My 1978 Devon Bay [Project Bertie]

Hello again folks, thanks for your comments and questions - it's about time I made an effort to answer them! Sorry, work has been full on so have been out of it for a while.

DSbS - Yes it is a converted panel van but it was done by Devon conversions from new so the trim that came with it was all original in it's 1978 glory (and lots of bacon fat!) so a good clean and then a covering of VelTrim. If you don't have any trim then it may just be well covering the internal steelwork with a thin layer of ply and covering this with veltrim or your choice of trim after cutting them down to size. I'm using modern trim fasteners from ebay rather than the original ones which just don't work.

MK Bay - it's been in the garage having some welding done for a month so haven't had a chance to check, and with the flippin weather at the moment I don't fancy rolling around underneath but I can't remember seeing anything that resembled a sender when I was last under there. There is a sender unit on the left hand side of the engine which has a sort of flying saucer shaped thing on it with a vacuum or breather pipe coming off it - just behind the dizzy, I have tried running a wire from this to the back of the temp gauge in the cab but it didn't do anything at all, the gauge seems to have power to it as it does move when I start the van.

and here's a pic of the welding. Both sides of the cab floor were shot under the front seats and the seat belt mounts were in danger of being ripped out by even the slightest bump so thankfully all of that has been replaced now. There was also a bunch of filler in the B pillar towards the bottom near to the seat belt mounts which has also been replaced, along with a few old bodged repairs that we came across while doing the floor work.

MoT this month, fingers crossed it won't be too bad!

Taken before it was cleaned up and repainted;

 

MoT was Monday gone and it passed first time, yaay! Need to replace the front outriggers/jacking points and the flexible break hoses which flagged on the advisory but I have another years adventuring ticket..

 

Hi everyone, just a quick update on progress really for those who may be interested...

Thanks to the lovely people at Alan Schofield for supplying new front outriggers and jacking points, new break lines and rubber flexi hoses - thus completes the advisory list! This weekend will be the turn of the failed fuel gauge sender unit and thank the gods of Wolfsburg there's an inspection hole already been cut so I don't have to take the engine out to do it! Then, well I think we'll be heading to Thruxton Circuit for a Saturday evening camp over before the BTCC hits the track on Sunday.

The outrigger and jacking point wasn't actually attached to the van anymore so it was all whipped off in a flash ready for the new parts..


And there you go, a very good quality replacement from Al Schofields, I really do recommend them for replacement parts - in my experience they just seem to be that much better quality than some of the stuff on offer, pair this with the friendly and helpful staff and amazing service, well you just can't go far wrong. http://www.alanhschofield.com. The 'snow cover' was finished off and patched using standard steel sheet after coating the new metal behind it with sealant and paint. Then again the seams and welds have been sealed up so no water can get to the van floor and structural bits underneath.

 

Help! Right folks I need some help here, I want to fit a cab bunk for the little one and free up bed space. I have high backed seats in the cab and they won't recline enough to allow me to fit the bunk. They don't have removable head rests, they are the original Devon cab seats and very comfy! Question is does anyone have an idea on how I can accommodate a cab bunk and retain my lovely chairs? Thanks...

 

Thanks Midmusq, I'm looking at building a bed in to the pop now, I've seen a conversion kit on ebay which is basically 3 lengths of angle iron (alu) and some furniture grade boards which are hinged so fold to nothing when not in use but it's very expensive for what it is and I reckon I could probably make something up for much less ££££