1959 Ford Thames camper van restoration

Those are some lucky kids! Nice work!!!

Think of this post as a little interlude from the van. Work has been progressing on it but ive been waiting until early January to post an actual update as i have 2 weeks holiday from work at xmas ( Yippee).

Much much earlier in this thread i wrote about all the stuff my dad had made and one of them , the most important one to me anyway was the Morris Minor he built up and customised. Incase you missed it il just repost it again.
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The next big thing was a custom morris minor. Started in the late 70's, to me this is the car that epitomes my dad. I have such a strong link with this car and my childhood that i wish i knew where it was today.


This is what he started with, he bought it off his brother for £5 i think.



As usual, a lot of the work was done outside at the back of his old home in cramond. The wheels have been reversed and banded. I can remember what the rear axle was from, the front was a Wolsley i think.



The engine is a V4 from a Ford Corsair, i remember it sounded beautiful, really loud.



After a while he managed to move it into his work.



The rear bumper was from a Renault 5 and the huge spoiler was a truck roof spoiler. The wheel arches were from a ford Mexico.



It was painted Miami blue and silver.





This was it finished and my dad took some shots of it next to a standard morris to compare.



It even won a few car shows.



At the same time he managed to build a trailer to go with it.



And a buggy to keep my brothers entertained.

Unfortunately a few years after it was complete, someone braked hard infront of my dad during a bit of road rage and the car was heavily damaged. I think my dad was going through a bad time and couldn't afford the garage rent so it had to go. It was sold to a guy near gilmerton i think and i only ever saw it once again driving past me. I would do anything to know where it is now.
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Ok, so, see that last sentence I said "I would do anything to know where it is now. " . Well, have I got a story for you.
When my dad had to sell this car all those years ago. My brothers and I were way too young to do anything about it. I would have been 8 and my brothers 16 and 17. My memory of that time is a bit hazy but we all felt a huge connection to that car. So much so that I would continue to draw it and study it as I was growing up.
(don't know how old I was when I drew this, young though.)

I would spend ages looking at the photo album my dad made and ask him questions about it. I truly believe my life would be completely different had it not been for this car. I like top think of it a bit as my genesis. It influenced me so much so that I knew I wanted a project of my own one day and well, here I am.
Still, as I was growing up. The thought of even just seeing this car again conjured up feelings of excitement, pride joy etc.. I always wanted to try and find it again. Back in 2009 I started to put a bit more effort into finding it. I had put up a few posts on Scottish Morris minors, rods'n'sods etc.. asking if anyone had seen it. I never had much luck. A few people said they remembered seeing it at a few car shows but that was about it. No actual new sightings. I also found out my Brother Ross had also done the same, asked a few people in the car scene and also put a few posts up.
We had heard rumours it was last seen in a field somewhere. An are called Gilmerton had been named so one day, I jumped in my trusty Fiat Punto and drove around looking for it with out much luck. Although, that was the day I spotted the Consul that I later bought so , like I said, with out this car I wouldn't really be here, doing what I love to do with out it.

Another thing I tried was to write to the DVLA and try to get the address of the current registered keeper. Unfortunately/fortunately they don't just go handing out info like that to anyone. You need a reasonable excuse. Such as being involved in a crash with this car and it drove away, or its parked on your land. All I could come up with was that I had some important history that we found that should go with the car. The DVLA wrote back saying that wasn't good enough and that they weren't willing to give out any information.
At that point things just came to a plateau. Everynow and then I would crack open Google and search for it. Search the reg, type in 'custom Morris minor, Miami blue Morris minor, V4 Morris minor' and other things like that. Never got anywhere but still, I was hoping for one day something to happen.
Cut to Thursday, October 27th of this year. Just a normal day at work, get home, make my dinner then get ready for bed. Around 9:30 I noticed I had a friend request from one id never heard of before. I had just put up some stuff about the Bin lorry so I thought maybe it was someone asking about it. I accepted and went back to relaxing. 30 mins later I go back to my tablet, 'Oh, what's that, a message from that guy, wonder what it is' *click*



