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How to Re-Power your CF Bedford

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All information supplied here is done so in good faith, however any information supplied in these workshop pages should be treated as a guide only. The author, Executive and members of VANZ take no responsibility for any work you undertake on your vehicle or the outcome of such work.

Engine, Trans and Diff Transplant

350 Chev V8 into a 1980 CF Bedford LWB Van

In the sport of Custom Vanning most of us find that the standard power plant supplied by the factory for our vans is inadequate for our needs, especially if you have the older CF Bedford of Ford Transit vans. One of the first changes often done in the customizing field is to remove the stock motor and re-power the van with something bigger and better and rule of thumb is there’s no substitute for cubic inches. Bedfords in New Zealand usually come out with a 2.3 litre slant 4 Vauxhall motor although some did have the factory fitted 6-cylinder Holden motor apparently fitted as standard in Australia.

If you have decided to re-power your van the first decision to make is to determine what engine, gearbox and diff combination best suits your needs and wallet. On the cost front do a quick calculation on what you think it will cost then double your estimate. It’s all the little things like hoses, cables, wiring changes, fluids, seating changes, engine cover etc that you forget about that add up and blow the budget. Other things to think about are with a bigger motor usually comes more weight and hopefully more power. You need to consider the possibility of changing the brakes from stock drums to discs for better stopping power, fitting a bigger radiator for better cooling and changing the front double passengers seat to a single one.

Two of the more popular engine swaps for Bedfords in New Zealand are the 202 Holden straight 6 or the small block Chev V8. Most vanners also opt for an automatic transmission which makes for an easier installation on the gearshift front. The PC Cresta crown-wheel and pinion fits into the CF diff housing for an easy change to a better diff ratio although these are now pretty hard to find. A far better solution however is to opt for a complete diff change to something stronger, especially if you are fitting a V8.

After deciding on what combination you want, the next step depends on where you live and involves careful planning. In New Zealand if you want to modify a vehicle you now have to comply with Land Transport Safety Authority (LTSA) regulations, so the first step is to have a chat with an approved vehicle certifier to find out what you can and can’t do and how to go about it. He will be able to let you know what you need to do, where to get all the info you need and who to see about getting various mechanical work done. Remember at the end of the day you will have to get your van certified as safe so head whatever he tells you as you don’t want to part with a bunch of money modifying you van only to find it won’t pass certification and you can’t drive it.

In this article I’ll take you through what was involved in fitting a 350 Chev V8, 350 Turbo transmission and 9" Ford diff into my 1980 CF Bedford LWB van. Other articles to follow will include disc brake conversion, power steering installation, body and interior modifications. This conversion was done way back in 1987 before the need to comply with LTSA regulations, however the van has since been fully certified with no problems. I should state though that any modifications you do to your vehicle are totally your responsibility. What is stated here is a guide only to give you an idea of what is involved in doing this engine swap. The key to a good job is careful planning and measure twice, cut once.

350 Chev and Trans as bought. Definitely in need of a re-build.

Having decided on your re-plant and presuming you have a garage to work in and the tools to do the job, the next step is to rip the old running gear out of the van. Having purchased a 2^nd hand 350 Chev, trans and a 9" diff, I reconditioned the motor and trans prior to starting the job as I didn’t want to be pulling them out again a few months down the track for a rebuild and my one needed it. When I built my garage I made sure I had enough roof height to lift the front of my van and built a removable frame that bolts into the floor to hang a chain block on. If you are going to lift you van using the garage roof beams make sure it’s strong enough as you don’t want to pull the garage down instead of lifting the van.

