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How to Modify the Body of your CF Bedford - Part 1

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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.

Body Modifications in Steel - Part 1

     Before heading down the path of body modifications a few hard decisions need to be made. Firstly you have to decide how you want the finished van to look. No doubt you will have some idea of what you want to do and how you want your finished project to look. You will have seen a number of modified vans around that look really good, and just as many that look really bad, and I'm not just talking about workmanship here. Some people really have no idea about how to modify a vans body and have it look and perform well. There are some modifications out there that look pretty hideous and don't flow with the general lines of the original body. Carefully work out what you want to do and sketch up various options until you come up with what you like. I punched my ideas into a CAD package so I could revolve it around to see the finished van from various angles, changing as I went until I was happy with the end result. This way I knew exactly what I would finish up with before cutting any metal.

The van before I started. Pretty straight and no side windows. Took ages to find.

     The next thing is to decide on what materials you want to use and whether you can do it all yourself or have to pay the big bucks for someone else to do it. The material options are probably fiberglass or steel. Fiberglass can be the easier option depending on the kits available. Back in the 70's and 80's a number of companies were offering plenty of fiberglass parts for vans, guards, spoilers running boards, door panels etc. Most of these are no longer available today although I'm told a few places still have the moulds and can supply them. These are a good option if you want to fit them yourself as it is not a difficult thing to do. Steel on the other hand requires some specialist equipment and knowledge and may be best left to the professional body shop. My last van, Windsong, had fiberglass flares and spoilers fitted by myself. However this time round I decided to go down the steel route for no other reason than I'd done the fiberglass bit last time.

     I thought about what I wanted to do and how much it would cost me to have done, then promptly decided to have a go myself. To get the skills needed I enrolled at Manukau Polytech doing a Vintage Car Restoration Course. This course taught me the skills as well as supplying the materials and use of their equipment like folders, wheeling machines etc. I already had a gas welder and invested in a small mig welder and some hammers and dollies and I was ready. The course was structured so that after the 6 months you could bring your own parts to work on. Over about a 4 year period I managed to manufacture all the components and panels I needed which left me to cut and fit them at home. I had plenty of time and must have saved thousands of dollars as well as gaining some valuable metal working skills.

     In this article I'll take you through how I made some of the components and what was involved in fitting them to my van. We'll start at the rear of the van simply because that's where I started. A couple of things to remember with body work. Make sure the area you are working with is clean with no old paint, rust, grease, filler or mastic around. Power sand it all back to bare metal. When welding tack the whole section up before finish welding, then make the welds in small runs, about 25mm long in different places to prevent distortion. Make sure when grinding or welding to remove any flammable items and cover or remove any glass (windows, mirrors, lights) as sparks will melt and imbed into glass. Finally make sure you have a fire extinguisher on hand. You don't want your pride and joy to go up[ in flames if you have an accident.

     Probably one of the first items requiring modification on the body is the guards. Most of us have the need to fit larger tyres to our vans, especially if we have gone ahead and fitted a bigger engine as in the first workshop. More power dictates bigger rubber to get the power to the ground. Besides bigger tyres are way more cool than standard anyway. To help protect the body and paint, and to comply with the law in most places, the larger tyres need to be covered and hence the need to flair the guards. I had fitted a 9" Ford diff and had 15 X 8 mags with 275 x 50 x 15 tyres so the rear guards had to go out about nearly 100mm to cover these wheels.

     I started by sanding back to bare metal all the area around the wheel arches. I decided to make up an outer frame but wanted it flat, not round on the edge of the guard so opted to use 1/2" square furniture tube as the base. A tube bender was made using a roller bearing and a steel block with a 1/2" square slot cut through it. This was used to form the corner bends at the bottom of the guards. The main section around the guard was made by working the tube around the tyre until the required radius was completed. Prior to welding the outer frame to the van, fisholine was run through the tube to provide some internal rust protection. The outer frame was then welded to the van at the bottom front and rear using a 2" box section to space the frame at the top of the tyre for clearance.

Frame setup for tacking in place. Plenty of clearance to allow for lowering later.