HOLY CRAP!!!! That's the Morris! What... Where... Why... When .. I felt like I was having a melt down. I honestly couldn't believe it. There it is, I haven't seen any new photos of it for over 20 years and BAM, heres one right now. First thing I had to do was phone my brother, doesn't matter it was a bit late I just knew this had to be shared. I managed to get him on the phone and told him about the guy that had added me. My bro told me how he had had a friend request but didn't accept him as he didn't know him. I was like, "maaaaaan, heh, right check out what he was going to tell you". So I sent him over the photo and when he received it he was just as excited as me. We spoke about how crazy it was and that we need to buy it back , or at the very least find out where it is and try to see it.
I got off the phone and then messaged the guy back. (To save privacy I'm going to refer to all the people involved by there initials) AS was a really nice guy. He explained that he had seen the picture of the Morris on a North Lanarkshire secret car club page on Facebook and that it was for sale, for £500. He wasnt sure what kind of car it was so he googled the reg number and it had came up with all the posts my broither and I had posted on the various forums and he managed to find us on facebook. He then gave me the name of the seller, JR , and so I added him to my facebook as well as applying to join the secret car club page. I messaged him whilst waiting for his facebook request confirmation saying "Really interested in the Morris you have for sale, here's my phone number, let me know if its still available". I didn't want to give too much info away at first. My brother and I also agreed that I would do the dealing with him as Ross is quite busy with his 2 boys, work and home life and if its only one of us it might not come across too off putting.
The next again morning, after getting about 2 hours sleep I checked my facebook and JR had added me as a friend and had also replied. He said "il phone you at 12pm" . Brilliant I thought, I have contact. By this time I had also been accepted to the club page and I checked out the advert. There was a few other cars that were for sale by JR. A jeep, an Armstrong Sidley, a Volkswagen Rod and a beetle parts car. Every photo was pretty much just the car, no landmarks or anything.
I patiently waited until 12, literally counting down the minutes. Then it was 12:30, then it was 1pm, then it was 1:30pm and still nothing.... Mhm.. Maybe he's busy... Ok.. I really want this car... I think if I message him about how it was my dads he might take it more serious and will be cool about it. So I message him, I include a photo of me and my brother standing infront of it when I was about 2 or so.



He eventually replies back in the afternoon, "wow, that was a long time ago. That price I put up on facebook isn't the real price, was just a starting point. I don't know how much the owner wants for it, I'm selling it for them" . Great I think..... dam... Now he's going to extortion me. He also says that the owner is hard to get a hold of and that's why he never phoned me back yet but when he does he will contact me. I leave it at that for the day and hope for good news in the morning.
Next again day and I thought id just send a wee reminder to him. He later phones me around 2pm. He just explained a bit more about the situation and that he has tried to get the owner on the phone with no luck so he was going to head over and see if he was in. In the mean time the Morris was all I could think of. I was looking at the photo of it a lot and the other cars trying to figure out anything about where they could be. For the rest of that first week I heard nothing. Whenever I phoned it was just the same answer. The owners hard to get a hold of. I even asked if I could have the owners number and deal directly with them but he wasn't really willing to give me that information.
By the Friday I got a message from another guy I know through the car clubs, AL . I phoned AL up and he told me he had heard my dads car was for sale. I told him thanks but I kinda knew already and I'm currently dealing with the guy whose selling it for the owner. He then pipes up that he has the phone number for the owner!!. Brilliant, after the week I've had trying to get information, here's the contact info for the actual owner. Sure enough, the phone number he gives me is different but he doesn't have a name for the guy. Anxiously I phone up "Hello", "Hi, erm, are you the guy with all the cars for sale?" I asked. "Nah, I think you have the wrong number" he said. "Oh, eh, ok" I replied. "Well.......actually...what car is it your asking about ?" he then asks. "Its the blue Morris minor" I said. "Ohright , yeah I know that one. I think you are actually dealing with my son , JR, about it already" . UUUGGGHHHHHhhhhhh, as it turns out that the number I got was for JR's dad. He then went on to explain that his son is selling them on behalf of his friend but there's a bit of complications about it all. Its not going to be a quick sale or anything and for me to be patient.
Through out the following couple of weeks my brother and I were feeling really frustrated. You know, when you want to sell a car you advertise it, someone comes round, they buy it and the deals done. This just felt odd, Here's a car I'm advertising for sale but I cant actually sell it yet.. Why bother advertising it. As JR and JR's dad were my only point of contact though I felt kinda trapped and had to jump through their hoops to get what I wanted. I thought maybe they hadn't all came to an agreement about how much each person involved would get from the sale so I even said to JR on the phone "If you can get it for this weekend for the £500 you first said I will give you £200, no question." When that failed to stir up any extra enthusiasm from him I started to really think it was going a bit strange.
I started to do a little detective work, looked through a lot of his friends and photos on facebook to pinpoint some kind of connection with the one brickwall of the house I could see in the photos or any of the other cars. Never really got very far with that direction though. I also tried ebay, gumtree and google for any more info on any of the other cars being for sale somewhere else.
I remember trying to contact him at the beginning of week 3 and he never answered, tried his dad again, no answer so I sent a txt and got no reply. I really didn't want to give up so I kept trying every second day until the Saturday when JR answered. I said "hey man, its the guy about the Morris, just wondering how its going?". "Oh eh.... il get my dad (laughing) Hey dad, its the guy about the Morris...-mumble mumble- He says he's just got out the shower and to give it 5 minutes." then he hung up. I waited 5 mins, 10 mins, 15 mins. Ok, maybe he meant I was to phone him back. I rang his phone and surprise surprise, no answer. This was my turning point. For a few hours I thought that that was it. No more contact from these guys I might aswell just let it go.

