Good morning all,

I have been offered a rather nice 1989 Talbot Express camper van.  It's a 
2.0l petrol and I'm wondering about the practicalities and potential costs 
in replacing that power unit - and presumably the gearbox as well - with a 
diesel unit for longevity and economy.  Does anyone have any thoughts about 
this?  Thinking on, I would assume that the suspension would need upgrading 
as well.

Diesel vans are worth so much more than petrol versions that I would like to 
think this conversion might be cost effective.

Any views welcome.

Regards

-- 
WolfWilf
Cardiff, UK

"WolfWilf"  wrote in message 
news:4704ab58_3@mk-nntp-2.news.uk.tiscali.com...
> Good morning all,
>
> I have been offered a rather nice 1989 Talbot Express camper van. 
> It's a 2.0l petrol and I'm wondering about the practicalities and 
> potential costs in replacing that power unit - and presumably the 
> gearbox as well - with a diesel unit for longevity and economy. 
> Does anyone have any thoughts about this?  Thinking on, I would 
> assume that the suspension would need upgrading as well.
>
> Diesel vans are worth so much more than petrol versions that I would 
> like to think this conversion might be cost effective.
>

On top of what you have already noted;

First, check the body shells (try and find the part numbers from a 
friendly main-dealer), if they have different numbers there will 
likely be differences to the structure, be that engine/gearbox mounts 
to structural strengthening - meaning a lot more work, if possible at 
all.

Second, you're likely to need at least a different 'main loom' (due to 
connections, engine ancillaries being different), this isn't a great 
problem in the cost of parts but if you're paying someone then labour 
could be. Oh, and you might also need to change part of dashboard.

Third, the fuel system layout is completely different, you might have 
to change the fuel tank even if you can modify the rest to fit.

Fourth, you're insurance might cost more as the vehicle will have to 
be declared as modified to DVLA, you might even need to get the 
conversion inspected before they will issue the vehicle with an MOT 
(and possibly revised registration docs).

It's not beyond the realms of possibility but it might not save you 
much, unless you can do all the work yourself, over buying a factory 
version.

"WolfWilf"  wrote in message 
news:4704ab58_3@mk-nntp-2.news.uk.tiscali.com...
> Good morning all,
>
> I have been offered a rather nice 1989 Talbot Express camper van.  It's a 
> 2.0l petrol and I'm wondering about the practicalities and potential costs 
> in replacing that power unit - and presumably the gearbox as well - with a 
> diesel unit for longevity and economy.  Does anyone have any thoughts 
> about this?  Thinking on, I would assume that the suspension would need 
> upgrading as well.
>
> Diesel vans are worth so much more than petrol versions that I would like 
> to think this conversion might be cost effective.
>
> Any views welcome.
>
> Regards
>
> -- 
> WolfWilf
> Cardiff, UK


I have a 1990 Talbot Express  2.0L petrol the autoquest 270, so it the small 
one of the bunch, The engines I have found to be brilliant, I had the same 
engine in a 505 estate as well 130,000 miles no problems at all, as long as 
its serviced regularly then they seem to run really well, admittedly my 
camper only has 48000 miles on the clock but does not miss a beat. I have 
just driven a round trip to Cornwall and back , just over 860 miles in total 
and it ran spot on, Most of the route there and back was via motorway so I 
kept the speed to 60mph as much as I could and it gave me 26mpg which I 
thought was pretty good really. One advantage with petrol is that it runs 
nice and quiet in the cab. No clatter like old diesel engines. (Although I 
must admit if I could I would like to try a modern diesel engine from my 406 
hdi into the camper to see how it ran.)
    Going by the cost of converting it to diesel I would not bother , spend 
the money on using it and enjoying yourself travelling around instead as 
long as the petrol engines got life left in it.
I don't think there is that much in it really, when it comes to the re-sale 
value of the petrol compared to the diesel engine vans at this age, petrol 
is also 3p a ltr less than diesel at the pumps as well.
So I would say that the difference is not enough that you would recuperate 
the cost of the conversion anyway.

GGJ

"WolfWilf"  wrote in message 
news:4704ab58_3@mk-nntp-2.news.uk.tiscali.com...
> Good morning all,
>
> I have been offered a rather nice 1989 Talbot Express camper van.  It's a 
> 2.0l petrol and I'm wondering about the practicalities and potential costs 
> in replacing that power unit - and presumably the gearbox as well - with a 
> diesel unit for longevity and economy.  Does anyone have any thoughts 
> about this?  Thinking on, I would assume that the suspension would need 
> upgrading as well.
>
> Diesel vans are worth so much more than petrol versions that I would like 
> to think this conversion might be cost effective.
>
> Any views welcome.
>
> Regards
>
> -- 
> WolfWilf
> Cardiff, UK

Also be aware that initiatives such as the London LEZ (Low Emission Zone - 
soon to be visiting a location near you) are making older campers with 
diesel engines considerably less attractive than petrol (which are exempt), 
and I think any such conversion is of questionable value.

-- 
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Antispam measures in force - remove nobumf from address to reply
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Thank you all for your detailed and useful advice.  I think I will put the 
prospective conversion into my "brilliant but useless ideas" file.

I am quite light on the throttle and fuel consumption of 25mpg+ is quite 
acceptable, and Gary Jones makes a good point about the noise factor.

This will be my first camper van since the Fiat Amigo I had in the late 70's 
as a young man!  I took that to the South of France and cooked the brakes 
going over the mountains on the way back.  All four wheel cylinders popped, 
fortunately at a point where I could bring the thing to a halt through the 
gears...but enough of that.

"WolfWilf"  wrote in message 
news:4706098b$1_1@mk-nntp-2.news.uk.tiscali.com...
<snip>
>
> This will be my first camper van since the Fiat Amigo I had in the 
> late 70's as a young man!  I took that to the South of France and 
> cooked the brakes going over the mountains on the way back.  All 
> four wheel cylinders popped, fortunately at a point where I could 
> bring the thing to a halt through the gears...but enough of that.
>

Oh the joys of drum brakes.... not! :~(