From E63 AMG to...........
Discussion
............A Bedford CF
Having recently sold my E63 AMG to a mate (with my old manual 24v Senator back in P/X) I now have money to concentrate on my 2nd CF. My first:
was my daily driver until it failed its MOT in June 2015 due to copious amounts of corrosion. The E63 was bought to replace it but I still my missed my Bedford, sooooooooooo I bought this monstrosity:
A brown emulsion coated ex-minibus, which is a lot more solid than it looks. Cue 11 months in a mates bodyshop and I ended up with this:
Initially I had planned to use an old school TD lump to give more poke than the original 55hp N/A diesel but 11 months is a long time for ideas to brew so I bought a scrap Senator to rob for the engine. It's a later car so has a big valve head as standard and without cats should push around the 200hp mark. BUT, I also have some goodies lying around, namely an Eaton supercharger off an SLK320 and seeing as the Senator inlet manifold fouls my left foot and I'm in the process of making a new one, I've decided to factor forced induction into the equation. For the intial build I'll run the van N/A but I've started to mock up mountings for the supercharger on the engine for the future.
So, you say, what about brakes? Well, yes it will have some, but seeing as everything on a CF is awkward there's nothing anywhere near the correct size that can be made to fit, let alone bolt on, so I have a spare front subframe which an engineer friend has borrowed to start designing new stub axles to take discs and calipers off something mainstream but that will bolt onto the subframe with no other modifications.
Suspension wise I'm keeping it standard with the N/A engine (bar poly bushes on the front
) but I have an IRS with LSD from the scrap Senator which will go in when the SC engine is finished. The bushes should be here in the next couple of weeks which is when the freshly painted suspension will be refitted and I can get some pics of it on all four wheels with its new 6-pot heart fitted. I'll update then.......
Having recently sold my E63 AMG to a mate (with my old manual 24v Senator back in P/X) I now have money to concentrate on my 2nd CF. My first:
was my daily driver until it failed its MOT in June 2015 due to copious amounts of corrosion. The E63 was bought to replace it but I still my missed my Bedford, sooooooooooo I bought this monstrosity:
A brown emulsion coated ex-minibus, which is a lot more solid than it looks. Cue 11 months in a mates bodyshop and I ended up with this:
Initially I had planned to use an old school TD lump to give more poke than the original 55hp N/A diesel but 11 months is a long time for ideas to brew so I bought a scrap Senator to rob for the engine. It's a later car so has a big valve head as standard and without cats should push around the 200hp mark. BUT, I also have some goodies lying around, namely an Eaton supercharger off an SLK320 and seeing as the Senator inlet manifold fouls my left foot and I'm in the process of making a new one, I've decided to factor forced induction into the equation. For the intial build I'll run the van N/A but I've started to mock up mountings for the supercharger on the engine for the future.
So, you say, what about brakes? Well, yes it will have some, but seeing as everything on a CF is awkward there's nothing anywhere near the correct size that can be made to fit, let alone bolt on, so I have a spare front subframe which an engineer friend has borrowed to start designing new stub axles to take discs and calipers off something mainstream but that will bolt onto the subframe with no other modifications.
Suspension wise I'm keeping it standard with the N/A engine (bar poly bushes on the front
) but I have an IRS with LSD from the scrap Senator which will go in when the SC engine is finished. The bushes should be here in the next couple of weeks which is when the freshly painted suspension will be refitted and I can get some pics of it on all four wheels with its new 6-pot heart fitted. I'll update then.......
Fantastic!
Having just gone from an E39 540i touring to a Vauxhall Midi reimo converted camper this is a logic I can fully relate to.
And your paintwork is remarkably similar to what I have in mind. Looks great.
Look foward to further progess with interest.
Having just gone from an E39 540i touring to a Vauxhall Midi reimo converted camper this is a logic I can fully relate to.
And your paintwork is remarkably similar to what I have in mind. Looks great.
Look foward to further progess with interest.
Edited by Bargista on Thursday 22 September 08:53
Nice to see it's getting a bit of love!
I discounted the V8 route as its been done to death and the go to V8 for these things (Rover of course) is overrated IMHO. The CIH 12V out of the Carlton/Senator is bomb proof and puts out 180bhp reliably - how much would a Rover V8 cost to put out that reliably? I paid £101 for the Senator - more than that I'd imagine!
