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The Morbidmobile Blog
Hi everyone, i've planned on starting a blog for the progress of general fettling and eventual campervan conversion of our hearse for a while now, but not actually gotten around to it! So here we go, a beer in hand and the startings of quite an adventure!
It all started with a potential house purchase falling through, in an idyllic spot next door to our in laws (in this case this is no bad thing for those that cringed when they thought of living next door to in-laws!). Said purchase has been planed for many years, just waiting for the right time and cirumstances - however when all was aligned - some other b*****d went and bought it! We own our house, it's a 'coach house' for the pretentious (that's me) or an apartment above four garages to all esle, it was a new build when we bought it and is very nice - just no outdoor space. My husband and I (disclaimer - gays) are both keen gardners and are quite green thumbed so after 7 years we really need some outdoor space/a garden! Many dissapointments. disgruntled mutterings and bemoanings later, we decided that if we weren't moving house just now, we needed a vehicle to travel in. This was somewhat spurred on by friends of ours buying a decomissioned ambulance to get professionally converted into a motorhome, they have much more money than us so we hadf a look at what was available. Now I like Citroens, good old french quirky design so immediatley started looking at C15 Romahomes, which rust badly, are slow if rather econimcal and cheap to buy (a decent enough one can be had for sub 5k). BUT whilst navugating ebay (dangerous - i now know) THIS Volvo popped up. https://i.imgur.com/eJHhJFyl.jpg So I says to the other half: "Look dear at this cool old Volvo, wouldn't it make a fun camper project?" Who promptly replies: "Buy it!" This creates a period of stunned silence as I process the permission given to purchase a cool old car (usually firmly denied) so I bloody well slap a bid on it ASAP. A couple of hours later, and at a reassuringly decent price, we become the *cough* proud owners of a hearse! Unfortunately we live in Somerset, and the hearse is located in Penrith, north of the Lake District, so quite some planning was necessitated to collect it. We made a weekend out of the collection and drove it home. Whilst driving it home, and in the subsequent days I made a list of all the bits that could do with being addressed, and this is before the camper conversion even starts! Looking on the DVLA MOT history website (what a great site btw!) it appears it has been off the from pre-DVLA website MOT history time which is 2005 until 2014. Since 2014 it seems to have had very little use, and so has many niggles and is a bit tatty - although alot of the important work has been done (cambelt, fluids, tyres, spark plugs, suspension etc). It is a pre-facelift 1988 740 Saloon, extended chassis special vehicle with hearse body (likely by Nilsson) with the B200E 2.0 injected engine and AW70 auto box. So it's no racing vehicle, but a smooth plodder that seems to have improving running with some use and it's huge! Plenty of room for campervan stuff but we won't be able to stand up inside unfortunately. We're hoping to convert to suit us, mainly for travelling on the continent (mostly France I suspect) and bringing wine home :cool: https://i.imgur.com/j92Sl8Rl.jpg Skull now removed https://i.imgur.com/cgxo9jdl.jpg https://i.imgur.com/FqMYwygl.jpg https://i.imgur.com/LzuexuYl.jpg https://i.imgur.com/CykhfPQl.jpg https://i.imgur.com/muQ6E70l.jpg https://i.imgur.com/uzT9NeQl.jpg https://i.imgur.com/bcyGpLil.jpg https://i.imgur.com/I2VsmA4l.jpg https://i.imgur.com/vfiV0dTl.jpg https://i.imgur.com/KLa7kTSl.jpg Interesting exhaust bodges https://i.imgur.com/AUpIxfbl.jpg Blowing out of the silencer https://i.imgur.com/PZzPi4al.jpg Loads of space under the front half of the existing floor https://i.imgur.com/yRncSRhl.jpg Odd looking vinyl covering the roof. https://i.imgur.com/iSPfuRdl.jpg https://i.imgur.com/LqmwXJsl.jpg The work needed pre-conversion: -Bin awful coilovers and put back on proper OEM suspension -New full exhaust system (it's all old, rusty and blowing in at least two places) -Ignition system overhaul (except SP) -Make water tight (suspected leak where roof rails bolt onto roof) -Install radio/CD player and speakers -Fix passenger door card (which is hanging off atm) -Replace all dash bulbs (driving at night a challenge!) -Investigate intermittent fuel guage -Replace rocker gasket -Ceck all vacuum pipes for splits/leaks -Investigate dash warning light '!' which is always on (air in brake fluid?) -Investigate headlamp wash system (arms present but no wipers) -Secure battery properly -Replace viscous fan with electric switched type -Replace drivers side rear light (lets water in, and brake light not working) -Investigate hesitancy/lumpy idle/occasional cold missfire (hopefully resovled by above work). The MOT is due in early September when we're on holiday, so will have to have it done in the next week or two, meaning some work needs to be done like, now! Mostly the exhaust and ignition components to avoid a potential emissions fail. Other than that, as I walk to work it's our second car, so gets little use and will be very helpful in moving house, we can stack it right up with boxes of stuff, and most furniture items will fit in it too! here are some rough plans as to how we'll convert it. The benches on either side of the hearse (with storage inside) will fold into a full double bed when required. There is considerable space above the driver and passenger seats, so great for storage there, and maybe a compact air con unit too (that will be WAY in the future!). You can stand under the bootlid comfortably, so we plan on have canvas sides to extend the living area a bit, think of it as an unusual awning! Orange bit is a pull out hob/oven thingy, as you can stand under the bootlid when it's open, better to do cooking 'outside' to avoid smells/spits/splate in the interior. https://i.imgur.com/EwlYriUl.png Blue bit is a concealed sink for washing up and water etc, accessible from the outside when stood under the bootlid, or inside at anytime. https://i.imgur.com/aMPdKhyl.png I'll record my musings and progress on here, until next time! Tom. |
Great plans there Tom! No point wasting time investigating the fuel gauge, they all do that sooner or later on the VDO instruments and even the Yazaki instruments as well (note the two aren't interchangeable!) and this is how i got round it :
https://s19.postimg.cc/4a7c6pj6b/201...-24-44_492.jpg Alternatively find another instrument cluster with a working fuel gauge which is what i had to do as the odometer had packed up at 182785 miles! If it's going to be a "keeper" and it sounds like it is, i'd suggest getting a stainless exhaust made, it looks like you've got the standard B200E exhaust on there with an extension in there so you could potentially get the various bits fairly cheaply but it's the extension that will be the problem. Don't forget, when you have the stainless system made, you can have it made to sound how you want. The dash warning light also serves as the handbrake warning light so it could simply be the handbrake lever isn't going low enough to put the light out. Easy enough to remove the trim round the handbrake and check that. As for replacing the instrument bulbs, are you going for standard bulbs or LEDs? You definitely need to clean out your PCV/breather system, the evidence is all over the top of the rocker cover, coming from the filler cap neck! Just noticed you've got the K-Jetronic injection on there, makes life easier in a lot of ways! ;) :D |
Love it! Subscribed as I want to see how this turns out!
