Talbot

[rowlie]

Had a look at some older Motorhomes based on a Talbot chassis. . Found one yeaterday which would have been fine except for a few things

 

Do not know a lot about the Talbot chassis

 

2.5 diesel very slow to turn over, new battery Stopped half way through road test and a devil to restart again turn over again very slow. Possible bad wiring or starter motor needs changing.

 

Handbrake not holding well on slope

 

Signs of corrosion around windscreen rubber.

 

Anyone any idea of costs to repair especially the window as I would think it would be window out derust reaint and refit.

 

Any suggestions appreciated

[Rayjsj]

I completely rebuilt a Talbot cab on a 1988 Autosleeper, replacing most of the panels, however that was 10 years ago, and they were still available, not so sure now. The worst one is around the windscreen, and the hardest to replace, this can be terminal. Rotting wings etc., are easy to replace if you can get them.

I would find one that is sound around the windscreen, first. Sorry if that is bad news. A lot will have been bodged around the screen, but this is the main cab structure.

As for engines, best to get a rare turbocharged 2.5 diesel, or go for a petrol engine (which mine was). The standard 2.5 or 1.9 are very old technology, and are very slow. The petrol version had electronic ignition and was quite reliable. Better to go for an early Peugeot Boxer if you can afford it. Less stress.

Talbots were made until 1994, when they became Peugeots, earliest ones are 1985 i believe, were the same as Fiat Ducato mk1, Citroen C25,and Peugeot J5. Good luck.

[Brock]

We had a 91 2.5D Talbot. We called it 'Trundler' because it was so slow. We used to refer to the gear lever as a magic wand because finding a gear seemed to rely on magic. We had problems with the engine mountings - three of the bolts sheared off. Vehicle dynamics are well short of a modern van, not surprisingly, and you might find this tedious to drive. Safety features will be minimal. Ours had no airbags, rear lap belts only and no headrests in the rear.

 

In its time, it was a 'desirable' chassis compared to other offerings. You could try these people:

 

http://www.talbotoc.com/portal.php

 

 

[Derek Uzzell]

This may also be of interest

 

http://www.practicalmotorhome.com/advice/30489-common-problems-on-the-mk1-fiat-ducato-talbot-express

[Rayjsj]

Another tip, when looking for a Talbot, try to get one fitted with power steering , it wasnt standard back then.it is very difficult to steer, especially with a heavy diesel lump under the bonnet, i used to pump the front tyres up to the maximum allowed, but was still impossible for my wife to drive.

[aandncaravan]

I have owned two Talbots.

Rust is the biggest issue : Sills, Door bottoms, wings, sides, roof, you name it, it rusts.

Check very, very carefully underneath for damage by Tin Worm that is poorly repaired.

Strongly suggest you get your own, independent MOT before buying, regardless of the length of the existing one?

However, even if it is rust free, the mechanical elements will now be so old. None of the mechanical components had a particularly bad reputation for failure but bear in mind that almost everything will be beyond it's design life. Everything from Wipers, speedo, driveshafts, Heater matrix/motor, wiring, etc will be far older than Peugeot/Fiat expected the van to survive.

 

There is a very good reason why vehicles in the UK rarely make it beyond 15 years, they just become too expensive to maintain reliably. Unless you are willing to put in a LOT of hours yourself?

 

Suspension, roadholding, Ride, etc was about average for the day. But remember we are comparing here to early Ford Transit trucks!!!

Suspension is quite robust, as is the Drive train. The Gear change was known to be 'rubbery' but good maintenance/adjustment can improve it a lot.

Steering is very heavy and, as noted above, early Talbots didn't have Power Steering. However, it isn't hard to adapt the Column to use Vauxhall Corsa C electric Motors and ECU, as we did for the Citroen H vans which had an even bigger issue with Steering Weight.

 

 

The first Talbot I owned had the standard Peugeot 504 sourced 2.0 Petrol engine. This engine is very good, it was robust, powerful and efficient, well ahead of most UK engines of the day.

There are engines in South African 504 taxis with mileages averaging over a quarter of a million miles, even today.

Far superior engine in almost every aspect to the much later Ford Pinto from the Sierra.

When converted to LPG a 2.0 Talbot's fuel economy can reach mid thirties.

But still slow.

 

The second Talbot I owned had the standard 2.0 Petrol engine replaced with a Citroen CX2500 Turbo Diesel via an Adapter plate. Apparently a common conversion according to all the paperwork that came with the vehicle, but not seen one since.

It was still pretty slow and because, as stated above, the Diesel engine technology of the time wasn't great, fuel economy was well below the expectations of today. But the Citroen engine is tough and rebuilding the Diesel pump (it leaked) cost only a couple of hundred pounds.

 

The usual Diesel of the day in the Talbot was not the CX2500 based unit, but the Peugeot Indenor 2.5 non turbo.

The Indenor was the talked about engine of the day and was the first Diesel engine to be fitted to a Car in any numbers because refinement was so much better than anything before. It started off as a 1.9 and was eventually developed into the 2.5 turbo, first used in the Pug 604.

