I should know better at my age

[David Kemp]

I have just bought this Bradford from the late Bill Ebzerys widow Sue.
& could not say no as it was running & registered only 1 year ago. My plans are to just get it road worthy. As a weekend play toy till my Jupiter is finished.
There are many small items that need atention but nothing major. This ute is identical to my first Bradford , I should know by now not to let emotions control me but , you only live once

[Forumadmin]

Quite! Enjoy. Put the tent in the back and go walkabout.

[Jeremy]

I like the look of this one! I remember seeing it on a film and liking the pick up back part, quite different from the standard ones. I'm sure you will have a lot of fun with it

[David Kemp]

As my Bradfy has not been driven in years I am doing a bit of pre emptive msintenance.
1st step was a general inspection which revealed a few items that though not critcal I intend to remedy bit by bit.
Next I drained the old fuel out of the tank , this really smelt off.
The fuel filter had a tide mark on fron the old fuel so that will need replacing. After that I cleaned the fuel pump & carb bowl.the carb spindles are worn so a future project looks like a carb rebuild .Does anyone have advice on carb rebuilds?
What do people do regards the air filter mine looks 70 years old. Has any one found a modern replacement?
My steering seems extremely heavy, plan today is get it on stands & grease everything.

[Keith Clements]

Lots of advice on carb rebuilds on viewtopic.php?p=25370#p25370 as the Jav and Jup Zeniths not that different. You could try a modern paper mesh or foam air filter suitably enclosed in a period can.

[Jeremy]

A lot of Bradfords don't have an air filter - either nothing or a gauze over the inlet holes to stop large things falling in. But you can get modern filters to fit inside the old steel cans if you are luck enough to have one of those.

Carbs are straightforward to overhaul, just have to hope that the old fuel has not gone thick and treacle like in the passages under the jets themselves. These passages are very difficult to clean out.

[David Kemp]

The dirty filter came off my Bradford.
It rattles , crud falls out & you can"t blow through it.

[David Kemp]

My daughter is greasing my Bradford & finding blocked & damaged grease nipples. Anyone know the thread so I can buy new ones? Also what is the latest regards Bradford steering bix overhaul the bottim bush is flogged out

[Jeremy]

They are BSF threaded, from memory all the same size just have different angles to them (straight, 90 degree etc)

I bet it liked the new fuel filter!! That one was well past its best

[ajg1722]

I've had to change some grease nipples on the steering system too recently. The ones on the king pins are 5/16 BSF and those at the ball joints were 1/4 BSF. I found them easy to source on ebay.
Andrew

[David Kemp]

On the weekend I changed the tyres as the old ones were hard cracking & 30 years old.also discovered the outer rims were not that straight. I will see how it runs before, putting wider rims on.
Sadly also found the worm in the steering box is beyond economic repair . fortunately the club has some & are now looking at them for me.
Other problem was melted wiring blocks, I will be replacing the added wiring for safety & add in a relay to the lighting.
I also had to rcalibrate the speedo as the needle had come loose.

[David Kemp]

[Jeremy]

They look nice tyres, what make and size are they?

[David Kemp]

Tyres are 175 65 Nankang light truck.
Cheaper tyres all had bad reviews & better tyres are too hard to get. Local tyre places all supply Nankang.
On another matter, doing steering box research MG TC appears to have the same steering box as a Bradford.
Parts are available for the MG , does any one know if they are the same or just similar?
This also explains why some people have said when new Bradfords had steering as good as an MG.
A friend of mine also commented driving an old MG reminded him of driving his Bradford.

[Jeremy]

Thanks David that tyre might be a future choice for me as they certainly look good.

The steering on the MG TC is awful to say the least - one of the worst steering MG's I've driven. Wrongly set up they are all over the place. But yes the same kind of set up on the Bradford - which can be wayward too! Adding more castor angle can help as it makes the car self centre more and therefore more stable in a straight line. Castor edges can be bought easily, MG actually fitted them for a while in the factory. But I have seen them fitted the wrong way around which just makes things worse. In fact I had one MG in the workshop and the whole axle was in round the wrong way = that was not only dangerous but must have been a total nightmare to steer!

I guess when Bradfords were new, and use commercial use, the load in the back would have increased caster by sitting the back of the van/lorry down. This may be why when in use today, running empty that we notice more the steering issues.

There are a number of conversions for TC's. One of the most common is to use a VW Beetle box slightly modified for mounting and drop arm. I don't see why this couldn't be similarly modified for a Bradford.

Cheers
Jeremy