Introduce myself and the van.

Yatesy

Yatesy

Member
CDE5C58B-5973-4288-910A-8E1BD82591FE.jpeg 3C69EBD6-2942-4571-A87F-977C8946EA87.jpeg C231859C-B7E4-4EC1-BC42-484D4AEC8D1A.jpeg 0D665B9D-1785-4EDB-840A-F279BE2A9D9C.jpeg 75C18C22-CFA4-4030-A200-A55F9743FFA5.jpeg Hi Commer fans,

I thought I’d introduce myself and my new project van.
I’m Adam and I bought that ‘61 camper in New Zealand that was in the for sale section a couple weeks back. It’s fitted with a 1500 and is in very original condition.
Don’t shoot me but I bought it sight unseen but was realistic about what to expect. My goal is to get this weapon back on the road where it belongs after a long hiatus.
Day 1, I went and picked it up on a trailer. Pretty happy with the condition especially since it hasn’t driven in 15+ years.
Day 2, Compression check and found cylinders 1 & 4 reading 0. Cylinder 2 & 3 healthy. Suspect stuck valves. Removed rocker cover and found exhaust valve 1 & 8 seized completely open = bought a box of beer and finished it.
Day 3, Removed head and ancillarys, no obvious damage bar the stuck valves so looking for a reputable head rebuilder. Very happy with condition of cylinders which will require a hone only and no re-bore.

I am no mechanic but consider myself ok on tools and have found this forum already a tonne of help.
Once I get the engine back up running (standard) at this stage, mods to come later.
Then I will get stuck into the brakes and then a couple of rust spots ready for its roadworthy.
I maybe optimistic at this stage but I hope I can do it justice and hopefully don’t give up.

Anyway I’m sure you’ll get sick of my questions in the near future.

Cheers,
Adam

Photos of progress so far.
 
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Nice van/minibus (noe turned camper) ! :)

Very early example, and looks good. Interesting roof conversion, and particularly the single rear door with the height of it and its position. Very original indeed!

Good luck with your project.
 
Hi Adam and welcome to the Madhouse:D That looks like a cracker and I love the rear door conversion, very clever and someone must have spent a long time doing that:cool: The engines are pretty tough and a stuck valve or two shouldn't prove to be a problem in fact Martin Maltas got an engine running with a similar problem after it had been laying idle for thirty years, This was his fruit and veg pick-up that he dragged out of a barn and trailored it to a car show and as usual he got bored so after a couple of hours fettling, and freeing off a stuck valve, he had it purring away - not for long as the fan belt had fossilised so no coolant was cifculating.
Good luck with your van and keep us posted:)
 
Progress coming along. Wheels and bumpers powder coated. Water pump housing modified for electric pump.
Head re-done. Brakes complete overhaul. New bearings in hubs and drums skimmed.
Aiming to have it started by the end of the week.
 
Excellent, you've been busy.
You will also need to blank off the heater stub on the old pump casing and run the heater pipe to the suction of the electric pump - otherwise there won't be any flow through the heater. I also did away with the by-pass connection and drilled a couple of 1/8" holes in the thermostat instead.
 
Panky said:
Excellent, you've been busy.
You will also need to blank off the heater stub on the old pump casing and run the heater pipe to the suction of the electric pump - otherwise there won't be any flow through the heater. I also did away with the by-pass connection and drilled a couple of 1/8" holes in the thermostat instead.
Click to expand...
I was going to try an experiment and leave it as is. I was hoping the flow of water with the new electric pump would have enough suction to have a flow through the heater. I may be completely wrong but will see soon enough.
 
If left as it is then both hoses will be on the outlet side of the electric pump so you will end up with no flow at all I'm afraid.
 
Panky said:
If left as it is then both hoses will be on the outlet side of the electric pump so you will end up with no flow at all I'm afraid.
Click to expand...
Ok thanks. Did you tap into the radiator hose between the bottom radiator outlet and the electric pump inlet? Not sure how I’ll go about it as the heater hose as you know is far smaller than the radiator hose
 
I used a T piece instead of the bottom elbow and reduced it down with plumbing fittings to take the heater hose. If I was to do it again then I would search for a hose with the correct size connection to make it neater.

I did trim the T piece down a bit after this pic was taken

GQeRkZW.jpg
 
Thanks for that panky I have managed to find a t piece that works very well with one reducer on the T for the heater hose connection. Once again very grateful for your guidance!
Panky said:
I used a T piece instead of the bottom elbow and reduced it down with plumbing fittings to take the heater hose. If I was to do it again then I would search for a hose with the correct size connection to make it neater.

I did trim the T piece down a bit after this pic was taken

GQeRkZW.jpg
Click to expand...
 
Today’s progress. Everything coming along nicely, bar the broken engine mount from slightly lifting it and it catching. Next stop commer spares....C8A803D1-EADB-4A38-ADF8-8B1B97C2F6B5.jpeg
 
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