Sailor moving to land (1 Viewer)

[Papawads]

There's a type of yachtie, which I am, that would prefer to buy a much older boat, built strong and true, and strip them back to refurbish. They would be Oysters, Swans, etc.

Is there the equivalent in EU / UK motorohomes? I.e. is there a 1980's Rolls Royce equivalent?

What's mist important feature? The chassis? The framing?

....any general thoughts most welcome.

Also, any recommendations for refurbishment project videos?

Thanks guys
Papawads

 

[nicholsong]

There's a type of yachtie, which I am, that would prefer to buy a much older boat, built strong and true, and strip them back to refurbish. They would be Oysters, Swans, etc.

Is there the equivalent in EU / UK motorohomes? I.e. is there a 1980's Rolls Royce equivalent?

What's mist important feature? The chassis? The framing?

....any general thoughts most welcome.

Also, any recommendations for refurbishment project videos?

Thanks guys
Papawads

Welcome

I did the same as have several others, some of whom have both boats and MHs.

I will give a fuller useful answer in a day or s
- en passage at the moment.

To get full answers from other members it might be best if you join for £20.

 

[David and Sally]

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[davidbaldam]

Hi and welcome to FUN.

 

[rolosroller]

OH

 

[Papawads]

Welcome

I did the same as have several others, some of whom have both boats and MHs.

I will give a fuller useful answer in a day or s
- en passage at the moment.

To get full answers from other members it might be best if you join for £20.

Done

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[nicholsong]

Further to my post#2.

I know exactly where you are coming from.

Although I could not run to anO Oyster or a Swan I bought a very well- designed and built in 1978 Westerly 33. Laurent Giles design, was an excellent sea boat and comfortable living quarters. I had her for 30 years and never thought of changing till I went to a MH.

Nnow to answer your question about older RR of MHs, firstly I would think that they did not really exist in 1980, but came in on the '90s. One of the reasons is that the original MHs were built by caravan builders, who just used the same construction techniques of wooden fr ame and fibreglass walls.

Better techniques using bonded aluminium came in the '90s and they were well-built. More recently the accountants and cost-cutting have taken over.

I would therefote suggest looking at mid '90s onwards and particularly marques such as Phoenix, Concorde, Morelo(although they are more recent).

There are examples of those around which do not need much attention. Even our 'humble' Niesmann&Bischoff at 20 years is still good.

As for chassis or body being more important,the chassis has been proven in commercial vehicles so can be largely taken for granted. Youj ust have to choice between a van-based or truck-based according to payload you need.

If you get replies from@Funflair, CazPaul and jongood they may be better than mine.

 

[ORPP2]

Welcome to the Fun!

We lived on a 2003 Jeanneau 45.2 for 11 years and loved every minute of it. We have now lived on our 2013 Swift Kontiki 669 for 6 years and would not change a thing.

No matter what you decide to buy, you will have the novelty of getting to your destination very quickly by comparison and waking up in exactly the same place that you went to sleep in.

Seriously, in our opinion, motorhomes, though with very similar systems, are a different kettle fish and obviously not built to withstand the stresses that a boat is. Look at lots, decide how you want to use it, and do the research.

Have fun.

 

[sedge]

I only have personal knowledge of a Westerley Sealord a company I worked for owned. Interior finished in light ash and ruddy gorgeous - cabinetry and fittings far, far superior to any moho I've ever seen. Which of course are made down to a price and weight. Cooker was the same as in our old caravan, Flavel Calor gas 2 ring hob, gill and oven except mounted on gimbals and had a pan guard in the yacht. Ditto fridge, but without gimbals.

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[Oldrat]

Sadly, if you intend much driving, (or even keeping it on the road) you'll sadly need to consider emissions.

Euro 6 is the standard for the ever growing number of low emission zones, but Euro 7 is already on the books waiting in the wings.

A solution may lie in going down the Historic vehicle route, over 40 years old and maybe, just maybe, continuing to be exempt from such charges.

Bon Voyage

 

[funflair]

There's a type of yachtie, which I am, that would prefer to buy a much older boat, built strong and true, and strip them back to refurbish. They would be Oysters, Swans, etc.

Is there the equivalent in EU / UK motorohomes? I.e. is there a 1980's Rolls Royce equivalent?

What's mist important feature? The chassis? The framing?

....any general thoughts most welcome.

Also, any recommendations for refurbishment project videos?

Thanks guys
Papawads

Whats most important? well the whole package really, yes a decent chassis that is still serviceable and has plenty more years in it, a lot of the older "quality" vans like Concorde, Niesmann+Bischoff, RMB, Carthago, Phoenix and older Hymers will be very well built with little if any wood in the construction, VarioMobil even better but rare and pricey, yes Morelo are quality vans but you wont find anything older than 12 years as that is the age of the company.

Happy hunting.

 

[jongood]

There's a type of yachtie, which I am, that would prefer to buy a much older boat, built strong and true, and strip them back to refurbish. They would be Oysters, Swans, etc.

Is there the equivalent in EU / UK motorohomes? I.e. is there a 1980's Rolls Royce equivalent?

What's mist important feature? The chassis? The framing?

....any general thoughts most welcome.

Also, any recommendations for refurbishment project videos?

Thanks guys
Papawads

IMO Mhs built before 2008 were generally of better quality, the crash took out a few of the quality firms some of which like EuraMobil etc re emerged as badges on cheaper products. There are exceptions like Morelo who started after that period with a big accent on quality but a lot of latter Mh's focussed on trying to stay within weight classes - 3.5t or 7.5t and so became lighter and flimsier and the inevitable onward march of Electrics made them more finicky and difficult to fix; you will see an awful lot of comfortmatic problems posted on here, along with "Limp Mode" etc etc.

I prefer an older Mh, ours is 2003 wood free construction, on an MAN truck chassis that has only done 100k miles and been well looked after. Expect to pay £60K- 90K for a decent one. The upside is they re very well specced and put together. The downside is that they re heavy and are unlikely to be viable at 7.5t. The other brands that would be on my list RMB, Concorde, Phoenix, VarioMobil, and again my preference would be the MAN chassis with the 6 Cylinder engine, 2nd choice Merc Atego, 3rd Choice Iveco Eurocargo.

If I wanted Lighter, I would add Hymers and Flairs/Arto's, maybe Carthego but quite sensitive to the drive train and production year.

I think you need to be realistic about budget, I would not buy any basket cases, because it would be a massive job and probably cost more in the end and I dont think you need to, there are plenty of decent ones around around on Mobile.de and a few in UK where ironically if they re over 7.5t they tend to be cheaper in the used market. if you dont have C licence, you need to put a week and around £1500 aside to get one.

The Eco point is a good one; Where places are trying to ban older Diesels from populated areas. Its not causing us a problem yet, because the places that they put these zones are not generally where we want to go, I dont subscribe to the Crit D'air or the umwelt plaquette etc and Its not caused us a problem so far. but amongst the benefits of having a truck based Mh is that I ve got a lot of space and weight capacity to go at if I need to add a particulate filter or even change the power unit its not as difficult as a fwd van based vehicle.

hth Jon

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