Bedford Astravan MK2

[3cav3]

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Other evidence of servicing is the cambelt. It looks to of been in terms of use recently replaced. However there is no evidence as to when this was done and there is a slight weep on the water pump shaft, so I will replace the belt and the pump. I sourced a new genuine pump for £5.99 and a cambelt kit for £7 both courtesy of eBay.

[3cav3]

One thing the previous owner did tell me was that the clutch was quite high so as the engine / gearbox was on a pallet I just popped the gearbox off to check the condition of the plate. As can be seen it's a bit thin. Cross referencing every list came back that it should have a 14 spline center, yet it definitely had a 24 spline center. After a lot of searching I found a complete kit for £46. Let's hope it is the right one when it arrives.

[Robsey]

All looking towards a good condition engine that has been well looked after.

Overall it looks like it needs just a full service, timing belt and water pump, and a couple of gaskets.

Although this does hark back to when Vauxhall / Opel made good solid engines.

Usually, the only work I ever had to do was water pumps and stem seals on the pre-90's engines.

- good to see you got the image settings sorted too.

[3cav3]

Images took s couple of goes. It was the 3rd from bottom on my phone. Replaced the sump gasket and cam cover gasket today. Also started to replace the cambelt. The water pump was close to impossible to remove,as expected. Eventually it gave up the fight! No timing marks on the cam shaft on this engine so made my own with tipex. When I came to fit the pump I found it had been sent without a seal. The old one is to hard to use so have had to order another one.

[3cav3]

[3cav3]

New seal arrived so cambelt and new fanbelt fitted.

[3cav3]

New clutch in place

[3cav3]

As I didn't have a clutch alignment tool I left the plate lose,slid the gearbox back into place ( bloody heavy trying to do it on your own plus having to fit the bolts in all at once) then tighted up the assembly through the removable panel in the bottom of the bell housing. Why couldn't they of kept this feature on modern Vauxhalls?

[3cav3]

Air filter assembly fitted, starting to look like an engine again. Just got to clean the metal up now.

I can't seem to find a source for a thermostat housing, I believe they are the same as the diesel cavaliers and maybe some petrols?, does anyone
know of a source either new or used? Many thanks if you can help.

[Robsey]

Try googling..

Vauxhall 90352757.

There is a new one from Germany without the vent plug in the top, and a few others.
(All are ebay items).

[3cav3]

Try googling..

Vauxhall 90352757.

There is a new one from Germany without the vent plug in the top, and a few others.
(All are ebay items).

Thanks I'll have a look.

[3cav3]

Think after 6 months of searching I've finally found a rear panel from MM OPEL PARTS in Holland. So long as it arrives all right it'll be much better than modifying a mk 1 golf panel that I'd got. Apparently the name to put into Google was Opel Kadett E Caravan. No wonder I hadn't found it up till now!

[Mk3alan]

Worth searching for then!
I had similar findings with my MK4 Estate being called a caravan!

Alan

[Robsey]

Yes indeed when I was looking up info for your car, I always put Kadett-E into the search tab.
I am sure that the Euro-name for an estate is Caravan, as opposed to a van.

Hopefully it is the same part number for the rear panel on both vehicles.

[3cav3]

Yes indeed when I was looking up info for your car, I always put Kadett-E into the search tab.
I am sure that the Euro-name for an estate is Caravan, as opposed to a van.

Hopefully it is the same part number for the rear panel on both vehicles.

Hopefully it should fit. As far as I can tell all a van was,was a 3 door estate with a floor extension tack welded in place and no window apertures .
It was the name Caravan that was throwing out the search.
Scrolling through the site, there's a lot of parts listed as available for all types of older Vauxhall, plus the owner seems quite happy to converse in English. Didn't think that a 32.50 Euro carriage charge was to bad for the distance either.

[3cav3]

My new rear panel turned up this afternoon, quicker than most UK companies and very well packed too. As an added bonus it turns out to be genuine Vauxhall panel aswell. Almost seems a sin to use it after all this time sitting on a shelf.

[Robsey]

Think of it as being reserved on the shelf, ready for when you needed it.