It was used in various sizes in Ford's Sierra and Granada, the LDV van, Citroen H van, Indian Jeep's, Peugeot 404, 505, 604, Road sweepers, Tractors, etc

Volvo even created a marinised Penta 21 version, so there are all the parts out there and the skills to rebuild them.

 

However, if you were following one today in your Car you would most likely be appalled at how slow it is. The noxious smoke from the exhaust will not be pleasant!!! It was also very noisy.

 

When we were restoring Citroen H vans, a lot of our work involved either rebuilding the Diesel engines, or swapping them for a later OHC Petrol.

 

The Peugeot 504 sourced 2.0 petrol was so good we used it to 'transplant in' the 2.0 to replace the earlier 1.8 petrol and the Indenor Diesels in the Peugeot J7, the forerunner to the Peugoet J5/Talbot. See : http://www.atlanticmotorhomeservices.co.uk/peugeot-j7.php

 

If you want an old van to spend lots of hours on, the Citroen J7 is appreciating in value enormously and can still be found in France for reasonable money. Quite a few were converted to Campers/Motorhomes and if you buy from Southern France should be rust free? But we suggest you give the Diesels a wide berth?

 

See photo of a J7 Camper van. Horse boxes were quite common and might make the basis of a decent Motorhome as the chassis was really heavy duty, much more sturdy than the Citroen H van equivalent.

 

Second picture shows a J7 already convert into a 'Motoring Home' (Englishman's home is his Castle and al that).

Great Sun Balcony!!

 

[mikejkay]

Having had one, a Pilote R580, I wouldn't touch one with a double length barge pole. All the comments re rust, power steering etc I wholeheartedly concur with, Add brake pipe corrosion. My own special memoryis of having to cut a hole in the bonnet to be able to open it after the cable had seized up.

 

I'm sure there will be those who say it was all down to lack of maintenance.

 

A pity really. When we got rid of the van the inside was pretty much perfect, but that was the Pilote side of course.

[Rayjsj]

A frenchmans motorhome is evidently his castle .

[Tracker]

The Talbot Express was a good tough van base vehicle in it's day but as with so many things times change and development moves on.

 

If I were buying now I would consider paying a bit more and getting an early Boxer / Ducato as it is so much nicer to drive and to live with, not least of which is a better - but not perfect so care is still needed - resilience to rust damage.

 

If I were staying in the UK for main use I would favour the quieter 2.0 petrol engine as the costs are not that much more than a diesel and we found the driving experience to be a lot more refined and subdued.

[Guest pelmetman]

Get a Tranny base......plenty of parts......and cheap to ;-) ......

 

 

[yeti]

And real easy to nick-mine went in June!

[Alanb]

My first MH was a Pilote R390 on a 2.5TD Talbot Express. A 1990 model bought new in 1991 and operated in the UK for 15 years.

 

We did have some corrosion on the windscreen pillars, but perhaps because the vehicle enjoyed the luxury of a garage for the last ten years of ownership, this corrosion not of serious proportions.

 

As regards the starter problems, this could be due to bad earth return connections. Our starting problems were rather different. Always OK when engine cold, but sometimes just a click when engine hot, e.g. at filling station, or campsite reception. I was able to cure this by fitting a relay into the starter solenoid circuit. I found this easy to do with minimal alteration to the standard wiring.

 

Even with the 2.5TD, the vehicle stuggled in headwinds and on gradients. Having an intercooler fitted made a noticeable improvement.

[rowlie]

Thank you for your comments I must admit I am now swaying toward a transit chassis

[Brock]

On the upside, my wife was quite happy driving the Talbot with no power steering. I don't think she's an Amazonian but we already had a car with no power steering. She liked the driving position. Strangely, she's avoided driving the A-classes we've had.

 

My Talbot went missing after I traded it in to a dealer after a year for the new Fiat Ducato. They had it for one night before someone nicked it. Tracker is right in saying the Fiat/Peugeot offering was nicer to drive and live with.

 

 

[keninpalamos]

Not had a Transit camper but have had Boxer Autosleeper Symbol 1999 petrol & it had real rust problems in the chassis and seemed to bounce along the road at the back. It looked immaculate but the rust was terrible. But my first camper was the Autosleeper Rambler GL on a 94 old style Ducato with the Fiat1900 turbo diesel and no power steering. It had a tiny bit of rust in the bottom corners of the windscreen. This is caused by a dry screen fit and the drainage holes in the bottom corners used to block up so water was a permanent feature. The cure was a new screen rubber seal fitted with a sealant which stopped water getting under the seal in the first place. Being an Autosleeper it was like new inside. They were great campers if you caught the rust in time and I still enjoy my present Autosleeper a pop top Montana on a Mercedes Vito 1998 diesel 2.3 model which I use as my car in the summer months and goes into storage over winter while I'm away You can still get body parts for the pre '94 Sevel vans on the interweb