Sherpa Van question

[scooters]

Well...an LDV Convoy 400 LPG....

Are these any good?

 

Considering a SWB one for work, there's an 04 for 600 quid in pretty decent condition. We usually get diesels but I have heard good reports.

[messerschmitt owner]

Well...an LDV Convoy 400 LPG....

Are these any good?

 

Considering a SWB one for work, there's an 04 for 600 quid in pretty decent condition. We usually get diesels but I have heard good reports.

imagine an inflatable Leyland by Austin Morris blown up with a footpump - it'll be like that but without the interesting steering wander!

[scooters]

Well...an LDV Convoy 400 LPG....

Are these any good?

 

Considering a SWB one for work, there's an 04 for 600 quid in pretty decent condition. We usually get diesels but I have heard good reports.

imagine an inflatable Leyland by Austin Morris blown up with a footpump - it'll be like that but without the interesting steering wander!

 

Sounds perfect...

BTW, mad norrie back from hols he is checking his diary for a gloucester trip.

[messerschmitt owner]

Well...an LDV Convoy 400 LPG....

Are these any good?

 

Considering a SWB one for work, there's an 04 for 600 quid in pretty decent condition. We usually get diesels but I have heard good reports.

imagine an inflatable Leyland by Austin Morris blown up with a footpump - it'll be like that but without the interesting steering wander!

 

Sounds perfect...

BTW, mad norrie back from hols he is checking his diary for a gloucester trip.

brill!

[wuvvum]

without the interesting steering wander!

You've obviously not been driving the same Convoys that I have...

[Partridge]

May I suggest heading over to AROnline, singing up and asking about them? It’s not all MG6s and BINIs y’know

[oman5]

apologies to anyone who likes them, but to me they always seemed to drive like the cobbled together mongrel that they are. most definitely with steering wander and the real possibility of kingpin trouble. For all that, they are excellent value for money as a budget hauler, with masses of space. If its the LPG one it may well be ex-local authority/council as they seemed to like them, which means it should at least have been maintained properly.

The one I drove had the Ford 8v twin cam, which is an ok engine when working properly with decent economy for a pez motor but HGF is not unknown and is a twat of a job to fix (IMO, anyway).

[scooters]

The win for us is not really how it drives but more the ruggedness of the vehicle, it's a short distance work horse, not for motorway courier journeys.

 

AR online helpful with my older sherpa -

 

I am in the LDV forum but wanted opinion from you guys re the engine in these things - diesel - straightforward - petrol/lpg in a goods van - hmmm... not so sure

 

mind you the rangie is working out fine for LPG

[messerschmitt owner]

London LEZ exempt FTW!!

[Junkman]

Well...an LDV Convoy 400 LPG....

Are these any good?

 

No. Not by any stretch of the imagination. That's exactly why I like them so much.

I had a Pilot with the XUD and it was so drastically atrocious, I almost cried when I had to push it over the bridge.

I wish I could afford to buy another one.

[Junkman]

The win for us is not really how it drives but more the ruggedness of the vehicle, it's a short distance work horse, not for motorway courier journeys.

 

AR online helpful with my older sherpa -

 

I am in the LDV forum but wanted opinion from you guys re the engine in these things - diesel - straightforward - petrol/lpg in a goods van - hmmm... not so sure

 

mind you the rangie is working out fine for LPG

 

If the LPG thing is your concern, your misgivings are totally unjustified.

Gas is the natural fuel for internal combustion engines. To make them run on petrol requires a plethora of tricks, like complex fuel delivery via pumps, etc., fuel carburetion (i.e. make a liquid gasiform - there you have it) and a shitload of additives in the petrol to make it suitable for the purpose to be burnt in engines, which must have a much lower compression ratio as would be desirable from an engineering point of view, just to cope with running on petrol.

 

The latter is the reason why petrol engines merely fitted with a gas feed (as it is customary and falsely called 'LPG conversion') use quantitatively more gas than petrol while at the same time having less power. If they were truly converted to gas operation, the compression would be boosted to 15-16 to 1. They would then run a lot more efficiently than petrol powered engines, especially when measured in a proper physical quantification like grams per Kwh. They would also be a lot more powerful.

 

The first engines ever built ran on gas and most stationary engines still do. The reason they were changed by Herr Maybach to run on petrol was simply on the grounds, that petrol was safer, easier to transport on vehicles, and easier to purchase, than gas was back in the day.

 

The first company to ever produce internal combustion engines was called Deutz Gasmotoren Fabrik - gas engine factory.

 

Especially if you use the vehicle only on short trips, gas or petrol is a much better choice than diesel.

[Bobthebeard]

The win for us is not really how it drives but more the ruggedness of the vehicle, it's a short distance work horse, not for motorway courier journeys.

 

AR online helpful with my older sherpa -

 

I am in the LDV forum but wanted opinion from you guys re the engine in these things - diesel - straightforward - petrol/lpg in a goods van - hmmm... not so sure

 

mind you the rangie is working out fine for LPG

 

If the LPG thing is your concern, your misgivings are totally unjustified.

