I just don't know?

[brichart]

Hello!
I naively fell in love with a 1978 Mark1 Ford transit camperven in the summer and after a week on the road she broke. The clutch has gone but I have been told the engine is a courtina engine, a v42000E. We have had advice to replace the whole engine. Do you agree this is a good move if we want it to survive? and if so what do I replace it with? Any help would be much appreciated. Thankyou

[Luke]

so you have been advised to replace the full engine just because the clutch has gone

or are there other probelms with the engine

[steady72]

asuming that theres been no other problems with the engine Id be tempted to say to just change the cutch and then find out if you have a good engine or not. If you have a good one, then stick with it as long as you can stand the v4. If you start to get breakdown after breakdown then change it. In the long run you want to enjoy your van not be nursing a sick old engine. Don’t get sentimental about what’s under the bonnet. In the long run it will just ruin your camping and your enjoyment of your van.
As for what engine you want, well that depends on what your looking for. Mpg or quiet performance.

[baconsdozen]

Change the whole engine because the clutch has gone?.What do you do if you get a puncture,change the axle?
Load of twaddle,just repair whats wrong with it.
As for the V4 if its going OK.leave it alone.

[brichart]

Phew...I'll just repair the clutch- that seems sensible. We don't know if anything else is wrong with it as we only got to drive it for a week. It's just that we were told that it was a car engine which probably couldn't handle the weight of the camper. We are musicians and often have heavy gear to carry. Thanks for your help!

[madmark]

if you drove it for i week how many miles did you do in it????? did it seem to go ok?????
if it did and your happy with it then just have a new clutch!
to change to another engine is a problem it will need alot of messing around!

[MRspivvy]

It wont be a cortina engine if its a V4. The mk1 transit came with a 2litre V4 from the factory. If it is a car engine it will be corsair, zephyr mk4 or early consul granada. even if it is a car engine, it wont be any different apart from producing slightly more power than a low compression van engine

[brichart]

I was chuffed with the engine up until then, but paniced that it wasn't right for the vehicle after being told it was a car engine. I think our mechanic wanted a big job!It's great to find so much instant advice! Thanks for all your replies. It also has rust holes in the foot hole (one you can fit a finger through) Does anyone know if this would reqiure a big welding job to pass the MOT or would a bit of patchwork be sufficient?

[Luke]

Does anyone know if this would reqiure a big welding job to pass the MOT or would a bit of patchwork be sufficient?

i would say a patch will do but if you want a better opinion post a pic of it

[comet]

hello, as mr spivvy says v4 was never a cortina engine, the 2000e was a pinto, is that stainless cafe still at symonds yat, i used it three days a week untill 1999, when they started building a brick cafe, he had a few classic vehicles at that cafe,what camper do you have autohome or landliner, i had a mki landline and i fitted a 1800 lx out of a seara. it pulled ok, even with 3 2.5 di engines and boxes in the back, and 2 in a trailer, all at one time taking them to weigh in, bit slow pulling away, but once moving 70 was no problem.

[brichart]

Hi, Not sure about the cafe you're talking about. I've only lived here for a couple of months and have yet to break the local scene! We have a pop top autohome camper. I'll put up a picture as my avatar.

[MRspivvy]

Is it the cafe on the southbound side you mean? if so its gone. just a filling station and a local shop type thing there now. pity, I used to love stopping there, a good breakfast

[comet]

same people owned the cafe,s both sides, southbound one at bottom of hill and big northbound one, shame it it has gone good cafe good food, great overnight stop,same as sunset 77 cafe on 449 at penkridge, that went overnight, at least hollies is still there on A5,