Air con & engine rebuild questions ?

[philip600]

Hi again,

I've been looking around at a few Tuscans & have a couple of questions if I may -
Air con - worth it or not ? I have it in my Esprit & I use it, I know you can take the roof & rear screen out of the Tuscan but what about them days when it's humid & raining ? ( I know we don't get many !! )Does it work in the Tuscan or is it more bother than it's worth ?
Also I am thinking of a trip through Europe to the South of France at some point.
Engine - some I've seen have had full engine rebuilds others just top end, is it usually the top end that causes problems, one I'm interested in has had work done by Neil Garner ( who seems to have a good reputation ) but only top end rebuild. Should I be concerned about the bottom end ?

I'd appreciate thoughts from Tuscan owners.
Regards, Phil.

[philip600]

Thanks for the replies. I forgot to say the Tuscan I'm looking at is an early 2003 model, does this make a difference regarding engine ? I'm unsure about air con, I spent 3 months looking for a van with air con having cursed the last 2 I owned without it every time the sun came out ! I take the point about the roof on the Tuscan but what about warm days when it rains & you can't take the roof off, doesn't it get stuffy ? The roof comes off the Esprit but it's rare I ever get to leave it off the whole journey, it always seems to rain at some point. With the Esprit you can have it fitted but tilted like a Sun roof which helps with air flow but if it rains heavy & I have to close it it soon becomes stuffy in the cab & the air con goes on. my mate has a Cerb though & says his air con is next to useless so was wondering if Tuscan is any better ? Thanks again for your input, keep it coming, much appreciated .

[philip600]

Thanks again for taking time to reply, I suppose it is a personal thing but being someone who spent ages previously looking for a van with air con for the very reasons listed & the fact I do find it advantages in the Esprit I think I may regret going for one without.
I would love a MK2 but unfortunately my budget wont stretch that far, I've ruled out T350T also for that reason
On another note what's the thoughts on Cat D Tuscans ? There seems to be a few around but as I understand it the insurance companies were classifying many as Cat D even though damage was minimal. I presume it would be good to have history of why it was categorised as such but if the price is right should this put you off ?
I like the look of the blue Tuscan S in Junction 17 but so far email requests for further info on the damage have resulted in silence ?! Anyone know the car or it's history ?
I haven't even driven one yet as unfortunately Tuscans for sale near me are thin on the ground.
Phil.