Gas is the natural fuel for internal combustion engines. To make them run on petrol requires a plethora of tricks, like complex fuel delivery via pumps, etc., fuel carburetion (i.e. make a liquid gasiform - there you have it) and a shitload of additives in the petrol to make it suitable for the purpose to be burnt in engines, which must have a much lower compression ratio as would be desirable from an engineering point of view, just to cope with running on petrol.

 

The latter is the reason why petrol engines merely fitted with a gas feed (as it is customary and falsely called 'LPG conversion') use quantitatively more gas than petrol while at the same time having less power. If they were truly converted to gas operation, the compression would be boosted to 15-16 to 1. They would then run a lot more efficiently than petrol powered engines, especially when measured in a proper physical quantification like grams per Kwh. They would also be a lot more powerful.

 

The first engines ever built ran on gas and most stationary engines still do. The reason they were changed by Herr Maybach to run on petrol was simply on the grounds, that petrol was safer, easier to transport on vehicles, and easier to purchase, than gas was back in the day.

 

The first company to ever produce internal combustion engines was called Deutz Gasmotoren Fabrik - gas engine factory.

 

Especially if you use the vehicle only on short trips, gas or petrol is a much better choice than diesel.

 

Concise and informative explanation!

Have been an LPG convert for 12 months now, if I could run a true gas engined car I would!

[Spiny Norman]

By Autoshite standards they're up there with the worst, but as actual vans to have to drive and use for carrying stuff they're fucking awful.

I drove most of the commonly available vans a few years ago through work, Transits of various marks, Renaults, Merc Sprinters, Citroens, Ivecos, Vauxhalls etc and by far and away the most hateful of them all was the LDV Convoy they kept giving me.

It's an apology of a thing, totally outclassed and horrendous to drive compared to the 1997 'smiley face' Transit with over 200K on the clock it replaced, never mind a modern van.

 

So buy it!

[oman5]

Well...an LDV Convoy 400 LPG....

Are these any good?

 

No. Not by any stretch of the imagination. That's exactly why I like them so much.

I had a Pilot with the XUD and it was so drastically atrocious, I almost cried when I had to push it over the bridge.

I wish I could afford to buy another one.

 

I'm with you. I had the older leyland daf 200 with the perkins 2.0 diesel. it was so unutterably crap you couldn't help but love it. There was no thrashing it/taking it steady, you drove it foot to the boards all the time just to make it move.and I'd have another any day. If you've just got stuff to move and don't care how it drives, they're cheaper than buying a decent trailer.

[cms206]

We've run several Sherpa Rover Convoys at work - LR powered F956 KGA followed by Peugeot powered P520 RDS, P492 VDS and N281 MNS, with three on the run just now, Ford Di powered R194 USJ, W144 XTM and de-turbo'd Ford TDi powered W733 DCS. N281 MNS died in the scrappage scheme, rot killed the rest. Bombproof but expect a metric fuckload of welding for every MOT and regular departure of the driver's seat and battery through the floor.

 

As an aside, the most terrifying journey I have ever had was at 87mph (indicated) in W733 DCS on the A82 from Dumbarton, shortly before the turbo grenaded at 138k miles.

[cms206]

We've run several Sherpa Rover Convoys at work - LR powered F956 KGA followed by Peugeot powered P520 RDS, P492 VDS and N281 MNS, with three on the run just now, Ford Di powered R194 USJ, W144 XTM and de-turbo'd Ford TDi powered W733 DCS. N281 MNS died in the scrappage scheme, rot killed the rest. Bombproof but expect a metric fuckload of welding for every MOT and regular departure of the driver's seat and battery through the floor.

 

As an aside, the most terrifying journey I have ever had was at 87mph (indicated) in W733 DCS on the A82 from Dumbarton, shortly before the turbo grenaded at 138k miles.

 

Forgot to add, we regularly recover Merc minibuses with ours, and at least one has towed 12500kg of Volvo B10M coach. If we can't kill them.

[Junkman]

Let's face it. Those vans are bona fide Autoshite and a perfect choice if you want to let autoshiting into your work place.

However, you could regret this later in life.

 

How those things managed to comply with workplace standards for this long is beyond me. They will break your back, take care of your kidneys and bladder courtesy of hypothermia and you will eventually need a hearing aid in Morris Ital beige. Technically they are deeply rooted in the 1950s and if your idea is that this was a good time, then they certainly are the workhorse of choice for you. However, if you think the 80s were great, like I do, they fall severely short in the creature comfort department.

 

Looking at other Euro and Jap van shite, I'd be hard pressed to buy anything but yank if I needed a van professionally. Back in the day when I needed them for business, I had a succession of Chevy G20s and I can vouch for them. Go for a 80s-90s G20 with the 350 on LPG and just relax...

[Guest]

I absolutely love the Sherpa Convoy and the idea of a LPG one just adds icing to the cake.

 

If you get a well looked after one, it'll drive GR8. Good steering, nice ride, ace handling. Everything you want in a van.

 

BUY IT.