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how about sourcing a folding roof for it? bound to be something around in a yard somewhere that could prove suitable, that way you could get the standing room you prefer, plus it then folds down for travel.
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all I can think of now is Herman Munster with a Scandinavian accent
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Hi Tom, Just a suggestion comes to mind,when you are ready to kit it out with linen, could mark it 'His and Hearse' ?
Regards,Keith. |
Another suggestion Tom, if you haven't already watched George Clarkes Amazing Spaces, it might be worth doing on one of the re-run services. There's a few camper conversions on there amongst other things (caravans with sofa-baths etc) and even a Granada hearse camper conversion.
The back end would be pretty similar to yours in terms of original layout at least and a few of those episodes might give you a few more space saving ideas. https://simkl.com/tv/32230/george-cl...n-5/episode-4/ I know a few people have already turned "normal" 740 estates into campers, think there's a section on here, i'll look later. ;) :D |
Stegreg- we've thought about that, perhaps more of a pop up style but tbh i dont think we need to stand up in it, and with all that glass I'd worry about structural integrity.
Keith - i see you're from High Ham, not the High Ham around Langport/Somerton area? I went out with a girl there a few years back, longest relationship I ever had with a girl. Married now though to a man, so his and hearse, although humorous might not go down so well! Dave - ive just watched the episode of interior spaces, wow! That is a lot of work gone into that granada/scorpio based hearse camper, and 30k too so the chap says. I don't think we're going quite that fancy just yet, i envisage something a little more minimalist. Not sure about the coffin kitchen either! Today's update, I cleaned out the PCV system that I could find in the failing light, which was a small round concave filter (flame trap?) and the three associated pipes, they weren't blocked at all, but were quite dirty, at lest they are clean now, id like to say it runs a little smoother but that could be wishful thinking! It was very difficult to see, but im not sure that the piece of plastic that houses the filter was actually attached to the engine, i had to feel for it under the inlet manifold but it didn't feel attached to anything. Ive ordered some parts for the pre MOT sort out: Full exhaust system with fittings (quoted 600 for longlife job but cant afford that just now, so went for an ebay cheap job for the intermediary) Distributor cap and rotor arm HT leads Rocker gasket We'll see how fitting the cheap exhaust goes at the weekend :shocked:, but it really does need doing as its getting quite noisy now, all going well I'll book the MOT for the last week of August as it expires whilst we're on holiday on 8th September. Until next time, Tom |
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I'm guessing not from what you've said, one small bore hose goes to the inlet manifold and is very prone to clogging up, the larger bore hose goes to the air filter, not so prone to clogging but can get dirty inside. The one that bothers me is the way you describe the flame trap as just sitting there. It should have hhad a short, large bore rubber hose on it which would have connected to the oil separator on the side of the block, quite low down under the inlet manifold. This photo and diagram will be helpful : http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s...ps4b9477f8.jpg https://www.ipdusa.com/uploads/image...lsize_2479.jpg The pipe marked "E" is the short one i'm referring to. A nice little modification is to extend "E" so the flame trap sits above the inlet manifold, reduces the amount of oil that actually gets near the flame trap considerably. If i can find them, i'll post the photos of when i extended the pipe on my last B230E. If you remove the oil filler cap with the engine idling, it should stay on by a slight vacuum, if it does anything else, chances are the oil separator itself is blocked. Good luck with the exhaust and everything else, use copper grease when you put it all together, it makes life much easier if you need to take it off again and you might for sorting out the extension, unless of course it comes with the extension! You'll find it runs a lot smoother with the exhaust changed, as for the dizzy cap and rotor arm, you might want to take Phil (AllHailKingVolvo) up on his offer of a helping hand to do those - you've come on in leaps and bounds over the past year or so but they're a bit tricky, mainly because of the location. ;) :D |
Morning Dave, interestingly what i found on my B200E seems completely different to the diagram you posted, i found part C and D but from what I felt these two parts connect to the block by a short (1 fo 2 inch) stubby hose with no sign of the black box device, the other two pipes are also quite different, it was getting dark so I'll have another look tonight and get some photos. I had all the hoses off to clean, the top hose connector on the manifold was clear, but unsure of the bottom one, i managed to get my finger in to check the first cm or so but im by no means a contortionist so thats about as good as it gets!
I did the cap trick, it stayed on well but moved around a little bit, more to do wifh vibration though i think rather than positive pressureas at idle you can see the engine moving slightly, will test again post pre-mot work. |
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