Ke26 Van

[oldie]

Funny isnt it how you get rid of one project,say thats the end of it for the moment and then you suddenly have another one about to enter the driveway,almost! Afraid there are no pics yet but went to visit an uncle last week and what does he have sitting in his paddock (literally) but what I believe is a KE26 2 door van,only disappointing thing really is that windows have been added to the side van panels and the fact that they are rusting around the panel edges.

I can't really confirm a lot until I get it home but its a 3k 4 spd manual,complete and suppossed to run,was running when parked up many years ago.It does of course have other rust but I don't think it is too bad but obviously have'nt got into it yet.I'm not sure but I assume that they may be a little bit rare as I have'nt found a lot of information on them to date.

Plans are very basic,I'm hoping for more of a very clean restoration as far as the eye is concerned but will upgrade the suspension,seating and other interior features.Undecided about the engine at present but it will remain a K series and manual,probably just the usual cam,carb and exhaust as it will have to be drivable and reliable as I do a lot of distance when I hit the road and am looking forward to something a little different to travel in,therefore will have to look into seating to.Other thing is that I can't be bothered with the whole engineering thing a present so will have to look as standard as posible,if possible,time will tell.

Anyway,I don't know when its coming home,waiting on confirmation of time to pickup from the uncle but will put pics up when it happens

Edited July 5, 2013 by oldie

[PHATKE20S]

Very keen to see the pics when it arrives....i love the early panelvans

[oldie]

Yeh,I'm keen as to get it home now but not quite sure how I will attack the rust in the window frames yet.Wish the uncle would pull his finger out so I can go get it.It is certainly not pristine by any stretch of the imagination but I don't think it was to bad a deal for free,he was feeling guilty because he sold an old car at his place that was mine,he had forgotten who owned it,I left it there a looooongtime ago and when I rang up about it 2 or so weeks ago he was like, umm,was that yours,I couldn't remember and I sold it!I was a little pissed off.

[oldie]

So its getting closer,got a call from the uncle,car has been dragged in from the paddock,fitted with wheels that hold air and he was going to try and see if he could get it started before I get there,was running when it was parked up.Hopefully,will get up there this week then I can drag it home,post some pics and get on with a bit of this and a bit of that,holding my breath until I pull it apart a little to see how bad,or good it is after being in the paddock for a while.However,if anyone has a drivers door window for sale,could they help me out!

[oldie]

Ok,so I'm home after a long day on the road with a trailer that was twice as big as it needed to be but you take what you can get at short notice. Have'nt had much of a chance to check it out as it was near dark when I finished unloading it but yes there is rust around all the van windows,rust on the chassis rails in the enginge bay but appears to be only surface so hopefully a good clean up and paint will sort that.Tags say KE26,it starts,it drives and it stops,sort of and clutch is pretty shit but at least it does work so I can move it around.Floors appear good,a number of small dents all over the place but nothing to serious and rear half of the headlining is ripped,door cards are pretty shagged too,dash is not too bad but drivers window is broken and dash pad is stuffed big time so will be looking for the odd part or two,or three.Grille appears good but trim across front of bonnet has lost all its chrome but not rusted.All window rubbers will need replacing but I am going to try and return it to a windowless van,have some ideas in mind,not 100% original but think it will look ok asd I know someone with a bead roller.The seats are due for the tip big time,totally shagged but that suits me as I need something really supportive and confortable. Now,the interesting thing here is that in general the car looks really crook but the engine starts first go,its pretty quiet when running,very little tappet noise if any,at the moment anyway,no smoke and the speedo only reads 60,000 K's so will have to try and do some investigation to see if it is original,a change over or what!Thats all I've got for the moment,will get some pics up in the next day or two so just hang on for a bit,see ya then!

[oldie]

Still no pics but I have done a bit,stripped all the front panels of,passenger side is good behind the guards etc but drivers side has some small holes on the round bit down the bottom at the front of the sills,will have to plate them,also hole needs repair under the battery tray and the underside of the lower chassis/radiator support area,the sills will need work too,not rusty but pretty dented.Have also pulled out the 2 rear van window panels,left and right sides,now have to do the bigger ones near the doors,some small repair needed but no holes yet.I could replace these with wagon windows if I could get some or make up replacements of some type,undecided at present but not urgent yet.The guards that I removed,passenger side is good but drivers side rusty and holed at bottom but I see that you can buy NOS guard on ebay so may go that route but at $240 probably better to just fix what I have.Can aslo get a replacement drivers side window for $45 plus free postage from ebay too so another thing to buy..so,really,I guess that for sitting in a paddock for 10 years and being pretty knocked around before that as a mechanics service vehicle its not too bad,maybe!

[oldie]

Well,this thing is certainly throwing up some surprises,glad I didnt pay for it. Drivers side front and rear floors holed with rust,hole under battery tray,2 holes in chassis rail drivers side in engine bay,sills rusted and its had a cut and shut straight through the middle of the car.Almost got to question whether its worth fixing up really but Ive started the work anyway.Have removed the battery tray,cut out the drivers side sill and repaired the front most section of the sill,the bit with the rounded edge that sits at the bottom behind the rear of the front guard.Biggest surprise was a funnel web spider under the floor mats.

Does anyone know,do they make rust repair floor sections for a ke26 or does anyone have a floor section they can cut out of a shell,rear floor drivers side.

[oldie]

Well,I'm not going to put any pics up for a while until I get this thing a bit more sorted! Talk about rust,so far I have had to replace about 80% of the drivers side floor,all out of hand made 1.0mm zinc panel,still have to do about 50% on the passenger side,have to replace both sill panels and a sh#t load more,panel under the battery and chassis frame under the radiator,couple of holes in the frame,also welded a repair section to the lower front guard,an absolute rust bucket,at least then I can get on to proper body work. Also,while I have the sills off I am going to run a length of 50 x 25 x 3 hollow section down the length of the car to try and stiffen it up a little,also because it looks like it has had a cut n shut so think it a good idea to add some more strength.

Had to take the side panel van windows out as they were too rusty so will probably fit new hand made flat panels in there but need to find someone with a bead roller locally to give it a bit of profile and added strength,will probably stick them in with sikaflex or similiar.May have to build a custom dash also as the plastics are quite heat distorted and the pad is cracked to buggery and back,so no way it will be original now.

What the "F" did I get myself into,a free car,he should of paid me to take it BUT it will get done......