It would be rude not to get it fitted.

I love getting proper GM labelled parts.

[3cav3]

Whilst waiting for my mate to start welding I've been making a bit of progress on other jobs.
First up was the wheels.
I had these blasted.
.
Then I primered them and sprayed them with satin black.

[3cav3]

The next issue was the wheel trims. A few people suggested that I tried Vauxhall Green Parts, I've tried ringing their number and emailing them many times but just get ignored so figured that if alloys can be refurbished then so probably wheel trims can be.
As you can see they were pretty awful and only 3 on the van. According to the date stamp on the 3 they are the original 30 year old ones. I found a replacement second hand one for the missing trim on eBay.

After about 2 hours a wheel trim I had them down to bare plastic. This was followed by a few costs of plastic primmer which was rubbed down, followed by spray putty, again rubbed down, then wheel silver paint and laquer.
Overall I'm quite pleased with how they turned out, just have now got sore hands as they ended up taking about a week of evening work.
I'm guessing that alloys would of been the easier option...

[3cav3]

Another job has been sorting out the dashboard binicle. The original plastic was really looking bad. The original owner apparently smoked Rollie's so I'm guessing that's where all the melted small craters came from, ( that or he used to smoke what my friends called soapbar- hopefully not behind the wheel!?)
Any way I was bored the other day and spotted somelow spec clocks for sale( almost all that come up seem to be for gte's) so I put an offer in and won them. When they arrived, the Speedo had s different number so I made one set up out of the pair. This way I also get to keep the correct milage.

[3cav3]

The rear lights on the van are quite taty so I had been on the look out for some new ones. I already had a new N/s one but couldn't find a new O/s anywhere. eBay Germany turned one up, unfortunately the carriage cost almost as much as the light it self, but where else would I get one from?

[Robsey]

Them wheel trims are looking very smart and shiny.

Alloys may be easier - shot blast, etch prime and powder coat for ease.
But when I had mine done, they still needed a few coats of spray paint and lacquer before I was happy with them.

I would have suggested keeping the main speedo dial anyway. To ensure that the mileage is correct, and that the speed is moderately accurate.

You could have used a Cavalier mk2 cluster too, as they appear to look the same.

Hmm German postage prices. Please don't get me started. That has always been a bug-bear of mine.

You can find loads of obscure parts in Germany, but you pay a small fortune for the parts and often almost the same again to get them posted to you.

The parts collection is coming on well.
You just need the van finishing, to fit them to it.

All good progress. Excellent work.

[3cav3]

Them wheel trims are looking very smart and shiny.

Alloys may be easier - shot blast, etch prime and powder coat for ease.
But when I had mine done, they still needed a few coats of spray paint and lacquer before I was happy with them.

I would have suggested keeping the main speedo dial anyway. To ensure that the mileage is correct, and that the speed is moderately accurate.

You could have used a Cavalier mk2 cluster too, as they appear to look the same.

Hmm German postage prices. Please don't get me started. That has always been a bug-bear of mine.

You can find loads of obscure parts in Germany, but you pay a small fortune for the parts and often almost the same again to get them posted to you.

The parts collection is coming on well.
You just need the van finishing, to fit them to it.

All good progress. Excellent work.

Hopefully my mate is going to make a start soon, if not I'll have to do it myself.
Due to getting stupid quotes to spray it( the cheapest so far is £3k if I prep it, I know it's a longway off yet but I've found in the past that it's good to plan ahead)I've also started to look into painting options. One thing I've turned upis an inflatable Chinese spray booth, has anyone any experience of these or know of a good painter near Hereford?

[3cav3]

Thought I'd make a start on the tailgate. The only area that was of slight concern to me was a small bubble underneath the rear windscreen. I feel that removing a bonded in screen is a bit beyond me so I was hoping that I was right in it looked just like a bit of surface rust rather than rot. After carefully masking the rubber I went over it with a flap disc and it appears I was correct. I have now treated anything remaining with rust killer and tomorrow will give the area a light skin of filler. A job that I hate doing
I have also taken the measurements of the decals with a view to getting them reproduced.

[3cav3]