63' Bluebird Highwayman - Matilda

It had a 1725 Rootes engine when it came to us and apparently that was an option instead of the 1500 in 1964 (or so I was led to believe). We thought it original. The gearbox and overdrive came off a 1974 Commer although the gearbox is the same as the older one - the overdrive is a separate unit rather than built in and obviously not original, but helpful.... Both of these were rebuilt for our original van.
If you have questions, please ask, when we sold it, it went with all the paperwork and a few boxes of spares...
I don't know if I can help so much, but you never know.,..
 
Brilliant thank you:D Reads like a magazine article. Oh for the days when you could just nip down the scrappies for bits, the last time I saw one in there was about thirty years ago. It was perched on top of another van and I struggled to get a rear spring off with the Commer wobbling around:eek:, went back about six months later to get the other one:)
Looking forward to more instalments.
 
Pippab said:
How did you know she was called Matilda?
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Hi Pippa my husband and I purchased Matilda in 2014 to save her from going to the great scrap heap in the sky as a project. Unfortunately, circumstances changed and we had to part with her. I discovered her name by chance when we were exploring inside. My husband was going to call her Neil until I found the sign which had her name on it and I can only assume you put it in the ground when you drove away somewhere. Could I be curious and ask for information re the number on the roof? I said to my hubby maybe it was early satellite detection for if she was stolen, haha or even a mobile helipad haha.
 
Hi
I'd completely forgotten the sign...we were members of the Classic Camper Club and so if we went to rallies could put it out in front so everyone knew her name. My husband named her after a tank - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matilda_I_(tank) - he's a military history buff and felt she was less nimble and more 'tank' like than our previous Commer autosleeper pop top - Doris.

Re the numbers of the roof...

No helipad, but our insurers at the time used to produce a magazine and in it was an article about stolen vans and how if you put the number on the roof they could be spotted by police helicopter or 'new fangled' CCTV cameras! We thought it a good idea and so parked the van on the street - our garden was higher than the road and we crawled across from the garden onto the roof to put the reg number on.... and hoped the roof was strong enough to take our weight!

I actually only came across this thread as in planning to buy another classic van (we've not had one for a while) I just typed in the reg number of Matilda just in case and found your post. I was sad to see how she had ended up but happy someone had rescued her.

It's a shame I don't have any more diary entries...our circumstances changed and I stopped keeping the diary. It was fun to read back all the things that had happened...
 
Hi Pippa,

Thanks so much for the history and the story behind when you owned her.

I'm hoping to keep as many features as were added over the years so will keep the roof numbers now I know the story behind them. I want to maintain a stock period appearance inside and out. Unfortunately your interior work has faded and degraded over the time she spent neglected so they will need to be redone. As it happens I'm hoping to track down and return it to its original colour which at the moment appears to be a sage green and cream (although I will lighten the shade of the cream to more an old english white) so maroon wouldn't really go with what I have in mind anyways.

The plan is to bring the cream into the cab metalwork and possibly the green being carried onto the dash metal and inside door tops we'll then re-trim the materials in a matching green for the seats with cream piping. I'm undecided on door cards and dash pad at the moment but it will be something complimentary (black may also be a consideration as was a factory colour for these). The dash cavities will be paneled across the width to match the oak veneer with a glove box included as fitted to many from the factory. At some point in its life either the original openings were covered or the Oak veneer replaced with the carpet. At the moment I'm undecided on filling the existing radio aperture to hide a modern one underneath or get a period looking modern one in the original position. Under the carpet on the dash on the passenger side was a blanking plate to cover the steering fitting etc for LHD. I intend to hide some split charge / hook up monitoring equipment and controls behind this. She needs a new floor in the back (the rear part of the underlying ply has rotten..... I may have put my foot through it - oops!) I just hope I don't find any scary stuff under it but Ill cross that bridge when I come to it. On the whole though the woodwork is in good nick just needing another sand and varnish. The worktop has rotten but thats an easy fix. The roof light has degraded so I am currently investigating the cost of using it as a mould to have a new clear / tinted polycarbonate one made under which Ill fit a draw over blind in the opening.

There will be a few changes to her mechanically as I go as we want to be able to use her as much as possible without any worry of spiraling fuel costs or reliability issues. This mainly regards modern diesel power, 5 speed gearbox and an LDV Pilot 200 rear axle and prop for some extra strength. This should open up the possibilities of ongoing spares support for many years to come as well. Servo for the brakes, possibly a disc conversion will be looked at. Although what was in place worked I'm also looking to completely change the wiring loom for a modern kit car and caravan version including a compact kit car heater / fan unit as the old one has become rotten. Ill post an update later with my latest work on her.

