ABFM 2012

The All British Field Meet (“ABFM”) happened yesterday in the beautiful environs of Vancouver’s Van Dusen Garden, right in the middle of the city. The weather was perfect, and for the third year I went to reconnoiter Class 40, the Commercial Vehicle Class. The AFBM is really popular – a lot of vehicles come up from the US to participate. This notwithstanding, there are seldom more than a handful of commercial entrants, and this year there was only two. Thus I think my chances to win the class are pretty good for next year. I’ve compiled a little video of the event and it’s available on the sidebar, and on YouTube too. Above our photos of my daughters. Emily is in front of British built Isetta (no BMW emblem, named “Emily”). Her sister Eryn is in front of Maclaren MP4. Note Eryn’s stroller on the right – it’s also a “Maclaren” (visible mark in the seat area), but it’s about $500,000 less costly. Other oddities included an Italian built mini, and British Built Nash Metropolitans with BMC A series powerplants. Amazing these things made it here, and survive.

Vicky...by the Numbers

Chassis J/L 4649
Front Axle J/FC/4525
Rear Axle J/BC/4339
Rear Axle Ratio: 5.125-1
Front Spring: JD829 "BERRY"
Rear Spring: J3829

Behold J2

For my non-local readers (that's everyone) there's an area of British Columbia ("BC") that's a few hours into the interior. Pretty easy drive, normally. In any event, it's an actual desert (except for the big lake). They grow wine there and other things. Well, ensconed there as well is a J2 van. I haven't seen it myself, but Aaron has. What I have seen though in a perfectly preserved J2 Service Parts Manual. I found it a couple weeks ago at Coast Imports (auto wrecker). I was looking around for bench seats (remedied in earlier post), and I found it tucked away in a corner of other books. I am fairly certain that J2 vans were at least as unsuccessful a J-types in BC, and either item was improbable and yet both were found.

Two Colours, Two Seats, One OECC Event

Okay, about a month ago Steve (Duncan's owner) and the OECC (Old English Car Club) guys came out to see Aaron and my van. For Steve (seen in the photo above) it was the first time he had see it since 2008. On the whole, I think he was impressed with the "modest" progress since then. Nevertheless, I still cannot get him to part with some badly needed parts. Oh well.

I was asked earlier this week about my van's livery. I'm not settled on anything. If I could find out the original owner-company, I'd paint it that colour in a heartbeat. But since I don't, a sensible thing is to paint it somewhat faithfully to the past. In the first photo above, one can see the layers of paint that were on my van. They were revealed when we rubbed back the paint.

The first was a grey primer, I think. Then a maroonish-red, black, tan and finally, black again. Aaron bought a 1946 paint swatch thingy for another project he's working on (see inset in first photo). He matched a hue called Sumac Red that, when applied to that other project, looked really good, like a patina-finished maroon. It had an aged quality to it. I think I'd like to use it on the top. In the same colour swatch there was another colour suitable for the bottom called Catalina Tan. They're not matches for the "original" colours, but they're good enough.

One of the ways I rationalize the expense of the van is by thinking about driving my kids and their friends around in it when they're older. This week, I think I've figured out the seats. I think I'll use the ones pictured in the third photo above. They're from a Land Rover Series III. Pretty inexpensive, I think, overall. I'll secure them lengthwise in the back against each inner wing. There's lot of structure there.

Almost Famous!

On February 26 a fellow named Alyn Edwards came out and looked at the van. I had contacted him months earlier explaining that I had no success learning the original livery of my van; that paint was nearing, and I wanted to faithfully replicate the van’s history if I could.

Alyn writes a weekly column in the Vancouver Sun, the city’s oldest newspaper, and the one I used to deliver around 1980. It features stories about local collector cars and the people who like them. Alyn knows the subject. He has a “few” rides himself.

In any event, Alyn offered to write about the van and see if any readers could shed some light on its past. Well, the story came out yesterday, and its pretty darn good, although the photo of me “blocking” the van is regrettable.

