I thought it was about time I put some info on our van!
She's called Vera Nocs - Vera comes from the fact that the lovely people we bought her from insisted on referring to our Commer as the veracle (imagine vehicle in a very strong Bristol accent and then change the word slightly!) Nocs comes from her reg NOC 849F.
We've had her for 2 years now (bought her off eBay from a man in bristol who also had a highwayman and a commer pickup/flatbed.
We refurbished the kitchen as it certainly wasn't original and certainly wasn't nice! All curtains were replaced and new foam and material were added.
We have been all around the Gower with her and Bath.
She ran great until about a year ago when she refused to idle. I sent her into a garage which knew nothing about old cars/vans and he managed to make her work even worse (wouldn't even start). I knew the carb was on the way out, but he made it worse. I then found someone who managed to get here running again and last September we sort of limped to the Isle of Wight for a week. She ran fine when on the road but still would not idle.
On the way back at membury services she finaly back fired a couple of times and then gave up the fight.
We came home on the back of a low loader which was fun!!! It is great breaking down in camper though as you can make as many coffees etc as you would like waiting for the truck.
Over the winter I replaced the carburretor (good old Speedy's) but then on 'firing up' day.......nothing. No spark.
I then replaced plugs, points leads, coil, points and condensor. finally she started. I thought then that the problems were over............wrong!
on the way to the Gower she ran great for 40 miles and then started misfiring. This all culminated 10 yards from the campsite with a cab full of smoke and the engine juddering to a halt. Then it all mysteriously cleared and we drove onto the campsite!
I had a look once our camp was setup and it turned out that the 12v wire feeding the brake switch had decided after 40 years that it really didn't want to be insulated anymore and touched the first bit of metal that it could. At this point, the fuse decided it didn't want to work either so put as much current as it could through the wire. It manage to melt right the way up the loom from the fuse box to the engine bay. Luckily no other wires were damaged although a rewire WILL be happening this winter.
I replaced the wire and then everything was good..........until the journey home when she started misfiring again and we also had a couple of backfires.
We did manage to get home this time but I was now determined to sort this once and for all. Out came the old dizzy and a nice new shiny electronic dizzy was fitted. I also cleaned the fuel filter bowl which had more sand in it than any of the Gower beaches we'd been near.
The result now is a van that runs really smoothly, which is great (and lucky) considering that we are taking her to France in 3 weeks!.
We have a list of jobs as long as both mine and my wife's arms to do for this winter:
Rebuild inside of coach (a few small leaks, rotting wood)
Strip cab area and respray (my wife is doing the spraying and I am going to learn to weld (eek).
Get one of those nice shiny aluminium fuel tanks.
Replace king pins (yeuch)
Rewire.
This may not all happen this winter, but it has to be done.
Possibly overhaul the brakes ....well the things that sort of slow the van down a bit rather than stop it.
She's an eye catcher already but imagine how lovely it will be when she's resprayed!!!!!!
One thing I have learnt from owning a classic is that really modern cars just don't have any character - I drove my Dad's Honda CRV the other day, it has sat nav, cruise control, and everything you would want, but it was just boring compared to our lovely Commer.
It has taught me loads about engines/ignition/timing and not rushing to get anywhere because you just can't!
Here are some photos and I will update on progress as we do more over the winter.
Dave
She's called Vera Nocs - Vera comes from the fact that the lovely people we bought her from insisted on referring to our Commer as the veracle (imagine vehicle in a very strong Bristol accent and then change the word slightly!) Nocs comes from her reg NOC 849F.
We've had her for 2 years now (bought her off eBay from a man in bristol who also had a highwayman and a commer pickup/flatbed.
We refurbished the kitchen as it certainly wasn't original and certainly wasn't nice! All curtains were replaced and new foam and material were added.
We have been all around the Gower with her and Bath.
She ran great until about a year ago when she refused to idle. I sent her into a garage which knew nothing about old cars/vans and he managed to make her work even worse (wouldn't even start). I knew the carb was on the way out, but he made it worse. I then found someone who managed to get here running again and last September we sort of limped to the Isle of Wight for a week. She ran fine when on the road but still would not idle.
On the way back at membury services she finaly back fired a couple of times and then gave up the fight.
We came home on the back of a low loader which was fun!!! It is great breaking down in camper though as you can make as many coffees etc as you would like waiting for the truck.
Over the winter I replaced the carburretor (good old Speedy's) but then on 'firing up' day.......nothing. No spark.
I then replaced plugs, points leads, coil, points and condensor. finally she started. I thought then that the problems were over............wrong!
on the way to the Gower she ran great for 40 miles and then started misfiring. This all culminated 10 yards from the campsite with a cab full of smoke and the engine juddering to a halt. Then it all mysteriously cleared and we drove onto the campsite!
I had a look once our camp was setup and it turned out that the 12v wire feeding the brake switch had decided after 40 years that it really didn't want to be insulated anymore and touched the first bit of metal that it could. At this point, the fuse decided it didn't want to work either so put as much current as it could through the wire. It manage to melt right the way up the loom from the fuse box to the engine bay. Luckily no other wires were damaged although a rewire WILL be happening this winter.
I replaced the wire and then everything was good..........until the journey home when she started misfiring again and we also had a couple of backfires.
We did manage to get home this time but I was now determined to sort this once and for all. Out came the old dizzy and a nice new shiny electronic dizzy was fitted. I also cleaned the fuel filter bowl which had more sand in it than any of the Gower beaches we'd been near.
The result now is a van that runs really smoothly, which is great (and lucky) considering that we are taking her to France in 3 weeks!.
We have a list of jobs as long as both mine and my wife's arms to do for this winter:
Rebuild inside of coach (a few small leaks, rotting wood)
Strip cab area and respray (my wife is doing the spraying and I am going to learn to weld (eek).
Get one of those nice shiny aluminium fuel tanks.
Replace king pins (yeuch)
Rewire.
This may not all happen this winter, but it has to be done.
Possibly overhaul the brakes ....well the things that sort of slow the van down a bit rather than stop it.
She's an eye catcher already but imagine how lovely it will be when she's resprayed!!!!!!
One thing I have learnt from owning a classic is that really modern cars just don't have any character - I drove my Dad's Honda CRV the other day, it has sat nav, cruise control, and everything you would want, but it was just boring compared to our lovely Commer.
It has taught me loads about engines/ignition/timing and not rushing to get anywhere because you just can't!
Here are some photos and I will update on progress as we do more over the winter.
Dave
. Best of luck with the rebuilding and welding lessons - great to hear of another loved commer in Wales - safe trip to France