*In between all of this during those weeks, my brother and I had been talking about the car non stop to each other, pretty much atleast once a day one of us would phone the other. How amazing it would be to finally have it back. What we would do with I, how it should be restored and all. Had a really good chat one night down the pub, as we were getting more and more drunk it was like we had actually had it already. *

Then I snapped out of it. No, My brother and I want this Morris and we have came so close now we cant stop. MY brother and I spoke about ways of finding out where the car is. Looking at the photos there is a tall ish building, no real features to it though. My sister in law sent that to a guy she knows in Airdrie but they couldn't pin point it exactly. We thought of driving through and just trying to find it in person but North Lanarkshire is just under 300 square miles. What we needed was something like a helicopter or a bird. With out those at hand we done the next best thing, Google maps. I knew it was some kind of farm land, north Lanarkshire and there was 5 cars on the bit of land which is in a hilly kind of area.
I started with the area JR lived. Basically I found what looked like a farm, zoomed in, looked for clues to it being the farm, then zoomed back out, moved to the next farm, zoomed in, zoomed out, repeat, repeat, repeat. My brother and sister in law were also doing the same in their spare time. I done this for hours and hours, must have been something like 20-25 hours and I couldn't find it. I started to dread that maybe the google map photos were too out of date or something. I had went all over Airdrie, Bells hill, Motherwell, etc... I was starting to lose track of what areas id covered so I check out on Google the boundary line of North Lanarkshire. Doing so led me to a few areas I hadn't tried yet and then finally.... There it was.. I had found it!.
EEEEEEeeeeeeekkkkk!!!, there it is, I can see the Morris and the other cars surrounding it. That's exactly where it is right now and I know. I phoned my brother back up again and told him I had found it. He was equally as happy as I was and so the next question was "Ok, how do we actually contact the owner now" . Googling the farm name gave us a business name and that they owned the other farm down the road from it.I tried to facebook them but couldn't find anything. I think this was the Monday night I had found it, almost 5 weeks from seeing the first photo. My brother and I spoke about going along on the weekend, just driving up and seeing if anyone was in. Then I thought it might be best to send a letter first, try to make contact where we can get our side of the story over better. I wrote the letter on the Tuesday after work and posted it on Wednesday.
Thursday rolled in and I was kinda anticipating a phone call so I kept my phone on me all day at full volume in my top pocket. Nothing much was happening until around 3pm I got a phone call from an unknown number. Nervously, I answered the phone "Hello..", They then went on to say in my edited version" HI, this is ** , I got your letter in the post, were from the other farm and I just wanted to tell you that we don't actually own that other farm anymore, I don't even know who owns it now, sorry I cant help but I wish you luck and if I can help in any way let me know". Not quite the answer I wanted but atleast I know they don't own it anymore. I never received another phone call that day.... Dam.
On Friday afternoon I spoke with my bro again, just to confirm that going though on Saturday was still happening. We both agreed to and hoped that someone would be in. If no one was there then we could kinda trespass a little and check the Morris out anyway. I got home from work, relaxed, made my dinner and started watching TV. Around 7:30, my phone rang. Another new number. Again, I anxiously answered the phone. "hello...." , "hello, is that Kevin? I got your letter about the Morris minor on the farm here" . My heart skipped a beat and my voice went squeaky high. I'm actually speaking to the owner now. She went on to explain how she was busy the night before and never got home until 10pm and this was her just getting free time now.
The Morris used to belong to her partner who very sadly had died in a fire earlier this year in the garage at the farm. He had kept it for the last 18 years and she said he would never have parted with it. She was still trying to sort out a lot of the repair work on the house, the death of her partner and stuff and hadn't got round to selling anything yet. I don't know exactly how JR knew of these cars so I'm just going to say nothing about them and forget them for the rest of the story as I don't want to speculate but I did inform her. She was very touched by the letter and said I was welcome to come around anytime and look at the Morris but wasn't sure when it would be for sale. My little squeaky voice managed " Can we come over tomorrow please???" to which she replied yes. So, I was able to phone my brother up and after 5-6 weeks of all of this gong on, tell him that I had made contact with the owner and we can infact, with permission, go see it on Saturday now.
I couldn't sleep all night, I was so excited. On Saturday I went and picked my brother up from work and we drove over to her house. On arrival, I had bought her bunch of flowers to say thankyou then we got to the house and we laid eyes our eyes on the Morris for the first time in over 20 years!



Really we wanted to just run over there and check it out but we tapped on the door and greeted BA with the flowers and a huge thank you. She walked us over and allowed us free reign at the car whilst she went back in the house. It all felt very surreal. Seeing git in the flesh again. We were running all over it, things I had forgot all about came flooding back and being an adult now I could work out how my dad done certain parts. Searching all around at it it had all the traits of my dad. It had never really been tampered with, all I could see was a mobile phone holder had been attached on the inside and that was about it. Sure there was a lot more rust now, the paint work was faded, primered, peeling etc.. A lot of the body filler had shrunk but what is there is all true to form. It had never even been vandalised, no dents, no broken windows.. Anyway, il let the photos do the talking.













Through out all of this my brother and I were like 2 little boys in a sweet shop. Congratulating each other in all the effort we had put in. We had both been waiting for this for so long. Through out all of this I think the lady, BA must have been watching as she came out about 20 mins later. She said she could see how important this car was to us, how we would be the best people to take it on now and that we could have it.... For free!. Once more my brother and I were speechless, we only thought we were going to see it, not actually get to own it. As we were leaving we took the bonnet mascot which was a knight chess piece as a little memento of the day.



