Since major PC failure in October, I have been using only my iPad for interweb stuff, so apologies for the lack of updates on here since; however I will address that now, starting from the very beginning when I got the van as documented occasionally on the Talbot OC Forum , so the timelines will be a little out initially:

Here is the 1989 Eriba Bali that I recently purchased :D

It's not perfect and having just got it back this morning from a habitation check, the to-do list has just got longer.













The to-do list so far consists of;

Full service, new CV boots, new gas hoses, fix the fridgge as it won't run on gas, fix the gas heater as it cuts out on overheat, replace the useless wing mirrors, remove all the redundant wiring from the rear/cab, find and fit new door cards, fit new front seats, rewire the mains hook up as there is no earth :shock:, fit a new stereo and speakers...............................The list goes on and on.


cont...

I've just been away for a few nights this week around the West of Scotland/Highlands to try the camper out and, given that it was a dive into the unknown regarding to the base vehicle, was an absolute success.

The layout suited my better half and I perfectly, with plenty of usable space and a bed that was surprisingly comfy.

The experience was a million miles away from my (many) previous excursions in various old VW's and I don't think I could go back to slumming it.


This was the first time my better half had ever done anything remotely like camp/motorhome grand she loved it - in fact, she is already planning the next getaway.

We did 400 miles going from Glasgow to Balmaha, Glencoe and then onto the Ochil Hills and the only trouble we had was an ache due to the seats not being that supportive or comfy, due to the bases sagging due to age and wear - A new set of seats have now been ordered and I will update when I get them fitted.


One final think, we can highly recommend the little site that we stayed in at the Ochil Hill, by the name of Woods Caravan Park (http://www.thewoodscaravanpark.co.uk) - it was spotless, with the best shower blocks that I've seen anywhere in Europe and wonderfully friendly staff. Stirling is only a 20 minute bus ride away and there is plenty of walking to be had in the Ochil Hiils; therefore give it a try.



J


Cont...

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Morning all.

Since my last post, I have managed to procure some (new) door cards to replace the lovelies that came on the van when I bought it, and due to the fact that they will not fit over the electric window mechanisms, I have removed and sold them on, to allow me to return the doors to standard.

I have also spend hours removing ill fitted and dodgy 12v wiring from around the dashboard/cab area, sorting out the "missing" earth from the mains hook up and now I so feel much safer. In addition to this, I have now added a full wiring loom for power and speakers, to allow me to install my new Pioneer DAB/ipod head unit, which made life so much easier than trying to make up one myself - This is what I bought to do the job and it works a treat, with plenty of cable length to allow me to fit rear speakers when I am good and ready.

Werbung: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/160706582483?_...K%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

The cab seats have been annoying me, so I have been on the look out for a new set and then realised that I had a pair of Eunos/MX5 leather high backs in tan colour that I was going to fit into one of my previous Westfalia campers and these will be suitably amended to serve duty in the Eriba.

The next jobs are to replace the broken external door handles, once the new ones turn up, get the door cards/associated hardware fitted to the cab doors and then figure out how to fit a pair of wide arm Land Rover mirrors to replace the crappy abortions currently fitted :shock:

Finally, I "found" some old photos of the Eriba and have posted below for reference;












J


Cont...

BEFORE!!!




AFTER!!!





Much nicer than the no-door card look and a million times nicer than the "bespoke" corded carpeted 1/2" ply previously.


J.


Cont...

It's been a while since my last update, redundancy and upgrading a 100 year old cottage took precedence :oops:

The Eriba had been working well and the last time it ran was about 3 weeks ago, so as we were planning to go away to Glencoe to bring the New Year in, off I went to start preparing for the trip; however the van struggled to start and only caught after 10 or so attempts, whilst the idle was a tad lumpy.

