# Sherpa Autosleeper Project



## scooters (Aug 11, 2010)

This thread is the ongoing story of running a non VW van of nearly 40 years old.

The van was bought by me in August 2010 and collected from Cornwall. I have a full service history for the vehicle including delivery details and original receipt.

The van was sold in Otley in 1975 - it is an excellent Autosleeper conversion of a 1974 Chassis - this predates the Sherpa name and when this van was made the model was called "The New Leyland Van from Austin-Morris" as this didn't exactly trip off the tounge it was renamded the Sherpa by 1975. Early vans had chrome bumbers and hubcaps on Morris 1800 "landcrab" wheels. (The Sherpa was essentially cobbled together with Parts from the BL bin.

The underframe was form the earlier Austin JU van, the austin J4 van provided the side panels. The Engine is a 1.8 Petrol B Series as found in the MGB - but in the Sherpa van the engine is set up as in the Morris Marina and, later Ital. The gear box is from the Austin 3 lt 4 speed and very low geared. The heater is Morris Marina, the steering wheel from an Austin 2200 and the door handles are from the Mini. You get the idea.....The van is very powerful in 1st and 2nd and had a reputation for uprooting treestumps. The van returns a very respectable 30-38mpg on a run and will cruise at 55mph - over 70 things get very - I mean very hairy!

Early Sherpas can also be identified by their silver painted grills. At some point my one has had a black grill fitted and the chroming on the rear bumbers (almost impssible to source) had rusted so badly that they have been painted black.

It is a testament to the excellent workmanship of Autosleeper that they insisted on extra rustproofing on these vehicles which are a strange combination of Autosleeper craftmanship and BL cobbling together.

Contrary to popular belief the first Sherpas were actually pretty good for their time - the problem was that Leyland and LDV never moved with the competition. The Sherpa van is very tough and despite a couple of weakpoints (kingpins always need greasing) they are able to take a lot of abuse.

For those looking for a cheaper altenative to a VW then this van represents an affordale and practical entry into the world of classic motorhomes. It has some distinct advantages, the 1.8 B series is a reliable, powerful unit - simple with pushrods and parts are plemtiful and affordable. The van is quicker than the VW, returns favourable MPGS and is able to lug a lot of weight compared to its German cousin. The Sherpa and it's contemparies the Beford CA and Ford Transit were the first of a new generation of LCVs to position the engine in front of the cab in car form - the idea was to give a more car like driving experience and also to make these safer than flat nosed vans like the Commer, J4 and Type 2. You certainly feel protected with all that thick steel arounf you and 3 foot of angle iron and B series engine up front!

You can read my rather harsh review of this vehicle in the Reviews section of this site.


----------



## scooters (Aug 11, 2010)

A busy day getting the Sherpa sorted out - there is a LOT to do before Easter when we plan to get away camping for a couple of nights.

Anyway - a few photos post winter shows the problems









roof up in the rain for a cuppa

the snow got a lot worse than this:



























The bodywork has suffered in the conditions

here- under the windscreen:



















on the rear door - water has been getting in the perished seals - these doors were supposed to have been rebuilt 3 years ago for about £300 each - looks like the chap forgot to rustproof this one - he also replaced the original window seal which is cracked and old and has been letting water in










resulting in this damage to the interior woodwork - the cupboard on the door still works but is badly water damaged









more rust spots on the offside rear quarter









A nice crack by the bonnet - hate to think what is happening under this!









ands some wheel arch spotting










on the whole, apart form the rear door and the windscreen it's not too bad and even at the windscreen nothhing more than a few hours work to keep at bay.

The underside has no photos and is pretty clean - no severe corrosion and the chassis is made of tough stuff BUT I'm going to splash out on some Epoxy paint and seal it all at some point in the next few months.


----------



## scooters (Aug 11, 2010)

Moving to the inside - like a seaside resorts, there is nothing more sad looking that the inside of an old campervan in the winter

The Cab is in a bit of a state and badly needs sorting - the driver's seat is in a poor state with years of fat arses










causing the rubber diaphragm to die








a new one is on order and rather than pay through the odds to re-upholster the seats - they will be getting genuine sheepskin covers fom a firm in Germany which sells ones that fit classics

The cab floor










has this thick black rubberlike cover over the soundproofing - I'm going to take it out, treat and paint the floor which is damp but not too bad - water seems to be coming down the antenna hole - I'm going to make a template for a carpet and put all this back in with a new carpet on top to help with sound insulation - these are noisy beasts










































The roof has survived reasonably well

the retaining strap which ensures it doesn't over topple when being put up has broken and will need replaced - not a fun job as the original was rivited to the roof!


















some fun and games with aged seals causing water ingress -

damp wood on the inside but not too extensive










this daylight shouldn't be here!










Inside the roof looking aft










forward is in better condition









under the dash the wires will need sorted:










A new fuse box will have to go in 0 this one is in very bad condition










Gawd knows what this does - maybe it is somthing to do with recharging the leisure battery?










