1978 bedford cf autosleeper, seats retrim time!

You've really smashed through the work on this! Its looking great. I bet you're looking forward to getting on with the more "fun" stuff.

Tom

Still lots going on. Got one door welded up and a few more bits painted.
Got all the rebuilt steering fitted and all the bits n bibs in the engine bay done.
Just need to add oil and its a runner again.

Next step is to refit all the panels so I can do a bit of filler work and get the panel gaps right ready for paint and re fit the front brakes. Will be back on its wheels in a day or two so we will FINALLY have a result on the front lowering too. New pics as soon as that happens

Got the brakes rebuilt. Still need to get flexi hoses so not bled yet. Wheels on so dropped it on the floor.




Ah.

Its only a tiny bit lower than stock hence the huge positive camber.
It needs more off the springs. Suspension still needs to be a bit stiffer so its no problem.
Everyone seems to think I should drive it a bit first but I cant see it settling 2".
Ill leave it as is for now and get on with other stuff.
Need to time it, paint and fit prop, finish brakes and get coolant system done before I can drive it anyway.

Bushes are loose.
Bonnet weighs nothing, doors are heavy though.
But even with 2 adults in it its not having much effect on ride height.

Fell down the stairs this morning so stiff and sore.
Still, half a day at work so van time.

Filled engine with oil and fired it up. Started imediately. Put a light on it and set timing. Couldnt run it long as there is no cooling system yet.
Fitted the prop and filled the gearbox oil. Set the gearshift properly and a few other buts n bobs.

Then I decided id do something about the height. Took the springs out and put one side back together. Running the wheel through its travel showed I have full clearance throughout all travel at all lock even when its on the bumpstops.
So I chopped the springs some more and this happened.




looks ace but will end up with smaller tyres so will look bad again at some point.
Cant really go lower with the suspension as geometry will get wierd and scrub line will get iffy so any lower will require chassis mods.
Its fine where it sits for now though.

Still too much positive camber though.




The camber doesnt correct untill its on the bump stops so I obviously got my sums wrong.
I think I might know what I did wrong, but whatever. The end result is I need to move the bottom arm pivots again. No big deal.

Camber does alter with steering but not by this kind of amount.
It doesnt look too bad in the pic but its worse in reality.
Not worked it out in degrees but bottom of the wheel is 15mm in compared with the top.

I'm not so fussed about handling, just want it to drive ok and look right.

Not sure what I did with my original notes on working it out so not sure exactly why I got it wrong. It all seemed to work out ok on the bench.

But it doesnt really matter what mistake I made, end result is the same and its an easy enough fix.

it'll be sitting perfect by end of play on saturday

Lol, yeah, I did try.

Its obvious when moving the suspension through its travel and watching the camber changes that ive either set it up to have 0 camber at the wrong part of its travel or...

I may have worked out how far I needed to move the bottom of the rim, then applied that to the moving of the bottom ball joint meaning ive pulled it in too far.

Loads of filling
Loads of sanding
Master cylinder rebuild
Drives but no brakes
Sits nice

About to mask for primer

Going to be a late one!