1973 Rover - Austin J4 Caravanette from UK and Ireland - Comments

One front wheel bearing was duff when we bought it - got 20 quid back from auction house under the "one hour's warranty scheme".

Burnt out two exhaust valves on the way back from Berlin, Christmas/New Year 1989/90 (that was a party - On the Wall).

Brake master cylinder failed late one winters Sunday night, in the middle of nowhere, resulting in a very hairy 60 mile drive back home (too poor to have recovery service).

Overheating - it would boil over without any warning, even when watching the temp gauge like a hawk, which never seemed to register over half way. It could do this even on an icy winter's night.

Cabin heater was miserable - we had to sit in our down sleeping bags when driving along in winter and had to scrape the ice of the inside of the windscreen if the outside temperature dropped a few degrees below zero.

Carburettor wore out - bought a brand new one at an auto-jumble sale.

We fancied a bit of a holiday so bought a 1973 Austin J4 Caravanette complete with red and white pop-up roof at a car auction. This was a professional conversion fitted with twin gas burner and grill, sink with push action pump, bench seats transforming into a double bed and two "junior" bunks, curtains, the lot.

We took it round France during that summer and climbed the three highest roads in the French Alps; steadily in second gear with the heater on full blast (it seemed to do the trick). Great view out of the large vertical front windscreen.

The van was very handy on all-season caving and diving expeditions round Britain as it provided private, standing room to struggle in and out of wetsuits and endless hot brews afterwards. Plus when everyone else was retiring to their sodden tents after an evening session in the local pub, it was the height of luxury to slam shut the door and stretch out on a thick (dry) foam mattress.

The Austin Cambridge single carb 1600cc "O" series petrol engine (?) mounted between the two front seats made an awful din and was so underpowered it couldn't pull the skin off a custard. Maximum cruising speed = 60 MPH. Comfortable cruising speed = 50 MPH. We rebuilt the engine several times, once out of sheer frustration to try to eke out a few more tired horses.

What ever you do, do NOT have a crash in one of these - lower limb protection is provided by a single vertical piece of thin steel bodywork about a foot away from your knee.

This model of van is featured in Withnail & I "get in the back of the van!"

Enjoy,

montywest@hotmail.com

What a great and honest review of The old J4.I had one for 7 years and could really feel your pain.

I was reading an old copy of "what car?" circa 1974, comparing camper vans, the j4 was slated even when it was a current model. for sheer masochism, try a J4 with a 1500cc diesel automatic like the one my dad used for deliveries. awful...

I had two J4`s, a Dormobile and a Canterbury conversion. I loved the driving position and the only mechanical failure was a duff condenser. Noisy, slow, but full of character!!

The Austin Morris J4 van - 190/200 J4 van, pick-up, chassis cab, chassis front end.

Engine - fitted as standard to `ALL` Petrol J4 vans.

Austin `B` series - 4-cylinder, vertical inline o.h.v Bore 3.0 in: (76.2mm) stroke 3.5 in: (89mm) capacity 1622cc (99.55 cu, in:) 53 bhp at 400 rpm Maximum torque 83 lbf. ft at 2000 rpm Compression ratio 7.2 :1. Solex horizontal carburettor, paper element type air cleaner, oil capacity 8.25 pints (4.69 litres)

J4`s engines both Petrol & Diesel are straight forward workhorses, built to keep going with minimum maintenance and maximum reliability.

With the engine being positioned well within the wheelbase, the weight of the engine is favourably distributed between the front and rear axles, which enables this van to ride and handle equally as well in light or heavily laden conditions.

Also, as the engine is situated directly underneath the centre of the cab, the heat from the engine makes it very warm during long trips, especially when travelling up hill for long periods, so much so infact, that two (2) lift up flaps were fitted into the front of these vans to allow cold air to enter into the cab to help keep its passengers cool.

Standard equipment also includes a powerful/heater/demister, screen washers and two speed wipers to make sure the clear view windscreen stays that way.

British Leyland did manufacture an `O` series 1725cc petrol OHC engine, but these engines were never fitted to the J4 range.

They were however fitted to the later Sherpa van.

