J1 Bedford.

[Silk]

I had this come into work today for a WoF (warrant of fitness) our road safety check. A blast from the past for me, I 've worked on a lot of Bedfords, one place I worked at had a fleet of them, and a couple of J1's for the workshop. Made from the JO, which was the smallest, powered by a Vauxhall car engine and drive line, up to the J6. The J1 had a 214 engine, almost the same as the 216 Chev engine, but full pressure bigends. Very popular back in the pirate tow truck days.



I was expecting the usual V8 conversion, but happy to see the stock 214 in there. The owner said he served his time (apprenticeship) at another company that had a fleet of them, so like me he doesn't want a hot rod, but the truck he drove and worked on in his youth.




This is a '78, so the road tube now goes into the oilbath airfilter. He's fitted an electric fuel pump, and electronic ignition.



Extractors, probably because the stock cast iron one was cracked. That's the wrong carb, it's off the 300cu engine. That small housing on the side is the govenor - we used to set them for 35mph in 3rd gear.

 

[Linctex]

Originally Posted By: Silk
The J1 had a 214 engine, almost the same as the 216 Chev engine, but full pressure bigends.


Interesting - only 2 cubic inch difference?
What is bore x stroke?
It looks a lot like the later 235's

Originally Posted By: Silk
This is a '78, so the road tube now goes into the oilbath airfilter.


That is WEIRD - no PCV valve/system?
It's just a breather tube to the air cleaner, like a lot of diesel engines did.

 

[OneEyeJack]

That Bedford is like the lyrics to the Frank Sinatra song, "Nice 'n' easy does it every time".

 

[Claud]

They were a common sight in the UK 60 or so years ago, a time when the UK was still one of the worlds leading exporters of trucks. You could run through the alphabet and name a British truck starting with nearly every letter.

Claud.

 

[Ducked]

In N and Equatorial Africa in the 80's something very like that was still in production (in Morocco I think) and was the standard truck. I rode through the Atlas in one, with a chain across the back to separate the livestock from the paying customers.

 

[Langanobob]

I wonder if the 2 cubic inch discrepancy between 214 and 216 might be due to the manufacturer rounding the bore and stroke to an even number of millimeters? It sure looks like a 216 from here.

 

[Silk]

Generic GM 6's. The 214 and 235 had half sideplates, so maybe should go together. The Bedford 300 had a full sideplate like the early 216 Chev, so did the early ''grey'' Holden engine, and um, that other clone, the Toyota Landcruiser. I think there was an early full sideplate Vauxhall but the later Vauxhalls were all half sideplates.