In addition to the Vancouver Sun, it’ll be in the Victoria News and Old Auto Magazine. Hopefully someone will have something. I often think wouldn’t it be cool if the van was once the property of an iconic local company. Rogers Sugar, Eaton’s, Woodwards, Cates Tugs, Canadian Pacific – that would be cool.

Groovy Animation

Here’s a before and after transition effect photo. It’s very satisfying to watch. I did it at www.lunapic.com. Most of the metal changes have been done in the last year at the shop, but the floor, engine cowl, new frame elements, rear light brackets, rear floor and risers, brake booster bracket were done by Austin Metal. The rocker-type panels, wheel arches, rear cross member and battery tray were done by Fairmile.

Below is an image from the McMaster-Carr website. When I started researching parts one of the most frustrating things was getting the right fasteners. Then one day I was phoned by a guy who responded to an email I sent. He was expecting an order for something like $20,000. Well, he pointed me here, and it’s just the most brilliant service. They don’t ship to Canada, but fortunate for me, I can drive across the border and pick up the packages.

Chris Carter: Filler Thriller

See the post from September 25, 2009. If you do, the backyard photo makes sense. The place where the red truck is now was once hallowed J Van territory.

Unrelated are photos of Chris. Chris has remained anonymous for the past year, but he’s done most of the heavy lifting on the van in that time. Chris is really fun to watch work because everything he does is done really methodically; there’s no intervals where he sighs and says, “now what?” He just quietly makes progress.

If Chris worked on people instead of cars he’d be a heart surgeon. He likes “working” holidays in Australia or New Zealand, beer, talking about cars and – of course – the ladies.

This morning I dropped a cheque off at Aaron's shop before going to work. Chris was applying some filler -- the very first. It was like he was decorating a stinky cake. It was watery and applied like sugary flood icing.

I'm Melting!

So I posted yesterday about how I received an email from Dick that morning while I was at Aaron’s shop. I had never communicated with him before.

He had just returned from New Zealand, and wrote:

“… this is quite weird, when we returned our rental car to the depot just beside the Auckland airport, I was chatting with the driver of our shuttle van about things vintage, and he said, "Have you got five minutes?" We did, so he basically drove us across the street from the depot (about 2 minutes from the airport) to a large vacant parcel of land with a few dilapidated buildings on it. We climbed a fence and walked through the tall grass and there were dozens of old wrecks hidden among the bushes, trees and grass and among them was a van like yours, which I took a photo of. I have not sorted out my photos yet, but I could send it to you if you like when I get organized.” I haven’t received it yet. In any event...

Well, I then went home and found the location he talked about on Google maps, and made the previous post. Then I’m lying in bed. It’s about 2AM and I hear the phone let out a ”bong” and I think, “That’s an unusual time to get an email. I guess Israel just bombed Iran!” I checked the phone and it was an email from Roly. Guess what? The van in question is the one “unearthed” by Grant Staveley and reported on Roly’s site (http://morrisjtypes.blogspot.com/) a couple years back. Here’s the photo! It looks like it came from the swamp where Luke found Yoda. Well, the search continues. But how about us? I mean, we're more wired than the CIA.

Neat, Seat and Treats -- Just Another Sunday!



 Well, did anyone see the van that went on UK eBay for $15,000-plus? My god, that's a lot for a project van. Makes my $500 seem like good value.

This morning I received an email from Dick Parkes from Kamlopps BC (he's restoring a 1952 Austin Sheerline ambulance). Dick recently returned from a trip to New Zeland where he got a solid lead on a J Van somewhere in the field shown in the photos above. I'll try and get details. I need pockets doors and a seat, and New Zealand is close enough.

Below is my van as it looked this morning. Notice the spot welds of the front? Though original they're destined to go when the bodywork happens. Aaron assembled the van and made the shop all spiffy for the Old English Car Club ("OECC"), which was scheduled to attend on its monthly outing. He even laid on a table of cookies, coffee and soft drinks. Well, they never showed. I still don't know what happened. The best guess is that they had to push each other to the event.



