Old Bedford owner.

[doujoy]

Hi to all,

New guy just joined but old Bedford CF man who served my time on Bedford vehicles from  1959, thanks for letting me join your club.
I still work on Bedford's as I have one of my own bought ten years ago as a retirement project, I go to a number of vintage rallies around Scotland in the old CF and am a member of the Bedford CF UK owners club.
My old Bedford has done a hundred and fifty thousand miles and was registered for the road in 1981 but needed a lot of work doing to it to get it back onto the road.
A new project last June just to keep me busy was a 1950 Ransome MG vineyard tractor and is now just been completed, you can view it on facebook under dougiestractor.

doujoy       

[doujoy]

Hi to all,

I have been a mechanic for most of my working life, did a bit of long distance driving for about nine years through the nineties over the EU Countries.
Married with three children from 1965 to Margaret who died of cancer two years ago, kids all been married, so grandchildren to keep me on my toes.
Like to keep busy and the old Bedford and tractor do just that, having to get used to living on my own after 51 years of married life, that is taking a bit of time.

doujoy 

[Marishka]

Hi doughboy,
Sorry to hear of your loss of your wife Margaret.
Loosing our loved ones is one of the biggest hurts of our lives.
Hope you are doing ok.

This site is a bit slow now days due to the bedford page on Facebook
Not sure if you have Facebook but if so do a search for bedfords
Wendy has a page on there.

I sacked Facebook so I'm afraid I'm not on there anymore,
Cheers marty

[doujoy]

Hi Marty,

Good to hear from you, I am a get off your butt and get on with what is left of life kind of guy, I do miss Margaret a lot but I have a good family.
Facebook is ok but a bit too public for my taste I think people forget that they are speaking to the whole wide world when they put stuff on there.

doujoy

[doujoy]

Hi to all,

Due to the high price of fuel in the north of Scotland I have fitted a second fuel tank where the spare wheel carrier used to be so that I can fill up locally and do the whole trip without buying at higher prices up north.
The old 2.3 petrol engine has been worked on quite a bit over the ten years I have owned my Bedford and at a steady 55 mph I am able to get 21 mpg.
On the motorway where I am able to make good use of the overdrive gearbox I can gain another three mpg, so for an old beast it does alright.
I always thought that the CF should have had a starting handle so I have made and fitted a starter dog and raised the radiator two inches and made myself a starting handle, very useful for many of the jobs like timing belt and tappet gaps on the OVH camshaft, and if you get a flat battery in the cold Scottish winter time.

doujoy

[doujoy]

Hi to all,

I have decided to sell off some of the tools that I have no use for anymore, some old BMC sykes tools and old clutch kits and brake shoes for Vauxhall Cavalier mk2.
So a bit of a clear out of stuff that has laid in my shed since the days when I ran my own workshop here in Perth Scotland.
My next classic rally will be down in the town for Biggar so maybe I can sell off this collection at that, hope to get £150.00 for the lot.

doujoy

 

[stuuuz]

Hi Doujoy, glad the Bedfords have been good to you and that you are keeping busy. Sounds like you have done some good mods to your van. In Australia we had the 3.3 litre Holden motor fitted as standard, my van runs LPG and petrol so its got extended range with the dual tanks and better economy on LPG.

If you are selling parts, there are another couple of popular UK-based Bedford CF sites :

http://www.bedford-cf.co.uk/

and

https://www.bedfordcf.org/

There will be a lot of CF owners over your way on those sites I imagine.

Stuart

[wendyh]

Hi Doujoy!
Welcome to our site...my ears were burning Haha
Thanx for sharing your story, we would all love some pictures of your beddy
Great to hear from you..

[doujoy]

Hi wendyh and Stuart,

Just got back from a trip north to Rannoch with the grand kid's they had a great time on a very basic woodland site up there and the old Bedford ran well three gallons to sixty miles well loaded, on single track roads.
My old tub is not worth a photo she is not pretty but she goes well for a thirty seven year old Bedford CF.
I am a member of both of the clubs mentioned but I have seen more life in a tinkers vest!

doujoy   

[Hobbit]

Welcome Doujoy,

It's always good to hear from our international Bedford brethren. Great to hear that your CF is still serving you well, mine is coming up for it's 40th annual registration in September. Feel free to post any pics, any time. I'm sure "the old tub" is worth it. The hand crank is definitely unusual, but good mods with the fuel tank and gearbox. By the way, what ratio is the diff?

Happy travels,
Jeff.