is minimal stuff to change. I have done a VR V6 and complete wiring into an FB Ute and it was pretty straight forward, but it was a matter of wiring the dash plugs into after market gauges rather than using the entire VR dash.
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Went to Gunnedah on the weekend to race, and borrowed my brothers Transit to tow the race car, was a good trip to test how suitable the bedford is going to be for what i want it for, anyways i took this photo and i was looking at it thinking theres only one thing wrong with this picture, its not the bedford parked there ;D
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Finally got her home, let the fun begin!!
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started pulling the bits and pieces off the red motor to get it out, I knew there was a radiator leak, but im damned if I know how this wasn't leaking!!
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Thats what happens when coolant isnt used
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yeah im not surprised, its probably 20 yrs old too!! there wasn't much water in the radiator and what was in there was very brown!! im interested to see the inside of the water pump! also found there is no thermostat in the motor hehe plenty of cooling issues I'd say.
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well yesterday saw the 173 and trimatic come out of the van!
now I just need to work out how to get the V8 in there lol!!! and I thought old holden engine bays were tight he he!
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Keep the 173, the day will come where you will regret otherwise!,
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yeah I am keeping it, its a good block that I can re-use in my race car one day :)
Today has been very productive, I've managed to find out how hard it is to get a motor in and out of a Bedford without a hoist!!!
the V8 is in and a rough cutting out of the floor done to make it fit, will need a bit more tweaking next time the motor comes out, but enough to get it in there!
I'm thinking I will cut the cross-member mounts off and move them back 1-2 inches because this will mean the gearbox mount lines up perfectly, and also the sump is just hitting on the rear of the cross-member, and it will also give me more room at the front for radiator etc.
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Looking good Sammy. You can't beat the rumble of an 8. Life is to short for anything less.
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its funny you should say that, my brother mentioned the other day that this will be my first V8 vehicle!
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first V8, hmm you best start saving for new tyres ;)
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and Fuel.......
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Hey Sammy...That is exactly what i hope to do with my beddie truck. Would you be able to take a pic of the engine mounts by any chance for me ? Cheers..johnno ;D ;D
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A V8's excellent for fuel. You get use more than your fare share while it's still cheep. ;D ;D ;D
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Too true Garry :) :)
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Johnno, attached is some pics of the engine mounts, at this stage they are stock Bedford cross-member mounts, with HQ engine mounts and rubbers, then the T700 has had a trimatic rubber mount put on it, also the sump I believe is a HQ unit.
As you can see from the gearbox mount pic, it needs to go back approx. 2 inches, this will stop the sump hitting the cross=member and will give me more clearance for the radiator.
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Gee thanks for that sammy... Great pics
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Might have some more pics for you soon johno!
Tonight saw the engine supported in the car so I could remove the crossmember ... Once that was done I was able to move the gearbox back to screw it to the gearbox crossmember so thats the location I plan to keep it at, hopefully this weekend I'll be able to cut the mounts off the crossmember and move them back to suit!!
Also trial fitted a commodore radiator in there and it looks good ;) might even be able to fit the thermo fan too !!!!!!
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Thanks buddy ;D I will be following your build with great interest ;) ;D
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Had alot of interuptions today (not that im complaining) but eventually got the engine mounts cut off the cross-member without destroying them, then got them partly welded back on, enough to use anyways, will final weld once the cross-member comes back out next time!
i haven't measured it but they are back about 2 inchs, and the gearbox mount is dead in the middle of the long bolt holes ... not sure yet but thae gearbox may need to be lower at the rear!
either way good mile stone :) now thats its mounted where its going to stay i'll be able to cut the final hole out in the floor and start working on the other bits and pieces!
Few move piccies for ya Johno!
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Had a bit of a play today with an exhaust I got from a vs statesman, long story short it's shit and going to require most parts re-done so I'm going to start from scratch there I think, it was also twin system and I don't really want that!
I also had a bit of a look into the radiator, decided the easiest option is to create a new radiator support bracket so that's coming along nicely, but I'm stuck with thermo fan, I was hoping to use the ecotecs fan/shroud on the vn v8 radiator but it's about 1/2 inch too thick to fit, I then tried with the ecotec radiator and it is about 5mm thinner but still too tight!!
The other option is a mechanical fan but im not real keen on that, think I need to see about au twins!!
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Good progress Sammy. I just converted from mechanical fan to twin electric fans on my 350 powered CF1 and I am much happier with the result.
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yeah I know from other cars that the electric is the go, i'll have to see what the davies craig thermos are and hopefully fit two of them in there or something! .... the benefit of them too is that the centre of the motor is where its the longest (water pump)and the twin will have the motors off centre so should work a lot better!
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Anyone ever thought of adding another radiator
Under the van somewhere and have 2 radiators?
Maybe opposite side to the fuel tank with some sorta air scoop to direct air
In and up through it, and a few thermo fans above it.
Possibly might be able to remove the front one if the back one was big enough n worked well.
Just a thought.
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I see no reason why you couldn't do it, there's definitely enough room under a Bedford to fit it!! but I think I'd prefer to run a mechanical fan than to go to the effort of a second radiator!
on the radiator subject, I've finally decided on a radiator support and location, few bits to finish off but you get the general idea of how its going to go!
I've got to get some more info on ford mondeo twin thermos, apparently these are narrower than the AU ones and fit this radiator perfectly with some minor trimming, but im not sure on the thickness of them either, heres hoping!!
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Hey Sammy , How far back from the standard position did the
engine mounts have to go?
And did you cut the orig ones off and just reposition them?
Or fabricate up new ones?
Cheers marty
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its bang on 2 inches back ... it must have been luck hehe, I just mounted the gearbox in the middle of the cross-member (slots running front to back for the two holes) and that's where the mounts ended up for the engine.
the mounts are the originals cut from the cross-member and welded back on, I had to slightly grind the front outer corners down a bit to suit the curve in the cross-member where they ended up, but other than that straight on really ... I am also going to adjust the rear bit that angles back as it slightly hangs over the rear of the cross-member so i'll just cut a slot in the piece that runs from front to rear and get it into the right angle (hard to explain)
funnily enough the original holden 6 bottom radiator hose will fit on the V8 for the rear, its just slightly too long, and the top one is something random I had left over from some project!
also got the crank and water pump pulleys my mate had spare today, they are HQ and now I just need to find a alternator support to suit the pulley offset then im done in that area! (didn't get all the pulleys and brackets with the motor)
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hey groovers.... i ran a thermo fan on ol futile ..n found out bout year later the thermo fan was ac tually pullin the radiator cores outta their tank joins , started weeping ... core joins that is (an me) :-):-) .. went back to mechanical as easier than tryin to fit a shrouded fan mount without gin through cares again .. cheers :-)
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Sounds good Sammy,
Cheers for the info
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so got mondeo twin thermos ... roughly trimmed to fit on the radiator, f***ing lovely, 1 inch on the dot happy days!
the gap may be slightly less as i have to space the top of the radiator off the main support a bit, but will be like 5mm difference! very happy with the radiator and fans now!! my new favourite for conversions i reckon!!
