I have a new project - and it has 4 wheels!!!

[philbut]

Right, now as ya'll will know, I don't like cars. All the nice ones are well out of my price range and - well - they just have too many wheels to be quite honest. However, I have always fancied a camper van, and Charlotte is also keen on them (finally something we agree on ;-) ). So without further adoo, I present the reason that i will be stuck in the garage for the foreseeable future.....

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll236/philbut/bikes/BuD159gCWkKGrHqMOKjsEvOPzKBjdBL-tl3.jpg

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll236/philbut/bikes/BuD1VJEGkKGrHqYOKjEvPqKF8ZdBL-tkTBl.jpg

[ophic]

Cool. I have a major soft spot for camper vans as well. A colleague of mine was into the VW ones and it sort of rubbed off, even though they are a bit small. Yours looks to be a good size.

[philbut]

Tis a bit bigger than the VWs - not as cool granted but i think it has character. Just ringing round for insurance quote. This is the first time I have wished my Mrs wasn't so young ;-) Apparently they don't like insuring under 25s :-( I can go fully comp all singing all dancing for £218. they want £540 if I add her on. Ar$e.

[Stig]

Hmm. Track day vehicle if I ever saw one. :)

[philbut]

Hmm. Track day vehicle if I ever saw one. :)

I hear that it will even top 50mph down a hill, with a tail wind! No brakes at the moment though - made the test drive "interesting". I had to perform and emergency stop with the hand brake and reverse when so woman pulled out and then stopped in the road! Still wqith only 60bhp on tap, you wouldn't need brakes on the track!

[Stig]

I hear that it will even top 50mph down a hill, with a tail wind! No brakes at the moment though - made the test drive "interesting". I had to perform and emergency stop with the hand brake and reverse when so woman pulled out and then stopped in the road! Still wqith only 60bhp on tap, you wouldn't need brakes on the track!

I was more thinking, driving to the track with the bike in the back. :lol:

[-Ralph-]

I quite fancy converting a transit into a built for purpose camper van, with a pair of bunks down one side and rail and wheel stand for the bike that bolts into the floor down the other. I'd use it for all the org weekends away like the GM, saves sleeping in a bunkhouse or carrying loads of luggage and tents on the bike.

[walkaboutandy]

Ha ha...thats cool! You can sell ice creams out of it too!

I'm looking at replacing my beemer with a van. Looking at something like this though....

http://www.riechert-racing.de/__we_thumbs__/2607_4_vw_transporter_t5_tuning_01.jpg

[tonyk]

Hiya Phil,
Have you tried to get it insured as a classic car/van, 1973 i think was the cut off point.
i had a ford cortina 1600e 1969 year, and fully comp was only £60 odd a year......
And you can get it even cheeper if you restrict the millage..:smt115

[barwel1992]

so will it look somthing like this when its done then ?
http://www.topgear.com/content/timetoburn/sections/carbage/pages/0094/main.jpg

:lol:

[sarah]

Ha ha...thats cool! You can sell ice creams out of it too!



I was thinking the same :-)

It looks great!

[philbut]

so will it look somthing like this when its done then ?
http://www.topgear.com/content/timetoburn/sections/carbage/pages/0094/main.jpg

:lol:

Aaaaaaah, my eyes! Some people are just born with no taste at all ;-)

[barwel1992]

^ agreed !

[philbut]

update:

Well, last night I picked her up from the MOT in Bath. I got as far as the services on the M4 before she decided to suck a load of carp through the fuel line and die. Consiquently spent a good 2 hours pi$$ing about with it using a head torch and a pen knife trying to sort it out. Eventually discovered at some point someone had fitted one of those in line fuel enhancer devices (whch do nothing BTW). This had broken downwith age and turned to sand, whch had been sucked into the carbs. waiting to get towed bak to bath to rip th carb off and clean it out. Wil try and get home later if it works....

Quite an introduction to classic motoring :rolleyes:

[ophic]

... in line fuel enhancer devices ...
oh dear. Someone daft enough to fit one of those - I wonder what other "enhancements" have been fitted? :smt081

[walkaboutandy]

Those things were supposed to allow you to run your old motor on unleaded without damaging the valve seats.....somehow. :confused:

Have you got it back to Oxford now, Phil?