On the way home we couldn't shut up, making plans for picking it up ASAP but mostly about how me managed it, and without the help from the first guy. My brother got on the phone to his mate to borrow his beaver tail pick up van to collect it. His dad said he would come through on the Tuesday to pick it up for us. I managed to get time off work and then on Tuesday around 1pm we set off.

I was the first Barlas to 'drive' it for a long long time.







All tied on and ready to go. The old guy that helped us pick it up was in a bit of a rush so my brother had to go with him as it was getting dropped off at his. I stayed behind and had a coffee with BA and a chat. My brothers and I had also put some cash in an envelope for her. It was very nice of her to give us the Morris a s a gift but we were brought up to work hard for stuff you really want and she deserved it, Wonderful woman.

By the time I got back to my brothers the Morris had been dropped off and the old boy left already, heh. It was amazing turning the corner and seeing it on a road setting, almost as if it never left.

We managed to get it up on to his drive using my Lexus, towing it up backwards and setting it in its place. We talked about the best way to surprise our dad. This was the Tuesday and we knew the best time would be Saturday as the whole family could be there. Really we wanted it to be ASAP as the excitement was overwhelming but alas, we waited. We came up with a plan to mount the knight on a plinth of wood and put it in a box and give it as a gift to Dad. We knew that as soon as he saw it he would know it was from the Morris.



On the Saturday I went around a bit earlier as my brother was working and the Nephews and I gave the car a quick clean up. Wanted to remove all the moss and algae that had formed on it.



My brother arrived home and then my other brother came over too. We all sat down in the livingroom checking out the window for the arrival of my mum and dad who thought we were all just meeting up for a coffee and a blether. When they arrived, well, we filmed it so I'll put the youtube link up here.

https://youtu.be/dLkVbPk1ZhM

For years my dad thought he would never see this car again. I think my dads coping strategy about things like this is to just think the worst, that way you wont be disappointed. He was sure it had been scrapped or banger raced or something, he never ever thought id would be back in the Barlas family and BAM! Here it is dad, its still here. Not only that but its never been messed with, its just as original as when you had it. I cant think of a better family for it either, between my brothers and I this car will one day be back to its former glory. We all have good bond between us and we all have a very similar direction for this car.
For the time being the car will be secured at my brothers until he builds a new double garage at the bottom of the garden which will take a couple of years at least. Which is good, you know, atleast we have it back. Its back with us and we can plan the restoration and modifications now whilst I get on with completing my van project. My brothers excited to learn new skills and were both excited to work on our dream car.





This is for you dad, your car that you built over all these years and then had to regrettably sell has came home and I know that one day it will be back to as perfect as you had it.

February 2017

(The place I usually upload images to is being a bit picky right now so I'm using imgur for this post, let me now if anyone cant see the pics, cheers.)

Ok, so , time for an actual update about the van. Last I spoke about it I was welding in plates to the chassis to box it all in, I found this pic from further back in the thread.



Well once I had fully welded it I got the black chassis paint out (rust buster) and gave the whole rear chassis a good coating of it. Then I put the rear axle back in with new nuts and bolts.



Nice new shock absorbers and springs too.



Of course there is no weight in the back of the van just now so that's why the watts linkage and stuff aren't exactly horizontal.



So with the rear done I moved onto the front half of the chassis. I had always planned to take the engine out for a few reasons anyway. I need to fully weld up the engine mounts, sort out the oil sump, paint the chassis etc... So with that in mind I got my brother to come around and help me take the motor back out.



My bro wanted a shot of the welding so I got him to weld up an engine cart.



With the engine out I put the oil sump back on and gave the block and gearbox a good clean. It came out pretty well. I don't plan to respray it or anything, just clean as I will obviously be using the van, not just a show piece.
The chassis needed a little notch put into it so the alternator could clear it as it was pretty close.



So I marked out where to cut on the chassis



And with a bit of 5 plate I put in a new section. Then I fully welded the engine mounts whilst I was at it.



I had also been thinking about the brake callipers and how id go about getting them refurbed. The callipers had came off a mk2 Ford transit which is pretty old now. I had bought a new seal kit but I had no idea how good the pots would be so I started googling for ones already refurbed. I couldn't find any transit callipers at all but then I noticed on another forum, someone had figured out that LDV Convoy callipers bolt straight on, there also a lot larger and have bigger surface area on the brake pad. Best of all I could find them refurbed already so I bought a pair.
Weedy old ones



Nice beefy new ones.



Ive already tried them with a wheel on and they still clear it alright. These look like they will have some awesome stopping power.



Back to the chassis. I started thinking about another big part of the build, a roll/safety cage. As you can see there is absolutely no protection in this van should it crash. Something that has played in my head quite a bit so I knew from the start id like to make it atleast a bit more survivable should the worst happen. My problem is the van is a separate chassis to body so for some good mounts I need out-riggers coming from the chassis to accept the tubing.
I have no experience of designing a roll cage but I have read a few books and articles about them. I understand bracing and correct material use etc.. But if anyone else can see me doing something critically wrong then please comment.