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did another session out at the brothers place to rape and pillage some more bits of the donor VS Commodore!
So as you can see my little Holden Cruze is become quite the work horse hehehehe. One seat, upper section of the dash, most of the wiring loom, steering column, and some other odds and ends :)
so once I got home I just HADDDDDD to see if these bits were going to fit .... at all ....
first was the dash, just sat it in place, will need some massaging, but I reckon it shouldn't be too hard to get it a lot closer to the windscreen and sitting nicely!
Next was to see how the steering column would mount and line up for the rack .... surprisingly good :)
so I am reckoning, make a few custom mounts to suit the bolt holes for the column and one or two support bars and it will be sweet as, then at the bottom, if I machine two flat sides into the rack shaft I reckon it will drop into place kinda like it was meant to be there
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I put the VN steering column in my standard CF, used the VN steering cuplink but turned it upside down with no modifications to fit the CF steering rack.
The VS one looks slightly different
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yeah the VS has the intermediate shaft fixed to the column, not removable as far as i can see, and there is a lower bearing on the column and then it has a metal cup over it with two tabs to bolt to the floor, it also has a big rubber boot that goes on the outside to seal the floor and protects the top uni joint.
i wanted the VS column mainly because it has the tilt/height adjustments plus i prefer the look of the indicator stalks and key etc :)
once i get into it more i'll take some more detailed pics of it. i believe the VN intermediate shaft at the bottom has a splined end ?
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The VS is possible, I have that column in my van, it is quite an easy modification, you have to get a sleeve turned up so that the VS shaft, which is thicker can join the Bedford lower part of shaft, the column it self bolts up very well and yes you get to have all the newer switches, I also got rid of the nylon bush at the bottom and replaced with needle roller bearings, you end up with a real tight steering column and parts are dirt cheap, I paid $50 on flea bay with the key, no air bag inside, a very simple mod, if you know some one with a lath, I think I kept the drawings that I made for the sleeve, if anybody's interested I will post them, you can go to my album and see photos of it fitted
cheers
Graham
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Taggraphx, interested in your drawings if you still have them ?
In regards to diffs, as luck would have it, when i was at my mates workshop the other day there was a crewman ute in there for motor issues, so i took the opportunity to run a tape measure over its diff!!
so from what i can gather its 1680mm and apparently the short and long axles are about 50mm difference, so if my calculations are correct, this means that i can easily lengthen this diff 50mm making a 1730mm diff.....
and standard bedford is 1725mm ..... so if that is all correct, then i say thats gold :)
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(http://www.buga.com.au/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=49818&g2_serialNumber=2)
Ok this is the sleeve that I had made to adapt the VS shaft to the bedi, very simple and worked for me, you can pin shafts and weld or just weld, it ends up being very strong and works well
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ok I think im following what your doing!
only concern I have is engineers don't seem to like any welds on the steering, so I want to avoid that, but cotter pins or the like should do the trick, I assume you have cut the bottom uni-joint off the intermediate shaft and this sleeve is the replacement ?
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Yes, but check with your engineer before you do any thing, your going from a 19mm shaft to a 24mm VS shaft, but I am sure there are lots of other ways to put in the later steering columns, there are lots of very experienced engineers on this site that adapt and design lots of parts for the bedies, this way worked for me
cheers
Graham
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so got out in the shed tonight to just play with a few things, sorted out the vn v8 speedo cable into the firewall, then modified the accelerator pedal to accept the commodore cable clip, all good, then gave it a tester ..... oooohhh ..... 60-70% throttle ...... that's not going to work!
so I had a bit of a think and a look, now the original Bedford carby setup uses a bit of a cam thing to give it the right motion, and I compared this to the commodore cable thing on the throttle body and it was very different, so anyways, all attempts to make something work from that end looked too hard or didn't work, so I am now beginning to think I need to work out a longer throw on the pedal end ... but that was where my CBF factor kicked in and I am now inside in the warmth heheheh
also had a play with the steering column, got the upper mount sussed out, and had a bit of a play with the rack connection, I have a few ideas to make it all work, but before I go too far with anything I am going to speak to the engineer, I need to see what I can and can't do before I modify anything past the point of no return!
I also realised that the Bedford upper uni joint (where the steering column connects to the intermediate shaft) has what looks to be the same uni joint as a commodore ... so this could mean it could be dis-assembled and the right bits connected to the commodore column!
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Its been a long time since i've had alot of time to put towards the bedford, but this weekend was more or less dedicated to the bedford :D
i've been doing alot of work with working out the commodore wiring loom routing and needing to shorten or extend a few wires, so theres alot achieved but not alot to show!
i got the dash cut down a bit and worked out where i want it, it has now been screwed to the top of the original bedford dash below the wind screen, and once i got that sorted i was able to start laying in the body wiring and this has been very fruitful.
the engine now cranks over using the commodore key in the column, and the dash gauges are all starting to work (where they have something connected at the other end!)
i've also run the wiring up the drivers pillar to the roof for the interior light, and that now works with commodore door light buttons that i fitted into the door pillars!
its all starting to be pretty modern and exciting :) and to add to all that, when i had the ignition on while tinkering, the dash spoke to me ... fuel light came on and it chimed to let me know the fuel tank was empty ..... or in my case not plugged in yet! hehehe
it does look like the wiring and dash is going to fit in quite well without needing heaps of major wiring mods etc so very happy with that!
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its all starting to be pretty modern and exciting :) and to add to all that, when i had the ignition on while tinkering, the dash spoke to me ...
a transformer bedford....
hopefully it didnt sound like kitt from knight rider......but sentient beddy would be cool, i want mine to talk as well
cool looking dash setup, i was thinking something similar with a v6 and commodore dash
good job
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Good progress Sammy. Those interior light switches are the go. I've put that on the "to do" list for my van.
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actually the Bedford is setup well for doing it heheh ... theres little plates riveted inside the pillar for what im not sure but I just removed them and was able to get full access in there to install the wire etc, and the side door I can actually fit my whole arm into the cavity there so it wasn't too hard either :)
I've had one or two old cars without interior lights activated by the door buttons and it certainly makes things easier/nicer having them!
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Just don't use the ones with the rubber boot over the door switch, if you do, mount them closer to the inside of the van rather than in the middle.
Ideally the switches should be mounted closer to inside because of the angle the door closes - they get bent, snapped and pulled out (experience talking)
Looking good Sammy
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started to get some parts together as money provides for my T700 rebuild, i've ordered a shift improver type kit which comes with all new springs and most importantly for me, a new seperator plate, seeing how the previous owners decided to bore out the holes in the current one, plus also install stuff incorrectly and bent it! so this one has a tow kit type option which should provide nice positive shifts without being too harsh for street duties!
also have ordered the usual boost valve upgrade, but its .570 which is slightly larger then the normal ebay one, and i have ordered the corvette 2nd servo piston and a upgraded 4th gear piston which apparently is the ticket for towing!!
next on the list is to work out exactly what i need parts wise but looking at a rebuild kit designed for towing/RV type of stuff, which should just about sort the rest out, and apparently rated for up to 500hp so that will be plenty for my requirements even if i do stroke it one day!
have also made a bit of progress with some more wiring stuff, and got the rear of the gearbox sitting a bit lower which looks more right for tailshaft angle and such ... will be making up a home made tailshaft shortly to see how it all looks.
got some time off in a week and a half, so during that time hoping to get some work started at least on an engine cover for it, and some new seat frames too ...
oh and hopfuly to visit the engineer and lay out all my plans for his disection and so i then will have a solid plan of attack!
