Bedford CF Custom Van
Project Undertaken 5th October 2009 & Completed 5th September 2010
Dave Bourne's CF van came to us having already been heavily customised. It used to run a 3.5 Rover V8, which has since been removed. We will be improving the standard of the bodywork and respraying the van, as well as fitting a tuned 4.6 EFI rover V8. We will also be carrying out a variety of interior modifications which we will cover as the project progresses.
Ok, first job was to strip down the van so we can see the wood for the trees. There is some corrosion around the rear inner arches and a little around the front, but nothing too serious.
The front end presented a problem, as the previous van 'builder' had formed the front end 'permanently' over the original un-boltable front panel, meaning it was no longer removable. The old 3.5 V8 had been removed by cutting the original panel, but this looked messy and getting the 4.6 in there was going to be very tricky indeed.
We decided to modify the front end to allow the original front panel to be removable once again. Once this was removed a new panel was tracked down to replace the 'butchered' one! We also decided to cut a section out of the lower 'valance' to allow the engine to be moved in/out more easily. This section will be modified to make it 'bolt-in'. While working on the front panel we also fabricated the mounts for the new 'quad rectangle' headlamp setup.
Once this was complete it was time to offer up the new engine so we could check for clearance. It goes, but it's certainly snug.... You will never have cold feet!! The original plan was to fit a GM180 autobox, but Dave has since tracked down a very rare RWD ZF 4HP22 'box which will give much more suitable gear ratios.
Moving to the rear end, we have some work to do on the inner arches. The original modifications to the metalwork of the van were rough to say the least. The arch extensions had been created roughly in metal as a base to support a lot of filler. Unfortunately not a lot of thought had gone into the underlying metalwork. The arches were formed from curved segments to create the outer shape, and a large return lip that was roughly welded to the original arch lip. This created a 'hollow' section inside the extension, which not only was bare untreated metal, but was open to the water/salt etc because the original inner and outer arches were left with several rust holes all the way through! As well as this the sill ends had been very badly patched. Basically the whole lot was a mess, which presented a problem as access was very tricky and we did not want to disturb the filler on the arches as it has actually been shaped quite well!
After a bit of head scratching it was decided to cut out the inner arch 'boxes' to gain access to the original outer arch, and cut this out completely (up to the point where the extensions are attached), thus making the arch extension the new outer arch (bear with me, this is difficult to describe!). This will allow us to treat the metal that was previously unaccessable. We then also had access to properly repair the sill ends. Once these areas were complete we refabricated the inner arch 'boxes', extending them to the outer skin of the van, rather than leaving an inaccessible 'crevice' behind them as per the original van design. The arch-to-side panel joint will be bonded with polyurathene sealant to allow flex and avoid distortion of the panel.
The front arches, particularly in the door shut area were a bit ropey in places, and the step area was cracking along the front edge, so a new section of step was fabricated and let in along with a couple of small repairs on the arch/door shut area.
Engine back out again, and attention turned to the engine bay. The butchered bulkhead/tunnel area was uneccessarily close to the engine so this has been cut out further and refabricated. All the various holes in the bulkhead were then welded/plated up, as we are going for a super-smooth engine bay, with only the bare essentials on show. The heater system is being redesigned from scratch, with a hidden intake inside the nearside wing.
After this we started the process of checking, cleaning and detailing the engine. First off, we stripped off all the removable parts, and bead blasted them. The alloy parts (inlet manifold etc) will be left in the bead blasted finish, and steel parts (pulleys etc) will be plated in a bright zinc passivate (gold) finish. All this will be carried out in-house.
Now a shiny clean engine is all very well, but it needs an equally impressive engine bay in which to live! Next step was to sandblast the 'bay, and coat with zinc primer. There was a small amount of defect filling to carry out, before a good coat of build primer, and a final smoothing session. After this it was time to hit it (check out my 'pimp-my-ride' speak!) with the beatiful Morocco Red pearl metallic base coats, before sealing it under a good layer of clear laquer.
While we were blasting the engine bay we also cleaned up the scabby windscreen aperture, which was also then given a dose of zinc primer to prevent the corrosion returning. The door shuts were also cleaned up and painted at the same time as the engine bay.
The inlet plenum for the V8 is also getting some special treatment. It has been stripped, smoothed, and painted in the same 'Morocco Red' that the rest of the van is being painted. To finish it off we sanded the raised fins and logo back through to the bare ally.
Here we can see the engine following reassembly - something of an improvment on how it used to look! Just requires a chrome alternator and new drive belt to complete the look.
At this stage it was time to get the rest of the van painted. This was a time consuming process roughly as follows: Step 1, mask all the areas that were already painted - door shuts, engine bay, inside of doors etc. Step two, sand and smooth the roof. Step 3, primer the roof, then flat primer. Step 4, base coat then lacquer the roof. Step 5, sand and smooth the rest of the exterior. Step 6, mask the roof. Step 5, apply primer then flat the primer. Step 6, base coat then Lacquer. Step 7, flat the lacquer. Step 8, compound the flatted lacquer. Step 9, Glaze & polish. Step 10, fit the new wheels, step back and admire!
With the van painted it's time to get the detailed engine back in, and crack on with getting it wired and plumbed in.
The ZF transmission is much longer than the GM box that was originally to be used, so a new crossmember needed fabricating for this, which mounts further back on the Chassis rails than the original. The plates that are bolted to the ends in these pictures are to be welded to the rails and then gussetted in place.
The fuel tank needs to be modified to suit the fuel injected engine. We decided to fabricate an integral 'swirl pot' which was TIG welded to the bottom of the tank. This will prevent fuel surge, and provide a suitable gravity feed for a traditional injection fuel pump.