The `B` series 1622cc Petrol engine was designed to run on the then 4 Star petrol, if the cylinder head has not been converted to run on `Unleaded fuel` - mindlessly running these engines on unleaded fuel would undoubtedly result in burning out the exhaust valve guides and seats - Standard engines require a fuel additive such as Castrol Valvemaster, there are cheaper variations on the market, but the above is worth the extra expence.

A badly set up carburettor - eg: running a `weak` fuel mixture, would cause the engine to run very hot, which in turn would result in the coolant periodically boiling over without warning.

L currently own and drive a 1974 Austin J4 van, l drive it daily, l service and tune the van myself, with Gunsons gasometer omissions digital readout tester, this enables me to tune the engine fuel mixture to various levels of engine performance, whether it be for economy or that extra power for carrying heavy loads, or general touring, it takes about 5 minutes to carry out this very simple procedure, and give me good control of setting up the van for the conditions ahead.

Wonderful!

I would`nt part with my J4 van.

Lts by far the best van l`ve ever owned.

In April 1968 I bought a J4 van from a scrap dealer in Belfast.. He was Geordie Stow in Cromac St.. It cost me £17 and took me 4 weeks to pay him for it... we towed it home with Dads Wolsley 1500 and started to work on it.. The rear floor was very badly holed so I set about chopping the roof off a 100E Anglia with a hatchet and a hammer this was the metal for my new floor and we painted her with a tin of blue paint and a couple of brushs rain almost stopped play, but we painted till she was finished and the result was suprisingly good.. she was on the road in a couple of days.. No Tax no MOT noInsurance 4 BALDY tyres and no back doors.. they were so bad they fell off so a piece of canvas was used in the form of a drop down rear blind for a door attached to the rear bumpers with bits of a wire coathanger.. I worked her 24 hours a day hardly ever slept and in 3 weeks had saved enough to buy new remolds for her the other accessories like tax MOT and insurance followed as funds were raised.. that was graft mister and make no mistake about it... I run the J4 for a year and sold her for £100 but never got all the money of the buyer.. and here I am almost 40 years down the line and guess what??? On Saturday last I got me a J4 van with a bad floor in it as well... This one is only for spares as I have another one which is in good nick and will need a few spares so that's my story.. if you want to talk J4 stuff why not call me on 07811 442196 any time you like.. good luck JIM KINGHAN.

In 1973 me and seven friends drove a J4van from Newcastle UK, to Morrocco on a surfing trip-we had a cracking time and the van behaved well, except for strangely stopping at the top of a hill for ' a rest' on one occasion. The van was an ex-electric company van, and we had a few bus seats welded in, but two of us had to sit in the back, on the luggage.

In 1971 my Dad brought a brand new J4 1622cc van for £900, for £100 more he could have bought a VW, but decided on the J4, I can still remember the reg, CHU 150J.

He worked that van for 10 years solid, and boy did she work, felt like she could climb a mountain!

In 1981 he bought a second hand J4 to replace the original, this one was one of the last J4`s before it was Sherpa`d. Reg UAE 567N, this one was an ex fish delivery van so the bodywork was rough to say the least what with all that salt water. Sadly that one did not last as long.

He tried a Transit, did`nt like it, then a Marina, no good, so it was back to the J4`s, this time it was a pick up with a canvas body, the body work was a bit rough at the back so we ripped the old body back to the chassis then made her into a flat bed, and worked her for a few years.

Time passed, J4`s became more and more scarce and I thought I would never see one again let alone drive one, then last year, there she was, a J4 camper on Ebay, she cost a few quid, but she is immaculate:-) and full of character, and guess what? She could climb a mountain, I think the person who started this thread must have bought a duff one, because every one I have driven has always been a good, solid, reliable workhorse.

You can keep your 2 a penny VW`s, they were always expensive anyway.

Hi all... I've started on the long road of renovating our 1975 J4... I love the J4 and don't care what other people might have to say about it... I would love any help and advice in tracking down spares... I'm mainly looking for cosmetic trims etc,, window seals etc.. also a Martin Walker interior would be just to much!!! any one please contact me on 2danbryant@gmail.com.. any help rewarded with a drink... cheers!! dan.