Spaanse AK 400 in Engeland

[Geert]

Gezien op International2cvfriends  De vraagprijs is niet verkeerd, maar voordat je hem in NL hebt ........ :

I am selling a Citroen aks400 van. It needs a new chassis, floors, sills, and lower front bulkhead. Note - This is a private sale, not in any way connected with the business where the van is currently stored. Please do not contact them directly.

This 1974 aks400 van has been SORN'd since April 2012 as the large holes in the floor made it obvious that quite a bit of welding was needed! I bought the van hoping to be able to make it a rolling restoration after the initial work, but further checking showed that the chassis really needs changing first which has pushed the project out of my budget. I think the van is worth saving, but regrettably, not by me paying others to do the work. The van runs, and has been driven very recently.


Spaanse AK 400 in Engeland by geert1953, on Flickr


The van is currently stored on business premises in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, and they are very kindly letting me sell it from there, so it can ONLY be viewed during normal hours Monday – Friday, 8:30 – 17:30, by prior arrangement. As the van is without MOT/Tax it would need trailering from site. Please PM me in the first instance.

I am asking £1250 for the van. If you are still interested please read on and look at all the other pictures, it may answer queries and explain things more. ;)

Long Version
I have only owned it for 2 weeks, and know very little more about it other than what you can see, and what is covered in the modest paperwork which came with it.

The van was Spanish built and first registered January 1974. It looks to have been imported to the UK and MOT'd August 2006, and first registered in the UK May 2007 in Bristol. It was then sold to the people I bought it from May 2008, when it was used as a daily driver until the last MOT expired April 2012, after which it was SORN'd and has been barn stored until I bought it.

The reason it was not MOT'd in 2012 was that the both front floors were then beyond further patching and a serious welding job was needed to replace both floors, sills, and lower front bulkhead, and the owners had other priorities. There was also a concern that fumes were entering the cab suggesting that a cylinder head maybe leaking.

This much I knew already when I first saw the van, and apart from several patches of surface rust, and a worse patch at the top of one of the rear doors, one realises that the van has been quite poorly hand painted, a paler blue than original, and is quite shabby. The left side front wing has been damaged and now has cracked filler after being knocked by a stationary farm tractor! (don't ask) There is a split to the bottom edge of the spare wheel (present) cover. The van body seems in reasonable condition although the rear inner wings/bump stops have previously been patched. I was able to briefly test drive the van 2 weeks ago on a private road, and it seemed to go along nicely to me.

Being aware of these issues, and after discussion with a specialist, I decided that this seemed like an interesting rolling restoration project. I planned to get the welding done, get it MOT'd, and consider what and how I could progressively improve the overall vehicle over a longer time.

I duly bought the van and it was delivered to the workshop for the welding. Closer careful inspection and judicious application of the MOT hammer to the bottom skin showed the chassis had deteriorated significantly since the last MOT, and there is a kink developing in the front left chassis beam, just in front of the front axle. So a chassis replacement is also needed beyond what I had anticipated. It was also noticed that the driver's door does not fit well making it difficult to close, getting too close to the van body at the bottom corner. Since floors and sills need replacing the door aperture can be corrected at the same time. The right hand side (square) headlamp silvering has corroded and will need replacing.

So if I was going to keep this van I would be paying to remove the body and replace the chassis. Refit the body and pay to have new sills, floors, and bulkhead replaced. Standard stuff.

As I would need to pay other people to do many more hours of work than I hoped this project has been pushed firmly out of my budget. The work that needs doing is routine, and the parts readily available, and for somebody paying £0/hr for labour it could be a good viable project.

Normally a van of this type would have front drum brakes, but it would seem to have had a replacement engine and disc gearbox at some point. It was noticed that the engine swap has resulted in several non-standard adaptations to the engine installation, eg to the organ pedal throttle linkage, and air filter position/mounting.

I have taken about 100 pictures to show nearly all views I could think of, so hopefully there would be no surprises if/when you view the van.

http://s1203.photobucket.com/user/simonbaxtersandy/slideshow/AK400-Anna

I need to sell the van so as not to further stretch the hospitality/goodwill of the workshop where it is currently staying, and they are very kindly letting me sell it from there without having to move again. As the van is currently on business premises, in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, it can ONLY be viewed during normal hours Monday – Friday, 8:30 – 17:30, by prior arrangement. As the van is without MOT/Tax it would need "trailering" from site.

I am asking £1250 for the van. If you are interested at this price I would love to hear from you. I am being completely open about what I know, and I think the pictures give a pretty comprehensive impression.

If there are no club takers then, I'll be listing on EBay, initially probably as a Classified, then auction if I have to (hey, then perhaps it might go higher!).

Please PM me in the first instance to discuss further, and/or make arrangements to view. Let me know your phone number and I will happily give you a call as soon as I can (but life is quite hectic!).

Note - This is a private sale, not in any way connected with the business where the van is currently stored. Please do not contact them directly.

V5C in my name.

Thanks for getting to the end... :)
Simon

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