General Fiat ducato auto roll

[Paulaskew]

Hi everyone it’s my first post, I’m looking into buying my first motor home a 1998 fiat ducato auto roll 1.9 turbo diesel. What should I be looking for and what should I avoid? I’m viewing one soon for £6000, is this a good price? It says everything working and out of 20 mot tests over the years it has 17 passes and only 3 fails, is this good history to go by? Please please help my head is mashed with all the research I’m trying to do, many thanks in advance

 

[Reg 65]

Is it a coachbuilt?
In which case by far the most important issue is damp
Irrespective of the mechanics it will be worth nothing with serious damp ingress - which the current owner may be unaware of.

 

[Paulaskew]

Is it a coachbuilt?
In which case by far the most important issue is damp
Irrespective of the mechanics it will be worth nothing with serious damp ingress - which the current owner may be unaware of.

Yes it’s coach built, how do I check for hidden damp?

 

[Reg 65]

With a damp meter but you need experience in how to use it. It may tell you the percentage of moisture, but only with experience will you be able to assess whether thats OK.
There is lots of advice on motorhome forums
To give you an idea of whats involved I copy this post from Dave Newell who repaired one about 10 years ago ;
£3k worth of parts at trade prices then would probably cost you £6k+ now

QUOTE FROM DAVE NEWELL;

Being an elderly Elddis its stick built, that is to say the frame is 1" square softwood with polystyrene infill for insulation, a thin plywood skin on interior with decorative coating and a thin aluminium skin outer with thin paint finish.
Rebuilding a motorhome of this type with such extensive damp is a huge task; I know I was that soldier! I re-skinned a 1990 Autohomes Highwayman a few years back and had to reframe a quarter of the entire structure.
There are three main areas that water gets in and whichever is the one (or more) in your case will need dealing with or you'll just end up with a damp motorhome again.
The first point of water ingress is poorly fitted window seals.
Second is roof to wall joints.
Third is the worst, when water has got into the structure the wooden frame will eventually rot. Wet rot in soft woods as used for motorhome framing releases chemicals that will eat through aluminium skin in short order and will appear as tiny dots on the outer skin in line with the framework sections (often referred to as aluminium cancer).
One and two are easily dealt with but three is a bugger as it means the rotten timber will need removing and the skin replacing. Replacing the frame timbers is difficult if the damage is extensive as once you start to remove the interior or exterior skin and rotten timber the strength of the body just evaporates. I did mine one stick at a time after removing the entire outer aluminium skin (not an easy job in itself) and replaced all rotten timberwork with 1" square aluminium box section screwed together with stainless self-tappers. For the roof I fabricated a TIG welded framework of 1" alloy box section, which was placed on top and screwed to the sidewall frames.
Re-skinning was the most challenging part and took four of us three days to do the two sidewalls, rear wall and roof. Trust me when I say handling a 5 metre by 2 metre sheet of 0.8mm alloy without kinking it is not fun and spreading twenty odd tubes of sikaflex over the surface by hand is no easy job either!
Sorry if this sounds negative but I write from personal experience of a similar project. Cost wise I spent over £3K at trade prices and took nine months to do it!

 

[Paulaskew]

With a damp meter but you need experience in how to use it. It may tell you the percentage of moisture, but only with experience will you be able to assess whether thats OK.
There is lots of advice on motorhome forums
To give you an idea of whats involved I copy this post from Dave Newell who repaired one a few years ago ;

QUOTE FROM DAVE NEWELL;

Being an elderly Elddis its stick built, that is to say the frame is 1" square softwood with polystyrene infill for insulation, a thin plywood skin on interior with decorative coating and a thin aluminium skin outer with thin paint finish.
Rebuilding a motorhome of this type with such extensive damp is a huge task; I know I was that soldier! I re-skinned a 1990 Autohomes Highwayman a few years back and had to reframe a quarter of the entire structure.
There are three main areas that water gets in and whichever is the one (or more) in your case will need dealing with or you'll just end up with a damp motorhome again.
The first point of water ingress is poorly fitted window seals.
Second is roof to wall joints.
Third is the worst, when water has got into the structure the wooden frame will eventually rot. Wet rot in soft woods as used for motorhome framing releases chemicals that will eat through aluminium skin in short order and will appear as tiny dots on the outer skin in line with the framework sections (often referred to as aluminium cancer).
One and two are easily dealt with but three is a bugger as it means the rotten timber will need removing and the skin replacing. Replacing the frame timbers is difficult if the damage is extensive as once you start to remove the interior or exterior skin and rotten timber the strength of the body just evaporates. I did mine one stick at a time after removing the entire outer aluminium skin (not an easy job in itself) and replaced all rotten timberwork with 1" square aluminium box section screwed together with stainless self-tappers. For the roof I fabricated a TIG welded framework of 1" alloy box section, which was placed on top and screwed to the sidewall frames.
Re-skinning was the most challenging part and took four of us three days to do the two sidewalls, rear wall and roof. Trust me when I say handling a 5 metre by 2 metre sheet of 0.8mm alloy without kinking it is not fun and spreading twenty odd tubes of sikaflex over the surface by hand is no easy job either!
Sorry if this sounds negative but I write from personal experience of a similar project. Cost wise I spent over £3K at trade prices and took nine months to do it!

Thanks for advice

 

[jackwhoo]

Parts for 25 year old vans/ motor homes are hard/impossible to find. For instance crankshaft pulleys (rubber holding two halves together perish rendering vehicle undrivable) gearbox parts, exhaust system parts.

 

[cid]

Thanks for advice

Hi paulaskew and welcome, I own a 1996 1.9td and have done for the past 17 years so, hopefully, i'm qualified to answer some of your questions. I agree damp is an important fault but it won't fail you an mot. RUST of the Fiat part of the m/h is critical. I'll try to list some of the parts I've had to repair or replace:- most of the panels surrounding the engine bay and suspension supports so get underneath and have a very good look. All brake pipes, front disks and calipers. Top mounts on front suspension (ball races prone to rust and seize). I've also had to replace the synchro on 2nd gear. so be very careful how you go. Having said all this, i wouldn't change a thing. I,however, got rid of my car when I got the m/h and use it daily. they do not like storage. I hope I haven't deterred you from pursuing your dream. Please bear in mind that my repairs are over a 17 year time period. Parts may be difficult to find but I've always managed. Anyway, all the best. ian