For the bar that will go just behind and around the front seats I got some 5mm thick 50mm box and after a bit of careful angle measuring I welded a 10mm plate to it.



Then I cut the hole where I wanted the plate to end up.



Slid the box through the hole and tack it in place.



And voila!, a mount.



For the front I started by making a kind of bumper, also from 5mm x 50mm box.



Then I put it roughly into position, I haven't welded this piece on yet as I got distracted.



The plan here is to weld another plate just on the box then the tubing will come down through a hole in the floor of the van and I will weld it in situ, somewhere around the top right here.



I was then able to paint the front part of the chassis which is good as I need to get the engine back in and give the engine crane back to the guy I borrowed it from.



Good to see it in one shade of colour.






Making a roll cage obviously means I need a tube bender. I want the roll cage to made from CDS 1 5/8" (41.2mm) tubing so I need something proper to bend it. That means NOT using the PIPE bender I have.



What we need is a TUBE bender, something that I never realised was pretty expensive. After humming and hawing about it I thought "Dam, its a lot of money but needs must". So I spent £320 on a nice shiny new Die.



And I bought a large jack, the kind used for engine cranes. I also got some metal from work to make up a frame for it and bought a set of pins for it.



I will be getting on with the build of that shortly.

Another challenge was thinking about how to transmit the power from the engine to the axle. In the Lexus the rear axle is of the independent type. Meaning the actual diff doesn't move but the arms coming from it do. This means the output from the gearbox doesn't need a full universal joint, it used a kind of rubber donut as it doesn't need to go through a huge range of angles, it pretty much stays "straight" all the time.
Unfortunately that doesn't really work for me, as I'm using a live axle the diff and arms are one. Meaning as the axle goes up and down with the suspension then so does the diff. As it is moving in a very slight arc motion then normally the propshaft has a sliding yoke in the gearbox which allows for this travel.....
What to do...what To do.....
Looking it up I found that you can use the rear of a Toyota crown gearbox as that bolts right on and has a sliding yoke output. Main problem is I don't think I have ever even seen a Toyota crown here. Then I had heard of people getting round this problem by using a prop-shaft with a sliding spline yoke built in, usually used in 4x4's etc... I decided to take the route.
I won a prop-shaft on Ebay for a Toyota hilux, it was longer than what I need but it had the crucial sliding joint in it and it was also only £20 delivered, score!
This is how the output of the Lexus engine looks, a kind of 3 pointed star which is pretty useless to connect up to a 4 hole propshaft end.



Which means a bit of cunning engineering work needed. I sat down and drew up a plan.



I handed it into the usual engineering place I prefer and he made it up for me in a few weeks. I really like his work and his prices are pretty good, £120 for this. What I basically wanted was the output of the lexus to have the 3 points taken off and trued up. Then I also needed a disc for me to weld onto the output shaft with the bolt holes in the correct place for the U/J of the prop-shaft.





Its a really nice tight fit. I tacked both pieces together, popped it into position and measured for any run-out. When I was happy I chucked it in the oven to get a bit of heat into it, makes for a better weld.



I used the ARC for this as I had some good 3.2mm rods.





I was able to put it back into place measure for any run out again and it was fine, well with in any tolerances anyway. I attache the new prop-shaft onto it to get an idea of how it will all look.





Jobs a good'un. Now once the engines back in I can send the prop away to get shortened. Id do it myself but I don't have anyway of balancing it after.



That is pretty much all ive done on the van lately. I'm hoping to get the engine back in soon and also get the tube bender built so I can start the cage.

As usual I did a few other things over the past few months, I treated myself to a nice new TCT blade saw. I really like it, massive cutting capacity and much more accurate compared to an abrasive disc saw.



Which meant id make a couple of tables for the wife just before xmas. The wood is all from old pallets stuck together that I made at work.

A small coffee table on wheels



The wife always wanted a dining table for when we have guests but we have nowhere to put a big table so I made folding one. It looks like a nice consul table next to the fireplace.



Then you can fold it out and lock it into position.



I had also bought an old jack a few months ago second hand, the guy sold it to me for £30 because he thought it was broken.



It kinda was but not as bad as he thought. I needed to make 2 new wheels for it out of some plate and pipe then I gave it all a good clean and re-grease then painted it up so now I have real nice jack.



Finally, I was tasked with making some brackets to attach a roof rack to a Ford Thames. A friend in the pre67 club has a very beautiful Ford Thames that he just restored into a Lotus race team replica asked me.

This is the rack and mounting holes I had to play with.



I wanted them to have a nice retro look about them so I opted for stainless steel. That way we can keep the metal bare and polished up to look like chrome. I used a piece of stainless offcut 25mm angle and I bought pack of stainless bolts from ebay.



Once I had cut a nice shape into the angle I polished it all up at work. I then bought domed nuts to set it off.



Then I made another 7 to go with it.



