I very much think this is a bad idea. A Morris Camper?

[catsinthewelder]

Its had a fair bit of attention to be fair,  someone has made it new cushion covers and curtains but not got around to the cushions on the bunk over the cab (but has left the roll of fabric in the van to do them).  Its got a reversing camera but no screen, led rear lights and side repeaters, a solar panel and the aformentioned inverter which makes me think the previous owner liked to camp away from an electricity supply.

I need to make a table to go between the two bench seats at the back and will double as the middle of the bed.  Another smaller one for the little seats behind the cab and a hammock over the cab seats along with some curtains to make it into 3 bedrooms.

[mat_the_cat]

I have a spare leisure battery I can donate to the cause. (They were in a bank of 3, but one failed, and need to have a bank of matched condition batteries otherwise I believe they will self discharge faster). Anyway, I know I'll forget to keep it topped up so it'll end up dying, so may as well go to a good home!

[catsinthewelder]

Cheers Mat, that would be ace if it's going spare ?

Didn't do much last night as I was knackered after work but did put the hatch doors back on and glued the corners of the water filler back on.  They are super brittle though so I will stick it back on with some silicon as well as the supplied screws.  I just had a quick look at replacing it but couldn't find anything the same size.

[catsinthewelder]

I forgot that Daisy made a video on the way back from the sellers house.

https://youtu.be/ArwZZwm0pTU

[Stanky]

The rear living compartment is actually way nicer than it looked in the ebay advert, and seems a lot more complete too - is this directly after picking it up, or have you done some work already? The fuel can looks 'life affirming' (!) though I suppose its not that flammable. Must have been a bit stinky.

This is generally just mega. Top marks

[meshking]

I was going to ask - was it running off that petrol can on the dashboard?

Was the rattling from the tractor in front or the Sherpa?

[catsinthewelder]

Literally a couple of miles after collecting it, moments before it cut out at the top of the hill and a mile or two before the rear tyre burst.

It really is, I was expecting it to be awful but its really spacious and fairly recently upholstered.  I just need to make a table and get the water and gas working and shes more or less ready to camp in.  It would get a bit tiresome prebooking MOTs near campsites though so I'd best fix some other stuff?

The fuelcan is better now the pipes go through the firewall rather than the window but is less than ideal, it did cause a 'dangerous' MOT fail but isn't that bad really.

A good bit of the rattling is from the gas heater and the oven.

[catsinthewelder]

Shes not entirely happy about me uploading this but heres a video that shows it well in a as collected state.

[Stanky]

That is quite substantially better than the mercedes d207 that my in laws purchased for literally 10 times the price, 5 years ago. They used it once I think before selling at a loss.

The interior, even fresh from collection, is miles better than I expected given the pictures in the ebay ad. I take back all the slagging off I did before, you've done well with this. 

[Keymaster]

That's sound that! As already said, there's a lot worse ancient motorhomes out there, for a lot more ££. You threw the dice & won. Well done!

[wuvvum]

/\ Wot they said.  The living quarters look far less manky than I'd been expecting.  I reckon once the underside is made of metal rather than fresh air there'll be a canny profit in that if you choose to sell it (would be a shame obvs as it has FOD written all over it, but your ride your way as they say on the Blue).

[jonathan_dyane]

This is an excellent vehicle! Engine sounds very sweet.

[somewhatfoolish]

Many adventures to be had out-accelerating glaciers. It does look entirely lacking in internal damp-related horribleness. 18.6/10.

[Scruffy Bodger]

On 9/15/2020 at 5:55 PM, catsinthewelder said:

Currently a little confused about the chemical toilet, I've filled the flush tank on the outside with rinse fluid and fresh water but it's not flushing.  The internal wiring isn't very confidence inspiring either ?

I can take a look at the wiring and test the 240v system to make sure it's all earthed properly etc if you like? I've come across caravans in the past that have been got at by DIY'ers and all the sockets had no earth continuity. As for the 12v system Midway have some self sensing relay do da's on one of the spinny sales things in the shop for about 15 quid. Made in Britain and very simple to fit, I did one on the red LDV last year that I'd previously welded. 

[Mally]

I like it.

I also like the Lawn mower racing that I stumbled on.