The gas system is in good condition but the fridge is knackered

I'm gonna bin the fridge and not replace it - buy a big 12v coolbox instead and fit an additional leisure battery








there is an additional underfloor gasbottle storgae space

Dash is pure 70's porn and original apart from the stereo and the *** lighter I installed


----------



## scooters (Aug 11, 2010)

under the bonnet - lots of fun and games

well, I had blown the head gasket










-

why have water when you can have coffee!!









I rennovated the charging relay for the leisure battery and replaced a couple of fuses










I then added a bottle of K Seal to sort the gasket - after 30 mins the engine began to sound better and slightly warm air came into the cab...but still not very hot...

I went for a spin and tested the engine out for power but although much better - the leak between 2 and 3 is obviously sorted now - it wasn't quite all there

anyway

got home and decided to whip out the thermostat to test it - took ages of wrestling to get the housing off without damaging the studs - I think it has been years since it was last off and surprise surprise -










no thermostat!

The housing is nasty and ancient









when you look at the radiator it is hardly surprising that someone had taken it out










so - I will order a new theormostat, housing and gaskets and will try and source a new radiator - my Sherpa has the expansion tank so the radiator is the one shared with the Marina and Ital.

I think it has been running for years with no thermostat and hope it hasn't caused too much engine wear - the encouraging thing is I've been getting 30mpg on a run as things are at the moment - I am looking forward to this imporving once the cooling is sorted.

So - I'll have to save up for a new radiator but it should make a hell of a diffrence:

other jobs include:

source and fit an new leisure battery
remove fridge
fix seats
fit rear belts - somehow!
flush the water tank
launder the curtains and cushions
varnish the wood work
grind down/treat and paint the rusty bits
fettle the grill
underseal the van
get some cavity wax in it

that's before I even start looking at converting our tent into a drive away awning!!!

be cheaper going to Spain!


----------



## scooters (Aug 11, 2010)

So the a previous owner had removed the thermostat because they had blown the head gasket due to the condition of the radiator. 

K seal is wonderful stuff. Unlike other products what it does is use copper in solution which is mixed with a binding agent activated on heat. You add it to your coolant if you expect a leak - ie a blown head gasket or a cracked head or block or a radiator problem. You then run the engine and when the vehicle reaches operating temperature the soluion seals the holes - it will work on microscopic and also larger holes. If you ever have a headgasket problem then it is worth trying this first - it won't damage your engine and it could fix the problem permanently and it costs £10 as opposed to the £1000 upwards for a new headgasket/head.


judging by the colour of the interior of the expansion tank - I don't think that my application of K seal was the first this vehicle has had which means the headgasket had blown previously in a different place.

I suspect that someone blew the gasket some time ago, fixed it with K seal and, rather than replace the rad - (not expensive at about £60 for ondnew stock) they ditched the thermostat and then didn't tell anyone what had happened.

I've done 2000 miles since I got the van - I suspect it had done about another 1000 on top of that in the last 4 years - 3000 on an engine with no Thermostat - some of that in cornwall in summer - hmm....

not good

well, I'll source a new rad and a new thermostat and then flush the coolant system and refill it - hopefully that will sort it - I was considering fitting a kenlowe as well

My K seal repair will hold now - the compression seems a lot better in cylinders where the leak was 2 and 3 -although I haven't measured it properly yet.

- hell of a racket coming from the valves though - I have read that this is common and an aftermarket solution is to buy a new rocker cover - the new ones are designed to reduce noise. The van didn't have an unleaded head conversion - instead someone installed a Fuel Cat (an inline device) about 10 years ago that is ment too last indefinately. I'm not sure how effective this is.

I have ordered an accuspark electronic ignition system - I have fitted it to a Volvo 244 and a Moggy before and it made a hell of a difference to both. Yes I know points and condensors are more origninal but, lets face it leccy ignition is more reliable and when lugging kids etc that's not a bad thing. Accuspark system for the Lucas 45D is only £25 which is a bargain and no modules to fit - it all goes into the dizzy.


----------



## scooters (Aug 11, 2010)

A weekend of swearing and skinned knuckles -

firstly I decided to clean up the thermostat cover. New ones are avaliable for around £20 but I'm doing this on a budget and the philosophy should be repair and make do.

So a good dollop of KRUST to remove the rust, then 2 coats of grey primer followed by a nice coat of Hammerite in dark green have transformed the offending item.

I'll refit it with the new thermostat when I have flushed the cooling system with a couple of buckets of water.

I've been trying to source a new radiator or trying to find an engineer to recore my existing one - this looks like it will come in at around £100 - a chunk of my budget but will need doinng before the summer. My instinct here is to buy a new one as recoring the old one will cost at least £80.

The new diaphragm for the Driver's seat arrived on Saturday - it didn't fit of course and futher research indicates that the correct size isn't avaliable. So by positionint the new one sideways and then weaving a web of washing line undeneath it I have suceeded in reparing the seat - it is a vast improvement and it is nice not to have the circulation to your butt cut out! It was a pig of a job. All that I need now is a nice set of sheepskin seat covers. Re-upholstering is not really an option without a lot of cash outlay and a diy job would be very difficult due to the amount of glue involved in the construction.

The electronic ignition system from Accuspark turned up and I am gling to fit it when the weather improves.


----------

