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Bedford Rascal what to look out for


holbeck

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9 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Other than that they're pretty dependable little things.  So long as they don't fall over...

are they really that easy to tip over? LOL

I remember watching the top gear episode where richard hammond has one, and I was expecting it to fall over when they took it out on the race track

where of course it dutifly does, but I have wondered did top gear tinker with it to make it fall over or not? (much like how they messed with the Reliant to make it fall over)

 

(if said young chap wants a bedford rascal as his first vehicle, sounds like he would fit in very well on this forum!)

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You always remember you're first,

vehicle or sexual experience

Try to guide him to less dangerous memories

Safer options exist in the form of a C1/07/G0 Panda/Picanto flavour but then I never listened to sensible advice when I started driving and my £200 Cortina is a treasured memory of30 years ago.....

Find a decent solid example and fix any mechanical issues as they arise, It will build character.

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I remember offering to push a Bedford rascal to Copenhagen with a 2.0 auto carlton on the 2008 scally rally. Day one 1000km, and at a steady 50mph I felt sorry for them. They refused the offer. They also broke down. Finished the rally in a hire car. 

 

Tell him good luck. He’ll need it. 

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5 hours ago, busmansholiday said:

Once you've driven one and realised that any sort of accident involving the front end is liable to result in amputation of your legs below the knee, your enthusiasm sort of wanes.

Yep a mate of mine's mum & dad had one for their business. The one time I rode in it having my kneecap roughly behind the back of the headlamp bowl did focus the mind a bit.

Got to say though I did still rather like it.

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21 minutes ago, ETCHY said:

Yep a mate of mine's mum & dad had one for their business. The one time I rode in it having my kneecap roughly behind the back of the headlamp bowl did focus the mind a bit.

Got to say though I did still rather like it.

I love the idea of your legs being the crumple zone. Your femurs are actually part of the passive safety features ?

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I used to look after a few of these back in the 90's.

Head gaskets were a bit of a concern on high milers also some would start to burn oil and foul up spark plugs then finally blow lots of oil smoke out their tail pipes.

Most fail to proceeds were down to worn out or faulty points and / or condensers and spark plugs blowing out because they are in a recess in the head and prone to being cross threaded.

My favourite Mot failure on these was severly worn steering idler bushes that really gave them vague handling.

The bush was a rubber/metal conical sleeve and easy enough to replace with a big vice and a hammer and once changed would restore the handling back to just mildly alarming.

Good little vans i used to think and easy to work on.

The in laws had a B reg 3 pot Daihatsu van that was hammered to and fro to St Austell every week with little complaint apart from a cracked head due to the water pump springing a leak.

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I always loved these when I was a kid. I think it was the shrunk in the wash lorry cab look that appealed. 

 Only drove one once, and got it unintentionally sideways in a car park. 

Empty van on bald tyres was the cause I suspect. 

 

I've got a mate which has a Daihatsu hijet pickup which he shares with his brother. 

They are sizable guys and it always reminds me of this :80450552.jpg.42d11b5419a81c38b945933b6a541748.jpg

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