1978 bedford cf autosleeper, seats retrim time!

Getting setious now.

I had most of the day free so started getting things off.

Doors off first, then front wings. Pleasantly surprised about whats under these.







wasnt easy!

Then I cut the repairs of the arches







bit of grot in here




lots of smashing about and I got the front valance off and the crossmember so I could het a good view at the chassis leg and outrigger repairs that are needed.




Impressive pile of ex steel!




Took 6 hours to get all that off, mostly with a spot weld drill and a sharp chisel.
If they had bolted the front panels on rather than welding it all it would have been done in an hour!

Radiator is now out (coolant looks too clean and not enough, not sure if block is silted up) so now its ready to take the engine and box out and the front suspension then I can start rebuilding it

Will be nice to know there is no hidden rot and that all the seams are protected. don't think many people bother with the grief of getting the front end off!

Kushti build

Keep at it

Yeah.
You see the small rectangle hole in the inner wing? Thats open into the void behind the outer wing, accessable from inside the engine bay (good spot for cross border narcotics transportation?).
There was all sorts of stuff hiding in there. Some usefull (tap connected water tank filling hose) some not so much, like the fuel cap, the cut down 2L pop bottle, rags, bags, all sorts.

That looks pretty good, well done

i think it turned out great.

shrinker would be useful for making curved lips? cut strip, bend in half 30 degrees, shrink one side to match curvature of arch. i realise your repair is almost a U channel though

Not updated but getting on.

Nothing photo worthy but this is how it sits at the moment.




I took engine and gearbox out, suspension off, rot cut out, new chassis leg made and fitted, still loads more to put in that corner though.

Ive cleaned and painted various parts and rebuilt the steering rack.

Today I took the head off the engine so I can get it rebuilt while I crack on with the rest.
Head is fine but ive run out of valve adjustment. You can get undersize adjuster screws or grind the originals but I figured id get the valve seats done and sort the valve seat wear issue once and for all.
Its tempting to file the screws and put it back together saving a few hundred quid but id only be postponing the problem.

Trying to make my mind up if I want to swap the low compression pistons for flat normal comp pistons. Extra power would be nice, fuel consumption may even go down as id be working the engine less?

Undecided.

Thanks, but no thanks.

It'll stay stock engined for now.
Might swap it one day but nothing jag.

Would be nice, but I want to be able to afford to drive it and id like it to be reliable enough to jump in and drive across europe if I wanted.

Its surprisingly good on hills and quite nippy. Will even cruise at 70 thanks to the overdrive.
Considering its not running right yet I'm impressed. You can tell it will go well once sorted.

You can tell its low milage, yiu can tell despite the running issues that the engines really good. Looks good with the head off too.



I just looked at my pics from today and none have come out. All blury.

But, good day today.
Chassis leg finished, outrigger made and fittes and front crossmember had some aections replaced.
It all fits back together spot on too, not bad considering I only mildly measured it all with a tape.

I also tacked all the repairs into the front wings. Ill take my time with these, building up the tacks, so I can keep the distortion to a minimum.

I also took the screen out and the surround is great? There was one area of bubbling. I managed to stab a screwdriver through that bit so one small thin area to replace.
Not sure ive ever heard of a CF without screen surround rot!