1981 Transit Ci Trail Blazer

[popuptoaster]

Went out and collected my van this morning.



This is how it looks now,



(Should look like this)



I have plenty of pics the previous owner took of its current state,

This is how he found it,







Basically its a very sound van for its age, it has an issue with the bottom of the rear doors,



the bulkhead near the servo,



offside inner sill,



the offside wheel tub,



and the radiator panel,



pretty solid elsewhere, steps are lovely, it looks like there may be a small repair needed in the cab floor where the top of the step meets the wheel tub, but other than that she's lovely.

Current plan is to remove the pinto and fit the 16v 2.3i from a Scorpio along with an MT75 and as much of the luxury goodies from the granny i can get working, possibly even the dash and instrument pack.

More as it happens folks!

[Deleted]

Looks cool dude, cant wait to see it finished! Gonna move along quite nicely with that engine fitted!

[grizz]

I do wonder about the VW camper guys and their scene taxed to death campers.

I am sure the bits that need doing wont take you long.

[AtomicRooster]

That looks a nice base actually,

If it where mine i'd remove the small hat it appears to be wearing ahaha, and my next move would most likely be to convert it to round headlamps, i feel they'd go with the retro bodyshape.

Of course none of what i just said is relevant as it's your van, but just my 2 penneth worth

Good luck!

[popuptoaster]

Well due to the the weather there hasn't been much happening with the van, decided to start pulling the interior to bits as its all gonna be modernised and converted from a full on camper into a day van as although the interior was ok, it would never have been nice, after 30 years the chip board furniture is tatty and it just looked really dated and well used, while i'm all for retro looks on the outside, i like nice and comfy and smart on the inside.

She started out like this on the inside





removed the two rear seats that along with the front ones folded flat and made up the beds,





I also took the unit out that housed the fridge, a couple of cupboards and a tiny wardrobe



The unit on the other side has a few cupboards under a combined sink/drainer/double hob and will also be coming out but due to me being a bit of a crip i had to come in for a rest.

The fridge obviosly don't leak as the gas was all still turned on and there is still gas in the bottle, i'll get it checked and cleaned up and probably reuse it in the position its in now, by the back door so that its easy to access from outside the van.

The water tank will stay in the van along with its submersible pump and a single gas burner that i can use just to boil a kettle on or maybe make toast, probably mounted opposite the fridge so that again its accessible through the back doors.

Still got to work out seating for two adults and three kids inside the van and a fold down double bed long enough for me to fit in it.

The pop up roof is definately coming off it as it needs a fair bit of work to tidy up and and i can see sky through all the joints, so i'll be after a transit roof skin at some point although we have a plan to keep the roof interesting.

[will]

Great purchase, I'll be watching with interest as am in the process, well thinking about converting my van into a family camper.

Do love a mk2

[pitsspecial]

Hi Mate,

Glad to see you have jumped on it as soon as the weather has warmed up!! don't forget my offer, i have a portable 2 ring stove with a small grill, and a fold away larder/wind break that you can have, you could keep it in the garage and put it in the van when you wanted to go away and use it.

I have emailed you through Facebook.....ive found an interesting engine for you!!!


All the best,
Di n Dave...(DJ)

[luckygti]

Another camper Expecting to see a few less tents at the gathering this year at this rate! Looks like it should clean up alright, and it'll go well with the Scorpio lump in it! Keep us posted.

[petetong]

looking good.. think the day van thing is the way forward..
look forward to the build up

[retrowagen1234]

Feb 25, 2010 15:08:01 GMT popuptoaster said:

The pop up roof is definately coming off it as it needs a fair bit of work to tidy up and and I can see sky through all the joints, so i'll be after a transit roof skin at some point although we have a plan to keep the roof interesting.

ragtop! This would be amazing with a rollback ragtop, lowered over some nice wheels with the scorpio power and goodies... thats like a take on the things the yanks do to there vans ... But with a transit .... *thread bookmarked*

[popuptoaster]

Feb 26, 2010 9:22:26 GMT @retrowagen1234 said:

Feb 25, 2010 15:08:01 GMT popuptoaster said:

ragtop! This would be amazing with a rollback ragtop, lowered over some nice wheels with the scorpio power and goodies... thats like a take on the things the yanks do to there vans ... But with a transit .... *thread bookmarked*

Exactly what we have been thinking, unfortunately the hole in the roof is 5" wider than i can buy a sunroof for, so i'll need to reskin the back 3/4 and then cut another hole in it.

[cortinamike77]

Very intresting topic will be keeping this one bookmarked and looking forward to the progress!

[grizz]

Could be VERRRRY nice with the right hole in the roof.

[ironmighty07]

Definitely think 2010 is going to be the year of the non VW camper van. There seems to be a load of 70/80s conversions about right now.

Look forward to seeing the roof plans executed whatever they may be!

[rodit]

Have you looked into some of the modern full width glass roof's?

Some of them are not that hard to work with, changed the glass on one at work in under 10 mins, could really set the van appart from tne rest.

Keep up the good work and thinking. ;D

[popuptoaster]

not sure about a glass roof, never been keen, but i had few cars over the years with webastos in and loved them all.

Just purchased to 16v 2 litre granny for its running gear as well, so that'll do to be going on with, i can always swop the 2.3 bottom end in later if i find one.

[popuptoaster]

Well the donor is here now, hopefully i can get the repairs done on the van next week (still bloody cold out and the van wouldn't fit in the garage even if it was empty) and then get on with getting it "motor-vated"

[nickbrad]

Sounds cool and I love anything that doesn't have scene tax, unfortunately rootes cars seem to be slowly moving in that direction, unless it's a Minx.

[suterman]

Great stuff, so does it not have an engine at the mo or what?

(Looks back at pics and sees hole where engine should be.)

[popuptoaster]

Mar 2, 2010 23:03:50 GMT suterman said:

Great stuff, so does it not have an engine at the mo or what?

(Looks back at pics and sees hole where engine should be.)

the guy i bought it from was gonna fit a cossie YB motor so the gearbox was sold and the pinto was taken out. A YB is out of my price range, and not practical for a daily driver so he kept the engine, the pinto was bolted back in but not connected back up, i could have sourced a gearbox and recommisioned the engine as the van was driven onto the trailer when he bought it.

However, the pinto, imo was never a great engine, just an ok one and there are better alternatives these days especially considering that pinto prices are on the rise as the supply of old ones in cars dries up.

The twin cam 2 litre from the granny will be more powerful, has more torque and is more economical especially as I'm keeping the injection, it should also be quieter and smoother and they are cheap as people seem to think they are rubbish, usually people who have not driven one or have had a head gasket issue.

a manual 2 litre granada scorpio will do 125mph so it should be able to push my van along at 100mph+ if needed and should still be able to hit 30mpg on a run.

The granny i bought has 160,000 on the clock so we'll see how reliable it is once in the van.