Hiya,
After having posted up on here a while ago about the CF i was starting work on I have been meaning to start a thread for the Bedford CF project Im doing at work as a contractor. Its been quite an interesting and fun job so far and when finished the owner is going to have one very unique van.
The customer has been given this van to him by his dad. His dad has owned it since new and the customer used to get taken to school in it when little. It holds quite strong memories for him and he wants to get it back on the road and built to last so he can hand it on to his kids when they grow up.
It had been converted to running a older Falcon engine on lpg and auto box many years back. He drove it like that and really didn't like it. My boss has done many different conversions over the years using the later falcon running gear so it was decided to go down this route. The idea is that it will be future proof, better handling, better brakes with Abs, modern equipment icluding air conditioning, faster and easier coping with towing boats etc. Plus it will be a bloody cool talking point and a one off van.
Starting off I stripped the donor car that was bought as a complete runner with some rear accident damage- it cost $1000 which for all he is getting from it is cheap as.
Everything and anything that would be or could be used in the conversion was removed by me and I labeled all the wires where needed etc as the whole loom is to go into the CF. The air conditioning is to hopefully go in too and the dash complete is going in so after a lot of stripping I ended up with one very empty Falcon shell.
The plasma cutter got lots of use. Whats scary is how much rust I found hidden away on the Falcon! The guys at work said the rust is very common on all the Falcons they have stripped for these conversions. Not impressed with that..
The Bedford was sent to the sand blasters and came back much cleaner underneath. This made things a heck of a lot easier. I finished stripping the rest of the van out. It does have a fair few rust issues but luckily the chassis and underneath is still very solid. And I was happy to discover no rust when I took out the windscreen- always a bonus..
The engine was sat in a corner while I continued on with carefully chopping the whole front end out of the Falcon. Then after loads of measuring I chopped out the Bedford floor and slowly whittled both van and Falcon until I could lower the van over the Falcon till they became one. Forklift came in handy.
Loads more measuring took place. I wanted to get it as straight as possible and most importantly get the castor angle set up as close as possible to the falcon specs. This took time but once set and tacked in place I could start joining them together.
Don Hoff, the certifier, came along and had a look around this point and was happy. I could continue. Some pretty hefty sheet steel and many awkward shapes, folds, bends later and it started to look more factory. All the time through out the work I have been having to think many steps ahead. There were loads of things that would be made much easier later on with a little forethought at this stage. Overall though it was really, still is, just a case of piece it together- making it up as I go along. Luckily the other fellas at work have built some pretty awesome machines. They often pop over and point things out that could be done easier or more effectively etc. Here is a grand example of one very intelligent fella- the painter..
The Falcon dash had to be fitted quite early on so I could get an idea of where things would fit in. Much deeper than the CF dash, it had to be chopped down quite a bit while still keeping the main steel structure inside it so I could mount it. I extended the main bar out width ways and made brackets so it can be bolted in place. This is essential as the dash needs to come in and out quite often.
The steering has been a head scratcher! The new seating position and dash layout gives a more carlike position compared to the older CF truck position. The Falcon steering column points forwards to the bumper whereas the steering rack is behind the crossmember. These I had to link..but how? I came up with the idea (quite proud of this..) of using two right angle steering boxes from a Mitsi L300 van. The little units that take the column and sent it back to the rack.
I got a heap bits needed from a wrecker and pieced them together, eyeing things up and then making mounts. One box at the front taking the feed from the column and sending it back along the chassis rail to the next box which then sends it down to the rack. I was worried that there would be slack in the system, what with 2 boxes and 6 universal joints but was pleasantly surprised that there is none! It works a bloody treat. Plus the steering column still has the full range of adjustment - up/down and in/out. Happy with that. The universals and shafts that required welding have been welded by a ticketed welder and will be sent away for crack testing.
Luckily the customer is the same height as me at 6' 2” so I need to set up the lot comfortable for me and he is happy. He has been popping in often to check progress and loves it. I chopped the seat base down 3” and the position is really good.
The Falcon brake servo and master fit in neatly where the old CF one was. They line up well with the CF pedal box. The brake pedal only needs be moved 100mm back to suit the new dash position.
I have mounted the Falcon rear axle. Luckily the Falcon was not an IRS model. The axle sts in well and the track is pretty close but the stock (ugly) Falcon wheels have sod all offset and tuck in too far front and rear. But thats cool as he wants different wheels. Plenty of choice with the new stud pattern too. The wheels are also about 15mm smaller in diameter but again thats cool as the van needs taller profile tyres for the expected gravel roads and general abuse expected.
The Falcon front struts were going to come up too high into the foot wells so coilovers are now being used. This is good though as I can fine tune the height later on. Luckily there was a set of Spax coilovers on a 1940's hearse that is currently getting the same Falcon engine conversion along with loads of body work. I pinched the coilovers and built towers to suit them allowing for future adjustment of the top pivot position in the future- just in case. These, along with the whole build so far, have been overbuilt so its all nice and solid.
I have now almost finished building a new floor on the drivers side and started on the first of many many rust repairs to be undertaken. Loads of work yet and it'll certainly keep me out of trouble for a while yet.
Its gonna be so cool firing this van up for the first time- looking forwards to that and the first drive!
I'll add more photos as I take them and if I can get some off the work computer I'll add them in. I hope you enjoyed the rather lengthy read...
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