     With the frame in place some sections of 1.2mm panel steel was formed up to fit between the frame and the van. Starting at the top a panel was bend up, mainly over my knee, that covered about half the guard. This was cut to fit and tacked in place using the mig. The front and rear of the guard took three panels that were formed in the same way and tacked in place. With all the panels in place the seams were fully welded about 30 to 40mm at a time to prevent heat distortion. The but welds between the panels were hammered up as they were welded. This involves using a dolly underneath and a hammer on top and carefully hammering up the panel to get rid of any distortion from the welding. With the welding completed excess weld was ground off and the guard finished up with filler as required. With careful fitting and welding the amount of filler needed should be minimal. With the guard smoothed off it was etch primed both sides and painted and under-sealed on the underside. The other side of the van was done the same way.

Panel steel welded up and ground back ready for bogging.

Finished guard, bogged, primed and under-sealed (drivers side)

     Prior to doing the guards I opted to remove the rear doors. After we bought the van we had the usual bed in the rear of the van and the original plan was to fit a roof mounted hatch in the rear with full width rear lights and an opening hatch under the bed. However with the arrival of the kids we decided to fit seats in the rear and bought a pop top camper for accommodation. This made the rear hatch idea redundant so the new plan called for a fully paneled rear end but still with the full width rear lights. The bottom hatch was also redundant as access behind and under the rear seats would be from the inside. The idea was to have a clear lexan sheet sitting about 20 mm inside the body with the lights fitted in behind. Hella provided the rear lights and these were fitted to home made pods carrying 2 red and one amber light each side. A pod was also made to carry the rear number plate and lights.

Bottom panel welded in place. Note the spot welds on the internal braces.

     With the pods made to give me the width I needed, the bottom panel was wheeled up, the bottom body swage rolled in and the top section folded to form the recess for the lights. Braces were fitted and the bottom section of the rear cut away to allow the new panel to be welded in. Panel steel was folded up to make the top section for the lights and was also designed to be used for a rear hatch if I ever decided to fit one. Corner sections were folded up to complete the frame for the rear lights although these were later altered to provide more curve in the corner of the body. With the top section welded in supports were formed up to the same curved shape of the rear door and welded between the roof and the top light section. A sheet of panel steel was wheeled up and folded to form the shape of the rear panel and welded in to complete the rear. The body frame for the rear doors was retained throughout this period to provide support while the outer panels were fitted. With that now completed the frame was cut out where the lights needed to fit but the rest retained to fit the interior too. A frame for the roof mounted stop light was also made and fitted at this time.

Top section and corner pieces fitted. Corners were later changed to provide more curve.

Top panel supports fitted. Note the primer and door frames still in place.

New rear panel fully welded with high level stop light awaiting bogging.

     With the rear panel completed it was time to look at fitting the rear bumper. The section across the rear was easily made by just folding panel steel to the required shape although a section was formed on the left side to allow clearance for the exhaust. Inserts to fit the reversing lights, from a Mitsubishi Gallant, were made and welded into these as well. Side sections from the rear guards to the corners were made the same way. The tricky bit is the curve around the rear corners. These were made in three pieces with the vertical panel having the top and bottom radius folded in. Then these were shrunk using a hand shrinking machine to pull the panel around into the shape of the corner. The top and bottom sections were then welded to this.

Rear bumper tacked in place. Sides and corners being tacked in place.

Rear bumper fully welded awaiting bogging, Note reversing light pockets.

     To fit these to the van a length of panel steel was folded into an angle with sides about 20mm wide and at an angle to match the van body and the bumper top. This angle was welded to the van to provide a ledge for the bumper to sit on where it meats the van body. This provided a stiff edge section to weld the bumper too. A panel with a 20mm flange on each side was made and welded under the bumper to connect the bottom flange of the bumper back to the bottom seam of the original body work. This provided great stiffening for the bottom and enclosed the bumper into a box section. This panel had 25mm recesses to allow any water that managed to get into the box section to drain out. With everything fully welded and ground back, a skim of bog was applied and smoothed off then the whole job etch primed.

The finished rear end complete with reversing sensors above the bumper.

     In Part 2 we'll look at fitting bay windows, side skirts, front spoiler and lights, and other body modifications to transform your average van into your own personal creation.

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