First step is to disconnect the wiring, drain and remove the radiator, drain the gearbox and remove the drive shaft, disconnect the fuel and brake lines, disconnect the steering column from the steering box, remove the exhaust and disconnect all the other bits like choke, accelerator and speedo cables, gearshift etc. With everything disconnected, the easiest way to get the old motor out is to lift the van off the front suspension. As the motor is mounted on the front cross-member, by getting it out as a unit it makes life easy to remount the new motor outside the van. To do this remove the grille and bonnet and wrap a lifting strop or rope around the body cross-member at the front of the van and attach it to a chain block above the front of the van. Then from underneath unbolt the suspension cross-member from the chassis (4 bolts) remove the 2 control rod arms and unbolt the gearbox mounts. You will need to support the tail shaft of the gearbox on a trolley jack and it’s best to make a support bracket to bolt the motor to the cross-member as the engine mounts are very soft and the motor is likely to twist off the cross-member if the two are not licked together somehow. With this done it’s just a matter of hoisting the front of the van high enough to wheel the front suspension complete with motor and box out from under the van. You don’t have to go too high as you can turn the wheels and bring it out through the front wheel arch. While the van is up in the air you might want to spend a few extra days cleaning and painting the underside. It’s easier to do this now than when everything is reinstalled and it makes for a much nicer result with new running gear and a freshly painted undercarriage. As well as painting the undercarriage, the petrol tank was removed and painted and all the underneath wiring loom moved inside the van. The brake and fuel lines were also cleaned up.

During the planning stage you should have decided where you wanted to mount the new engine. Some vanners opt for a mid mounted setup that improves handling but restricts what you can do for an interior. Most vanners however opt for a standard installation. Things to consider with positioning the engine is sump to cross-member clearance, fan to radiator clearance, drive shaft length etc. I used a long tail-shaft transmission as I wanted to get rid of the split drive shaft on the LWB van and still keep the new drive shaft as short as possible.

With the old motor gone, I cut off the old engine mounts, ground clean the cross-member and proceeded to manufacture new mounts for the Chev. I used 76 x 38 x 6 RHS tube with a 25 dia x 76 long rod welded into one end. This had a 12.7 dia hole drilled through it for the new engine mounting bolt. After careful measuring, the 2 mounts were cut to length, bolted to the new flexible engine mounts on the engine and the engine positioned above the cross-member. Having ensured the engine is at the correct angle so that when fitted back in the van, the carb sits level, I then tack welded the mounts to the cross-member. Gussets were made from 8 mm plate and tack welded to the inside of the mounts. After double checking everything the mounts were fully welded. At this point I cleaned up and re-painted the complete front suspension. All the bushes, tie rods and ball joints were checked and found to be good. Now is the time to replace them if needed.

New engine mounts fitted and cross-member ready for painting. Note re-built motor and trans in the background and one leg of the removable lifting frame.

Completed cross-member ready for final fitting of motor.

     Sorting out the gearbox mounting was next and I intended using the stock CF gearbox cross-member and just move it back to suit the new length. There were extra mounting holes in the chassis rail and these were used to mount an extension plate. This was made by folding up 5 mm steel plate into 2 "U" brackets about 400 mm long x 75 deep. These fitted over the chassis rail and bolted up to the existing chassis rail holes.

     With the new motor and trans bolted onto the refurbished front end, the van was lifted again and the complete unit was rolled back under the van for a trial fit and to see how much needed to be cut out of the floor around the engine cover. With about 30mm cut from both sides and about 80mm cut from the rear of the floor, the body was lowered down back onto the cross-member and the final position for the gearbox cross-member determined. Holes were drilled through the rear of the new channel to mount the existing gearbox cross-member to mate with the rear mount of the Chev transmission. With everything looking good the suspension was bolted back up to the chassis, gearbox cross-member bolted in-place, control rod arms re-installed and the steering re-connected.

Finished cross-member complete with engine and trans ready for re-fitting. Note lifting frame and van position.

Easy to wheel in place although an extra helper is advised.

     That’s the easy part done. Next step is to make it all work. You need to source a new radiator as the stock one is too small to cool a small block Chev, especially if you have doubled it’s stock horsepower as I did when I rebuilt it. I used a new 5 core cross flow Holden Commodore radiator, manufactured new mounting plates, and fitted the whole system into the front of the van along with a separate trans oil cooler. New fuel lines, vacuum lines and trans cooler lines were made up from bundy tubing and HPC coated. All mounting brackets for these were made from aluminium plate and polished. Polished stainless steel cap screws were used to mount everything. New wiring for ignition and charging was also installed along with a larger alternator.

View showing U bracket for extending the gearbox cross-member. Also visible is the transducer and cable for the electronic speedo. This is after 80000 km.

