Take a cool look a1 panel-van conversions
Page 40
Page 41
Page 42
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Not all refrigerated vehicles are maximum. weight artics. Here, David Wilcox looks at the operation and conversion of a standarc panel van which is proving to be an effective refrigerated delivery vehicle at th( lighter end of the range
MORE FOOD PRODUCTS are being moved under temperaturecontrolled conditions these days. With one eye on the European Economic Community, people like butchers, fish merchants and confectioners suspect that impending legislation may soon dictate the use of chilled delivery vehicles. Consequently, in many instances standard panel vans have given way to insulated or refrigerated versions.
There are two ways of building an insulated and refrigerated light van. You can either mount a separate insulated/refrigerated box body on a chassis cab, or use the standard integral panel van and add the insulation/refrigeration to the existing body shell.
The first method is the best known, but the conversion of panel vans has become an increasingly popular alternative and to find out more about this method I have visited a company that uses one and a bodybuilder that carries out the necessary conversion.
York House of Dunstable is a small business making sausages, bacon and cooked meats. It supplies these to hotels, restaurants, canteens and shops within a 40-mile radius of Dunstable, using six vans for the multi-drop deliveries.
The earliest four vans (three Ford Transits and a Bedford CF) are insulated panel vans, but have no refrigeration equipment. Ray Peacock, who supervises York House's distribution, told me that he also believes that refrigeraion will ultimately become mandatory for the delivery of meat products and so the two newest vans in the fleet have been specified with this in mind.
York House first opted for the more conventional type of construction with a separate refrigerated box body mounted on a Bedford CF chassis cab. Ray Peacock said that there is nothing wrong with this combination but that the volume/weight ratio it gives is wasteful for York House's meat products. Explained Ray: "When we reach the 3.5-tonne-gross-weight limit in the CF only about a third of the space in the box body is used."
So for the next van York House wanted to maximise the payload potential within the 3.5tonne limit but could easily afford to loose a little volume in the process-parameters which suit the refrigerated panel van.
York House's earlier insulated Transits had been converted by GRP Cooltrucks of Farsley near Leeds and so Ray Peacock returned to this company last autumn for a refrigerated panel van conversion. He allowed himself to be guided by Cooltrucks' recommendations over the choice of van and the specification of the insulation/refrigeration necessary.
For reasons explained later, the main contenders in the choice of van to be converte were the Volkswagen LT35, th Iveco (Fiat) Daily 35.9 and th Mercedes-Benz 310.
The Mercedes-Benz 310 cam highly recommended to Ra Peacock by other users in similar line of business an when he investigated the price Ray was pleasantly surprised t, find that it was not so expensiv as he had imagined. The currer list price for the 310 panel van i £7,240, which is £300 more thal the equivalent 3.5-tonne-gyv petrol-engined Ford Transit 19C or just £6 more than the Custon model of the Transit.
Having decided on a 3.5 tonne-gross Mercedes-Ben there was then a choice betweer the diesel-engined model (307D and the petrol version (the 3101 Incidentally, the Bremen num hat has been applied to these Ind the 207/210 models is now meing phased out because proluction of the vans is being witched from the Mercedes tremen factory to the Dussellorf plant.
All York House's other vans :re petrol-engined and Ray Pea;ock continued with this policy my opting for the 310 Model. "1 lad been told that a diesel enline would not justify the extra ;ost unless the van was doing nore than 30,000 miles a year, ind ours are doing about 18,0000,000 miles."
At this\ time the Mercedeslenz 310 was new to the UK, naking its debut at the NEC ilotor Show last October. It remined the 308 and the major :hanges were the introduction a five-speed gearbox, the 'prating of the engine from 13kW (85bhp) to 70kW (94bhp) Ind the inclusion of better iound-proofing.
The 310's engine is the 2.3itre carburettor unit previously .'sed in the Mercedes 230 car which is now superseded by a )etrol injected version called the ?30E) and makes the 310 among he most powerful 3.5-tonners )n the market.
Ray Peacock said the performance is useful but was not high Jp on his list of priorities; the Five-speed gearbox (although lot an overdrive top) was rated more highly. Following the :onversion by GRP Cooltrucks the 310 was delivered to York House last November and has aince covered 11,000 miles.
Two other factors that inFluenced Ray Peacock's decision :o choose a panel van conver3ion were that it was cheaper to )uy than the chassis cab/box Dody combination and that it Dffers a lower drag factor. This is 'eflected in the fuel consump:ion; bearing in mind the other differences, the 310 is averaging 15.711it/100km (18mpg) while the Bedford CF/box body combiiation is recording 20.211it/100km (14mpg).
The transit temperature required for the York House meat products is 2-4 degrees Centigrade (35-40 degrees Farenheit) and to achieve this GRP Cooltrucks fitted a Hubbard 460 refrigeration unit driven off the Mercedes' engine and 50mrn (2in) of polyurethane insulation throughout the load compartment. A central 610mm (2ft) fridge-type rear door replaces the standard double doors.
Thermostatically controlled, :he fridge unit cuts in to pull the :emperature down as needed, :ountering the ingress of warm air during the 20-30 drops on the day's delivery round. The interior of the van is partially racked for the smaller items like pies — the remainder is left empty for the York House trays.
Although pleased with the 310's performance, Ray Peacock does not expect to buy another — he will probably opt for the diesel version, the 307. "York House is growing quickly and we are moving to bigger premises slightly further north, which means the vans will be covering more mileage. Personally, I don't think that figure of 30,000 miles a year before a diesel engine becomes viable is correct — I think it's lower. But it is the longevity of the diesel engine that really attracts me." To find out more about the design and the work entailed in the conversion of a standard panel van into an insulated and refrigerated model I visited GRP Cooltrucks at its Farsley factory. This company builds exclusively grp bodywork for temperature controlled applications; it does no general bodybuilding. In particular, it has specialised in panel van work and of the 350 jobs it does each year about 90 per cent are insulating/refrigerating panel vans. The remaining 10 per cent are refrigerated box bodies up to 7.9m (26ft) long built from Cargo Van kits.
