CF Bedford Van

[vlad01]

good idea!

[Holden202T]

lol ... pretty sure I'd get divorced and/or killed for leaving marks on the driveway firebug!

its bad enough the Gemini with slicks and locked diff leaving marks when it turns! at least they come off with rain!

[Holden202T]

sooooooo been thinking before cutting again

my theory is, that I never really wanted to widen the crewman diff the 95mm that is the difference between the short and long axles, but I didn't really have a choice, I then found I could cut ~10mm off each axle and get the 95 down to 75mm, then I found out that these diffs in V6 form are 28 spline, so then I got thinking, I wonder if a long crewman axle and a long VN-VS axle will be more suited to the length I need....

so I've done some measuring of axles that I have here and it looks like the vn-vs long axle is 50mm shorter than the crewman long axle, so this means that I will get a 45mm gain in width, which actually means the diff will end up to the mm the exact size as the Bedford original (if I execute it right) and I have different rim choices that will mean I can make the track 4mm wider or 20mm wider which is still within the track change specs (25mm) and this is without having to cut the ends off any axles.....

so I am putting progress on hold for the moment, I firstly need to determine if I can get a bearing set that will fit the smaller vn-vs axle but suit the larger crewman cup size, and also need to make sure the crewman and vn-vs axles are all the same dimensions on the bearing to axle face to keep all the brakes etc in the right position ..... hopefully that will all work out nicely and then I can do less cutting and be not quite as close to the limits!

[Holden202T]

ok so I can now confirm that the axles are all the same in the flange to bearing size, this is a good thing means one less thing to try and account for.

on the weekend I removed the bearings and seals from a vn-vs and crewman axle to confirm all the measurements and it looks like its all going to work nicely!
I've found a suitable bearing just need to make sure I can get a seal to work for it then we are home free!

so hoping to work all that out this week and get myself a bearing / seal set then I can start on cutting and shutting to suit the VN-VS axle and then might be just about on the home stretch.

[Holden202T]

I finally got the engine cover mostly complete and welded some angle iron to the base of it so i can screw it to the floor.

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with that done i then needed to fill in a few gaps and also make a bit of room around the front of the motor, so i got off my ass today and made some more progress on it!

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So in the picture below, if you look at the left of the original firewall, at the bottom there is a burnt part, this is where i welded my floor hole brace to the firewall at the seam in the floor, so on the passenger side i cut the firewall back to that point and the new plate welds to it.

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one down one to go!

[HQ355]

Looking good shags ! Is there much left ?

[Holden202T]

yeah quite alot of little things, diff and steering are probably the biggest two things, im trying to do alot of these little bits while i wait for bits for the gemini motor to progress, once its all done and march racing over i'll definitely be focusing on this beast, if im lucky i might just about have it close before the baby arrives in july!

[HQ355]

Good luck, I know what it's like when a baby comes along ! Hopefuly the gem will be up and running so if u get a few spare minutes u can hit the track with that and escape

[Holden202T]

yeah spare time and money

[HQ355]

Youl b right, mates will pop in and get u a leave pass