I reckon I can build the FI engine for less than £1k including the £250 for the SC itself. Luckily between me and 2 other mates I have access to CNC and old school engineering equipment so it'll cost more in time but this'll be the first CIH engine I've converted to FI out of the 40 or so cars I've owned with one fitted so part of the fun is the development!
If other conversions are anything to go by, 250-300hp should be achievable for relatively small outlay. Not huge power in todays terms but still 5 times the power it had originally and it'll weigh about the same as an Insignia VXR
I'm working on suspension at the moment. A couple of weeks and it should be rebuilt and back under the van, ready for the engine and box to go in.
I discounted the V8 route as its been done to death and the go to V8 for these things (Rover of course) is overrated IMHO. The CIH 12V out of the Carlton/Senator is bomb proof and puts out 180bhp reliably - how much would a Rover V8 cost to put out that reliably? I paid £101 for the Senator - more than that I'd imagine!
I reckon I can build the FI engine for less than £1k including the £250 for the SC itself. Luckily between me and 2 other mates I have access to CNC and old school engineering equipment so it'll cost more in time but this'll be the first CIH engine I've converted to FI out of the 40 or so cars I've owned with one fitted so part of the fun is the development!
If other conversions are anything to go by, 250-300hp should be achievable for relatively small outlay. Not huge power in todays terms but still 5 times the power it had originally and it'll weigh about the same as an Insignia VXR
I'm working on suspension at the moment. A couple of weeks and it should be rebuilt and back under the van, ready for the engine and box to go in.
It'll be at the VBOA meet next year with the OMOC, probably towing my fiancee's Manta 
I may be tempted to take it up Shelsey Walsh at the Retro Rides gathering, depending on how stupid I feel on the day! I'll be getting married the week after that and the van is supposed to be taking the Bridesmaids............
I invested in a shiny new 18V Milwaukee impact gun yesterday which has already made a mockery of my attempts to undo the wishbone bolts with a 6ft scaffold pole - 2 seconds on each nut and 610Nm of torque flung them off. I'm gonna brave getting the springs out tomorrow - plenty of ratchet straps, welding gloves and a crash helmet should negate any risk to my wellbeing
I may be tempted to take it up Shelsey Walsh at the Retro Rides gathering, depending on how stupid I feel on the day! I'll be getting married the week after that and the van is supposed to be taking the Bridesmaids............
I invested in a shiny new 18V Milwaukee impact gun yesterday which has already made a mockery of my attempts to undo the wishbone bolts with a 6ft scaffold pole - 2 seconds on each nut and 610Nm of torque flung them off. I'm gonna brave getting the springs out tomorrow - plenty of ratchet straps, welding gloves and a crash helmet should negate any risk to my wellbeing
No new pics yet but it's rolling finally - working outside doesn't usually tie in with Welsh weather.
The suspension is all powdercoated and polybushed which cost more than the van but it'll last another 30 years I hope. I bit the bullet and stripped the rear axle - it actually needed nothing but a pinion seal! I cleaned and regreased the rear leaf springs, made new U-bolts and lots of other little bits which have taken most of the last 2 months. The GKN turbovecs fit nicely with the standard tyres - no power steering coupled to 250kgs of engine sitting directly on the front axle mean I'm not brave enough to put anything wider on yet!
Now that its sitting on its wheels things should start picking up pace. The brakes are the next thing on the list. I want to know it'll stop before I get the engine in........ Pics soon........
The suspension is all powdercoated and polybushed which cost more than the van but it'll last another 30 years I hope. I bit the bullet and stripped the rear axle - it actually needed nothing but a pinion seal! I cleaned and regreased the rear leaf springs, made new U-bolts and lots of other little bits which have taken most of the last 2 months. The GKN turbovecs fit nicely with the standard tyres - no power steering coupled to 250kgs of engine sitting directly on the front axle mean I'm not brave enough to put anything wider on yet!
Now that its sitting on its wheels things should start picking up pace. The brakes are the next thing on the list. I want to know it'll stop before I get the engine in........ Pics soon........
Here's how it looks now.....
Work starts on fitting the engine this week. I've got a small mod to make to the block to get the diesel starter to fit then the whole lot will bolt pretty much straight in. I've still got the inlet manifold to fabricate and work out where to fit a radiator but I'm optimistic those jobs won't take too long
Work starts on fitting the engine this week. I've got a small mod to make to the block to get the diesel starter to fit then the whole lot will bolt pretty much straight in. I've still got the inlet manifold to fabricate and work out where to fit a radiator but I'm optimistic those jobs won't take too long
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