We have working wipers...:)

WooHoo!  The wipers now work!  Turns out that there was more than one problem....  The original motor had burnt out, so a replacement was found in a Land Rover breakers yard, but when this was fitted they still didn't work!  A quick check showed the brushes were badly worn, so a quick swap and everything works as it should!  Since sorting the wipers I've not had a problem with the battery either, so it looks like it might have been the motor shorting that caused the battery to go flat....

The leaking windscreen has been temporarily fixed with duct tape!  The leak seems to be coming from the top of the screen, and a single layer of tape has worked wonders.  Hopefully it'll last long until the weather improves and I can sort it properly.

We've decided on a colour scheme for the van once the bodywork is sorted...  More details to follow!

Heres hoping for a dry xmas...

The wipers don't work!  Arghh!  Previously I had to get them working with a "gentle" tap of a hammer, but now they've completely packed up...  And the replacement motor hasn't worked either!  The mechanism is free when the motor is removed, and theres power getting to the motor, but join the 2 together and it just doesn't want to play....  If I still had a full head of hair it'd be going very grey by now!

One step forward, two back...

I decided that today would be a good time to tackle the leaking windscreen...  Oh dear, what have I let myself into!?  The dreaded tin worm has eaten far more of the van than I first thought, and this "simple" job looks like its going to be much more time consuming than I'd hoped...

Fingers crossed that I can find a replacement panel...

The diagnosis

On the surface the van looks pretty rough...  Theres rust almost everywhere.  The front wing is completely shot (not helped by a previous owner hitting something fairly hard), and the windscreen surround is in need of some rapid repairs.

Mechanically the van seems fine, no fluids were lost on the journey, although the cause of the flat battery is yet to be confirmed (at the moment I assume its a dodgy alternator)

The interior is pretty good, although it was full of small green bugs that took an age to get rid of!

And so it starts...

I guess my story is much like many others...  A simple click on ebay and I've purchased something I didn't need and wonder if I really want!  The item in question is a 1978 Sherpa campervan.  To be more accurate, its a pile of rust that used to be a Sherpa!

Picking up the van was in itself a mini adventure.  The 180 mile train journey went almost to plan (although I'll never understand the London underground system!).  When I arrived at the sellers house the vans battery was flat, so a new one was picked up from a local motor factors and I was on my way.  Unfortunately the wipers weren't working (unfortunate because it started raining!). After 20 miles I stopped for fuel, and the van wouldn't restart!  An hour later the bloke from the RAC arrived and diagnosed a dodgy connection on the coil, so quickly got the van restarted, and whilst he was there he sorted the wipers (he hit the wiper motor repeatedly with a hammer!).  With a running engine and working wipers I hit the road.  A steady 60mph was comfortable (if a little noisy!) on the motorway and the rain just kept on falling.  Annoyingly, 6 miles from home the battery gave up and I coasted to a halt, so had to be towed home. :(