As Jackie mentioned we had the name spike in the van when we bought it from them earlier this year so thought it only right to keep the name on as its again part of her history. Its great to know what she was named after also!

I hope you like what we have planned for her although there's a fair few changes on the cards they should all be sympathetic to her rootes....... hopefully once shes done we'll be able to use her for many years to come with our young family........ Although by the time I get her finished they may no longer be so young!! :p

Do you have any pictures of her when she was in top condition? I'd love to see them as although we have a couple the majority are now of her in her current sorry state as posted on here.

Thanks again
Glynn
 
So I had a bit of time last week so I decided to tackle removing the wiring loom and having a root around some of the other parts of the van that I'm slowly uncovering.




This is what was behind the front grille which was bent and damaged along with the air duct tray under the front when the van was recovered from under the tree by the people that sold it to Colin and Jackie. I believe they hooked a rope around the subframe and pulled it out which as it tightened tore through the lower panels.
 
I also removed the wiring loom from the cab


Lots of scotch blocks and bullet connectors which although worked are not my preferred method of making connections. At the moment Im considering switching any connections that need to be removeable to modern waterproof loom clips for longevity and reliability.
 
I got under the dash to investigate the condition and found this:

Drivers side




Heater area



Passenger side



It could be better but its not as bad as it might have been. The passenger side is the worse and this coincides with the more serious rot on the windscreen gutter that side and the area just inside the door shut.
 
Im going to continue stripping down over the next couple of weeks. Im cataloging all the parts as I go and putting them in labelled clip down stack boxes to they are easy to find. Once I have enough small parts to justify it Ill get them stripped and sent off for powder coat - vents, steering column parts and its frame etc etc. The same will happen once I have enough Chrome work to send off. I'm a way off that for now though so in the meantime Ill continue as I have been and replace source parts as I go when its clear they are beyond repair. I'm working on a fairly low budget so little often will soften the blow as time goes on. I now need to start collecting all the panels Ill need (one a month again is better than all in one go as there are a lot) to eventually have what I need to tear down the cab and get welding!
 
Your plans sound thorough and sympathetic, just right:)
What a difference, the cab looks almost habitable now:D Re the roof light, if it's one of the long ones Martin Maltas may be able to help, I'm pretty sure he had a mould made.
 
Panky said:
Your plans sound thorough and sympathetic, just right:)
What a difference, the cab looks almost habitable now:D Re the roof light, if it's one of the long ones Martin Maltas may be able to help, I'm pretty sure he had a mould made.
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Ill ask him when I get in touch about the panels, if he doesnt have a mould I can probably knock one up out of MDF fairly easily which dependant on manufacturing method (vacuum forming being hot favourite) I can drill any holes required etc.
 
The cab looks a lot better already. I don't think it's uncommon to find some rust under the dash. Well done.
 
Gosh, she's really suffered, but it looks like you are going to do a fantastic job...
Here is a picture of when she was with us...I don't have many but will post more if I find them.
 

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Hi Pippa,
Thanks for sending the pictures over. She looked great :) its amazing how much damage ten years of neglect can do to the metalwork on these vans. Is there any chance you can email me them? Ill send you a PM in a bit.
Thanks again
Glynn
 
Hi Glynn,

Nice to see Matilda being saved, I knew her when she lived in Lincoln, trapped in the back garden as a chicken shed.

Martin Maltas has the moulds for the roof light that were used on the Green highwayman like yours, these are compatible for mine as well, I'm tempted to reinstate the skylight.

Brian the snail has the hole in the floor for the table like yours so I'm guessing that this was something Bluebird offered, I'd always wondered if that's what it was for.
 
Cheers Moley.....certainly sounds like shes been around the block a few times and thankfully is in much better condition than an ex chicken shed should be!! I've not had much chance to do any more work on her the last couple of weeks as baby due this coming Monday so once that has arrived and things have settled a bit Ill get back at her. I need to speak to Martin about some panels anyway so Ill ask if he still has the roof light mould. I take it the one on Brian has been plated over?
 
'baby due this coming Monday so once that has arrived and things have settled a bit Ill get back at her'

About eighteen years then;)
 
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