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yeah wow your going gungho on your beddy sammy! keep up the good work ...hope you have Bathurst van nats in your sights! :D
Rays been ordering a few more biys n pieces forthe turbo assembly.
Were thinking about entering our van in the all brittish day on newcastle forshore this saturday...wanna park next to the Jaguars ;D ;D ;D ;D
nah might go near the Vaxhalls! If ur not doing anything comalong and say HELLO! ;)
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looking good! ;D
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honestly wendy i have nothing in my sights at the moment other than trying to get it to a registerable state!! but hey you never know :)
thanks for the heads up on the foreshore, i think i have too much on, but you never know!
as for gun ho, i reckon its progressing too slowly lol! no time or money, but i have decided to park up the race car now that its acheived its goal so i can focus on the bedford!!
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engineer visit booked in for next tuesday!! will be good to get exact answers to some mods i want to do so i can then just get them done!!
also wired in the bedford wiper motor to the commodore wiring .... now while i have a VS wiring loom, i also had a VR one in the corner for raping wires and plugs over the years, and it has the same wiper motor plug as the bedford!!!! sure enough, plug it in and all the wipers work perfectly, 2 speeds with intermittent!!!
all the headlights and blinkers on the front are done now and working properly ..... they were always really dull with the stock bedford wiring loom, so i've obviously got the earths and connections sorted there!
i've also mounted the commodore engine bay fuse/relay panel and its all mostly sorted now, so starting to feel like im getting somewhere!!
hopefully after seeing the engineer i'll be able to make some solid progress on other areas!
im actually looking at using a commodore brake booster/master cylinder too, but need to find one that fits .... anyone else done it and what did you use ?
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The commodore wiper motor fits on the bedford mount without to much hassle
I used VN booster/master in my white CF, if memory serves the bolt holes are a fraction smaller. can't remember about the pedal mount but it fitted in the engine bay real well
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yeah i wasn't sure if the commodore wiper motor fit on the bedford mount or not, but i guess i'll have a spare if the bedford on fails :)
i have seen a few commodore ones on bedfords in pictures here but as the bolt holes where out a bit so i wasn't sure how they were done, i might dummy one up and see!
Thanks for the input :)
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Hey Sammy, my advice would be to replace the old Bedford wiper motor while you have everything in bits. I replaced my Bedford one with a Ford EB and it works really well.
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Im half way fitting up one of these......
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/HOT-ROD-WIPER-KITS-REMOTE-2-SPEED-SELF-PARK-COMPLETE-/151370944811?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item233e69512b&_uhb=1 (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/HOT-ROD-WIPER-KITS-REMOTE-2-SPEED-SELF-PARK-COMPLETE-/151370944811?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item233e69512b&_uhb=1)
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Let us know how it turns out Rotti. Looks interesting ;)
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my mate fitted one of those units to his Vette and found it was absolutely piss weak he had to take the springs off the wiper arms because it put too much load on the motor and the blades were only 10" long
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Yeah those arms looked a bit light duty, alright for a small hotrod screen but not a beddy!
I ended up fitting up a pair of f100 wiper arms as they are the old push-on type & strong
Have both arm mounts done using all bedford bits, worked perfect!
pics next
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the first pic is the wheel as sent, the second pic is with added bedford rear mount so i can use all bedford external fittings, looks factory from outside. Just had to run a file through the housing a tiny bit & file down the outer edges of the top stainless washers so the outer nut would fit....
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so, had the engineer come and check out the bedford over the weekend, the good news is most of what i want to do he is fine with, so i can just get it all done now (sounds simple hey lol!) i have some work to do with the steering, need to try and couple the two together without any major mods, anyways should be totally doable just take some time to work it all out.
he seems fine with me making adaptors to fit brakes on similar to restoreids, engine mounts, engine cover, all fine as long as i re-enforce the edges of the cut out properly etc.
the only down side is everything got in the way on my time off and i didn't get to touch the van other than for the engineer stuff .... but hopefully in the coming months i'll be able to make some good progress on moving things forward!
so i think the next steps will be to pull the cross member, motor and gearbox, then i can start welding around the edges of the engine hole, finish off welding up the engine mounts and hopefully while its all out re-build the gearbox so it wont have to come back out after all that (thats the plan anyways)
while the cross member is out i'll try and start working on brake adaptors too and hopefully can have commodore hubs on the car next time it goes back in also!
its energising but i know there isn't going to be alot of time to work on it at least for the next few weeks! hopefully the energy continues hahah!
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thast good to hear then :D
bit by bit you will get it done Sammy ;)
you can always ask anyone on here for some encouragement, IM SURE WE ALL WOULD BE HAPPYTO HELP!
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Hey Sammy, you have taken the best approach by involving your Engineer early in the piece. Its going to make your final certification a breeze and hopefully you won't suffer having to do things over ... although my engineer did change his mind on a few things. Luckily they were pretty minor and easy to address.
Now all you need to do is to make it happen ;D ;D ;D
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hahaha in all honesty wendy im keen as mustard to get it happening, its more time and money at the moment! at least there is alot i can do that is small to nil money and just time and work on my part so i plan to tick those boxes while i save.
gordon, yes i have had more than one car engineered in the past and i have learnt that if you find out what they like and do it that way you get better outcome :) that and have to only do it once hehe!
this one is probably the most full on conversion i have done though, as others were more a matter of bolting kits on and such, whereas with the bedford a lot more of it has to be custom made one off etc.... or in the case of the brakes, i'd prefer to try my hand at adaptors like restroreids rather then paying over $1200 for something when all i want is the adaptors off them ;)
the other thing is this is the first time i have used this engineer as the other bloke jumped ship once the rules all changed so that was the main reason i wanted to speak to him before i went down a path it would be hard to turn back from!
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Im half way fitting up one of these......
