Bedford Astravan MK2

[Robsey]

It is all progress - even if you think it is just a little bit.
At least you have made a start.
Getting motivated to start again is usually the hard part.
Pretty impressive considering how bad the cold affects you.

[3cav3]

As I've had a few days off work over Christmas I've been at times sat around bored, so naturally have been looking on the net to see what items I can find to help me with the restoration.
Most of my purchases have arrived by today.
So far I've found a complete near side mirror assembly, and an off side mirror glass and plastic cover.
All new genuine and most in GM original packaging.

[3cav3]

Another item was this foglight switch


19.3

[3cav3]

One of the reasons I bought the front fog light switch was sentimental. As I've mentioned before my grandad had 2 mark 2 Astra's in the 80's and 90's, hence where my interest in old Vauxhall's come from.

[Robsey]

Oh I do like new parts.

Boredom???
How did that happen.?

Not much chance of that at Robsey Manors.
All work and no play these days.
And no decent weather - pah!!

I did the same with my Cavalier.
But I used an air con switch back in May 2017.

[3cav3]

One of favourite purchases though that has turned up is this Bedford Astra Brochure that can only be described as propaganda against the Ford Escort Combi.
Apparently it was issued to dealers and large fleet managers in December 1987 with a note to keep it confidential.

[3cav3]

Oh I do like new parts.

Boredom???
How did that happen.?

Not much chance of that at Robsey Manors.
All work and no play these days.
And no decent weather - pah!!

I did the same with my Cavalier.
But I used an air con switch back in May 2017.

[ Image ]

I'm undecided weather or not to keep the imboliser that was fitted to this van after it got stolen just after it was new. ( It still caries the screw drivered door lock to this day). It has an electronic key fob but has apparently been playing up for a while, if I can't sort it I'll definitely ripp it out and build my own.

[Robsey]

If it is more than ten years old, I would rip out the old one anyway.
They often start to play up from about that age.

[3cav3]

Had a bit of a play with the tailgates after work today. Listening to the news tonight it sounds as if another lockdown is coming, we will find out at 8pm, if so work on the van will probably have to grind to a halt again, even though I've just started back on it.
Stripping the original down, it dawned on me that the new one doesn't have any of the holes for the wiper and jet on the outside. Maybe originally destined for a poverty spec car? Any way it's going to mean yet more careful measuring and drilling.

Original.


And replacement.

[3cav3]

At Christmas I ordered this budget spray gun to put the primer on. Not bad looking for £12 delivered.
Means I can keep the best one for the top coats. Don'tt know when I'm going to get to use it though.

[Robsey]

I am sure you will still be able to get some jobs done.

I still plan to do a few hours on the van each week.

It is not like Troy and myself are within 20 ft of each other most of the time.

That sprayer looks quite decent. As long as the jet and stuff are okay, you should still get a pretty good finish.
(Although I am clearly not an expert).

[3cav3]

To be honest with you as the van is stored at my work I will probably do what I did before, i.e if I'm already there I will perhaps delay going home when I finish sometimes and do a bit of work on it,as it's our own locked yard after everyone else has gone I don't see much risk of infection.
When it comes to the primer- I'm no expert either, several years ago I've sprayed some plant and a few vintage rotavators. But I'm not to worried about the finish as it will be flatted back before topcoat anyway.

[3cav3]

After spending the last few days trying to pluck up the courage to attack the new tail gate with a drill, it suddenly dawned on me that I'm missing the point. Surely all the rust under the window is just surface rust, rather than rot? After giving it a good going over with the flap disc I'm pleased to say yes it was, so have now treated all the minor pitting left with rust killer and will give where I ground it a light skin of filler over the next few days.
I'm also pleased to say that after cleaning off a lot of the sealant it's very likely that this is the original tail gate, rather than being a replacement like I originally suspected.

[3cav3]

Went to work this morning to await a delivery, meaning I could carry out some work on the van whilst there.
Was planning on doing some more welding, but when I arrived despite the forecast saying otherwise it was too effing cold! -4.5c.

[url=https://18.7

[3cav3]

So whilst I was there I turned my attention to the rear bumper.
I purchased a new one in Holland a few months ago in what I believe was German spec, hence no fog light holes.
Looking closely there was no cut out lines, and you can see that they were hand cut on the original. I'm guessing Germany at the time had different legal requirements to fog lights, so rather than do a new moulding vauxhall simply adapted what they had.


After measuring again and again I marked then cut both out.
Here they are before fettling.

After fitting the fog lights. The off side one has a slightly bent bracket so will need a bit more adjustment to get it to match exactly to the other.