Olympic "Rust" Medal, and Engine Milestone

 

If they handed out Olympic medals for rust, my little van would certainly get the gold. For example, after it was recently sandblasted. The blaster removed some patches of filler that had rust underneath. It seems very logical that what happened is that tree branches dented the roof, and that these dents were “repaired” after a longer interval with polyester resin. The resin was removed but the dents and rust remained after blasting. These can be seen in the inset photo above. What to do?

 

There’s lots of rust killing products in the marketplace, but many require washing afterwards. Aaron prefers Mar-Hyde One-Step, a Rust Converter Primer Sealer, which we ar told, “Chemically reacts to convert rust into a hard, black primer sealer. A water-based latex containing rust modifiers. Designed for application directly over tightly bonded rust on iron or steel. Shortly after application, the rusted surface will change from white to purple to a stable, black coating.” In the above photo, it is obvious that this is exactly what happened. The area circled in red is of the section visible in the larger photo.

 

Yesterday I took the engine out to be redone at a shop in Westminster – okay, “New Westminster”. It’s a cluttered little mess of a shop (see above), but I liked “Trevor” (see photo) the moment I met him. His dad works in the shop too, and they recognized my motor as soon as they saw it. They even knew it was adapted from the Austin A series, which is some pretty obscure motorhead information.

 

This weekend, Steve D (Duncan’s owner) and his friends from the Old English Car Club (“OECC”) are coming are to Aaron’s shop. It’s a field trip they do once a month. I’m familiar with the club but not a member. It’s something that popular amongst sports car guys mainly. I wonder what they’ll think about my chunk little van? Similarly, I wonder what Steve will think about it? His van is a lost worse off in many areas than Victoria, though more complete. For instance, he only has to source one rear door! He'll have to do everything I've done, and in places, more.

 

 

Synopisis of Metal "Improvements"

Everything that's red was replaced. Not shown is the roof (or rear doors, and entire floor), which had a patch replaced last April. It remains to be hammered out to the right contour.

Back in Black...(with lots of pictures)

 "I hit the sack
I've been too long I'm glad to be back
Yes I'm, let loose
From the noose
That's kept me hanging about
I keep looking at the sky
'Cause it's gettin' me high
Forget the herse 'cause I'll never die
I got nine lives..."

Okay, maybe four lives...1) quirky English import, 2) 60s camper, 3) 70s hot rod, and now, 4) 20th century curio. As you can see above, the van didn't stay in bare metal too long. It was painted in black epoxy. Most of the parts were put in epoxy too. The remiander will be done this week. The interior was further hit with a high build primer. The outside will be hit with it too later. The roof has some serious rust areas (which were covered by Bondo). I think the plan is to treat those with phosphoric acid, which is conveniently included in soda pop. Meanwhile Aaron is repairing the wings, and doing it in a stunningly efficient and effective way.

Fun in the Sun and Sand!

Oh, here's the before picture (from 15 months ago)

Last week I took a break with the family and hit the beach. So did Victoria, sort of. The body and a whole bunch of parts were sandblasted. Some further metal work will need to be performed, but by this weekend there will be a lot of the pieces all safely entombed in epoxy.

Nifty Shifty Bracket

Everything done on the van is a compromise between what's practical and what's optimal. One exception is the bracket for the shifter, which is awesome. The tranny mount includes a linkage to the transmission level (which is on the right side).

Metal Meet Link

Here's a link to a forum that Aaron is posting on -- a metal-working forum.

It has some good photos, all in one place.

http://www.metalmeet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9326&highlight=1950

New Heights in 2012!

The van is going to the metal cleaners this month, weather permitting. I have to admit that it's a milestone that's long overdue. I'm tired of looking at blotchy metal. Is there a goddam end to this project? There's just a few more things that need to be done before that happens. Yesterday I went into thr shop and Victoria was perched up rather high, out of the way. It was an unusual angle to see a van from, so I snapped a picture.