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/HOT-ROD-WIPER-KITS-REMOTE-2-SPEED-SELF-PARK-COMPLETE-/151370944811?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item233e69512b&_uhb=1 (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/HOT-ROD-WIPER-KITS-REMOTE-2-SPEED-SELF-PARK-COMPLETE-/151370944811?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item233e69512b&_uhb=1)
looks like a jag rip off
bang for your buck jag is the go cable driven can put the motor any place you like ;)
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That's good to know. I always thought it was only mini's that had a cable wiper set-up. ;D
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well not alot of progress to show, but i have been studying restoreids pictures and harrassing him for details of his setup for the brakes :) (thanks reid!)
so i have decided to purchase some of the below pictured hubs, and once mounted on the stub axle with the right bearings i plan to start working on adaptor plates to fit the calipers to the stub.
and you can rest assured i will be trying to document this all as best as i can for you guys and also for the engineer, so stay tuned :)
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my adaptor hubs turned up early this morning :) :)
so i went and worked out the right bearings to get so i could start fitting it all up!!
like the others i got the falcon bearings for the inners, these go directly into the holden hub and then fit on the stock bedford stub axle, and with the outer needing to be machined i got one that has a fractionally smaller cup diameter than the stock bedford one but its more of a common one and its got approx 1500lb higher load rating ... not that i expect it to be a problem but it can't hurt!
i put the hub on using the washer to retain it and got the disc on there so i can start working on the adaptor plate....
hopefully this weekend i can make some progress on that and also get the hubs machined soon!
so its starting to come together slowly! and its awesome to finally have some progress on the bedford, even if it was only 1hr in the shed ;)
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Good on you Sammy That smaller outer diam bearing is a great idea wish I thought of that Keep the pix coming How much were the hubs
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Thanks restroreid!
hubs have been dropped off to my mates workshop to machine the outers this morning, hopefully have them done by the end of the week.
the hubs were $195 delivered off ebay, they didn't come with bearings which was perfect for my needs, although they did come with holden cups in them so had to bash them out!
for those interested, the inner bearing is
XA - XF Falcon
Cone L68149
Bore ID. 34.987mm - 1.3775in
Cup L68110
Cup OD. 59.131mm - 2.3280in
and the Bedford outer can be used or in my case I got the following which is almost identical other than being .6mm smaller and having a slightly higher load rating.
CF Bedford - Outer
Cone 07100-S or SA
Bore ID. 25.4mm - 1.00in
Cup 07210X
Cup OD. 50.8mm - 2.000in
Width 15.011mm - 0.5910in
Alternative Options with non bedford set
Cone L44643
Bore ID. 25.4mm - 1.00in
Cup L44610
Cup OD. 50.292mm - 1.9800in
Width 14.224mm - .5600in
I wasn't particularly looking for that bearing originally I was just trying to find one that might go in without any machining but there isn't anything, but in my research I found that one with the higher load rating and the guy at the bearing shop said its a more common one so that may just mean in the future its easier to source!
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Well done Sammy I hope everyone is taking notice & writing all this down I looked at those trailor hubs when I picked up the bearings & thought at the time would they work O well You might have to machine a bit on the outside of the inner hub to clear the bolt head's that hold the calipur bracket on just check that
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don't worry im planning to keep it all documented and put it together in a big write up once im done.
with the original bolt heads they just miss the hub so allen heads would be perfect like yours, but I have a theory on that which I need to prove yet, but thinking have threads in the adaptor plate and bolts from the inside of the stub through and into the plate, so they are flush on the outside!
also I have a feeling my hubs bring the offset in a bit compared to yours so I just need to see where everything sits to ensure I can do what I want!
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Those hubs look the business Sammy. Damn good idea. Much cheaper than having brand new hubs fabricated like I did.
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ouch yeah I bet!
I was going to do the same as restoreid, but long long ago I threw out all the hubs I had so I would have had to buy something either way so figured get the correct hubs to begin with so less work even if they cost a bit more!
I have the same thing on my Gemini which just requires using Gemini bearings and they work really well so I knew it was a sure thing!
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have managed to get the template mostly made, but can't finish it off till I get my hubs back so I can work out the caliper locations.
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so today was very fruitful!
got the hubs back from my mate today so was able to put it on properly and so i fitted up the commodore rims off the donor car i was interested to see how the wheel sat in the guard, it seems to be slightly inward of the wheels i got on it so thats good cause they were too wide, these seem perfect offset !! and honestly i like the look of this wheel on the bedford :)
also got stuck into the metal bracket, i've managed to get it to the point of being bolted up using the original bolts reversed, i just need to get some washers for them then i can trim them! im pretty happy with the outcome, just need to trim the tab for the caliper so i can fit the disc over it then i can make the holes for the caliper to bolt to it!
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ok, so got my hubs machined and then needed some more off them, so got that done and got them back now, so i was able to fit it all up as it will sit ...
so these pics just show the machining on the end of the hub to get it to fit inside the adaptor nicely, i am thinking i'll put a chamfer on the edge of the adaptor just for added clearance but other than that it all fits nicely .... mind you i put the adaptor on backwards so never mind that!
i am also looking at DBA catalogues to see if there happened to be a 300mm disc which had a slightly narrower depth which would mean maybe getting it to fit on without having to use spacers behind the adaptor plate, at this point in time its looking like there is nothing thats going to be any better than what i have now.
so yeah slow but good progress!
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Looking good Sammy Keep them coming A lot of fiddling but you will get there Just make sure that the cups are seated mine weren't & after I took it for a drive I had to tighten up the hub nut & the calipur bracket wasn't centred & had to redo the spacers
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Got some time in the shed today to make some really good progress on the brakes!! pretty much its all done, I have some washers spacing the caliper in the right spot till I can find the right thickness steel or similar to replace them, and need to neaten up the outside radius on the bracket, but aside from that i'm pretty happy with the outcome and it feels really good to have gotten to this point!!
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theres a few here showing the clearance, and also the wheel offset difference .... I need to measure the wheel back space to see how much of the difference is the wheels and how much is the brakes.
so the first pic of the wheels (passenger side) is the wheels I got on it with the drum brakes, and the driver side is the commodore brakes.
I am thinking I might grind a bit off the crossmember where the caliper comes close to it, but other than that I think its pretty good :)
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Looking good Sammy, well done !
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Brilliant job! You've done well with the wheel clearance, Nice work.....remember to make a list of procedure and part # ...
I thought the brakes on my LWB were ok till I nearly hit a roo yesterday morn, and the backs just locked up, luckily the screech sent skip in the other direction, phew !
Time for an upgrade me thinks.
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yeah once i have it all 100% sorted i plan to write a detailed report for ye all!
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well progress has been slow due to helping the missus with her studio, but I am pleased to say on that note that there is no longer 30 boxes of bamboo floor boards in the back of the Bedford :)
I've managed to get the adapter plate all worked out and as you can see in the attached pic, the left one is the finished one and the right is duplication for the passenger side!
I am in the process of making up the spacers for it at the moment, has been hard trying to find the right size steel to do the job but hopefully that will be sorted in the next week or two then pretty much its just the brake lines left to make up!
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ok a bit more to add on the conversion wheel offset differences .....
the commodore hub sits out by 5mm compared to the Bedford hub (this is the spot where the rim contacts the brake drum/disc)
then to offset that the commodore rim has a 133mm backspace on a 190mm rim this if I am correct gives a positive offset of 38mm (positive is meaning the hub is 38mm from the centre line towards the outside of the wheel)
now the Bedford jelly bean rim offset is 110mm backspace on a 205mm rim, so this gives a 7.5mm positive offset....
so this means with the difference, the commodore brakes along with commodore rims give you a 25.5mm narrower track per side .....
BUT!!!!!!!
that doesn't tell us how it all compares to a stock Bedford rim!
which I just so happen to have one of! and it measures at 125mm backspace on a 170mm rim, so 40mm positive which means the commodore brakes and rim is 3mm wider track each side than a stock Bedford.
I think ..... my head hurts!