[ilovedmymantas]

Nice work on the bumper, especially in this weather!

I wish I had a height adjustable workbench like yours, come to think of it I wish I had a workbench

[Robsey]

Agreed - looks a nice tidy job on the bumper.

Wow - that graphic info display took me back a bit... back to about 2013 ish.

SNAP!!

[3cav3]

I'm guessing a lot of people out there would call it almost vintage display and vehicle, a 61 plate van, lol. In these days of easy finance a lot of folks wouldn't be seen dead in something that's nearly 10 years old.
I have been thinking about trading it in as it's been playing me up quite a bit recently, but there's nothing available now that comes close to being like a car. Guess I'll keep it, I wonder if I'll still be using it for as long as the original owner of this Bedford did? (30 years?)

[3cav3]

Nice work on the bumper, especially in this weather!

I wish I had a height adjustable workbench like yours, come to think of it I wish I had a workbench

Thanks, very nerve wracking cutting into a new bumper, particularly as it was hard to find a suitable edge to act as a datum point, although it wasn't quite so cold in the workshop, probably about 5 degrees,just wish there was room to get the van inside.
The forklifts do make great benches, they are very handy for clamping things to aswell when you get stuburn bolts to undo etc.

[3cav3]

Went up the unit this morning to have a go at fixing a fault with my works Mk5 van. Due to the virus, the only local garage to me that is taking on work at the moment has had 3 goes at fixing it with no avail.
Anyway whilst I was there I thought I'd have a go at another patch in the floor pan. To simplify things I cut a repair section out of a floor pan section, turns out this was another Klokerholm panal that must of been made out of some strange metal as it just wouldn't weld tidy. Took ages but got there in the end.


18.1

[cavalier1990]

Looks like a decent enough fix, I find that sometimes, the weld just seems shitty, doesn't want to flow, other times it works really well. I think welding new metal to old, even no matter how good a nick the old metal is, doesn't make for a decent weld, as it would new to new metal.

Did you not have complete klokkerholm floor pan repair panels for this?

[3cav3]

Looks like a decent enough fix, I find that sometimes, the weld just seems shitty, doesn't want to flow, other times it works really well. I think welding new metal to old, even no matter how good a nick the old metal is, doesn't make for a decent weld, as it would new to new metal.

Did you not have complete klokkerholm floor pan repair panels for this?

Yes I did have a complete panel, but it has to be spliced into the transmission tunnel anyway, and it was only the edge of the existing floor that was rotten. At least this way I keep some of the original van. Also the Klokerholm panel feels slightly thinner than what vauxhall fitted.

[ilovedmymantas]

Welding this time of year is usually messy, I think it's down to the moisture from the air.

It's been over forty years since my welding apprenticeship and I've forgotten most of what I learned as I haven't been welding for years
I do remember the 'stick' welders at the works putting the rods into an oven(60 degrees iirc) to remove the moisture from the flux.

With that in mind I always baked the flux cored wire for the mig before use and used a hot air gun to dry out the prepared edges of the bodywork, definitely worth a go

As someone who's had to buy a few recently the klokkerholm panels do feel thin, perhaps their reputation is based on fitment? I've had a couple of other panels in the past with that were shocking!

matt

[3cav3]

Welding this time of year is usually messy, I think it's down to the moisture from the air.

It's been over forty years since my welding apprenticeship and I've forgotten most of what I learned as I haven't been welding for years
I do remember the 'stick' welders at the works putting the rods into an oven(60 degrees iirc) to remove the moisture from the flux.

With that in mind I always baked the flux cored wire for the mig before use and used a hot air gun to dry out the prepared edges of the bodywork, definitely worth a go

As someone who's had to buy a few recently the klokkerholm panels do feel thin, perhaps their reputation is based on fitment? I've had a couple of other panels in the past with that were shocking!

matt

That's some very good points, I've only ever seen welding rods kept warm, but I guess it's logical the same applies to welding wire. For years I've kept a couple packets of silica gel in the bottom of the welder under the roll of wire.
This is the second Klokerholm panel that I've had that just wouldn't weld nice. The last one being the inner arch. Other panels off them seem to be fine, guess it's luck of the draw with pattern stuff, but at least they are available otherwise I'd have even more work trying to fabricate pieces with my limited skills and equipment.

[3cav3]

Goes to show my argument that nearly everything turns up on eBay if you wait long enough is right.
I've spent the last 2 years trying to locate one of these thermostat elbows, the other day this genuine new old stock one popped up and I won it for a fiver too.