1974 Bedford CF deluxe - food van! (Succulent Catering Co.)

Looks like it will be a good project bookmarked.

I hope that's Petrol in those bottles?

Very very old and separated petrol. Promise...



Ｍｏｉｓｔ

Cool!!!
I hope you can make panels 😁
Plenty of cut up bedford pics in my build thread.

Thank you so much, those are some very useful pictures. Especially the roof guttering part.
You had a rusty corner, my entire roof needs replacing! The roof guttering around 90 percent of the back is pure filler, it's absolutely unbelievable.
The front around the windscreen is the worst - the sun visors and panel they attach to have fallen off!!

First update of the day :



And this is just the start of a very long and rocky road to recovery.

Going shopping today and shall be stripping the rest of the curse word out, jetwashing things, and generally making everything just a little more comfortable to work on.

Today, I'll also take photos of the rust and you'll see just how brave a job this is.
I'm absolutely terrified, as although I know how to weld, there's more welding on this van that I ever imagined even being possible on any vehicle...

Pretty sure all CF's roofs are close to falling off.
Had a camper body one in the garage before Christmas, there was a finger sized gap between the roof & the doors/windscreen!
We got it through an MOT so I'm sure you'll be fine

Thanks everyone,

Yes have have a quick mooch at that site before, shall bookmark.

I think the easiest option is going to be to delete the rain guttering entirely as is done on minis and such, then just uprated the door seals and put a few bits of weather strip around various gaps and trims. This will also allow me the opportunity to possibly raise the roof very slightly, but that may be too much work without a jig and more experience.

Today I've been out to Halfords, machine mart, paint supply store, b&q and homebase. My wallet is significantly lighter, but we have all the means necessary to strip paint off in large quantities very quickly, treat rust and bare metal, and paint over any primer'd bits that will be open to the elements. All mostly just consumables, but important things such as a mask suitable for protection from asbestos, paint that is most likely lead based, and general curse word and dust and mould spores. Knee pads and overalls too, red oxide, and lots of flap wheels and sanding belts.

Updated my last post as image wasn't working, many useful panels purchased.

Will update again this evening with todays progress!

Thanks for that, I will bare that in mind especially as I'm considering options for power. At the moment I think my best option is to have the van running mostly lpg, then a leisure battery charged from the alternator, but I will carry a small generator for emergencies.
For now, just a thing to take to a few shows and see how it goes. I only need to profit £900 or so a month to just about survive so if I make more than that in a month on a regular basis then it will become a full time business. That's the plan!

I thought for a second that I saw a spot without rust...but, nope I was wrong. It's rusty too.


You are a brave man. Good luck and if you don't mind i'll check in so now and then.

cheers