1976 Bedford CF/ford falcon combo. Back from upholstery.. looking good!

[yoeddynz]

Discussion here....

For quite a while now I have been meaning to start a thread for the Bedford CF project I am doing as 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.

[yoeddynz]

It runs!

My second to last day working on the van before I take off overseas for two months so it was a goal to get it all sorted and running. Started it up this morning just after smoke break. Whipped up a make shift fuel tank for the start. Only had a cat fitted so pretty loud but very smooth, sweet and lush sounding started easy peesy and idled well. Got up to temp then found a small leak on back of power steer pump- a suspect seal that I had already replaced but apparantly always give troubles so will convert to older fitting when back.

Fitted modified prop shaft today as well- now two peice due to length. Looks all good.

The certifier Don Hoff was up from chch to check over another car at work so he had a good look over van, checked steering etc and gave big thumbs up. When back the end will be weighed so we can order some suitable rate springs. I will fit brake lines and finish wiring to rear lights etc then we can test drive it.

Very happy. Hannah popped by work at end of the day so was cool to be able to turn the key and start it up.

I will add a shot video in next day or so.

[yoeddynz]

Been back on this at work after getting back from two months away. Last friday we took it for the first test drive. I took a small vid on my phone...

Very happy with how it drives. Very smooth ride and not too loud considering it has no insulation, no exhaust, no sound deadening etc. brakes are fantastic, steering good. in fact its like driving an AU falcon...

Im now busy removing rust.. of which there is quite a lot but luckily the underside is very very solid making the repairs so much easier.

[yoeddynz]

BIIIIIIIIGGGGGG problem. A very annoying one that has me quite pissed off.

 

We have put this through the cert process recently. It came back from Barry in Motueka failing on only a few minor things but otherwise according to Barry was a success. He thought it drove well and after having driven it out to Mot and my boss Gordon driving it back we all thought it was great.

Julian Chairs, cert man from lower north Is also drove it and thought it was good.

 

Barry then told us that we now needed to apply for a design approval confirmation because the steering system was unique to him. This design approval process was new to us. Julian had mentioned it a while back but said that because we had started the project and steering system quite some time back we were OK because this was before the new system came about.

 

From the very beginning we had got Don Hoffs approval of the setup we were using. He checked it before we started and gave us the thumbs up. Halfway through he spotted that we had welded one set of steering components using a ticketed tig welder. He had us change that so we found a system to use that was all mechanical. Don was happy with this next time he came up to view the van. Once it was all complete we had a slight bit of binding which was remedied by moving the rear bevel box up. Again Don checked it and all was good. We then preceded on with the rest of the van fit out and rust removal. At no point was any design approval mentioned by anyone. It was Don having the final say and we were all happy.

 

Moving on to last week when I had to submit a design approval, post work completed. I measured everything and sent in more photos. It went past the committee and they have failed it. They are not happy with the use of two bevel boxes! Even though we have had three certifiers give it the thumbs up, two of them having driven it and thinks its great.

Dave Sales from Jerlopy engineering, a well known engineer in the hotrod circles, also thinks its a fine system and has seen it first hand.

 

There are no binding issues, no slop, all Oem parts and two matching Aisin bevel boxes. There is no significant amount of torque going through the system because the power steering rack is what applies the real pressure to the wheels. On a pure engineering basis I believe its a winner. I have full confidence it will last and I already know it works smoothly. It also self centres as it should- the only thing we had any fears of at the initial start of building it.

 

So where to go from here. The powers that be in Wellington/Auckland say no. They say we can use one bevel box if it mimics a OEM application. If we can find a vehicle out there that uses two in the configuration then they might go with it.

 

I can not think of any other way around this problem. I think its absurd that a organisation that's is focused around helping people build and promote one off 'hotrods' can be so blinkered about this. Those in the committee who failed the ápplication' have not even seen it in person or driven the van. Surely it should come down to the certifier who tests it? Or they should have their head honcho engineer look at it before failing it. Failing it on what real grounds???

 

Any ideas would be great. The whole front end of this van was built around this system. The owner has spent A LOT of money on this van and is obviously very upset.

 

 

alex

[yoeddynz]

Just a quick update.. I was in nelson to get some stuff and quickly popped down to the upholsterers so I could spray rust inhibitor in al the floor/ wall/roof seams before the interior fit out begins. Its almost completely painted bar the rear hatch. Looking pretty bloody cool me thinks. I love the retro colour scheme the owner has selected. So sweet!

[yoeddynz]

So Van has just come back from upholsterers and is looking pretty sweet inside. They have down a very neat job. I think it would be sweet if the seats were re-covered  in leather but at least they match the scheme quite well. So a just the rear door to paint,some wiring/stereo to finish,  under seal the underside and then its going up to Auckland to get the Cert committee to say yay or nay to the steering arrangement. Hopefully it'll be fine- It should be..because it is.. but if not I have worked out an alternative arrangement if not.

 

Photos I grabbed yesterday when I had popped into old work and saw it...