Old School Custom?

[666]

 Hi, Since joining I have been reading a lot of posts on mods, trying to get an idea of what I want. I love the old school Beddys when vanning was big. Being older I crave comfort and ease to drive, the 2 Beddys I had before was many years ago. I was thinking Jag suspension, I remember the adds when you could get a fitting kit to bolt in a Jag rear, dont suppose someone has a template. And the front I don't remember seeing any with Jag fitted at the time, any info. I also like custom bodywork but in steel, never been a fan of glass. From reading you loose a lot of footroom with a V8, I have seen a couple of unfinished with mid-mount. Interested to find out more. Any ideas most welcome.

[BusyKiwi]

You're only limited by your imagination or your wallet

With suspension you need to work out first what you want to use the van for. An unloaded van will bounce around with power to spare, a loaded van can ride nicely but not as much power to play with.

You also need to check what mods etc you are allowed in your area and befriend an engineer and ask lots of questions as to what you can have, best way around it etc - If cost is no issue.

[666]

 Thanks for the reply, the van would only be used for play, not as a workhorse. I can do most of the work myself, I am mainly after ideas and what doesn't work. I have got a engineer I am using with another project but need details before I talk to him about it. Cost is a issue so I need to play smart.

[wendyh]

hey welcome!
yeah i second that Busy!
you need to load her up a bit so you get a more comfortable ride!
Great you can do the work yourself will save you heaps of $$
the more you modify the more $$ in parts you will have to buy
there are some mods that are worth doing like dics brakes
and the sissy bugas go power steering (heheheh )
there heaps of pics in the gallery and van loads of technical info in the forum
for ease of finding stuff use the search bar at the top right hand corner of every page
So kool you have an engineer friend ..that helps big time even better if he likes bedfords hahahah
enjoy your van resto and please keep us posted with heaps of pics of your progress...all the bugas LOVE pictures!

[666]

 Thanks, I do remember they are bouncy when empty. I was thinking of softning the springing as I don't intend carrying loads. Disc brakes are a must and power steer, not as young as I used to be. I do need to do a lot more searching. I have a 253 and 4 speed auto laying around looking for a home so I was hoping to use that. Just need to find the right unit to start with.

[rumax]

the 253 sounds like a good place to start. And check the diff ratio. somewhere between 3.00 and 3.5 seems the most common choice.

Oh and welcome/good luck..

[johng]

hey old school
i have just put a ls1 in my van lots of mods to make sure all fits theres nothing out there to suit so iv had to make everything. I used a ve commodore rack as I'm using a wh statesman column & dash & modified the pedal box to fit had to change the steering shaft knuckle to suit the ve rack I had 1 guy quote me $300 to do this said it would take a whole day or more bugga that I'm a mechanic & have changed a bloody lot of unis in my time took me 35mins so that was $300 in my pocket Same with A/C mount bracket cant use original bracket so i bought a bracket no good for my use (be great in a hq onwards ls1 conversion) so i made my own this stuff all takes a shit load of time now I'm making up all the a/c lines I'm no good at putting pics on here i have a few hundred i think they'd make no sense to sum lol
Good luck mate enjoy the ups n downs iv had a few i tell u & how many times iv thought to throw it in but have hung in there

[666]

 I plan to do the same thing, always done it myself but yes it can be very time consuming. It can also take a lot of time working it out, I find making it work and simple the hardest. I have a idea of what I want to do just need to find the right body to start with.

[johnb44]

if you are having air con there are several photos of my set up somewhere here if not ill repost them

[666]

 I will be looking into aircon, I like the old school look but I like comfort as well.