Post by millsy on Aug 10, 2011 23:46:08 GMT 10
Hi there. I have a couple of old bondwood caravans that I plan on restoring when I retire in a few months time.
If anyone has seen anything like Van#1 I would be interested in hearing about it. Have not seen anything sinillar on this forum as yet. Van#2 looks a lot like many others, but whether it is a factory product or not I am not sure.
I bought Van#1 in about 1977 and it appeared very old and quaint even then. A simple 'boxy' shape, certainly no aerodynamics, except for a curved entry roof 'bulge' about 35cm deep at the front, and simillar shape at back. Just a semicircular bulge at roof height, front and back. And a bit of a curvy front wall, but overall no backward slant in it to help with airflow. I will take some pics on the weekend and post them.
It has a couple of wrought iron scrolls bolted on each side under the roof bulge at the front. They give it a gypsy sort of look! I believe the van's last owner was an old felow that lived in it at Kingston on Murray, in South Australia. When I get it back on the road I will take it up there for a weekend and see if I can find an old timer that might recognise it and tell me a bit of its history. Chances would be very slim I would imagine. My guess is that it was maybe built in the 40's or 50's.
It did have beautifully crafted cupboards and wardrobes, but I needed a closed trailer for two s/h furniture shops we ran in the eighties. So I removed almost all of this, except for the three ceiling height cupboards across the front. I also cut the back wall off and put some barn doors there to load furniture into it.
It has a drop axle with mechanical cable brakes and a 2 1/4 inch tow hitch. I have had to replace rotted exterior ply at all four corners, and just lately a largish section just in front of the door.
I screwed an internal framework to the walls to tie the furniture up tight that I was collecting for the furniture shops or delivering to customers. This old van served us well as a delivery trailer over the 6 or 7 years that we were in the business. It knocked up a lot of kilometres both in the city and the country, Manoora, where we lived and had one of the shops in the same premises. The other shop wass in the city. So lots of high speed towing backwards and forwards, often loaded right up to the ceiling with big loads. I used the van to shift all my daughter's furniture and belongongs to Geelong on one occasion. A very slow trip for safety reasons. It was a bit overweight!
First job will be to refit a new back wall. Then refurbish the wheel bearings and try to find a spare wheel that matches the existing wheels. Then a new wiring loom and new brake lights etc. The old tow hitch will probably need upgrading to suit current traffic regulations as it just has the star shaped nut with the little spring clip to lock it. I think that's not acceptable anymore.
Finally I will reline the interior, and will not bother with rebuilding any wardrobes or cupboards. I will be happy to just find a suitable full length bed to throw in and I'll be ready to hit the road. The van is only 6 feet wide, so the two original beds were a bit too short for me anyway. It will be turned inot a nice modern 'open space' floor plan - one bed, one table, and plenty of room for the golf clubs etc.!
Van#2 is still quite old, but a bit younger than #1. Probably from the fifties. Bondwood sides and aluminium front, roof and back. It is a lot wider than Van#1.
All the internal furniture is still there, but the quality of this furniture is unfortunately not very high. Nothing like the nicely rounded and perfectly fitting cupboard doors of the other van. Van #1 had proper press button release catches on the bottom hinged doors, but this van just has cheap plastic 'flip catches' on side hinged doors.
No brakes on Van#2, but from the only trip I did with it, up to Kingston on Murray as it happened, about 15 years ago, it showed me that it was so much easier to tow than Van#1. Maybe lighter, and maybe the shape had a lot to do with it also.
I have had to do some re-skinning on this van also. It is generally in much better shape than van#1, and a lot less work to get it back on the road. But my sentiments are with #1, and so I will be doing that one up first.
I have a couple of oldish cars to tow these vans with, both of 1982 vintage - a VH Commodore and an MQ short wheel base Patrol. Both up to the job because I just keep playing with them to keep them going well. Rebuilt the motor in the Patrol about 30,000km ago, and she is purring along nicely now. And the VH drives like a new one! Both on LPG.