HE was pretty happy with them so that was cool.

Ok, back to work, hopefully I wont leave it quite so long to he next update.

Well eh, looks like its been 6 months since the last update and well, id love to say i have 6 months worth of work to show for it but not really. A few years ago i had all the time in the world. somehow though, as I'm getting a bit older the free time is getting less and less and its being filled up by "responsibilities". I don't even have kids so i don't know how you folk with kids get anything done!.
I'll see if i can split this update into chronological order starting from my last update in February. Its not only going to be about the van as usual, i think i should change the title to "kevs life and stuff"
The Lexus developed a problem around this time. I was hearing a metallic sound from the rear near side wheel and i assumed it was the rear wheel bearing so i ended up buying a new bearing and spent all day getting it fitted only to discover it wasn't that at all. after a few days of diagnosing i realised one of the spring clips that holds the hand brake shoes in place had developed a slight kink and would rub on the inner disc when going around corners. I was so annoyed! such a small cheap part and id spent about £150 on a new bearing etc.. and my time to "repair" it. Then a few days later the LPG system stopped working after the vaporiser developed a leak so again i had to fork out for that.
[img src="https://i.imgur.com/Ns9bdkW.jpg" style="max-width:100%;"]
I decided that id had enough, I had owned the Lexus for over 3 years now and wanted a change. I thought id like something that was fast and practical so i started looking at estates and decided on a Subaru Legacy twin turbo import that i found on gumtree. After meeting the guy under the circumstances you would find in a "how not to buy a car handbook" at 9pm at a petrol station i was now the owner of this .
[img style="max-width:100%;" src="https://i.imgur.com/sLtsHks.jpg"]
At first, i really liked it but over the next few days i started to hate it. I started to hear a grumble from the front near side wheel but the biggest thing i was worried about was when i would drive on the motorway , when it was going from the little turbo to the big turbo it just fell flat. The previous owner had put a silly big boyracer exhaust on and a de-cat pipe so the exhuast gasses were leaving quicker meaning the turbos would over-spool. I remembered on the test drive as i was driving the owner said "it might stall a little when your on the motorway but its nothing to worry about" and i really wish now that he had shown me this before i bought it, but anyway.
To try and sort it out i reinstalled the original exhaust which helped some what but it still never had the CAT and would occasionally do the stall thing. At this point i really wanted to just get rid of it and i was quite anxious as i had spent £3800 on it and i feared i wouldn't make my money back. I gave the car a really good detailing and put it up for sale. After a lot of time wasters and test pilots blowing all my fuel away (uuugh) a guy from Newcastle came along and bought it. I was sure to show him the stalling thing and he had had a Supra before so knew about turbos saying he would sort it out and it was fine for him. Luckily i never lost a lot, he bought it for £3700. HE didn't want the chavvy exhaust either so i polished it up.

[img src="https://i.imgur.com/2O0yNXq.jpg" style="max-width:100%;"]

Stuck it on Ebay and sold it for £250, score!! i was actually up, only by about £150 but its better than a loss. I hadn't sold my Lexus yet so when i went to my brothers to pick it up i just felt so much more relaxed and happier with it. Don't get me wrong, The Subaru did have its good points. I loved the handling and the acceleration was brutal in that second turbo , it just wasn't me. I realised i wanted refinement, a wee bit luxury but still something a bit more exciting that the Lexus. Mmmmmhm, what should i buy next?....
It was late March by the time i sold the Subaru. So that had eaten up a huge chunk of my time. Worrying about it, selling it, cleaning it etc.. I was looking at the poor van and once i sold the Subaru i started on the tube bender part again for the roll cage.
I had cut it all out and drilled the majority of the holes.

[img style="max-width:100%;" src="https://i.imgur.com/KJOAQ54.jpg"]

[img src="https://i.imgur.com/gms1a7J.jpg" style="max-width:100%;"]

I wasn't sure how id drill the bigger 25mm holes as my pillar drill doesn't slow down enough for a 25mm HSS drill bit when i found these metal TCT holesaws on ebay. I was a bit dubious to the quality of them as i think i only paid about £6 for the 25mm version but it done the job.

[img src="https://i.imgur.com/rtWOmst.jpg" style="max-width:100%;"]

The little bit of Van work this month was when my brother came down and we got the engine fitted back in after the chassis had been painted.

