My Vans

I'm always on the lookout for more Bedford Rascal vans in particular - see here.

Suzuki Carry - Respray in Bedford Cargo Blue

Since there are numerous dents and dings all over the body of the van I have decided to respray the whole thing in Bedford Cargo blue - the same colour as my light blue Bedford Rascal.

Today was spent stripping the van down in preparation for prep and paint. I hope to have it painted by the end of the week but I think that might be a little amitious.

It really doesn't take long to take these little vans apart. They are built in such a similar fashion to the Rascals and Supercarrys it's unbelieveable.

Update: 3rd of April 2011

Been busy with the bodywork on the van over the past few days.

It's nearly totally rubbed down to 240 grit but it'll need done over again in 400 before primer.



I also fixed the dent in the bonnet you can see in the photo above. Because of where the dent was it was impossible to push it out from behind because of the bonnet reinforcement. I welded a screw onto the middle of the dent and pulled it out with a claw hammer - and just kept repeating the process welding the screw in different positions until the dent was pulled out almost to where it was originally.



And then the dent after pulling:



And again after a thin skim of filler to smooth over the original shape:



I was quite pleased with the result - looks much better than it did before. I also used this same technique for the dent in the lower rear quarter panel which is now also pulled out and skimmed over as good as new.

I've also got hold of nearly all the parts I need now to complete the engine - the only thing I need to get now is a crank position sensor from the original 1.3 engine because this was missing and the 1.6 version is different.

Update: 1st of June 2011

I haven't updated this in a while but the little van has been primed and had it's first coat of paint. A lot of time was spent pulling and filling dents and then rubbing the van down for paint.

And here is it sporting it's first coat of Bedford Cargo Blue:

I'm very pleased with it although I can't take any of the credit for the paint job. I'm no good with a spray gun so I had to leave that to Ivor. If I had done it there would be more blue paint on the floor than on the van!!

Quick Update: October 2011

Well it's been a long time since I updated any of this web site but the van is finally painted and on the road.

Here's what it looks like in all its glory (with new Mazda MX5 wheels that fit straight on!)

Now that this van has finally passed its MOT I plan to use it for my business as a bit of a promotional van. It still requires new rear wheel bearings though.