January 10

ABC NEWSLETTER

JANUARY 2010

After inflating the tyres and giving it a bit of a tow to get the wheels rotating I was able to take it and examine it to see what needed doing. It had a 2.3 petrol engine with 4 speed box and overdrive and the engine looked in fairly good condition, but obviously needing a good overhaul. There appeared to be some oil leaks in the expected places like oil seals etc, and the cooling system was also in need of renovation.

II did some work on it and managed to start the engine which ran very sweetly considering how long it had stood unused.

The recorded mileage which I have no reason to doubt was some 57,000.

Having given the mechanical parts a quick look and decided they were serviceable I turned my attention to the body which was showing a considerable amount of rust in all the expected places, wheel arches, cab floor pan, lower body panels,etc. I started 'Googling' Bedford CF on the computer and came up with the CF Club site and also the contacts for various replacement part suppliers around the country.

After some lengthy and helpful emails with Adrian Bailey at Adrian Bailey Classics, I decided that it was going to be an interesting project. I had not anticipated finding someone like Adrian who had the foresight at the time to realise the popularity of the Bedford CF and to acquire such a range of spares, for future enthusiasts to be able to purchase.

I also contacted Autosleepers about the conversion and spoke to a Mr John Trevelyan whose family started the company on the motor caravan conversion. He also was interested and spoke enthusiastically about the Bedford CF and the part it played in the company development. It was interesting to learn that some of the trims and seals could be replaced with very similar supplies which are still used on some of their conversions today.
Time to get started on the renovation. The copious amount of rust where the roof joined the body panels at the guttering was horrendous.

Gentle scraping with your finger produced large holes in the gutter, and I knew that my first thoughts on removing the roof were going to be the only way to overcome the problem. I understood that originally the front part of the roof panel was securely bonded to the remaining metal cab roof and this bonding was also applied around the roof conversion. It took little cutting (in about 8 places) where the roof had not rusted right through and I was able to lift off the roof panel and elevating section with some help from some of my friends. Of course the internal body trim had been previously removed for later use. The remains of the old guttering were removed and the top edges of the body were prepared to take some new stainless steel guttering which

1982 BEDFORD CF AUTOSLEEPER MOTOR CARAVAN

This was drilled along its length to allow for welding to the side panels and the corners were cut and notched to allow for the guttering to be carefully formed to the shape of the rounded corners of the body.

Part Two Next Month!