Van of enormous power Mk 4

[Stinsy]

keep your eye out for a turbo for it, or a knackered turbo van you can nick the parts from

it's shocking the difference it makes and how much nicer they are to drive

It's a 2.5ltr turbo. Does about 500 miles to the tank. I'll be dropping all fluids & filters next couple of weeks. I might play about with the fuel injection pump and air intake, just to increase response time. Pretty much in 5th gear all the way up the road about 2700rpm and not above 3,000.

A mate of min owns a garage. At one time he did a lot of work on motorhomes for a guy who took them in as PX against newer ones. He found the brakes to be the biggest problem because the underlying platform was designed to do 30k miles a year and most vans had spent a lot of time sat idle.

If your engine doesn't have an intercooler then that is a very wise upgrade.

Is yours an auto BTW? I know a lot of the Duetto's were...

[Joeboy]

keep your eye out for a turbo for it, or a knackered turbo van you can nick the parts from

it's shocking the difference it makes and how much nicer they are to drive

It's a 2.5ltr turbo. Does about 500 miles to the tank. I'll be dropping all fluids & filters next couple of weeks. I might play about with the fuel injection pump and air intake, just to increase response time. Pretty much in 5th gear all the way up the road about 2700rpm and not above 3,000.

A mate of min owns a garage. At one time he did a lot of work on motorhomes for a guy who took them in as PX against newer ones. He found the brakes to be the biggest problem because the underlying platform was designed to do 30k miles a year and most vans had spent a lot of time sat idle.

If your engine doesn't have an intercooler then that is a very wise upgrade.

Is yours an auto BTW? I know a lot of the Duetto's were...

It's a 5 spd manual. I'll be a while getting to grips with it all. Yes on the brakes, the first 50 miles or so there were odd rubbing noises coming from the front end, likely brake disc surface corrosion burning off. The van had a brand new handbrake cable, starter motor and crank battery a few days ago.

It ran the 600 miles up the road effortlessly and sounded all the better for getting that run into it. I think it's been well looked after but servicing dropped away the last couple of years. As to intercooler, my first look under the bonnet, I said "bastards" to myself. I'll post a photo tomorrow. It's not neat and it's been messed with. No biggy but I do like my vehicles to be reasonably neat across the board. The major habitation components showing as working today was a huge relief. Filters & fluids are cheap by comparison to a dual fuel fridge freezer cratering...

[knighty]

the 2.5di engines in them are indestructible, they run forever with pretty much zero maintenance

I can remember helping my dad when I was a kid, we'd only service them at MOT time, normally we'd go to check them and there'd be no water in the header tank and no oil showing on the dip stick, we'd change filters fill them up and send them off for another year

a decent battery on them makes a big difference


if yours was originally a turbo it'll probably be a Lucas fuel pump and rive by wire throttle, otherwise it's a Boche pump and cable throttle

All Bosch pumps had a lift pump on the side of the engine (at the back, just below exhaust manifold, passenger side), some Lucas pumps had them some didn't... if yours has one it's worth changing, they're not expensive, probably £20. they last about 50k miles normally, if it packs up while you're driving it'll leave you stuck dead till you replace it. it's just two nuts and 2 pipes, about a 20min job taking your time

if you do anything with the gearbox oil put ATF in it, it's much better for them, gears can get heavy in the cold with the thicker stuff - if you do change the oil, to re-fill it pop the gearstick out and pour it in there, its easy to get to and much easier than trying to squirt it into the little fill hole

I really miss the older transits :-(

[Joeboy]

the 2.5di engines in them are indestructible, they run forever with pretty much zero maintenance

I can remember helping my dad when I was a kid, we'd only service them at MOT time, normally we'd go to check them and there'd be no water in the header tank and no oil showing on the dip stick, we'd change filters fill them up and send them off for another year

a decent battery on them makes a big difference


if yours was originally a turbo it'll probably be a Lucas fuel pump and rive by wire throttle, otherwise it's a Boche pump and cable throttle

All Bosch pumps had a lift pump on the side of the engine (at the back, just below exhaust manifold, passenger side), some Lucas pumps had them some didn't... if yours has one it's worth changing, they're not expensive, probably £20. they last about 50k miles normally, if it packs up while you're driving it'll leave you stuck dead till you replace it. it's just two nuts and 2 pipes, about a 20min job taking your time

if you do anything with the gearbox oil put ATF in it, it's much better for them, gears can get heavy in the cold with the thicker stuff - if you do change the oil, to re-fill it pop the gearstick out and pour it in there, its easy to get to and much easier than trying to squirt it into the little fill hole

I really miss the older transits :-(

Thanks Knighty, I'll note all of that and look. Boiler suit will likely be next week. Last two days have been spent cleaning it, testing and making it ours. Did a wee bit of bodywork too. Left the 500W heater running in it overnight along with the dehumidifer. Dehumidifier frozen and shutdown this morning! I've got 3kW heating running in it to get it to bone dry and we'll go from there.

Hoping the window repair gear arrives soon so i can get that out of the way.

Repair ongoing but definitely watertight now. Once sanded I'll prime it and slap a Scotland sticker on it! Looks like Argentina at the moment.

[Joeboy]

Trying out table two, just the right size. This van will be easy to stay in. SWMBO has tracked down a travel kettle, I've got the gas fallback kettle too. So thats the most important part sorted.

[Bugtownboy]

Date nights +++





Seriously, that looks an ideal sized ‘home’ for European touring.

You’ll love it I’m sure.

[Joeboy]

Date nights +++





Seriously, that looks an ideal sized ‘home’ for European touring.

You’ll love it I’m sure.

Thank you btb, it may be the ideal 2 middle age folk mobile. As an aside and to furtively support my 2nd hand buy ethos. Have you guys & gals watched "buy now!" on netflix? I am on my 5th go of it in small sections as it is genuinely too much to watch continually. Have a swatch at it if ye can.

[Bugtownboy]

Not wanting to steal your thread Joe, but second hand is definitely the way to go to support the rest of an environmentally friendly lifestyle.

Bought a couple of items of clothing from flea bay to replace worn out items, sorry, now work wear.

Both of them were unworn still with labels attached. Now, unless they were knocked off, how does that work ?

Some of ‘our’ consumerist behaviour is appalling.

[Joeboy]

Not wanting to steal your thread Joe, but second hand is definitely the way to go to support the rest of an environmentally friendly lifestyle.

Bought a couple of items of clothing from flea bay to replace worn out items, sorry, now work wear.

Both of them were unworn still with labels attached. Now, unless they were knocked off, how does that work ?

Some of ‘our’ consumerist behaviour is appalling.

Steal away pal, you're not of course. Have at it! I am very much for used gear. Have been my whole life, very much recognised the quality drop off on time equivalent toys as a child compared to what my Granda Jimmy & Granny Lizzy would give me for Christmas as a nipper. Jimmy was a Glasgow Barras trader from the 1960's through to his death in 1982. Every single Christmas present I ever had from them both was second or fourth hand. They arrived with black bags full of swag in the most wonderfully garish Christmas paper.

NOTHING since those presents has even come close, nothing.

Alt rough wip view in van, swmbo very much enjoyed the evening, classic fm was excellent accompaniment to the evening.

[Moxi]

Hows the dehumidifier going, is it pulling much from the fabric of the camper?

Moxi