[img src="https://i.imgur.com/os1OmLP.jpg" style="max-width:100%;"]

In April it was coming up for my dads birthday so as a surprise i took his old Wheel barrow he has had for years, that long infact that i remember it being my paddling pool in the summers when i was a toddler. I forgot to take a before pic but the body of it had rusted through and my dad was using bits of wood to patch the holes in the mean time. I managed to get it along to my work one weekend when they were away and i fully restored it. Made a new body up, painted it, cleaned it etc.. and it turned out really well. I even added a couple of drain points to it so my nephews can now use it as their paddling pool in the summer .
[img style="max-width:100%;" src="https://i.imgur.com/Vnhpc4h.jpg"]

Around this time someone came into my work with an old pedal car they were selling. My boss bought it and knowing how much i love stuff like this he gave it to me as a gift. I don't have kids yet still but when i do this is going to be their first toy after a nice restoration.
[img style="max-width:100%;" src="https://i.imgur.com/iHfbXM8.jpg"]

In May i started to think about the van again. It kind of comes in waves. I'll get a really strong urge to get out there and start work and then after a while i look and think "dam, that grass needs cut... The car needs repaired.... this room needs decorated....my brother needs help with his house.." so in May all i did was sort out the shims for the front brakes and take the propshaft to be shortened and balanced. Then i went on holiday to Crete.
On holiday i had plenty of time to think about the van. I had free wifi in my room so i spent a lot of time researching and buying parts. I decided that what would really give me the kick up the that i so need would be to get the engine running, i think hearing it go would make it just that bit more real for me after spending nearly 6 years on it now.
I got home early June and came back to a bunch of parts and a new lease of enthusiasm. The day after i got back i went and picked up my propshaft and mocked it in place.

[img src="https://i.imgur.com/VSsmD6l.jpg" style="max-width:100%;"]

That was pretty cool to see the engine connected to the axle now.

[img style="max-width:100%;" src="https://i.imgur.com/KkkTBpf.jpg"]

Think i may need to to notch that chassis brace i welded in.

The other major thing i researched on holiday was the wiring loom and what i would need/lose to get it all running with the autobox. I went up into my attic and brought down all the looms and sorted through it all. Theres tons of wiring in these cars.

[img style="max-width:100%;" src="https://i.imgur.com/jdR8va7.jpg"]

To help i also printed off a few diagrams and pinned them up in the back of the van.

[img src="https://i.imgur.com/72A1Vce.jpg" style="max-width:100%;"]

[img src="https://i.imgur.com/gPRTqgs.jpg" style="max-width:100%;"]

Takes a bit of time but id rather try and do it right the first time. Just need to be patient and make notes and label everything.

[img style="max-width:100%;" src="https://i.imgur.com/rj8oJER.jpg"]

I also made a new battery box and a cubby for the main engine fuses/relays.

[img src="https://i.imgur.com/A6pRbGw.jpg" style="max-width:100%;"]

[img src="https://i.imgur.com/o6k3UgO.jpg" style="max-width:100%;"]

Once i had the main engine wiring thought out and waiting on parts i then turned my attention to the engine. As the air intake is at a different location now I bought some new hoses and pipes to move stuff. The other thing is I'm only going to be running the alternator, no PAS or AC . so i need to make a new tensioner for that as the OEM one wouldn't work.

After some carful measurements and a new pulley for a Ford Transit i started on a new tensioner.

[img src="https://i.imgur.com/6W4POpO.jpg" style="max-width:100%;"]

Cut it out and weld some bolts in place.

[img style="max-width:100%;" src="https://i.imgur.com/6O8JAt0.jpg"]#

[img src="https://i.imgur.com/WQi1fTC.jpg" style="max-width:100%;"]

[img style="max-width:100%;" src="https://i.imgur.com/084im87.jpg"]

and it works, just waiting on a new belt now.

[img style="max-width:100%;" src="https://i.imgur.com/Zd7mIP1.jpg"]

The wife told me that she was going to be off work for a week soon as her boss was going away for their holiday. I kinda knew where this was going..... She had been wanting the bedroom re-decorated for a while now. On her first day off she started to strip the wall paper and when i got home i just resigned myself to the fact that i was now going to be decorating for a bit. It wasn't too bad really, it was also needing done as since moving in we hadn't really touched it and it was still decorated as how the old lady had it before we moved in.
[img src="https://i.imgur.com/aFTZr1B.jpg" style="max-width:100%;"]

after a few weeks i managed to get it finished doing the weekends and after work. As usual there is a lot of stuff here that happened that you don't see (new plumbing, new electrics, etc..) but I'm really happy with how it turned out.

[img style="max-width:100%;" src="https://i.imgur.com/TIKuYs7.jpg"]

[img src="https://i.imgur.com/s9xdwE3.jpg" style="max-width:100%;"]

[img style="max-width:100%;" src="https://i.imgur.com/rmnPBYK.jpg"]

And my favourite part, id been wanting to put my sword and sgian-dubh up on the wall for ages.

[img style="max-width:100%;" src="https://i.imgur.com/smbOxNs.jpg"]

Well, with the room one i could do a bit more to the van. When i was on holiday i had ordered up all the Stainless steel i needed to make the exhaust headers.

At first i was trying to get all 4 of the cylinders to end up in one nice 2.5 inch pipe. I managed to get the 2 closest pipes to converge but i just couldn't get the last 2 to meet so i scrapped that idea.

[img src="https://i.imgur.com/Krn2E1p.jpg" style="max-width:100%;"]

[img style="max-width:100%;" src="https://i.imgur.com/Htn4JEh.jpg"]

So the next execution was to get the 4 pipes to meet in one spot then make a collector which worked better. Took ages to get to this stage but i was loving the challenge.