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Also looks like I've found the right size dust caps on eBay so ordered them tonight so will know for sure soon enough if that's sorted!
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Hi Sammy.. beddie progressing well i see. Wondering if you worked out the brake booster master cyl yet. I put the vn booster master cyl. discs all round. I used the vn foot brake bracket but had to use the beddie pedal. Brake lines are mostly vn. No chopping or welding involved.
Just have to get some time to sit down and do a write up on it.
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no i haven't, just been focusing on getting the wheel end done then worry about that side of it later!
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so got these wheel bearing dust covers on ebay, they are for a trailer, and in the perfect diameter to suit my hubs! so that's an easy win!
I've also had some time to fit the spacers I got made, they are 30mm steel rod, which has been machined down to 11.5mm thick and drilled and tapped to suit the caliper mounting bolts, so the thread goes through the adaptor plate and the spacers to give plenty of clamping.
so when time permits I just need to make the same for the other side and then im done on the adaptors/hubs!
I've also had all the T700 rebuild parts arrive today so nothing is stopping me from rebuilding that other than time now hehe.......
oh and thanks Gordon, got the door check springs so they'll be on the list of things to do one year!!
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nice big update today :)
so the wifes studio is completed to a stage where she is working on it without needing my assistance, so got a bit of time to do some bedford action :) :) :)
i got the brake adaptors sorted, and fitted to both sides, so pretty happy to have them all finally done and on! so i then moved on to the next thing, which the plan was to remove the motor/gearbox/crossmember and while it was all out, rebuild the gearbox, get a suitable converter for it, fit the dipstick to the motor (couldn't do it easily in the car as i had to bend the pipe to suit), finish welding up the engine mounts and re-enforce the floor where its been cut so once it all goes back in hopefully there will be no reason for it to come out again!
so before i did that i cut out and/or marked the floor around the motor where it needs to be cut to, then i can finish trimming once the motors out and re-enforce it.
i've also only had the engine mounts just tack welded in place, so i have been busy with finishing the welds off on them, i have also made up a plate to go on the inside of it to add some strength and i might add one or two more gussets yet :)
you can see in one of the pics below the new plate on the inside of the mounts, the mounts are also approx 2 inchs rearward of stock locations to suit the 5ltr motor.
hopefully this weekend i'll be getting some steel which i'll be able to make engine hole re-enforcements and also start making some mounts for the commodore seats!
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feeling pretty productive this weekend :) cut down some trees (I wont bore you with that hehe) and got stuck into the floor supports for the engine hole, pretty happy with the outcome, and even though its just pop riveted in at the moment the floor is so strong now!
also got the steering column lower mount pretty well sussed out and tack welded in place!
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I so want to work on the Bedford, its just too damn hot!!
currently 37 with a target of 43 today! :|
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ALL looking good :D
yep bugger that heat we went sailing ;)
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well it is pretty warm today but not near 37! my plans didn't work out as my brother was going to help me put the motor/front end back in, but he is sick, so I had to find a hot weather job to do instead, so I did a job that's mostly sitting down on my roller stool!
very happy with the result, will need some light panel beating but will be spot on!
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this picture is better to show what it looks like better than the close ups above!
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So I modified the commodore fuel tank to fit in place of the original, and also finished off the fuel door and filling neck from the commodore, all fits really well!
and of course seeing how the fuel tank was now in, I just had to run some fuel lines and start the motor :) first time its ever run in the car, and only ever once before ran on engine stand in my mates workshop after I built it .... so very stoked :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZQeiBA2OGg
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awesome Sammy, what is the trick to welding fuel tanks? I've seen a couple "reach for the sky", cheers Dano
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well there is no real trick other than make sure its dry from fuel hehehe ....
I've had this tank out of the commodore for near on a year now and its been bone dry that whole time.
but if you wanted to weld a tank that was just removed from a car I'd suggest filling it with water and then welding it with the water still in it (if practical) .... then make sure you dry it thoroughly afterwards!
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filling it with water works, and when done drain out as much as you can and then pour some kerosene in it to help break down the water.
Remember it's not the fuel that goes boom, it's the fumes
Another way to degas a fuel tank is by exhaust fumes, place hose from exhaust into tank and run vehicle for while. Leave settle for a bit and do the smell test, if you smell petrol repeat
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Thats a good one Busy....
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Guys a word of caution be very careful welding fuel tanks as its not just the fumes that are a danger ,old tanks build up fuel risin over time as it is heated by the welding process it turns into fuel vapour causing an explosion(as my brother found out !! he was killed when a tank he was welding exploded ) destroying a 16m X 10m shed and six cars. so be real careful out there guys
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making good progress on the van, yesterday dispite the heat my brother and I managed to finish making the radiator support frame and finished it all off with thermo fan radiator mounts, so the radiator and fans are now all done!
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Sorry about your Bro Neil, that's not good...... yep I certainly have no intenions to play with fuel tanks, but I do need an Ally one modified... and should have done it b4 putting fuel in....BUGA.
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Sorry to hear about your brother Neil.
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spent the weekend head scratching and brain storming and worked out a suitable seat mount for the commodore seats.... they are wider then the Bedford frames, but I also wanted to get it back a bit as it would hit on the steering column almost in the full forwards position.
so its all sorted now, only thing left I want to do is put tin plate on the front and sides of it, which should also make it 200% more rigid (not that's its not now) and I'm also doubling the amount of bolts to hold it all in .... "to be sure to be sure"
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so things have been slow on the progress front somewhat .... but certainly making progress non the less :)
I've ordered a dominator 2000-2200rpm converter, so hoping that will turn up soon enough!
today I finalised the commodore wiper motor conversion, and extended the commodore loom wiring to up under the dash.
I've also decided instead of trying to get a different master cylinder on the Bedford booster I have started to fit the Commodore booster/master, so far some small filing of the bolt holes and its mounted to the firewall, I just need to shorten the shaft and then its pretty much done, fairly straight forward to do in the end :)
im also working on the engine cover, its slow going, lots of head scratching and pondering to make sure its right the first time, I want to have it removable and incorporate a console on the top sort of thing.
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so I was looking at fitting an earlier model commodore brake booster/master .... but theres all sorts of issues, master cylinder bores are not large enough, need to replace it with another part and all stuff like that, so in the interest of keeping the whole brake conversion from basically the one model of car I have purchased a VT-VY booster and master cylinder! it looks like it will fit ok under the bonnet if I move it down a bit lower than where it is currently mounted in the picture below.
so i will be welding up the holes in the firewall and re-drilling to suit this unit, and also got to get the shaft shortened and changed to suit the Bedford pedal then it should be pretty well sorted!
engineer should be happy that the master cylinder is matched to the brakes as well, and from all reports on commodore forums, the VT onwards booster/master gives a much better pedal feel than earlier ones!
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coming along great Sammy ! :D
...so does the bonnet fit ok on that brake set up?
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The size of the booster doesn't really matter, I'm running a toyota windom on my custom van with HQ discs up front and jag discs at rear.
A standard CF is big enough to run HQ discs and 9in diff brakes.
The main thing is disc/drum boosters are proportioned for big and small, drum/drum is small/small but enough to run discs. A jap disc/disc is enough to run drum/disc and disc/disc.
