1962 slider

J

jefinabox

0
Hello people,

My name's Jeff and I have wanted a commer for a while. I've been looking for the right one and 6 years after I started looking I found the right one on here.

She's a 1962 van with sliding doors and an autosleeper interior

She's in pretty good nick, with an older restoration that's showing its age now, with cracks in the filler.

When I got her she wasn't doing more than a few miles before playing up. Took me 2 hours to do 10 miles. So I spent a couple of hours under her in the rain getting her task off and cleaned it and the lines out.

I plan to get her mechanically perfect, with a 1725 engine so I can get up the hill I live on. Then I'll get her looking pretty.
 
Hmm, that wasn't the full post and now it's giving me asp errors when I try to edit it. Never mind, I'll update it when I can.
 
quote:
Originally posted by jefinabox

I plan to get her mechanically perfect, with a 1725 engine so I can get up the hill I live on. Then I'll get her looking pretty.




Always the best plan, too many people do it the other way round and suffer the consequences ;)

4650583641_dba2503b41_o.jpg

"You,re only supposed to blow the bloody SLIDING doors off"
Founder of the 6 speed club
 
it is because it is a first post just carry on on the next page ;)

Commer Dandy by Dandy Caravans now Riva Dandy
The Colonel Mustard six speed
9858609586_be59f5d209_t.jpg

Member of the 6 speed club.
 
Right, I'll try again.

After cleaning the lines and tank out she seems to be running fine, if a little slow. She has a brand new Zenith carb on but I don't know my way around zeniths at all. As soon as she has a 1725 she'll be going SU. My plans for her are:

Ally headed 1725 Engine
SU Carb
Sell both overdrive gearboxes I have and go Lexus 6 Speed
Ally tank
Total rewire to modern standards
Respray

In something like that order. I'll save some money up and ring Tim lol. I need to give her a good service, when I get more grease for my gun. I routed the fuel line around the front of the radiator but she still doesn't like hot starting. The carb does get hot though so I'm guessing this won't improve until I go SU with the split manifolds.

I haven't decided on the final colour so she doesn't have a name yet. I like names to develop though, so it may take a while. My daughter was nameless for two weeks while she "grew" into a name that suited her. I have the proper square grill to go on as well as the enamelled commer badge for the front. The previous owner was clever enough to have a few square grills laser cut out of stainless so I have a few spares as well.

The interior is in fantastic condition, though the carpet and upholstery is a little dated so will be getting replaced. I have the poles for the canvas bed but not the bed itself, anyone have one? In fact I'm after a few bits:

1725 ally headed engine
3x hub caps
Canvas sling bed

I look forward to updating the thread as I go on.

Cheers


Oh yeah, can an admin delete the photos from my first post? They're huge and I'd like to reupload them in a more normal size.

Thanks
 
Sounds like a good plan [^]. And you're dead right about the Zenith and manifolds ;)

4650583641_dba2503b41_o.jpg

"You,re only supposed to blow the bloody SLIDING doors off"
Founder of the 6 speed club
 
Well I've been offered a rebuilt 1725 with a holbay head. The bloke selling it was told it's a proper holbay bottom end but he says the numbers don't match up. It comes with twin webers and 4 branch manifold. The problem is I don't know anything about rootes stuff really. Anyone know what a fair offer would be?

Cheers
 
Thinking about it, i'm looking for reliability rather than coolness so I'm currently thinking about an mx5 1.8 engine and gearbox. It would be essentially free, with enough power to pull the van. I just don't know if the gearbox would handle the extra weight. Decisions, decisions...
 
Go with the 1725 and twin Webers. When set up right, the Webers will beat the stock engine for MPG and performance hands down. I had twin Webers on my VWs, they went like a cut cat but were easy on the wallet. What more could I ask for? The trick is to get someone to tune them properly.

