Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

gresham flyer · Joined: 06 Sep 2008 Posts: 1435

I purchased this van two years ago after seeing it advertised not far away in rural Lincolnshire.
It was a genuine two owner vehicle with 56.000 miles on the clock.

It must be one of the last built as it is a 1971 model.

The owner selling the van had purchased it from its elderly lady owner many years previously.

He went to live abroad for about twenty five years and on his return remembered he had left the van in a steel container.

His son was now in his early forties and had no interest in the van so his father decided to sell it.

On collection I was impressed on how original and solid this van was,the roof gutters which is the first area to suffer was in remarkable original condition,totally rust free.

It still had its original Teal Blue paintwork from new,but they had painted the front wings in primer before storage.

I stored the van away until a few months ago,since then I have carried out a full nut and bolt restoration to near concourse condition.

I will post some work in progress and nearly finished photo`s in the next day or so.

Gresham Flyer

colwyn500 · Joined: 21 Oct 2012 Posts: 1745 Location: Nairn, Scotland

Excellent find; I am a little bit jealous.

Fancy that, a restoration possibly without welding!

Get them photos up please!.

emmerson · Joined: 30 Sep 2008 Posts: 1268 Location: South East Wales

Nice find, but why the "L" reg?

Penman · Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 4880 Location: Swindon, Wilts.

Hi
If production finished late in '71 then I can quite easily imagine it being in either BMC store or dealers stock until Jan '73.

Back then most if not all vehicles were made for stock, nowadays once launch models have been distributed then cars appear to be made to order.
_________________
Bristols should always come in pairs.

Any 2 from:-
Straight 6
V8 V10

gresham flyer · Joined: 06 Sep 2008 Posts: 1435

Date of first registration 01-09-1972.

Gresham flyer

gresham flyer · Joined: 06 Sep 2008 Posts: 1435

Here are some photo`s of the stripped out van. Every bit of paint was removed to bare metal.

I have the original doors still which are in good condition,but wandering around the BMC rally last year i noticed a brand new pair of doors old stock which I snapped up.

Knowing I wanted the van built to the best standard I decided to use these,when stripped they had not an atom of rust on them....Great.!!!!

At the same time a new set of front wings were fitted,again no future problems with a rust blemish poking through.

Gresham Flyer

clan chieftain · Joined: 05 Apr 2008 Posts: 2041 Location: Motherwell

nice looking van in good nick. We had a few "L" minor vans in the Royal Mail.
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The Clan Chieftain

gresham flyer · Joined: 06 Sep 2008 Posts: 1435

Here is a photo after I got the van home and cleaned it up.

As can be seen she was quite respectable as a running restoration,but I decided to go the full hog and restore the van properly.

After this photo I then removed the back body prior to stripping all the paint off the van.

Gresham Flyer

Mog · Joined: 30 Dec 2007 Posts: 663 Location: Sydney

Just for some younger members of this forum, how many hours of work will go into this project ? I did think of building a steam loco at one time, but it would need about 10,000 hours of work. I bought a set of castings from Stuart and made a single cylinder steam engine, which I have still got.

COMMAD · Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 6:15 am Post subject:

Great find, very nice. Cool

Rick · Site Admin Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 22853 Location: UK

What a brilliant starting point for a van build Cool

RJ
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gresham flyer · Joined: 06 Sep 2008 Posts: 1435

I will not bore you with a stage by stage account of this restoration.

Many of you will have been here before,stripping,cutting,welding,grinding,filling,sanding...swearing.!!!!

Actually this one has gone very wel,I suppose I have done so many now I know the correct suppliers for materials,so there has not been any holdups.

The beauty of restoring a Morris or Austin van is that you can purchase everything new if needed,and at a good price,unlike some vehicles where items are like goldust.

At least there is no waiting for months for the chromework to be finished etc so that you can complete the project,any chromework which is minimal on a van is cheaper to buy new anyway.

Back to fitting it up now it has been painted.

Gresham Flyer

IanAl · Joined: 15 Jan 2013 Posts: 60

That looks the dog danglies, great work. You have an excellent eye for detail

Penman · Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 4880 Location: Swindon, Wilts.

Hi
Looking good, incidently according to the wiki entry for these it was marketed as an Austin 6cwt but you also find it when looking for Austin 8 cwt.

Did they do 2 different models with the same body and heavier duty springs etc on the 8?
_________________
Bristols should always come in pairs.

Any 2 from:-
Straight 6
V8 V10

gresham flyer · Joined: 06 Sep 2008 Posts: 1435