The front brakes is most of your braking, except in a commercial van/truck, they should have proportioning valve on the rear brakes to allow more braking with a load. Example an empty van should lock up all 4 at the same time (back after the front) but add a load and without the valve the back brakes wont lock up, the load will push through the rear brakes. Run a disc brake booster on a drum rear and it will pump enough fluid to stop on the load, but will lock up before the front without a load.
A custom interior is a load.
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yeah wendy it should JUST fit, I need to do some more work on getting it in the right location which I am hoping will allow it to fit with the reservoir that's on it now, failing that there is an earlier model reservoir that is angled at the front to make it a bit lower and it should give another 5-10mm clearance, but it definitely fits front to back no problems.
and I agree busy the booster is probably overkill, I never thought the stock Bedford brakes were really heavy, but its more that this master and booster bolt straight up to each other is the reason i'm using the complete lot.
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Sorry I wasn't bagging you. I used the VN set up on my standard van because it was there
If the master reservier doesn't clear you can side mount it - mount it on the side and run rubber brake fluid safe lines to it
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yeah remote reservoir is the next option if this setup doesn't fit :)
as for the VN setup, I tried it the other week, and in all honesty its probably easier to put in than the one above :)
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I am very happy to report that the VT-VY brake conversion has been all finalised :) all that is really left to do is make some brake lines for it (I am going to put new lines throughout the entire van) and then some minor tidying up of the pedal assembly.
so after a lot of trial and error I eventually worked out the best location for the booster so the pushrod is straight from the pedal to the booster, and also with the VS reservoir on it just fits under the bonnet! once I had all the location sorted out I cut the section out of the firewall that had heaps of holes in it and welded a new section in, its only going to have the required holes in it :)
I also added a front support bracket to it which fits nicely onto the edge of the grille.
and also I got my dominator 2200rpm converter, should be very nice for getting the race car/trailer load up to speed :) so the converter and box is all back in and sorted finally!
feels like I actually made a lot of progress this weekend :)
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So I did most of that pedal finalisation stuff, I wanted to strengthen the pedal box where is bolts to the booster as there was a few holes in it after my trial and error, so I added some extra flat bar to them with only the required holes drilled into them! all that's really left now is to paint it!
In the end the pedal has ended up about 5mm further down than the original Bedford location, but this can be easily adjusted with the rose joint on the pushrod shaft if needs be!
I also finalised the bracket and mounting for the commodore fuse/relay panel in the engine bay, it fits in nicely below the original wiper washer reservoir! and once that was done I was then able to make some wiring mods to get the bits all connected properly (main battery wire to the fuse panel and such)
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Well done Sammy It's all coming together great Using late model parts is the go Keep the photos coming
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Hey Sammy,
Getting there.
Just as a suggestion, try the washer on the passenger side. It avoids clearance problems and fits neatly next to the heater!- all you need do is extend the wire for the pump and reverse the washer pipes ...... Can't claim originality on this, but it works! Also gives better access to the fuse box!
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yeah I did look at that, and still possibly an option :) I just need to fit the heater and a air box in that side then i'll see if it fits, I don't see myself having to get to the fuse / relay panel much but yeah it would certainly get it out of the way, and the commodore wiring loom actually runs to that side of the engine bay so would be easy there!
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Getting a fair bit done! I ended up cutting and shortening the original Bedford tail shaft by 150mm so it now goes into the T700 and bolts up to the original diff just to get it movable till I sort out a commodore diff down the track....
I've also installed transmission oil cooler and all that seems happy days!
Spent a bit of time cutting and modifying the original Bedford steering column mount to accept the commodore mount (I actually cut the dash part out of the commodore) and then I also braced the mount to the dash panel and then added some extra bits to support the bottom of the commodore dash panel!
I actually got all the commodore glove box out of the donor car, so I am hoping I can mount all that into the passenger side foot well supported by this new framework.
Also finished modifying a commodore accelerator pedal to suit my vans pedal location and mounting to the firewall etc, its pretty much right and working however the cable is too long so I can't get 100% throttle, need to work something out there to shorten it slightly.
just waiting for the bank balance to replenish then I can buy some more bits, but theres plenty of stuff I can slowly plod away at before I need cash anyways, but I really want to get the brakes and shifter sorted so I can then move it around that will be a cool moment :)
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So I've pretty much finished off all the brake booster/master cylinder mounting and the new lines have all been sorted! just got to finish off a few bits at the wheel ends then I will have front brakes at least shortly!
also the the B&M light truck Megashifter, seems fitting that its a light truck one heheh!
I would have liked it to be a bit further forwards but with the V8 and larger engine cover its not an option, but it will work fine, once its in drive theres not much need to use it anyways!
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Gday Sammy, how did you end up doing the booster-padal connection ?
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I removed the pushrod from the booster, machined it down to the right size then cut a thread onto it for the rose joint to screw on, its pretty tight but its just short enough!
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nice work, how did it come out, from memory it wasn't straight forward ?
I will have another look
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no there is a clip that goes internally inside it, had to get a screw driver in there to remove it enough to get the centre out .... if your interested in doing it shoot me a PM with your email address and i'll send you some high resolution pics I have of how to go about it.
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mmmm more food for thought,cheers Sammy thankyou for the info
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happy to help!
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Hi just wandering how fitted your v8 and did thay use the same engine mounts and what size v8 thanks Garry
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Hi Gazz, I ended up going with lining up the gearbox mount with the original Bedford crossmember, and used a Holden trimatic type rubber mount, then I used HQ engine mounts which moved the mount points a few inches further forward than the commodore mount, this then meant that I could cut the straight 6 engine mounts off the Bedford crossmember, and move them from the back to the front and they lined up nicely.
I also fitted a HQ water pump and pulleys to get a bit more room at the front of the motor for thermo fans.
as for the floor, there is about 1inch or maybe a bit more cut from each side of the floor and a few inches had to be cut at the rear too.
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So I now have fully working Commodore front brakes as of about an hour ago :)
very excited, now I just need to put the rest of it back together so then I can move it around hahaha
you will notice that the brake line is not properly mounted in its support under the chassis and also at the top of the control arm point, I need to get some brackets off the commodore to finish that control arm point and also need to drill out the hole in the crossmember bracket to fit the new brake lines, but that wont be happening till I next remove the crossmember!
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Finally got to a stage where I could move the Bedford with its new motor and brakes!!
Still lots to do, but very good achievement!
First time its left the shed since i drove it in as a total stocker!
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Looks good Sammy, I see it's windowless too. I'm a newbie here mate, thought i'd join in the post, hope that's o.k. what are your plans for the Beddy ?
Cheers.
KT.
