Bedford /vauxhall rascal

[rich_c]

For the welding and upkeep of likely rotten panels on these, would it be more sensible to go for the chassis cab/pickup version and make a custom box back. Seems there'd be less rotten wafer-thin panels to worry about and if removable it could save weight/improve handling when not used. Errrr, asking for a friend... and the OP of course

 

[eddie49]

Ref Acty van. Three of us were told to 'evaluate' an Acty when they first came out that had been fitted with a neat camper conversion. One drove and 2 sat in back just behind the driver. As we negotiated Chiswick high street i decided to move to the back of the van to take a look at the kitchen layout. next second a scream from the driver that the front wheels were no longer touching the road.
Next guy turned up with a tipper conversion he hoped to sell to jobbing builders . looked neat until we loaded the max load of sand ,still looked good but only just covered the floor to a depth of 10mm. We then decided to load it to what a reasonable builder would think a useful load would be ,at which point it promptly folded in half .
They also needed a rev limited as you had no rev counter and couldn't hear the engine as you screamed the guts out of it to go anywhere. We had loads of warranty engine failures because of this.

The "Romahome" camper, mounted on the Honda Acty pick-up, does look tail-heavy, but I have never had any stability issues with my panel van versions. The driving layout is very forward-control, with the seat centred over the Macpherson strut tower. Behind that, literally everything is under the floor, so the weight and any load are well-distributed, and you could say it is mid-engined. The radiator, electric fan, petrol tank, battery, spare wheel, 545cc parallel-twin engine, gearbox, diff, and De Dion rear axle are all under the flat floor, with no wheelarch incursions. The kerb weight is 685kg and the van load capacity is 500kg.

Early versions were 4-speed, but my 1986 and 1989 vans are both 5-speed. Inside the van, there is no mistaking how many revs the 28 bhp engine is running!

 

[Blobber]

@Shedendman its a K reg 1993 I guess .

Last year of manufacture by Vauxhall/Bedford, 1000cc, 5 speed box and about 800kgs, a few interesting engine swaps been done on these as well!

 

[bricol]

Club member?

No - I managed to resist buying any one of the several up for sale this year - so still (mostly) beating them in an old Dutton

 

[nickk]

I did hear tales of someone near Eastbourne fitting a Jag v12 in a japane micro van!
older still ,
.
a teacher in my school,mid 70’s had a fiat camper,slightly less small.

 

[Keith 66]

The college i worked at had a Rascal, diesel engined version, occasionally it would have a fuel leak onto something hot which caused smoke to come into the cab from round the geartick. Was a bit disconcerting!
One day we used it to transport a heavy steel workbench from the college to the yacht club (workshop disposal). The bench was quite big & went into the van standing on its side. Going under Benfleet railway bridge is a sharp left hand bend, as we took the bend the bench broke its bungee cords & fell over in the back with a terrible crash, We literally went round the corner on two wheels. To this day i do not know how we didnt capsize the thing!

 

[GRW]

A few years back, a feisty young mechanic where I worked got hold of a cheap Diahatsu version.
The nutter cut four holes in the floor, just fore & aft of the back axle either side...... then he wrapped a ratchet strap thru the holes & round the rear axle - & pulled the rear down till it was rigid.
Then bunged air into the rear tyres till they were rock-hard....
.... then entered a Drifting Event with the wee thing.
I didn't see it competing, but the lad said they had a right laff (& amused the hell out of everyone there apparently) with the van - and said not only did the ghetto mods stop the van from just falling over, but that it actually performed way better than it had any right to.