The modified tank was then fitted, and the pump mounted on one of the tank mounting straps. In the second pic you can also see the gearbox crossmember in place, and painted (although covered in dusty finger prints!). A bit early, but couldn't help fitting one of the new Tex Stainless 'Bullet' mirrors - looks perfect!
Next job was to mount the new Range Rover Radiator/oil cooler/tranmission fluid cooler arrangement. Easiest to use CAD when working out angles for precise brackets like this. The fit was perfect, just as planned!
With the water and fuel plumbing taking shape, attention was turned to the fuel injection loom. This had been severely hacked about, and having been cut straight out of a discovery is had a lot of redundant connections. The loom was stripped down to the individual wires, the damaged wires replaced, all relevant connections identified and labelled, and any redundant connections weeded out. The loom was then connected up to the engine so a neat routing could be arranged before re-taping the loom.
Meanwhile, our collection of 'goodies' for the van has been growing! Amongst them are a chrome alternator, large LCD screen which will be hooked up to a reverse camera and freeview tuner, a stack of audio gear, digital dash, various gauges, B&M shifter etc etc.
The old throttle linkage pointed the cable in the wrong direction and had a lot of redundant parts meant for the cruise control, so we fabricated a complete new linkage arrangement with integral end stops, return spring mount etc.
Dave managed to track down some lower, softer 'camper' spec springs for the van, so off came the axle (which was also checked over for wear and found to be ok, and also checked to confirm it was the 3.45 ratio we expected, which it was), off came the old, and ridiculously heavy leafs, and on go the new ones.
We're getting close to the stage of installing all the electrics and wiring, and one of the potential difficulties was the door 'popper' Dave had requested. It took a bit of work to modify the release mechanism to 'down-pull' so the solonoids could be mounted down below the window runners, and the striker mechanism also required modification to make the door free enough once released for the sprung plunger to push it open. Got there in the end though.
Here we see the van sitting at it's lower ride height - will be lower still when the interior is in.
The water plumbing is well under way now too, and the chrome alternator offered up just to see how it looks! Next job was to fabricate an engine cover in polished stainless steel. For this we used CAD - Cardboard Aided Design!! A template was made before the parts were cut out, folded and TIG welded up. A foot rest has been added to the driver's side, and a bulge to accomodate the air intake pipe on the passegner side. Also taking shape are the raised seat mounts for the new bucket seats.
Here are the completed seat mounts, runner adapters, and the raised mount for the shifter. Also rolled and welded up some stainless steel mounting rings for the new LED rear lights.
Moving onto the interior, and although we don't specifically advertise interior trim work, we are carrying out all the work ourselves on this project. A frame has already been fabricated in the back out of a mixture of 50x25 steel box, (for the main structural parts) and 25x25 box section (for the rest of the frame). This will support the board which will form a bed area, folding rear seat and housing for audio gear as well as seperating the rear-accessed luggage area.
Around this framework we constructed a pair of sealed subwoofer enclosures in 25mm MDF (with optimum volume for the subs we are using). The 'bed' top was then constructed in 25mm MDF, including a seperate central section which will fold up to form the back rest of the rear bench seat.
Once this structure was complete the sides of the van were boarded out with 12mm MDF. We then trimmed panels of hardboard with alternating black/grey shades of alcantara and attached them to the boarding. The front lower sections have had JBL 6x9 speakers installed and have been trimmed in black leatherette (more resitant to the likely scuffs/dirt the lower sections will recieve).
We wanted something a bit special for the rear panel to break up the black/grey theme, so we cut out a classic 'V8' logo from the rear hardboard section, trimmed it in purple alcantara and inset it back into the panel. meanwhile the sub panel was trimmed in the black leatherette, with a 'window' in the front to show the amplifier and power cap mounted on a 25mm MDF board trimmed in black alcantara.
Briefly moving back to the exterior, you may be wondering what the stainless rings above were for.... We wanted to smarten up the LED rear lights we got for the van, so we tinted them, and mounted them in said polished stainless rings... Very happy with the result.
Back to the interior, and it time to tackle the wiring. The whole van is being rewired from scratch, as there was almost none of the old loom being retained anyway! The basic van wiring is fairly simple, although there is a fair amount of additional wiring going in for the audio/visual gear and gadgets such as the alarm and door poppers.
In one of the pics above you can also see the brackets that have been fitted to fit the new custom dash. The old dash top has been panelled over where the old instrument binnacle was, and trimmed in black alcantara. The new dash has been made in 3 sections of 3mm ally. The left section is plain and can be removed to access the fuses etc. The central section will house the top-of-the-range Alpine head unit, and the right section houses, guages, switches and warning lights. Once the panels were cut out they were painted to match the van before having the labelling for the switches engraved directly through to the bare ally. Very happy with this - photos don't do justice!
Another nifty feature is the super-wide TFT screen we've installed above the windscreen. This is connected to a rear mounted camera to act as a rear-view mirror, as well as to a freeview tuner.
All the wiring completed, and it was time to put a battery on a test it all out - thankfully everything worked as planned! Here are some pictures showing off the gadgets: RGB lighting (remote control), digital speedo, backlit gauges, Jaguar visors with illuminated mirrors, TFT 'rear view mirror' etc.
The heater system has been custom made - air is now drawn into the nearside inner wing, to a fabricated, stainless steel heaterbox on the passenger-side kick-panel, before being blown to the demist vents via two inline blowers. All the water plumbing is complete, as well as the engine wiring. Starting to look very smart indeed under the bonnet now!
Fast-forward past some fairly 'un-photogenic' finishing-off jobs and here we have it, the finished van!