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anyone is welcome to post comments or questions KT :)
yeah I was lucky enough to find the exact Bedford type that I wanted, short wheel base, no side windows and stock as a rock other than the mags. (after months of looking mind you)
so the plans are VN Commodore 304 V8 and 4 speed auto, VT commodore brakes and diff, VS commodore seats, dash steering column and full VS commodore wiring loom and the plan is to use it to tow my race car (TG Gemini Drag Car).
and while i'm here, I had a good few hours today to spend on the engine cover, still very slow going, but i'm trying to measure twice and cut once! so far so good! I have roughly worked out the shape and the only part I need to cut out now is a small section to fit in the corner, and its also going to be an angled bit in there.
you might be wondering why the cover is so high, I plan to use it as a bit of a console for the phone wallet etc.... and hopefully incorporate some cup holders!
and hopefully in the coming days i'll have some piece of pipe to start working on the exhaust system.
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Here you go Sammy.The exact configuration you're talking about and cup holders .Just a bit tricky to remove when necessary,Good sound damping underneath.
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Yeah something similar, except I'm thinking recessed into my cover in each corner
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So I started on the proper exhaust, I wanted a single 3in system thats quiet enough to not be annoying on long trips and not be too restrictive keeping in mind future mods
There's more to do but last night's efforts is at least enough to get it usable (once I get a support bracket on the muffler), but being 9:50pm when I finished I figured I better wait before I start it! But certainly keen to hear what it sounds like now ;)
Also in the back ground you can see the commodore fuel tank fitting in nicely!
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and heres a shit video off my phone of the sound of the new zorst!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_r2pLVicUI
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so I went and got some paint for the exhaust today and while I was there I noticed they had a royal blue spray can, so I grabbed one just as a bit of a tester to see what it would look like :)
and I also layed a bit of black on the exhaust, I wasn't sure if it was gloss or not, it looks like its a satin finish, im fine with that :)
I also extended the pipe off the back of the muffler with the 3 inch pipe I had left and it just managed to go past the diff .... anyways that extra piece has made a considerable difference to the loudness, I wouldn't be surprised if as it is it would pass a noise test once the pipes out the back!
on that note I took a little video from the rear of the sound - and my dog photo bombed :P
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dRuRpCIHkM
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So now that the engine cover is kinda mostly worked out and reasonably complete I wanted to put the dash back together and start working out some of the smaller mounts, also while I had it all out I mounted up the brake controller and 2 way brackets :)
also finally decided on a location for the fuse panel, not the best to look at but there's not a lot of options that keep it plenty far away from the pedals, i'll probably make some sort of cover one day anyways....
slowly starting to look more complete!
aside from this stuff, i've been mostly doing small wiring stuff, got the park/neutral/reverse switches and wires all connected on the shifter finally, and I wired the 2 way into the radio power on the loom, so its just another plug and also turns off with the ignition!
and last but not least, I have tested the 2 cruise modules I had, one that came with the 304 and one from a VX, both of them don't do anything in my van so I tested them on my brothers VS ute and they do nothing on it, so I grabbed his module and I can at least get it to do the first part of the diagnostics where it moved the throttle to 20% and back, so I know most of the wiring is alright .... I have a replacement module on the go so once I get that should hopefully just about be done with the cruise control once I find a spot to mount it!
so now the cruise is ok I'm just about ready to call the loom finished! just need to extend one or two bits to suit the different location of the shifter and then probably be done!
this weekend is looking like its pretty free of duties so the missus and I are hoping to put a lot of time into our hobbies 8)
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the old vans been pretty neglected over the last few months, have been doing jobs of a heap of friends cars/motors/wiring stuff .... finally got most all of them done, on the up side it has given me time to save money for goodies :)
I've also finally worked out where i wanted to put the engine computer, so drilled a big hole under the passenger seat for it, it will eventually be tin plated around that seat from similar to the original bases so will be a nice little hidy hole for the computer.
just need to re-route some wiring to its new location.
I also bought some new shockies for the van, the old ones were as best as I can describe, totally stuffed! its certainly much more rigid when pushing the suspension up and down now!
i also noticed the front shocks are stamped with GM, so more than likely the originals! rears were Monroe, but certainly very old and crusty looking!
hopefully more progress in the next few months, really trying to get stuck into it now the weather is warmer.
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oh i also forgot to mention, i have finished the exhaust off! well aside from some black paint on the end! but shes all done, nice and deep note but quiet!
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looking real good :-)
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so I wasn't real happy with the 2 bolt flanges on my exhaust, I couldn't get them to seal so I cut them off and put 4 bolt flanges on, and while I was at it I actually finished painting it all!
I've also got stuck into finishing off the engine cover more! its coming along nicely!
unfortunately I ran out of cutting discs so will have to wait before I can do more on it!
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Looking good Sammy, I'm impressed with the dash, looks to fit nicely
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yeah I was surprised at how easy it fit in, I guess the good thing about a Bedford is its wider than a commodore so you don't need to cut down a dash to fit etc!
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little bit more progress, I have finished grinding the welds on the engine cover and gave it a coat of primer to keep it from rusting away!
I've also started forming up some angle iron that's going to be the base structure of the engine cover, and I have just on the weekend purchased and collected a holden crewman diff with plans to lengthen and install it hopefully in the coming weeks/months!
I think I can almost start to see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel!
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That's good to hear Sammy, from the pics it's looking real good, it's obvious alot of work been done, great stuff
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thanks Gunning!
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nice work sammy, i think im going to do the crewman diff also, my tunnel is a bit blurry at the moment
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give me a few weeks and i'll hopefully have it lengthened and in then i'll have all the gory details for you :)
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Ok so diff updates :)
I got the axles out and measured them up and confirm they are 95mm difference in length.
so I butchered the stock Bedford diff and cut off the spring mount and the shock mount.
I have located the diff where it will sit on the driver side, and the passenger side is 95mm short of the leaf spring, to give me an idea of how its all going to sit.
wheel kinda looks too small, also I think some lowering would help things!
and I reckon the offset is spot on :) and its pretty much the same space from the guard as the front wheels so it will look right!
so now I just need to get myself another diff, I have found one local that is V6 Crewman 3.08 LSD so hopefully find out Monday if I can get it or not and then i'll be on the home stretch with this conversion!
I'm debating too, weather I shorten the driver side 10mm or so, I can cut that much off the spline of the axle and have it still go in without bottoming out, so might do that but will lengthen the passenger side first and see where it all sits then decide on that part of it!
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so just yesterday got the second diff, so its now time to start cutting and shutting this biatch and see what we can come up with :)
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after a few different sets of vans w standard bore n master/booster
i fiited..an xb ford master and ..torana booster...
has never worked better..with increased flow.. ;)
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yeah I've got the XB master on my Gemini with the commodore twin piston front brakes, works a treat!
after much procrastinating and measuring and spreadsheeting and such, I finally made a bit of progress over the weekend, decided on a length and cut into the diff tube!
so the passenger side which was the short axle side, its been lengthened 85mm which is the smallest I could make it.
once I did the cutting I tack welded the longer end onto the diff and stuck it all in the van for a dummy fitting and measure of track widths, its currently over the maximum track increase by 8mm so it means I need to shorten the driver side by 10mm and i'll be just right!
for those that don't know, the axles are roughly 12mm longer splined than needed and so this means you can put them in ~10mm further and then trim the excess off the end to allow it all to still work and this is the saving grace of my conversion to just get it under the max track width increase....
the below pictured LSD centre is an old one I had (f***ed from water) which I cut into it to reveal the spots I needed to see so I can install it into the diff and work out widths/spline lengths to get the max out of it I can :) you can see that this axle has 2mm spline left on the end so its not going to bottom out!