One thing that won't happen before then though is the tracks for the side doors. As long-time readers will recall, they were accidentally thrown out about 18 months ago. Recently alternatives have been looked at, but none are really satisfactory IMO. Has anyone else cracked this nut before? To make matters worse, the left and right sills or rocker panels (whatever we call them) are not perfectly symetrical on my van, so whatever the ultimate solution,

Above are two photos of what a the pedal assembly for a LHD J Van. Duncan is on the top -- that's clutch, gas and brake. Want to know how to kill yourself pretty quick? Drive for 30 years using brake in the center and gas on to the right and then change them around one day! So, since I'm not in need of a clutch and I bought the Lokar pedal, Victoria is going to have a more familiar pedal configuration, which looks "smashing" while also avoiding the smash.

Finally, just before Christmas, you may recall, I bought a carb kit and a Lokar shifter. Well, like a lot of things, these are made in the US, and sometimes, not shipped outside the US. Luckily, there's a couple companies that agree to receive packaged on the US side, and then they email you when they arrive. It costs something like $3. Then you drive accross the boarder and pick them up. Normally it's not a big deal, except the weekend before Christmas. The shop opens at 9:00AM and I showd up at 8:15. I was the 6th person in line, and in the next 45 minutes, 120 other joined us. The parking lot only holds 6 cars, and people were parked all over the street. That said, I was out of there in 30 minutes.

Merry Christmas

Okay, earlier this year I optimistically declared (well, posted in any event) that this year would be the year that the van would be completed. The fact that it isn’t, doesn’t cause me any disappointment. It will be soon enough.

In the last year, I am again grateful for the help of so many people in Vancouver, and to the larger community of J Van guys worldwide, all coincidentally resident on Commonwealth countries, and who, with the exception of one, that I have never spoken to. I hope they all have a great New Year.

The Doors, and More

Here's the rear wings. If anyone needs any replacement J van parts, I know a guy in Canada that does them all. He's pricier than the other UK guy, but the quality is first-class and you don't have to inch two-years towards the grave before you get them. Above Aaron used structural tape to create a pliable mold, which was then traced to sheet metal.

Here the crossmembers are havig their original holes welded up.

The bottom of the side doors looked pretty good, I thought. But it seems they needed work after all.

Steve's bracket left, mine (the replacement) right. There are three small differences. What are they?

The rear doors have been wholly redone. What a regrettable waste of money. Oh well. Seen above is the lock I'm using because I do not have the original type. I got it from Mills Supply. I am missing the location of where the centre of the handle pivot goes. It's close right now based on photos I've seen on the Internet.

Despite all the foregoing, I sometimes feel that I'm making backwards progress. Last Friday I took a vacation day and went to work on the van with Aaron, and stunningly accomplished very little. We drilled the holes above the front windows for the interior light (but we didn't drill all of them owing to the lack of a suitable drill bit); fastened the latch for the cowl, drilled holes for the license plate light (but in the wrong location -- it needs to be fixed and redone, my error); drilled holes for the ignition (successful); determined the location of the flange that support the fuel tube cover (but didn't weld it in place); attempted to remove the side door striker plate (unsuccessfully); removed the floor (but didn't grind the flanges down so they were equal; cut some trim pieces (finished them today); located the holes for the front floor in the wood (but didn't drill them); tried to located the handbrake location (uncompleted). In short, I don't think I contribute much, but I miss the hands on stuff.

Here's what else remains to be done:

• Doors, lock, and hinges need to installed.
• Front floor bracket needs to be installed.
• Wheel wells and anterior flashing pieces.
• Tweaking on the engine cowl.
• Gas filling pipe cover installed.
• Pop rivets in rear roof structure.
• The park brake bracket.
• Battery tray original holes filled.
• Rear door gutter adjustments.
• Holes in the grille price for trim.
• Hole sin frame for brake pedal mount.
• Front and rear fender repairs.

Finally, my beautiful metal floor. When it's all fastened together and bolted it will have structure, but it wasn't in place like than, and the repeated weight of grown adults has torqued it miserably. It's really upsetting. Aaron thinks it can be fixed, but we'll see.