So now I just need a an old van hitched up behind.
Cheers, Millsy.
If anyone has seen anything like Van#1 I would be interested in hearing about it. Have not seen anything sinillar on this forum as yet. Van#2 looks a lot like many others, but whether it is a factory product or not I am not sure.
I bought Van#1 in about 1977 and it appeared very old and quaint even then. A simple 'boxy' shape, certainly no aerodynamics, except for a curved entry roof 'bulge' about 35cm deep at the front, and simillar shape at back. Just a semicircular bulge at roof height, front and back. And a bit of a curvy front wall, but overall no backward slant in it to help with airflow. I will take some pics on the weekend and post them.
It has a couple of wrought iron scrolls bolted on each side under the roof bulge at the front. They give it a gypsy sort of look! I believe the van's last owner was an old felow that lived in it at Kingston on Murray, in South Australia. When I get it back on the road I will take it up there for a weekend and see if I can find an old timer that might recognise it and tell me a bit of its history. Chances would be very slim I would imagine. My guess is that it was maybe built in the 40's or 50's.
It did have beautifully crafted cupboards and wardrobes, but I needed a closed trailer for two s/h furniture shops we ran in the eighties. So I removed almost all of this, except for the three ceiling height cupboards across the front. I also cut the back wall off and put some barn doors there to load furniture into it.
It has a drop axle with mechanical cable brakes and a 2 1/4 inch tow hitch. I have had to replace rotted exterior ply at all four corners, and just lately a largish section just in front of the door.
I screwed an internal framework to the walls to tie the furniture up tight that I was collecting for the furniture shops or delivering to customers. This old van served us well as a delivery trailer over the 6 or 7 years that we were in the business. It knocked up a lot of kilometres both in the city and the country, Manoora, where we lived and had one of the shops in the same premises. The other shop wass in the city. So lots of high speed towing backwards and forwards, often loaded right up to the ceiling with big loads. I used the van to shift all my daughter's furniture and belongongs to Geelong on one occasion. A very slow trip for safety reasons. It was a bit overweight!
First job will be to refit a new back wall. Then refurbish the wheel bearings and try to find a spare wheel that matches the existing wheels. Then a new wiring loom and new brake lights etc. The old tow hitch will probably need upgrading to suit current traffic regulations as it just has the star shaped nut with the little spring clip to lock it. I think that's not acceptable anymore.
Finally I will reline the interior, and will not bother with rebuilding any wardrobes or cupboards. I will be happy to just find a suitable full length bed to throw in and I'll be ready to hit the road. The van is only 6 feet wide, so the two original beds were a bit too short for me anyway. It will be turned inot a nice modern 'open space' floor plan - one bed, one table, and plenty of room for the golf clubs etc.!
Van#2 is still quite old, but a bit younger than #1. Probably from the fifties. Bondwood sides and aluminium front, roof and back. It is a lot wider than Van#1.
All the internal furniture is still there, but the quality of this furniture is unfortunately not very high. Nothing like the nicely rounded and perfectly fitting cupboard doors of the other van. Van #1 had proper press button release catches on the bottom hinged doors, but this van just has cheap plastic 'flip catches' on side hinged doors.
No brakes on Van#2, but from the only trip I did with it, up to Kingston on Murray as it happened, about 15 years ago, it showed me that it was so much easier to tow than Van#1. Maybe lighter, and maybe the shape had a lot to do with it also.
I have had to do some re-skinning on this van also. It is generally in much better shape than van#1, and a lot less work to get it back on the road. But my sentiments are with #1, and so I will be doing that one up first.
I have a couple of oldish cars to tow these vans with, both of 1982 vintage - a VH Commodore and an MQ short wheel base Patrol. Both up to the job because I just keep playing with them to keep them going well. Rebuilt the motor in the Patrol about 30,000km ago, and she is purring along nicely now. And the VH drives like a new one! Both on LPG.
So now I just need a an old van hitched up behind.
Cheers, Millsy.