Now, I think an MX5 engine would be absolute rubbish in a Commer. New twin cam engines make all the power in the top of the rev range which is the last thing you want in a big old box van. Plus, regardless of engine configuration, 1800 cc is small for a van by any standards. In a camper you want something that makes torque in the low -mid rev range. The 1725/Holbay will essentially bolt in to the Commer and is a dirty old 8 valve push rod engine, so is nice and simple.

An MX5 is a small, light weight, sports car, i.e. nothing like a Commer. If you want an alternative engine, it would be best to look towards similar vehicles for donors. Think big, heavy, boxy. There is a reason Ford didn't sell Transit vans with Escort engines....
 
The Mazda engine/gearbox sounds great, twin cam engine and the 5-speed gearbox has a 0.814 final ratio, nearly as good as a Commer overdrive.[8D]
Essentially free? And theres lots of them about if it expires:)

65a8f281-2f60-4744-b9e8-1facc4450bd9_zps403d6d8b.jpg

The simpler the better
 
Remember also that the MX5 engine is a cross-flow twin overhead cam engine, so there will be severe space limitations on the manifolds and what-not needed to fit the MX5 engine in the Commer engine bay. The 1725 engine fits in a Commer engine bay, which means the 1725 engine swap will be simple and could be all done in a weekend.

On the other hand, an MX5 engine will require engine mounts, gear box mounts, body modifications to fit the manifolds etc, wiring, fuel injection paraphernalia, driveshaft, etc, and a never ending list of trick one-off bits that will make a "free" engine quite expensive, and will take un umpteen amount of time. Look through this forum as to how many successful engine swaps there are. There aren't many.

To use the available power of an MX5 engine, you would be revving the nuts off it through every gear which would get pretty tiresome, and chew through gas (might as well stick with the old pushrod engine).

And besides, a 1962 sliding door auto sleeper is a fairly rare beast, so it seems logical to preserve its history and keep the mechanicals Rootes-based.
 
Thanks for the input. I've been thinking on this for a while, as I've been working away from home so can't do anything to the van anyway. I reckon the mx5 engine would have enough torque, it makes 80lb from 1500rpm so way more than my 1600 .

Size could be an issue though. However, my hand has been forced by a cheap holbay turning up.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sunbeam-Alpine-Holbay-engine-along-with-A-Decond-1600-engine-and-gearbox-/201134504213?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item2ed48cf915&nma=true&si=c7812HQyWVXnpnw1A4DsKhDDxnk%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

I'm wanting to run a hif44 on it as I know they're good for the power and economy, having produced about 150bhp with one on my mini (well, with a little help from a turbo). So Tim will be called into service when I find it what manifolds I have.

You're right kiwi, it would be kind of cool to keep it rootes. I had to delete the pictures of the van due to them being huge so here they are again. I really need to take some new ones.


7tV74mb.jpg

khySkm4.jpg

aiKKpm8.jpg
 
Your door handle is fitted wrong ;)
Nice Mini [^]:p[8D]

4650583641_dba2503b41_o.jpg

"You,re only supposed to blow the bloody SLIDING doors off"
Founder of the 6 speed club
 
quote:
Originally posted by Panky

Nice pics[8D]
Is that the 150bhp Mini:p

41fa30c8-22ce-43e8-bd12-188475a80292.jpg

Founder of the Non-Facebook Club



It was 150bhp for a while (not me in the pic)
B6CkNCd.jpg
 
Tuned fireblade engine, was very quick but had no ground clearance so didn't last long. The turbo engine is in the black mini you can just see in the background. I never fell in love with that car though so the engine is going into the van, along with a turbo from a ford 1.0 ecoboost. Should be an interesting winter project.
 
The engine turns up on Monday. Does anybody make rear door skins? They're by far the worst bit of grot on the van. I'm also trying to work out how the fridge works. There's an inline gas tap, a temperature knob, a red button and a white twisty knob. I'll take a photo later, it may mean something to somebody. And why are new 12v fridges so bloody expensive?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top