GRP Cooltrucks sales director Tony Daniels told me that the company can insulate and refrigerate any panel van you care to mention, right down to the very smallest models such as a Honda Acty or Ford Escort. The 2.5-3.5-tonne gvw size is the most popular basis for conversion since it avoids the complications of operators' licensing and tachographs and can take advantage of the less stringent domestic driving hours by keeping under the 3.5 tonnes gross limit. This is an important consideration since many of Cooltrucks' customers are small businesses, shop-keepers or family concerns to whom transport regulations are an unwelcome complexity.
Any van can be tackled, but some lend themselves to the conversion better than others. Broadly speaking, the best subjects are those with a relatively squared load compartment with near-vertical side and rear panels. The finished interior walls of the insulated conversion will of necessity be flat and so a bulbous shape will waste internal load space.
Consequently, the three vans in the 2.5-3.5-tonne-gvw range that are best suited are all particularly flat-sided and have near vertical rear end; the MercedesBenz 207/307 and 210/310, the lveco Daily models and the VW LT models — hence the options mentioned by Ray Peacock of York House. The diesel engined Mercedes 307 is the single most popular basis for conversion.
The exact details of the work involved depend on the eventual use of the vehicle. Cooltrucks likes the customers to outline their requirements and give details of tray sizes and so on, and then Cooltrucks will draw up the best specifications.
The first stage of the conversion is to fix a timber batten heat break frame to the internal ribs of the body; nothing penetrates the outer skin. The insulation used is slab polyurethane, either 50mm (2in) or 76mm (3in) thick. Occasionally, 100mm (4in) is used for very low temperature applications such as the carriage of ice-cream. This is sandwiched between the van's outer skin and a lining constructed from moisture-resistant plywood. Small hatches may have to be included in some conversions to give access to rear-light clusters or correspond to engine covers on a rear engined van like the VW Transporter. And an insulated front bulkhead has to be constructed so that the driver is not chilled/frozen!
To finish the interior a laminated grp liner is laid in situ, building up the resin and matting to achieve a joint-free lining that can be hosed out with ease. Racking or shelving is installed as necessary.
Customer requirements also dictate the type of doors fitted. Where only gentle chilling is required the standard rear doors can be retained but with the windows panelled-in and an insulated lining added. For lower temperatures a fridge-type door is needed and the standard doors are removed to be replaced by a neat, insulated grp moulding which follows the lines of the van and incorporates the fridge door. Side doors can be treated in the same way and separate compartments can be constructed where chilled and non-chilled loaclspace is needed in the same van.
The York House Mercedes is fitted with a high roof so that the driver can stand upright in the load space. This is not the optional Mercedes-Benz roof extension (which is steel) but a Cooltrucks grp moulding. This saves weight. and also incorporates a recess in the front to take the roof-mounted refrigeration condenser unit.
For the majority of panel van conversions GRP Cooltrucks fits the Hubbard 460 fridge unit which is easily capable of chilling or keeping goods frozen in the 3.5-tonne-gross vehicle size. On the Mercedes-Benz vans a belt drive is taken off the engine's crankshaft to power the fridge compressor. When the required temperature is reached, the thermostat disengages the electro-magnetic clutch on the compressor and switches off the twin fans in the roof-mounted condenser.
To maintain the temperature for long periods when the van's engine is not running there is a standby compressor which runs off mains electricity and can normally be mounted under the passenger seat.
It takes GRP Cooltrucks about three weeks to carry out the full conversion. Tony Daniels said that most customers are like York House and in the sausages/cooked meat/pies business. There are also those delivering products like frozen pizzas and an increasing number of small ice-cream manufacturers. The common factor between all of them is that they do not need the volume available in a larger boxtype body.
Before conversion, the Mercedes-Benz 307/310 offers 9.6cum (339cuft) of loadspace in its long-wheelbase and highroof form. The addition of 76mm (3in) of insulation and the intrusion of the evaporator will reduce this by about 2.2cum (7 8cuft). The weight of the conversion, including the refrigeration equipment is around 260kg (5.1cwt).
Inevitably, some operators will choose a panel-van conversion in preference to a chassis cab/box body combination largely on price. For example, the 310 panel van is around £500 more than the 310 chassis cab, but the Cooltrucks conversion costs around £3,430 compared with £4,650 it charges for the equivalent 3m (10ft) long Cargo
Van refrigerated box body. 11 means that overall there is saving of around £700 for t Cooltrucks panel van cony, sion.
Tony Daniels, of Cooltruc said that another reason w some customers will choose panel-van conversion is that looks significantly smaller a less bulky than a box-bodi vehicle. This apparently is qu an attraction for many of t smaller, "one man and his wif businesses where the dri% may feel more confident behi the wheel of a van that th perceive is smaller.
On the debit side, the ability demount the box body and usi on a second chassis when t first one is at the end of its life not possible with a convert panel van. Tony Daniels clair that this body interchangeabil is over-rated and question how often operators actually u this facility.
Insulated and refrigerat panel vans may not be the al wer to everyone's needs small, temperature controll delivery vehicles; if you carrying light, bulky goods su as saladstuffs of gateaux a b body will probably be more tractive. But proof of the viabil of panel van conversions is G Cooltrucks itself — special': tion in this type of work has suited in a healthy order bc and earlier this year the co pany opened a factory in the P therlands to tackle the Europe market.