The Bedford Rally...

I've just spent four days over the long holiday weekend
at the Bedford Rally.
It was held at Lance Cryer's place "Bedford Heaven' at Puriri...
A small town between Thames and Paeroa.
There was only one down side - poor internet reception...
So you haven't heard from me for a few days!

It's a fascinating place...
Full of old Bedford carcases that are used for spare parts.
This was the way in...

Past a big truck loaded with crushed bodies...
Stripped of their bits and pieces...
Only good for scrap metal.

The way in continued...
Past the line up of old history.
Luckily Lance had a tractor or two...
It had been raining and we all got bogged...
Driving into the paddock where the rally was held.
Another new experience for me...
I've been loaded onto a tow truck but not towed out of the mud before.

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All sorts of restored Bedford house-buses turned up at the rally...

This  had been a mobile post office.

More restored Bedford's... Parked in the muddy paddock...
Owners gathered comparing buses... Motors... Gears...
And all sorts of things.
That's me with my bike on front.
I was towed in backwards...
Really down on one side and my back left wheel in a hole.
But soon a big 11 meter bus arrived...
The owner wandered over and offered to jack me up...
 No trouble... So soon I was level... Sitting on several blocks...


Here are piles of parts...

And beautiful old Bedford bodies...
Reclining... Waiting... Reflecting!




 
And the beautiful restored... Much loved... Lived in...
House-buses.

History parked amongst the weeds...


Another house-bus... Lived in as a full time home.

Beautifully restored and painted.

I
I wandered amongst the old bodies...
Wondering at the stories they could tell

My Bedford... Inside Renovations...

I'm now parked at Ahipara... At a builder friend's house...
Up the sloping drive...
And propped up on big bits of wood to get reasonably level.
My yellow tri-levelers are being used as ramps...
Up onto the higher bits of wood...



It seemed a bit precarious to me...
But I'm in gear and hand brake firmly on...
And haven't rolled off yet!

This is Angus...
He's a craftsman builder...
His favourite thing is to build in native timbers...
But sadly none of that here...
Just very practical ply wood to do jobs that, when finished,
will mostly be hidden from view.
You know from previous photos that I have a big bed
down the back end of my bus.
Underneath it is a lot of space that could be utilized for storage...
But it's too hard for me to get to it...
 The mattress and base it sits on need to be lifted up.
So the major job being done this week is to re-vamp
the bed space underneath and
make the mattress lift up more easily...
My thoughts are to lift it on gas strutts...
But will see what Angus has in mind!

So... My mattress has been removed... All the bedding folded up...

All the stuff under the bed moved into the garage...
There are some cupboards with sliding baskets in front under the bed...
But a lot of unused space at the sides and back...
And living in a house bus and down sizing...
Every square inch is precious.

Here is the workbench... Skill Saw... Router...

And more tools... And  a Drop Saw...

This is underneath the back part of the bed...
The 210 litre fresh water tank sits in the middle...
 It had old fibre-glass 'pink batts' insulation over it... They have gone!
That's great as the fibre glass when old disintegrates into dust that is as dangerous to breathe as asbestos!
The wall dividing the cubicle at the right back has gone... So that opens up a much bigger space...

At the foot end of the bed was a shelf with an old radio hung
underneath it...That's gone!
You might remember, I had books piled up there!
The board at the end had speakers set into it... They have gone and the board being replaced.
The little cupboards with lids that lift up... You can't see it but they have an overhanging lip...
That is being trimmed back to sit flush...

Angus... Doing marvellous things...
Lots of detail to make everything fit perfecftly and lift up with no obstructions or hindrances...
Which is what happens now and makes it so impossibly difficult!

Here you can see the water tank at the back
has been re-insulated with  new
Polyester Fibre that is used for underfloor insulation.
A curve has been cut in the back left cubicle.
Can't take that division out entirely as in front of that the wall that holds the sliding baskets attaches.

Here you can see the much bigger space on the right...
And new frame work over the top of the water tank...
The bed base will hinge onto this so that when it lifts up
there is a space at the back for the side of the  mattress to sit on.


More photos coming as work progresses...
So watch this space...