[img src="https://i.imgur.com/pvSX7m3.jpg" style="max-width:100%;"]

[img style="max-width:100%;" src="https://i.imgur.com/5TlMlD9.jpg"]

[img style="max-width:100%;" src="https://i.imgur.com/VRwDra4.jpg"]

Then i made a cone from stainless sheet.

[img style="max-width:100%;" src="https://i.imgur.com/HRGBP8d.jpg"]

and with some careful tapping and tacking i managed to get it into place to merge the 4 pipes into one.

[img src="https://i.imgur.com/52RKplB.jpg" style="max-width:100%;"]

Then i could get the rest of the pipe in place and weld a flange on the end. one done, another side to make.

[img src="https://i.imgur.com/nWuaJtr.jpg" style="max-width:100%;"]

[img style="max-width:100%;" src="https://i.imgur.com/ivUN8V8.jpg"]

[img src="https://i.imgur.com/U8p17fZ.jpg" style="max-width:100%;"]

As far as stuff on the van thats really all ive managed. Wish i could say it was more but its not. Its hard to keep the momentum going sometimes. I'm never ever going to give up on it though, i know that for sure.
Oh, i also did buy another car. Its kind of a mix between the practicality of the Subaru and the luxury/performance of the Lexus.
A 2005 Jaguar X type Estate with the 3 litre V6 manual sport edition. I really love it. It was a bit pricey (£3000) but thats with full service history and 90,000 miles. Being a manual V6 3 litre estate is also quite rare as this is the one thats most sought after. What i love most about the car is it looks good and the bodywork is still good. Its a car you can enjoy cleaning because at the end of the day it shines and gleams.

[img src="https://i.imgur.com/zh3W5ko.jpg" style="max-width:100%;"]

[img src="https://i.imgur.com/jmL9h5m.jpg" style="max-width:100%;"]

plus its much more practical than the Lexus was

[img style="max-width:100%;" src="https://i.imgur.com/vxuU8Ro.jpg"]

Which meant i had to sell the Lexus. It was a brilliant car and id never hesitate to own or recommend one again. I put it on ebay as a 7 days auction as i had no where to store it and i only got like £750 for it, someone got a dam good bargain.

bye bye Lexxy

[img src="https://i.imgur.com/J9P92vD.jpg" style="max-width:100%;"]

A little bit of extra fabrication content. At my work lately ive been giving a lot more free time to make stuff so i thought id share it here. mostly tables using reclaimed wood for the table tops and stuff.

This one used an old cart top as the table top and 2 inch box for the base .

[img style="max-width:100%;" src="https://i.imgur.com/di5uFGp.jpg"]

This was an old picnic table top.

[img style="max-width:100%;" src="https://i.imgur.com/d7uRncK.jpg"]

reclaimed flooring.

[img src="https://i.imgur.com/J4Lsgwr.jpg" style="max-width:100%;"]

Victorian radiator covers

[img style="max-width:100%;" src="https://i.imgur.com/iJ0djq1.jpg"]

[img src="https://i.imgur.com/rAb343X.jpg" style="max-width:100%;"]


Side table and built in lamp with pallet wood top.

[img style="max-width:100%;" src="https://i.imgur.com/55sDD1q.jpg"]

Little matching table lamp.

[img src="https://i.imgur.com/NScg1MW.jpg" style="max-width:100%;"]

Another cool thing i enjoyed doing was restoring this old lock . I made a key for it from roundbar, tubing and stock then cut it to match the inside so the lock would work again. This lock is ancient, very early 19th century and I'm glad to have played a part in keeping it still going. I made a new keeper for it from reclaimed wood and a rusty piece of sheet steel. Cutting out the same pattern and finding old nails for the decoration.

[img src="https://i.imgur.com/Cw0dEHQ.jpg" style="max-width:100%;"]

[img style="max-width:100%;" src="https://i.imgur.com/mPZcVyw.jpg"]

[img src="https://i.imgur.com/zeP9rFg.jpg" style="max-width:100%;"]

Well thats it for this update, i hope to have another soon, cheers

WOW!!! That story about your father's Morris Minor was Fantastic! What a beautiful way to surprise your Dad! I'm sure he felt like a Kid again when he was reunited with his project. I can definitely see where you got the building bug from. The apple didn't fall far from the tree...I'm going to catch up on all the other progress you've made on the van but lost all track of time reading about the journey that you and your brother made in search of the long lost Morris! Keep up the Great work and thank you sooooo much for bringing us along for the ride!

It's good to hear from you Kevin! What a great story about your Dad's car You can see in his face how pleased he must be, and everyone else too.

And the van is coming along nicely as well You are an inspiration and the whole family too.

Thanks for the update Kevin. Always liked this post, to see what you come up with next. especially those side projects.

Wow, it's taken me three days, on and off to read through this. I stumbled across this forum and this thread while looking into bodywork repairs for my own Thames dormobile - thankfully more of a rolling resto as not QUITE as bad as yours to start with! The way you repaired the gutters has been very informative, as this is probably the worst area on mine. I see it's been more than a year since your last post - any progress?