[rowdy]

Hiya Phil,
Have you tried to get it insured as a classic car/van, 1973 i think was the cut off point.
i had a ford cortina 1600e 1969 year, and fully comp was only £60 odd a year......
And you can get it even cheeper if you restrict the millage..:smt115
My wifes mk1 golf clipper is insured on a classic insurance policy, and it is a 1990 model so there is no cut off point as far as I'm aware.

[philbut]

Those things were supposed to allow you to run your old motor on unleaded without damaging the valve seats.....somehow. :confused:

Have you got it back to Oxford now, Phil?

Well I took 2 days stripping the fuel system and rebuilding the dizzy (twice). Went away to wales in her this weekend and she ran great. A bit thirst mind - 11mpg!!!!! A bit better on the way back, but still only about 17mpg. i think an LPG conversion might be on the cards! Great fun to drive though, even if it tops out at about 65.

[Warthog]

11 mpg! At current petrol prices I think you'll be spending a lot of time camping on your driveway :lol:.

Man, you can get some seriously fast cars that do better than that...

[philbut]

Yes, but you can't cook bacon sandwiches in them now can you, hmmmm. I'm going to try fitting an electronic ignition module rather than the dizzy to see if I can't get it a bit better.

[barwel1992]

im sure you could fit a 1.3 bussa engine in there :D

[Warthog]

Yes, but you can't cook bacon sandwiches in them now can you, hmmmm. I'm going to try fitting an electronic ignition module rather than the dizzy to see if I can't get it a bit better.

You could make a bacon sandwich, then bring it into your Ferrari and eat it! Haha. I will pop round and see this monstrosity someday Phill :)

[Stig]

I was wondering once you got it up and running okay if you were considering hiring it out. But at 11 mpg I would only be able to afford the journey home and back in it. :lol:

[phil24_7]

11mpg??? My old bedford with a 3.1 V6 Ford Essex engine returned better mileage than that, even when it was spitting flames from the exhaust, and had a top speed of well over a ton if you had the minerals (stopping something weighing 2 tonnes with something that behaved like wood discs with sponge pads was a very scary prospect)!

[philbut]

Well it spits flame out of the air box! It is running like ****, but to be fair it hasn't run in 10 years, and I got it good enough to get me to wales and back in 2 days. I now need to do stuff like valve clearences and setting the dizzy up properly / new plugs etc. I should be geting about 20mpg, judging by what I've ben told by other Bedford owners. i can live with 20 but not 11!

[walkaboutandy]

Well it spits flame out of the air box! It is running like ****, but to be fair it hasn't run in 10 years, and I got it good enough to get me to wales and back in 2 days. I now need to do stuff like valve clearences and setting the dizzy up properly / new plugs etc. I should be geting about 20mpg, judging by what I've ben told by other Bedford owners. i can live with 20 but not 11!
Have you checked the timing and tuned the mixture on the carb? I've got a timing light you can borrow.

[Miss_Undaztood]

If a car has too many wheels, how many has the camper got ? lol.
Apparently their called "motorhomes" now too, my dad just bought one.

Years ago me and a friend were going to turn an old Bedford CF he had into an A-team lookalike, and fit a Rover V8, never happened tho, all dreams,lol.

I think insurance companies class a vehicle as classic if its over 15 years old, but anything built before 1st Jan 1973 is tax exempt tho, up to about L-reg. :)

[philbut]

Have you checked the timing and tuned the mixture on the carb? I've got a timing light you can borrow.

Checked the timing with a light, but I might borrow it anyway to double check - I did it in a rush as we needed to head off. The mixture screw does bugger all. It makes a slight difference but its only going to make a difference on tick over anyway.

[Miss_Undaztood]

The mixture screw should make a big difference, not just at idle, otherwise your carbs knacked.
If crud has got into it and its been sitting for a while, your best bet would be to strip it and clean it at least.

[philbut]

The mixture screw should make a big difference, not just at idle, otherwise your carbs knacked.
If crud has got into it and its been sitting for a while, your best bet would be to strip it and clean it at least.

The carbs have been apart 3 times on thursday and cleaned, then cleaned again, then again! Kept sucking crap through the old fuel lines until I gave up and replaced tham all. The jets all look fine, but the needle valve looks a bit groved, as does the idle screw. I've got a spare carb on another engine that came with the van, I just need to pick it up. There is also a brand new one NOS on ebay going for £60 which I'm tempted by - of an old Opel but loads of vauxhaul vehicles from that era use the Zenith 36IV carbs. I've ordered a gasket kit anyway as the original is cream crackered.

