My 1995 Bedford Midi Reimo camper

My 1995 Bedford Midi Reimo camper

Author
Discussion

Bargista

Original Poster:

44 posts

99 months

Monday 19th September 2016
quotequote all
So I bought myself a 21 year old camper van this weekend.... unseen except for an Ebay description! Oh, and requiring a 4 1/2 train journey with a puppy(!) to collect it, and a 300 mile indirect journey home - what could possibly go wrong!

This weekend also coincides with my step-daughter going off to York Uni. This and the purchase of the van are not unrelated.

My wife was driving our daughter up to York, and wanted to stay over, but she couldn't find a hotel to stay in for under £150 (prices up to coincide with the start of term).

Coincidentally, I'd been to our local Asda last week and spotted a very nice mid 1990's Vauxhall Midi camper with a Reimo conversion. I like older campers. (I've owned a couple of old VW campers in the past, a splitscreen in the 80s and a T25 in the late 90s) and I liked the shape of the Midi.

Feeling inspired, a quick trawl of Ebay turned up a 1995 Midi Reimo conversion 2.4 TD, with 70,000 miles from new, recent MOT, (with no advisories and a good MOT history - when I checked online), tatty outside with a curious (from white to) red respray of the outside only) but lovely inside, and surprisingly tasteful upholstery colours.

The conversion has a small vertical lift pop top over the cooking area, a 3 ring cooker, with grill, an electric/gas fridge, 240v hook up, a leisure battery, a narrow double bed, a plethora of cupboards, various lights, and full circumference of the van curtain rails, with blue velvet curtains.

Auction starting price £1,500.

But it's in Preston and we're near Oxford... Hang on Preston isn't too far from York is it?! A plan emerged...

So I bid..and I won it! £1,656. So Saturday saw me embark with Matha the six month old cocker spaniel puppy, and an envelope full of cash, on a 4 1/2 hour train journey from Haddenham and Thame to Banbury, Banbury to Birmingham New Street, Birmingham New Steet to Preston. This was Martha's first train journey. Thankfully, I get free weekend travel on Chiltern trains thanks to my annual season ticket.

The seller (a second hand motorhome trader who taken it in p/x from a mid 60's couple who upgraded to a small coachbuilt) picked us up at the station.

After a quick inspection, (noting that the seller had (thankfully) removed most of the multitude of stickers the previous owners had applied ('Love Machine' Scooby Dooo 'Mystery Machine' sign etc.), paying and doing the paperwork, (and being given the mains lead it was plugged in with - a nice touch!) Martha and I drove to York, well I drove and Martha looked out of the window mostly.

Very car like except for the column gear change which is like stirring a gallon can of treacle with a wooden spoon and it makes a 2CV gear change look like the height of precision! But, the column change allows for a third front seat and it is currently fitted with the seat base only (no seat back) - perfect for a puppy in a seat belt fitting harness!

Two and a bit trouble-free hours later we arrived - the only 'issue' was the temperature gauge not working so I took it easy, and cruised at 55mph, just in case.

Safely arrived, I saw step-daughter's new digs, we had a great Chinese take-away, and then my lovely understanding wife and I, and Martha drove to a country lane, somewhere near Castle Howard (that's what the signs said and it was dark!) we found a lay-by, and we camped in the van.

The bed was comfy, the (blue velvet) curtains were dark, and Martha loved the fact that she could sleep under the bed!

Sunday morning saw brekkie at a roadside cafe, a drive back to York, to drop my wife at daughter's for them to mooch, and Martha and I headed home.

190 miles later, again, at a steady 55 we arrived home. My wife arriving home a few hours later having stayed for lunch.

I love it when a plan comes together! :grin:

370+ trouble free miles covered!

Plans are to gradually sort out the tatty body work, I have a MIG welder in the garage (I had evening classes to learn to weld 25 years ago when I first started tinkering with old cars), and then eventually a respray. In the first instance it needs a thorough t-cut/ polish to lose the evidence of the stickers that have been removed.

I've just ordered a new old stock tow bar of ebay (for £40) to fit so I can use my 4 bike rack that is currently residing in my FiL's barn.

Let the fun begin/continue...

quick cameraphone pic:




CoolCurly

210 posts

210 months

Tuesday 20th September 2016
quotequote all
Awesome Thread - saved and looking forward to the updates!!!

What a bargin too - dont see many old Campers in Red so that will stand out when polished up!!


Mr Peel

478 posts

121 months

Tuesday 20th September 2016
quotequote all
Top marks for finding something unusual. Reimo conversions are well-known and of good quality, but when was the last time you saw a Bedford Midi?!

More pics please.

ApOrbital

9,939 posts

117 months

Wednesday 21st September 2016
quotequote all
Nice one smile

Spuffington

1,203 posts

167 months

Thursday 22nd September 2016
quotequote all
Nice one - a good read and wish you fun times with it.

Wasn't Motorlands in Preston was it?

alftupper

98 posts

161 months

Thursday 22nd September 2016
quotequote all
Next time you stop in York try the Lysander Arms caravan site , its on the outskirts of York 10 minutes walk to the Park and Ride at Rawcliffe Bar . Cheap public transport into the city centre and next to a pub , ideal .

Shakermaker

11,317 posts

99 months

Friday 23rd September 2016
quotequote all
Nice find indeed. These old Bedfords are starting to retain some value, given how much I shelled out for a Rascal a couple of months ago, that wasn't even the camper version!

Bargista

Original Poster:

44 posts

99 months

Monday 26th September 2016
quotequote all
Thanks all, for the positive comments.