I bought some tube to use for sleeves this morning so hopefully this week I can get most of the diff tube lengthening done and dusted!
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Mate your blowing my mind with this diff stuff your doing - so far from my numpky mechanical ability - impressive stuff - I can't get my head around what's the easiest thing to replace the standard diff with and your doing all this stuff.
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thanks drifter, 10 years ago I wouldn't have attempted this stuff myself, or probably the whole van project really! but you live and learn, I am doing a lot of things different/better than my first car project :)
mind you I have had a thought yesterday that I might be able to mix and match parts from VN-VS diff and the crewman diff to get me a better outcome! so watch this space, once I work out all the details and if its even going to work i'll post it up.
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haha- the mind never stops - I envy your mechanical mind process - Oh well battle on - think Ill be relying heavily on some of my mechanical minded friends - looking forward to your progress reports -
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I've kinda come to a bit of a stand still with the diff, with 2 long crewman axles its getting to be a bit too wide for track increases .... so I had been looking at a long crewman axle and a long vn-vs axle which will make it about 20mm narrower or something like that, but the problem is the bearings are different and it doesn't look like I can get a suitable replacement to work, so I am starting to think about getting a machine shop to machine me up a sleeve to fit in the crewman tube that will accept vn-vs axle bearings ..... so sorta avoiding that at the moment but still thinking about it as I go....
I finally got to do a bit more on the engine cover, its mostly done around the base now and welded up, but need to finish the bits near the firewall, but that's going to happen when the engine comes out .... I am also planning to cut it in half so I can remove the top half for servicing and then remove the bottom half if I need to remove the motor etc.
I've been side tracked with other projects so haven't gotten to do a lot, but any progress is good :)
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street and strip on e bay sell borgwarner weld ends for diff conversions 0nly $55 each check them out. john
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Engine cover looks great Sammy
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street and strip on e bay sell borgwarner weld ends for diff conversions 0nly $55 each check them out. john
That's handy to know, but in this case I need the crewman end to suit the brakes and axle retaining plate ..... Yes holden totally changed it!
Thanks gunning, I'm mostly happy with it hehe
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Finally put some more time to the bedford! Got one side cut out and new plate made up to fit better with the V8 and will also mean my engine cover will meet up with it now!
now to do the other side :)
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Have finally made some good progress on the diff! Got a sleeve machined up and pressed into the diff tube, which changes it from crewman to vn-vs bearing and seal size
So now that the axle and bearing stuff is all sorted out i could then work out the final length and weld the tube back onto the diff.
I'll give the weld a quick grind flat, remove the other side crewman mount then its just about ready to dummy up in the bedford to weld the spring mounts on it, then its pretty well done!
well aside from some paint and new bearings/seals etc.
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Bit of an update, got the diff in and all setup, looks like it comes in about 10mm over the original bedford track width and i believe most of that is the wheels i have as they have about 5mm wider offset than a stock commodore chaser rim....
its been a long road but the outcome is perfect :) just need to fab up some hand brake mounts and we'll be all good for the rear end!
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wow coming along well there Sammy...wont be long now and you on the road!
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looking good there
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yeah I sure hope so wendy!
thanks John!
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looks just like a bought one must feel good to get all those figures out of your head, wont be long till your cruising down that long road
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hahahah yeah your not wrong Phill!
i am actually a bit annoyed, with all the chopping and changing i'm not actually sure how much i have lengthened the diff, it was ~90mm then has changed by about 50mm now so i could only guess, but the end result is the difference between stock crewman short axle and VN-VS long axle is the length i've increased it.
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thanks for the info i was wondering what combo you used, i recon all the head scratching and nutting things out are all part of the fun
love shed time
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yeah I agree :)
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Got her out of the shed on the weekend :) first time out of the shed for quite a while! and having the car trailer there got me pumped to have the tow rig on the road :D
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woo hooo ! keen for a beddy convoy !
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one day wendy, one day!
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Fabbed up some mounts under the van, and the handbrake is now sorted!
commodore handbrake cable screws up to the original front section of the Bedford cable with the original adjustment screw section, so its perfect!
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Been far too long, i have been slack and spending too much time on my new toy hehe! (FX Holden)
Finally got all the new bearings and seals for the diff, its been cleaned and re-assembled! its now back in the Bedford, hopefully for good!
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This beast has been neglected over the last year or so, things are about to change though, starting to piece together all the parts for an a/c kit so there will be some more pics and updates coming soon!
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The vintage air under dash unit has arrived 8)
Its a nice looking bit of gear and has pretty detailed instructions etc, keen to start getting it fitted up!
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Nice one Sammy, looking forward to seeing how you go with it.
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Plenty of pics please
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hahaha ok will do :)
I just ordered all the rest of the bits, so hopefully will be making a start in the coming weeks!
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First things first, anyone wanting to keep an original Bedford dash and have A/C ... please look for another option, this ones not for you! However if you plan to cut up your dash and make something custom, then you'll be ok!
So, I wanted to sus out all the wiring and controls to see how they all went together, so I did a little test, man it pumps some air! and there are 25 clicks from the lowest speed setting to flat out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80vvA_Nt5wA
With that sorted it was time to cut into the dash and make this behemoth fit! Its not perfect at the moment, i'd like to get it a bit higher if I can, but generally its up under the dash and workable, but it is going to require the engine cover to be lower, which is not a problem, there was approx. 120-140mm of air gap between the top of the motor and the engine cover, so i'll re-design that as some stage.
I also got a Y piece from Bunnings plumbing section which is the perfect size for the flexible duct to slot into (its mounted behind the vice grips in the picture), so that has connected up the centre and passenger side factory window demister vents to one fitting of the A/C unit, and the second fitting will be dedicated to the driver side vent, once I get some more duct ... my theory is if the two vents out of the A/C unit blow the same pressure it will hopefully mean slightly more air out the driver side vent which is the one you want to work the best, it will also have a straight shot into the vent from the A/C unit, whereas the centre/passenger side ones turn.
And with the dash roughly sat back in place, looks like the 4 holes for the dash facing vents will be pretty easy to setup with the location of the outlets in the centre of the VR/VS dash and I have two eyeball vents on order for the ends of the dash.
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got all the rest of the bits, now to make them all fit into the Bedford! :)
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Coming together nicely Sammy!
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Made some good progress last weekend on the condenser, I think everything is going to just fit! ... although I'm not so sure about the A/C pump :o
I will need to get a 45 degree fitting for the bottom A/C connection on the condenser but other wise I think it will be fine.
After trimming the snout of the water pump I have approx. 10mm gap between the thermo fans and the water pump, so I'm happy enough with that.
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for an ac pump u could also look into a Prius electric unit
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I've just spend $450 on a brand new pump, I'm going to do all I can to make it fit lol :)
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fair enough i am going to look into a prius one for the rear ac keep it 2 different systems
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Getting real serious now...major progess Sammy 😃
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ahhaha yep, serious about staying cool :)