[Miss_Undaztood]

If the needle valve is grooved it could be flooding, hence the poor fuel consumption and the mixture screw not doing much, especially if thats been screwed in too tight and grooved too. With the engine running, the screw should stall the engine if you wind it in enough. Jets are so small that they you cant really tell if their worn unless you compare them to new ones. Sounds like its gubbed.
Burlen fuel systems and carburettor hospital are good for parts for classic stuff, and for info, you might find the carb is a specific set up for the CF against other GM stuff.
I used to have some CF parts but i`m sure they got binned in a clearout years ago but i`ll have a look if I have anything your welcome to it.

EDIT: Infact, i`ve still got my Burlen catalogues, if you give me the details of the van i`ll have a look and tell you whats compatible and see if theres part numbers or jet size info etc.

[philbut]

If the needle valve is grooved it could be flooding, hence the poor fuel consumption and the mixture screw not doing much, especially if thats been screwed in too tight and grooved too. With the engine running, the screw should stall the engine if you wind it in enough. Jets are so small that they you cant really tell if their worn unless you compare them to new ones. Sounds like its gubbed.
Burlen fuel systems and carburettor hospital are good for parts for classic stuff, and for info, you might find the carb is a specific set up for the CF against other GM stuff.
I used to have some CF parts but i`m sure they got binned in a clearout years ago but i`ll have a look if I have anything your welcome to it.

EDIT: Infact, i`ve still got my Burlen catalogues, if you give me the details of the van i`ll have a look and tell you whats compatible and see if theres part numbers or jet size info etc.


Cool, that would be great. I have a complete spare carb which I might rip parts off when I collect it (its still with the seller as I ran out of room there were so many spares that came with the van).

The van is a 1971 CF, short wheel base, single wheel per hub on the rear. The engine is a 1975cc petrol with 4 speed manual box. As said, it's running the original Zenith carb (36IV - not the 36IVE), and a Delco dizzy (also original I think). 60k miles on the clock. If you can verify what other vehicles have the same carb that would be very helpful. The one I have my eye on is from a Vauxhall Viva / Victor 69-70. I know jetting will be different but I have the spec for the CF so I can order new jets.

[Miss_Undaztood]

According to this carb book, the 1975cc CF was only from 1969-70 (another book says 69-72 tho), and has a 361V carb, which also fits :

1600 Viva HC 1971-72
1600 Viva HC and Firenza 1970-71
1600 Viva and Victor 1969-70, and 1970 on
1600 Victor 34 series,
1760 Viva and Victor FE 1972-73
2000 Victor FD35 1967-69

They all have different carb ref numbers, but they also all use the same needle valve ( B17258 ), floats, gaskets etc.
Looks like the carb you have your eye on would be a perfect match :)

[Davies]

Who did you insure your van with in the end Phil? We're trying tio get decent quotes for our Mk2 Transit camper at the moment and can't get anything below £500 fully comp :(

Cheers,

Paul

[Sid Squid]

£500! Bloody hell Paul - how can it cost that much? My VW is less than half of that for full comp.

[philbut]

I went with RH insurance. Cheepest by a long way at £113 fully comp! you ned to call their specialist vehicle section, not the camper van section. The cover isn't as good in the way of personal belongings etc but it has windscreen and the usual stuff more common with a car policy.

http://www.rhclassicinsurance.co.uk/

[Miss_Undaztood]

I went with RH insurance. Cheepest by a long way at £113 fully comp! you ned to call their specialist vehicle section, not the camper van section. The cover isn't as good in the way of personal belongings etc but it has windscreen and the usual stuff more common with a car policy.

http://www.rhclassicinsurance.co.uk/

Thats who my classic is insured with too. :)

[philbut]

Right, I've ordered a new carb from the Viva / Victor '68-70. also got a NOS rebuild kit for £10 but no new jets with that, so I'll give it a go and see what happens with the economy. I'm assuming I'll have to swap the jets over but I'll just take a look when it arrives and compare with the stock spec on the Bedford.

[monkey]

Tis a bit bigger than the VWs - not as cool granted but i think it has character...

He he he he he ha ha ha ha ha ah he he he he he he he
bonk.