     Attention is now turned to the diff. I opted for fitting a Ford 9" diff with a 3.0 gear set to give me good cruising revs and retain good performance. With the front end back in, the rear was lifted and the old diff removed. The 9" was cleaned up with the old mounting brackets cut of and ground clean. As the diff changed diameter where I needed to fit the old "U" bolts I chose a different approach and made up mounting plates to weld onto the diff. The standard rear springs then sat on top of these and a clamp block was fitted over the spring and bolted to the bracket with 6 cap screws. This made for a very tidy installation and works extremely well. With the brackets positioned on the diff. The van was lowered onto the brackets with enough weight to set the diff in the correct place but still able to be rotated to get the correct drive shaft angle. Careful measurements need to be taken to ensure the diff is set up central across the van and square along the length otherwise your van will crab along the road. The drive shaft angle also needs to be correct to ensure the universals work OK. With everything lined up the brackets were tack welded and once checked, fully welded in place. New shock mounting brackets were also made, positioned and welded to the diff keeping the shocks in the stock position. With this done the diff was removed and sent off for reconditioning, painted on its return and installed. New brake lines were fitted and the stock hand brake cable fitted into the backing plates. With the brakes now re-fitted front and rear the whole system was bled.

     With the motor, box and diff now in place the drive shaft could be sorted out. Careful measurements were again taken and given to a drive shaft manufacturer. The new drive shaft was made from 4" tubing, fitted with a 350 turbo yoke on one end and a 9" diff universal on the other. With the drive shaft installed the exhaust system was fabricated. I used 2" exhaust tubing and opted for a twin system, running both pipes down the left hand side, over the diff and out the back. I fitted a 22" long through flow muffler in each pipe opposite the gas tank with a balance tube ahead of them. This left me room to fit extra mufflers if required behind the diff but these weren’t needed as the system was fairly quiet.

Clamping block and bracket for mounting diff to rear spring.

     Back to the front again and the choke and accelerator cables were next. The stock accelerator cable was retained with a new fitting made to hook up to the Holley carb. The cable was routed down the right side of the engine, around the back of the carb and hooked up to the left side of the carb pulling to the rear. A new mounting bracket was made from aluminium to mount both the accelerator and trans kick down cables. This was polished and fitted to the left rear of the inlet manifold. The clutch pedal was removed and replaced with a spacer to keep the accelerator and brake pedals in the stock position. A new choke cable from a Honda Civic was fitted complete with warning light unit for the new dash I fitted at the same time, however that’s another story.

     About the only thing left was to hook up the trans shifter. I already had a 3-stage shifter from a Falcon so I manufactured a mounting bracket to fit it into the van floor. The linkage was provided by a nice marine throttle cable however some careful measuring was needed to manufacture shift levers for both ends of the cable. This is because the movement of the shifter arm was different to that at the gearbox. To ensure the shifter worked properly, different length arms were made with variable mounting points for the cable. With these sorted an inhibitor switch was fitted to prevent the engine starting with the trans in gear. As mentioned I fitted a new dash at the same time using an instrument cluster from a late model Rover. As this had an electronic speedo I purchased a Rover speedo transducer that wouldn’t fit into the Chev box. This problem was solved by manufacturing a special mounting block that bolts to the chassis to hold the transducer. This is then driven by a small cable from the gearbox. This set up works well.

Bolted down and running. Note shifter mounting arrangement and temporary oil pressure gauge for initial checks. No more room for that double seat.

     Last but not least it was time to make up the engine cover. I made this in 4 sections. The fixed part fits up against the fire wall and the top extends out over the top of the engine. Three removable sections follow consisting of a rear plate and 2 side plates. To access the motor for checking oil or when on display in shows the side panels are removed. To gain access to the whole motor the rear plate is also removed. These were manufactured from 1.6 mm steel plate, covered with sound proofing material and fitted with zeus quick release fasteners.

Fixed part of the engine cover in red. Note the new dash under construction.

     That’s about it. With everything done it was time to fill the engine and diff with oil, trans with fluid, radiator with water and inhibitor, tank with gas and fire her up. With the engine running and a quick tune up and check of all systems it was time for a test drive. Apprehensive at first, everything worked fine so it was time to run everything in and get some serious vanning miles back on the clock.



Completed job after a few thousand Kms. Note front torsion bar and drive shaft loop.

Garry Armstrong

Owner/builder of "Genesis"