Spuffington, the dealer was Autologic- who couldn't have been more helpful.
Alftupper thanks for the campsite recommendation. That'll be really useful for visiting daughter...

So a quick update on this weekend's efforts. I hired a polisher from my local hire place and attacked it with some G3 colour restorer I had in the garage.

This was the front after the previous owner's sticker collection had been removed:



the sides had a similar assortment of 'ghost' outlines'

Here's the after pics:








Next steps are to replace the plastic louvres on the side which have been painted red, with new ones just to smarten it up a bit.

Going through the receipts i found the receipt for the camper conversion - £4,800 in Dec 1995. The van was registered in Aug 1995. along with that receipt, and engineers report, the instructions for the fridge and cooker are still with the van,along with a receipt for welding to the sills in 2014, and various bits of servicing history.

The body has a lump of filler in the tailgate, the front arches are a little crusty, and around the kitchen window and the vents is some corrosion, and the sliding door skin is rotten, but overall it's in remarkably good shape.

My fantastic wife has agreed a respray back to the original white with Opel stripes (yellow,grey, black)! As long as it's done well - her actual words were sell the BMW and use the money towards the bodywork - the original deal had been to sell the BMW (a 2001 540i touring) to pay towards the van purchase!

I've found some Isuzu alloys very reminiscent of an old revolution RFX 5 spoke they're 16" x 7". Some measuring shows they'll fit nicely, and with a 195/65r16Cs it shouldn't look 'over-wheeled' and the (non power) steering won't feel too heavy!



The originals are 14" x 5" with 185r14s, so these are slightly bigger than I was thinking off but they're just the look I want.

Wheel comments and suggestions welcome!

I wanted a nicer steering wheel but keeping it a similar (large) diameter but the wheel boss is very low profile, so an aftermarket wheel won't work, so I've had a quote to get the existing wheel re-trimmed in leather leather or most likely dark grey alacantara with 2mm of padding to thicken it up slightly!

Finally, here's a gratuitous inside pic.



The only interior changes planned are some new curtains, clean the seats and carpets and maybe re-tension the headliner.

CoolCurly

210 posts

210 months

Monday 26th September 2016
quotequote all
Wow - those Rims will look great once fitted. My fav rims of any car owned, 13" Revolution RFX in white on my first car - a 1976 BRG with White Roof Mini 1275GT. Loved that car more than the girlfriends at the time......


Bargista

Original Poster:

44 posts

99 months

Monday 26th September 2016
quotequote all
hmmmm, having seen this image.. and the front manta...





these (painted white, when the bus is painted) are quite tempting.... and they're 15's - I've asked the seller what the offset is...




but they might be a bit too A-team.... (can you be too A-team?) biggrin


and I'm loving the silver/grey bumpers and grill.


marshal_alan

432 posts

177 months

Monday 26th September 2016
quotequote all
looks nice, got kinda fond memories of a old Bedford Midi works van, okay this was a heap of crap when I drove it, a 85 van with a 2l petrol engine and that lovely column shift. On a van with almost everything that is goosed you aimed for a gear and like a blind person playing darts sometimes you hit the target. Tough old bus, drank oil and water as much as it did petrol, inner rear arches were gaffer tape as was most of the sliding door. Think same blind darts player also did the MOT. Admit I thrashed it a bit as it was a laugh to drive, being mid engined and if running empty oversteer came as standard. Boss wasnt very happy when he caught me drifting it round a bend when he was coming in the opposite direction in his merc

Spuffington

1,203 posts

167 months

Tuesday 27th September 2016
quotequote all
Looks great - superb job done on the polishing.

Can I just suggest that another thing which will really impress, although sounds really dull! Get the number plates off and a new set made up. Now you've tidied the paintwork and on the way to putting new wheels on it, a new set of number plates (doesn't even have to be a cherished plate, but the original number) will make a huge difference to the appearance. I'm mainly talking about the rear one since the front looks to be relatively new already.

Bargista

Original Poster:

44 posts

99 months

Tuesday 27th September 2016
quotequote all
Good thought re. the number plates. I agree it'll make a huge difference to how it looks...

I was thinking of getting a set made up with the correct pre-2001 font....




Shakermaker

11,317 posts

99 months

Wednesday 19th October 2016
quotequote all
To be pedantic, this will be a Vauxhall rather than a Bedford, as they stopped using the Bedford name in around 1990 (my Rascal is a 1990 "H" and so a Vauxhall rather than a Bedford)

Echoing the comments above, a set of clean new numberplates with as little detail as you can get on them would be good; I don't have much love for those with a "GB" sticker already on them and reckon that a clean set, such as those you can get at Halfords with the necessary details "ghosted" on will look much smarter.

A decent GB sticker will then suit the camper much better.

Bargista

Original Poster:

44 posts

99 months

Wednesday 19th October 2016
quotequote all
Yes, you're right, it is a Vauxhall rather than a Bedford.

New (non GB plates) have been fitted (didn't go with the older font in the end for convenience) - pic to follow.

New white vent plastics ordered which in the short term will smarten it up no end.

Currently working out a plan of attack for the body work repairs.

Had to visit family on Monday which was a 220 mile round trip, so I took the camper to give it a run. Very relaxing to drive, in a very different way to my 540i BMW smile

Pamoothican

266 posts

91 months

Monday 24th October 2016
quotequote all
This is great, I had seen it on ebay but the respray put me off.

Looks a lot better since you buffed it though.

Those wheels should set it off nicely.