[catsinthewelder]

6 hours ago, Scruffy Bodger said:

I can take a look at the wiring and test the 240v system to make sure it's all earthed properly etc if you like? I've come across caravans in the past that have been got at by DIY'ers and all the sockets had no earth continuity. As for the 12v system Midway have some self sensing relay do da's on one of the spinny sales things in the shop for about 15 quid. Made in Britain and very simple to fit, I did one on the red LDV last year that I'd previously welded. 

That would be ace if you don't mind, I was just thinking about making up a hookup cable and plugging it in to see what happened ?

 Be great to catch up in person again too.

I got home early today and thought I'd best make the most of weekday noisy time so grabbed the grinder and set to work on the offside sill.

  Unfortunately while there feels like there should be plenty of space it's hard to get the grinder in so I made a decision I'll probably regret and started taking the bottom of the outer skin off. 

Fortunately it was a bit more secure once I put the locker door frames back on.

The wooden bottom edge is completely rotten so it flaps around and it's also where most of the dents are.  I'm not sure if I'll put it back on as before because I think replacing the real sills with box section will let me put much shorter outer skins on that would look smarter and allow easier maintenance.

Sweepings

Anyone heard of these shysters? ?

[jonathan_dyane]

It’s a mental conversation I will say

[catsinthewelder]

 

Silly sod here googled Portsman Motorhomes before realising its Sportsman.  Googling the postcode gets Bury in Greater Manchester where I had my first holiday without parents (East Lancs Railway diesel gala).

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, catsinthewelder said:

 

Silly sod here googled Portsman Motorhomes before realising its Sportsman.  Googling the postcode gets Bury in Greater Manchester where I had my first holiday without parents (East Lancs Railway diesel gala).

I have to confess, had other goals on that inaugural experience in my life. Torquay hotel, honestly.

[catsinthewelder]

I spent most of my money and weekends back then chasing girls with no real success so watching trains was much better.

So good in fact that we went back the next year and my idiot mate went out to get food in the middle of the night while still pissed and crashed his Fiat Uno.  I spent the next few days sorting out a repair so he could get home with the tents (I took the train).

[catsinthewelder]

Finally got a chance to do a bit more today, not used a saw to do bodywork before 😯

The plywood is mostly alright apart from around the gas cupboard, wheel arch and back end but with it removed fixing the sills is going to be loads easier and it gives me a chance to replace rotten framing.

You can just about see the remaining bits of sill that need to come off.  I'm going to drop the water tank too which will give me a chance to check it's clean and find out what's up with the pump.

[Mally]

I went to look at something like this when they were new*.

It had 3 x 2 timber alongside or on top? of the chassis, but the timber extended beyond the chassis at the rear by about 4 ft.

I wanted to attach a tow bar, but couldn't suss how, so I left it.

[jonathan_dyane]

I would love to know what the new list price difference was between the Sherpa van and chassis cab. Clearly enough to make this heroic endeavour worthwhile!

[catsinthewelder]

This one does at least have metal there although I wouldn't trust it to support a towbar and wouldn't want to tow anyway.  It's slow enough already 😂

The seller suggested that it might have been done for height reasons.

[jonathan_dyane]

Fair comment, I hadn’t thought of the height factor 

[somewhatfoolish]

Does not compute; there must be some kind of chassis in there, not just fresh air where a Sherpa floorpan used to be?

[catsinthewelder]

The van version has a fairly hefty chassis under the floor which appears to be in good condition,  it's presumably less hefty than the chassis cab version though.  I'm hoping to cobble something up with box section to replace the sills although being as the body rests on two rails that are bolted on top of the two chassis rails its quite tempting just to make a plywood box down each side.  I'm certainly considering ways to make use of a space 25cm high, around the same deep and 2 metres long.  Space to keep an awning?

[MorrisItalSLX]

1 hour ago, catsinthewelder said:

I'm certainly considering ways to make use of a space 25cm high, around the same deep and 2 metres long.  Space to keep a body?

FTFY.

[Mally]

8 hours ago, MorrisItalSLX said:

FTFY.

Film on Tv last night , 'Buried'.

[catsinthewelder]

Snatched a bit of spare time tonight and chopped this lot off.  There would be pictures of the camper without it and sketches of what I need to replace it if a hailstorm hadn't sent me running back indoors 😂