Jump to content

Flash's '78 Bedford Panelvan


Flash

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 74
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

So why not just sell the white one and work on the red one?

That's a bloody good question.

The donor van is a newer CF2 model which has the square front end, single piece plastic front bumper and flat plastic grill. Its a matter of personal taste but I prefer the look of the the older CF1 model with its chrome front bumperettes, contoured metal grill and bull nose bonnet.

Also not that obvious in the pictures of the donor van is the fact that the side panel recesses aren't original. At some stage the van had been cut for windows and later on the windows had been removed and plated over. The job was pretty shoddy with cracked bog visible and weeping surface rust around each joint.

The final nail in the coffin for the red van was that it had clearly had a number of below standard modifications along the way, unlike the unmolested blank canvas that the white van presented.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Damn, that 350 Chevy thing was just a guess, but looks like it was a good one! Might have to upgrade the 302 in the Tranny to a 351 to keep ahead! :badgrin:

 

Windowless CF's must be as easy to find as windowless Transit's - ie. not very! Like what you are doing though. Mate of mine sold a CF2 about a year ago for $1200, it had a rec'd 350/Turbo 400 and Holden Salisbury tall diff in it. I drove it back from the Sth Island a few years ago with trailer and race car on back, went very well, and drove quite nicely. Was reasonable on fuel too.  But was quite rusty. Would have been a good donor vehicle for something like this too. 

 

You will probably find the 350 gives similar (or quite possibly better) fuel consumption than the 2.3, as long as a suitable diff ratio is fitted. The 2.3 was never a good engine, distributors gave lots of problems, (i see you have rec'd yours already) as well as pretty much everything else hanging off them. They slow and very thirsty, as you have found out!   The V8 conversion is definitely the way to go. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was a damn good guess browndog. I'll post more on the mechanical side of the build over the coming days but in summary I'm very happy with the V8 conversion although she is exceptionally thirsty at the moment. The donor van was very economical, but I made the mistake of replacing the carbie and she is now averaging around 20 litres per hundred kilometers on the open road. Still better than the Vauxhall 2.3, but not as good as my original Holley. But that is something that I am working on resolving.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My V8 Transit is also using  over 20L to 100kms at the moment, probably closer to 25! And that is with a Holley 350 2 barrel.

 

What diff ratio do you have fitted, and what gearbox are you running? And carb choice makes a huge difference. The Edelbrock carbs are supposed to be very economical, as long as you don't go silly on sizing, I have a new Edelbrock 500 that I am going to fit to mine. And as already suggested, it's hard to beat a Quadrajet, with its staggered throttle sizes!

 

I have no experience of the Quickfuel carbs, but a quick look around the forums suggest they are liked by a lot of people.  Have you got it set up & jetted properly?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...