new member from the netherlands

eldiablo

eldiablo

Member
hi all

I have been looking at commers for a couple of years now but I had a V8 Van fetish before ;) ,so I had been driving in my ford E100 Econoline from 1974 for 9 yrs now .

about 4 years ago I got cancer ...and the doctors told my I had only 2 months left ....and then I started freakin' out because I still had so much pans and I was only 39 yrs old at the time
well to make a long story even longer ,I was able to survive and started to work on my health and needed to recover ...at that same time I started looking for a Commer PA ...but I wasn't able to locate one that was a LHD model ....and I decided to pause my search and buy a ford transit MK1 (old firetruck from Germany) and took the old V4 engine out and mounted a Daihatsu fourtrack diesel 2.8 litre with a modified rearwheel drive gearbox under it ...why? .....well simple my USA ford V8 runs on LPG and they don't have that in scandinavia ....

so we went to Germany ,Denmark,sweden and spain,france and Belgium and last holiday the UK ;) cornwall and devon in our transit MK1 .....and i didn't VW type 1's splitscreen van's and mk1 baywindows .....and I started thinking again ..

which Van to sell ,so I could by a commer and I already decided to buy a RHD model and modify it myself into a LHD ....and than after a Facebook search I found martins page ...he had one .....

no I'm selling both my Van's and the econoline first because that brings more money
and I will buy the commer from martin

plans : paint it ,discbrakes for the front ( the old chevy Camaro ones fit with new bearings on the commer spindles !! and the stud > thread pattern is the same 5 X 5 or 5 X 127 ,and check the engine ......maybe modernize the commer with a new ford pinto 2.0 engine from zetec and T9 gearbox ...not sure yet )

well you guys now my better than my own fam. right now ...so I will leave it at this
and I will post pics soon after I find out how to ;)

cheers Philip from the hague
 
Welcome aboard!! Congratulations with you health battles, great to hear a good news stories about people diagnosed with cancer. Good luck with the next battle, the Commer. Being a member of this forum entitles you to free "therapy" when things get challenging.
 
By the way, the Commer front stub axle is quite long. In Australia, our old Holden (GM) discs and hubs go straight on with the existing bearings, though the stud pattern is smaller. The thing you need to check is the spacing of the bearings. this spacing is quite a bit lees than on the Holden.

Check out this thread that covers a lot of the work I have done for changing to disc brakes http://forum.commervanfan.co.uk/index.php?threads/the-disc-brake-conversion-thread.4573/ There is the easier Humber disc swap, if you can find one!

There are also a few threads on engine swaps if you hunt around. My work in fitting a Nissan Z24 motor and gearbox is covered at http://forum.commervanfan.co.uk/index.php?threads/the-new-project.3046/ There was a recent one fitting a Mazda MX5 motor and gearbox, plus others including v8's and diesels, though some seemed to have stalled or not been updated for some time
Cheers Stephen
 
Good to see you have joined the forum Phillip, a huge file of information and help. We will also be watching your modifications closely!
 
Welcome aboard , glad you just joined and I got my wee "Dutch Commer " home in January :cool: .
David , who sold me it might know of another closer to home for you ,
or there is a huge Commer club in the Netherlands who look a friendly bunch of people :cool:.
Glad your on the mend .

just read the thread properly , well done on your purchase .:D
 
thanks you guys for the warm welcome !

I haven't got the comer just yet ,its still at martin .....but I'm old fashioned when it comes to buying and selling > I told martin its sold ;)
so all I have to do now is sell one of my Van's and go and collect it .....than the party's starting
mr rusty I have been searching in the Netherlands and I wasn't able to find one and ....to make things easier I wanted a LHD commer ....because I still got some other major projects going on too

a couple of motorbikes ( 2 Harley Davidsons ,a Yamaha virago XV535 ) and my sons ford popular 1946 <wich is strange '46 ?> an my own ford model TT pick up hot rod with flathead V8 ;)

so I wanted a decent one that's already mostly what I wanted and I believe I found the right one at martins place for my plans !!!
 
Hi Philip and a big Madhouse welcome from me:D
An excellent purchase if I may say with the potential to be an absolute cracker - Martin went a long way to get that one:)
 
thanks panky ,well I'm very grateful that martin got it and that it will be mine as soon as possible ;)
since I'm not into the 70's paintjob and I live close to the sea ...it will undergo a metamorphosis ....I will get a complete coat of Owatrol ( http://www.nonpaintstore.nl/index.php?target=products&product_id=832&sl=EN ) and a mixture of RLS / Owatrol / Tar underneath the Van .... so I'm sure its rustfree for the next 5 to 10 years

I want to modify the Van just as much ,that it rides and handles like a new car/ Van ,but I don't wan't it to show from the outside

the wish list :
first of all > the commer (lol)
a set of 15" rostyle wheels from a rover P5
a set of discbrakes for the front (maybe even the rear) and I think that I've already have the set laying around from a Chevrolet Camaro from 1979
a new modern brake master with booster for my "new" brakes \
change the handbrake cables to the rear

also I would like to see if I can make the engine perform a little better by changing the valves and camshaft and new intake and exhaust manifold and a bigger carb
find an electronic ingnition for this engine ....if I like the way it handles ....I will keep the org. engine
if not the next thing on the list is an engine swap and get a modern 4 cil . engine with gearbox and I'm aiming for a 2 litre ford engine like a transit MK2 or a sierra one
but it wil be overhauled before I will install it ,I like to keep it simple wit a carb setup instead of a new Zetec with turbo ....it doesn't fit the Van in anyway in my opinion

man ,can't wait to start !!
 
thanks admin .....I know about the V8 ...I have put it in everything before ...lol..... but since they consume a lot of fuel (its like having 8 Scottish drinkers with you all the time ) ,and I want to use the commer as campervan ....it seems more logical to use a 4 cylinder engine ;) when traveling a lot
besides the petrol is very expensive overhere in the Netherlands .....and the city where I live has a high tax policy on LPG an diesel engines ... I have to stick with petrol this time :(
there's a new rule in Holland > cars and van's older than 6 years on diesel are not allowed into Utrecht (city) anymore and den-haag (the hague where I live) will be next ,together with Amsterdam ,Rotterdam,eindhoven,Dordrecht etc
LPG vehicles are also not welcome in some carparks and other places and some tunnels are a no go zone to in the nearby future .....

since the Van's I have got now are running on LPG (econoline) and diesel (transit MK1 with the Daihatsu rocky engine) things are starting to suck with those rules
 
The original engine responds well to an SU conversion (HF44) and a decent exhaust, the difference is quite amazing.
 
I varies quite a bit but with a standard set up you should get 25 mpg on a run and 30+ with the SU. The main thing is the extra torque you get with the SU, hills no longer hold any fear:), it does encourage more spirited driving though which knocks the consumption back a bit. An overdrive box is also a worthwhile addition.
 
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