1970 Bedford HA Turbo

Soooo... as you can see, the exhaust isn't hung at the back, its leaking coolant but as far as I can see everything else is working. 
Now have working brakes too (minus handbrake)
Took it for a quick drive, all private obviously not on public roads. 
Was running around 15/20 minutes in total with no issues apart from a drop of coolant underneath, its only on a 1.6 turbo basemap but even just on that it runs so smoothly, no vibrations inside etc so we're all good. 

Need to finish the last few bits off, get the steels on and I think we'll be about there. 
 


















I'll also try and upload the videos somehow! 
Thanks 

Cool van I am tempted to mx5 my van the wiring puts me off the idea though

Progress has been made, albeit very slow progress. 

Exhaust is hung properly, cooling system sorted, and almost finished fitting a seat, so I can drive it properly. The seats taken ages as there isn't much space up front in the van and I can't seam to get it in a comfortable position, but same as everything else, I'll get there! 
I am going to try and find the time in the coming days to finish off the last bit which need doing, it'll be nice to get the van out for the last bit of this summer, but with multiple new commitments coming at once, I've been struggle to find time to spend time up the workshop!



Looking sorry for itself!!



I hadn't touched the van for well over a month, I went to start it, it literally started on the key. So that's good!



I've also managed to get the gauges back in, happy with how they've come out, the MX5 speedo almost fit perfectly into the HA binnacle, which obviously lets me use the speedo cable to the MX5 gearbox... Result.
Maybe its not necessary but if I can find a way of fitting the mazda revcounter too without it looking out of place, I'll do that too. 

Cheers 

Minis and Escorts seem to be popular companions in folks garages.

As for suspension, I've left the main leaf and used Mini Van rear coilovers in place of the front shock absorbers. They're gaz with protech springs so the front is adjustable. 
I can't help on the hubs I'm afraid, I found a guy selling a front end from a hotrod, swapped the hubs over to the van front crossmember so got lucky there, they're a ford stud pattern but look as if they've been redrilled. I think they're P14 calipers from a cortina, however they're not massive so will look at upgrading to XR3 calipers and Capri discs like I've seen people do. 
Depending what engine/power your sons HA has, the front brakes I have might be sufficient, defo better than drums anyway. If/when I get around to upgrading the discs/calipers I could give you a shout? 
You'll have to send some photos of the HA over 

Cheers 

i am half tempted to try mx5 hubs and see what way they would work

this might not suit your wheels tho i am trying to work at 4x100

Would be good to know, if it works would be well worth changing the wheels. 
Something would have to be done with the steering arms or steering rack though wouldn't it, even if the hub did fit on the upper/lower arms

Its been a little while so thought I'd better update the Bedford build thread. 
I have been doing bits on the van, some of it being a backwards step but it's out and about now!

I spent the winter months fitting a new roof skin to the Escort as someone had cut a hole in the original roof for a sunroof, back in the 80's presubambly!









All finished, you would never tell its had the roof skin changed so was very happy with that! 



Once that was finished I pulled the van back out to carry on.
I was having doubts about cooling the engine in such a small engine bay (with the turbo) and with the power the turbo engine was going to make, in an old 1970s van with brakes that defo aren't up to the job of stopping a 200 plus bhp car.
So after much thought I decided to take the turbo bits off and box them up, to get the van out and running N/A.
I plan to sort the suspension and brakes etc out, none of which I've tested and once I'm happy get the turbo kit bolted back on and run it down for mapping. 

I started by cutting up the original mazda exhaust manifold, and throwing together a 2" exhaust (which ended up sounding really good)







I was busy at work when I came across these photos on a forum thread, which got me thinking.





I had an old weber 32/36 on a Ford CVH manifold. Next chance I popped up the unit and mocked up the CVH manifold on the Mazda head, which almost fell into place. So with an old piece of steel I had kicking about, I made up this adapter plate, which at the time if it worked I'll take back off and port match the adapter plate for a bit more power as the rough holesaw cuts might be a bit restrictive! 













I connected a low pressure fuel supply from a facet electric fuel pump, and a vacuum to the MAP port on the ECU, with a bit of choke it fired up on the first turn of the key, sounded unreal, proper old school sound, it revved up really nicely too so I've stuck with this setup for now, like I've previously mentioned I do want to refit the turbo kit in the future but just going to enjoy it with this setup in the meantime. 







I picked up these old Ford banded steels too, which I'm yet to clean up and get some tyres fitted. 







That's pretty much where I am, it needs a lot of tidying up, but the engine and running gear seems to be working absolutely fine. Apart from it overheats pretty quickly so I'm going to have to choose a bigger radiator to squeeze in, and an electric fan to try and keep things cool. 













Hope you like the update, cheers