I let it run to warm up for around 20 minutes, as I faffed around checking the habitation side of things, then the engine cut out for no reason - A restart was attempted over a five minute period to no avail, then it caught and immediately thereafter gave the loudest bang that I've ever heard, which I assume was the exhaust blowing up :(

I have a feeling that there was either a fuelling or ignition issue that has allowed unhurt petrol to get into the exhaust and ignite; though for some reason I have it in my head that the timing chain has slipped.


Anyhow, the planned trip is now off and I have the joy of now trying to ascertain what has caused the issue, which will no doubt cost plenty to rectify and also maybe afford me the time to fit a (new to me) central electrical controls system for 240/12v circuitry to get rid of the rats nest wiring that resides under the drivers seat.

Now, I wonder if a Peugeot V6 and auto box from a 406 can be shoehorned in easily........................................



J.


Cont...

The electrics have been a sore point with me since I got the van, as previous owners have chopped and "modified" the wiring for both mains and 12v leisure circuits and to be honest, it was downright dangerous, as I found various bare lives when I started to try and sort out the mess originally.

The conversion had decent electrical kit originally, but is now beyond saving due to previous butchery and bodging and as parts for these are scarce in the UK, a new system from an Elddis caravan with all central controls, in-built charger, fuses etc, is the simplest and easiest option to have safe electricity, whilst allowing me to have the basics like turn interior lights on and off without resorting to isolating the LB.

It will take me a couple of weekends to do it properly, but I am happy with that as it will ensure that my partner and kids will be at no risk of electrocution thereafter when running on mains hook up.


Am away to try and resuscitate a non-starting Talbot.



J.


Cont...

Due to the "alterations", the only way I can turn the internal lighting on/off and the water pump off is to isolate the leisure battery as there is no other switching.

Half the circuits were unfused and as a precaution, I fitted a small fuse box to make safe; however wiring in switching for lights etc is more difficult due to the fact that the multitude of cables have been chopped out or linked together with the fridge and water heater supply for example.

I was once a qualified controls technician, so wiring and circuitry is easy to me; however the time consuming part is identifying each individual cable, then ensuring that it is fit for purpose before reinstating into the new central controller.

If I had known that the bodges were so bad, I wouldn't have bought the van in the first place, but seeing as I did, I'll make sure that it is safe and to current standards where applicable.


Oh the joys of buying an old motor home.



J.


Cont...

I called Green Flag out yesterday, as there was little chance of finding a sober Scotsman on Thursday (1st January) :wtf: and after about two hours, still no chance of the van running as there was no spark at the plugs or coil; therefore I ordered a new coil and ignition pack which arrived this afternoon.

Out I went, armed to the teeth intent on getting the parts, along with new plugs, dizzy cap and rotor arm fitted to get the van running again but after all the faffing around, the bstrd still won't start. :(

After much colourful language, I noticed that when I turned the ignition key switch to the on position, 99% of the time there was no lights or fuel gauge registering, so a jiggle or three got the van started of a fashion and then the exhaust blew itself out due to more unburnt petrol being present............... Meaning I now need a new ignition switch AND a bloody exhaust to boot.


It never rains but it pours.


J.


Cont...

Between showers yesterday, I took some time to check all dash wiring to ensure that all was okay before I fit the new ignition switch (when it arrives) and thankfully all is well.

Whilst I was at it, I checked the exhaust following the small explosion last week and found this: :o




Both silencers have been blown apart at the seams; therefore a quick fix is no longer on the cards for what is turning into a money pit motorhome.


J.


Cont...

Afternoon all.

After a few weeks of getting little time on the van and a shed load of money on new ignition parts, I finally managed to get the engine to run smoothly.

New ignition key switch, new coil, amplifier, plugs, dizzy cap, rotor arm, larger starter battery, redone all engine earths and loads of other tinkering resulted in..............

An engine that would start but not run smoothly at all.

Fast forward a little and having read somewhere that that carburettor solenoid was known to be problematic, I purchased the idle cut off plug from JKTowers, which I fitted today and lo & behold, I have a smooth running Talbot, with no hunting, cutting out or requiring a lot of choke to start - yahoo!!!!!! Mind you having no silencers on the exhaust makes it sound like a tank.

I also managed to redo more of the mains/leisure electrics to make safe/usable and found that I have no split charge relay for the LB, or the fridge so that's the next to-do weather permitting.

By luck, I came across a set of the BIG Mk1 door mirror, which I have half fitted; however I cannot see how to secure the top bracket without it fouling on the door weather seal, so can anyone advise how there's are done?

All in all, I am pleased that the engine runs well, so (new job permitting), I can get an exhaust sorted from a local who does bespoke stainless steel systems and then I can bugger off for a long weekend to Mull, Islay or the Lake District.


J.


Cont...

nother wee update.

The weather has settled a bit, so decided this morning to try figure out how to sort the lack of split charge relays and seeing as I was tracing wiring, ended up stripping the cab internals to remove the shonky corded "carpet" that someone thought was a good idea to fit, to get to all the cabling.

Once I had got the "carpet" and the subsequent bathroom carpet fitted underneath that removed and disposed of, I ended up removing about 10m of cabling that went from the vehicle battery into the cab and onto the underseat area, where the LB and mains charger reside and decided there and then that I will have to redo the whole split charge system - the floor of the cab is in pretty decent condition, which was a very pleasant surprise. :fc:

Anyhow, moving on about 5 hours from starting this morning, I managed to fit the recently acquired brown (factory) floor covering, after struggling for 2 of those hours due to trying to manhandle and position a big rubber mat in sub-zero temperatures (note to self - turning on the gas fired Truma heater when it is freezing will be helpful)

Then, I went back to the wiring and (once again) despaired at the mess that some leave when modifying factory installed cabling, then continued removing more dodgy installations due to the fact that many cables were joined by twisted end and covered by medical tape for added security. :wtf:

The best bit was when I found the high rated cable for the 12v fridge supply worn away and welded to the seat base, where it had been passed between the base and the handbrake mounting - that could have been a fire waiting to happen, so once again, dodgy wiring removed and anothe job on the list when I do more rewiring.

I hate electrics now!!!!!!!! :evil: :evil: :evil:

Tomorrow, I think that I will try and find a way to fix the "new" mirrors, or maybe remove the knackered exhaust, as I cannot be arsed with wiring disasters any more this week.


It's beer time methinks :cheers:



J.


Cont...

More updates from this weekend..........

I finally got all the bits n pieces for fitting the "D" shaped mirrors, as the ones fitted to the van when I bought it were as useful as, well actually bloody useless; so after buying a wad of M6 stainless countersunk bolts and a stroke of genius with the connector bolts normally used in furniture assembly, I ended up with this:







In addition to much faffing about on the mirrors, I dug out one of my MX5 seats and had a bit of a play to see if they would fit, and lo and behold - they don't: Well they don't fit onto the swivels buuuuuuuuuut, they will, with some pokey jiggery will fit onto the existing Talbot runners; however I really can't see the van without swivelling front seats as they give me a front lounge area for four when in camping mode, so I may have to have a complete rethink.

What do you think of how the driver seat looks thus far?





Been busy and have decided (after doing so much rewiring of the habitation side of things) that I don't need the self contained central electrical unit and remote controller (from a Bailey Pageant Series 7 Caravan), so will try and sell on; though it is a tidy piece of kit.


See y'all soon. :fc:


J.

A real time update for a change.....

My new exhaust got delivered today and a couple hours of pushing, pulling and copious cursing got the old system off and a further hour later got the new one on...............................................................

However, it appears that the bog standard Talbot Express exhaust is not suitable for a LWB coachbuilt motorhome, as it exits out of the side directly below where the step is for the habitation door - I'm now glad that I didn't fit a fold out step now.

Anyhow, the exhaust note is now more pleasant and hopefully I won't get any complaints here-on-in from the neighbours.

Back to the rewiring of the habitation electrics and questioning my sanity.


See y'all soon.


J.