royalv8
New Member
1966 Franklin / Korong 11'
Posts: 17
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Post by royalv8 on Nov 20, 2009 22:27:52 GMT 10
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Post by Franklin1 on Nov 20, 2009 23:51:24 GMT 10
Hi Richard, and welcome to the forum! ;D ;D Whenever I see the wheel arch shape as shown in your first photo, plus the little shelf above the sink as shown in your 5th photo, my Franklin radar starts beeping like crazy!   Your van has a very similar look about it to the Franklin Safari model from the mid-1960s, although the "brow" above the front windows is somewhat less bulbous than other Safari vans I've seen. Perhaps it was toned down a bit for vans around the 11ft end of the scale. If you have a look through Reply #56 in the Franklin History thread, you'll see an example of a 14-footer Safari. I'm inclined to think the profile of your aluminium cladding is more from the 1966 time period, so the 1959-60 date given to you is possibly out of whack a bit. I'd appreciate it if you could have a look on the drawbar and see if there are any numbers welded there, possibly just next to the jockey wheel. The numbers should hopefully be some numerals, followed by a dash, followed by one numeral (eg. 123-4). The last numeral after the dash is the manufacturing year number (6=1966). All in all, you've grabbed yourself quite a nice little van there.  Looks to be in quite good nick, and been very well looked after. The trip from Childers back to Adelaide will be a good road test, eh?! Good to have you with us! ;D cheers, Al. |
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royalv8
New Member
1966 Franklin / Korong 11'
Posts: 17
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Post by royalv8 on Nov 21, 2009 0:40:39 GMT 10
Hi Al Thank you for your post. The van is still in Childers but I have e-mailed Reg and Maureen, who have owned it for the last 25 years, and asked them to look for the welded serial number where you described. They are only the second owners and described it thus: This caravan was built by Korong Engineering, in Bendigo Victoria around 1959. ... It has a heavy steel chassis and a wooden frame. It is the first aluminum clad van built by Korong. As second owners, they quite likely only know what the first owners told them. Reg also gave the following dimensions: It measures overall 13'8" (4140) Cabin length 10'11" (3330) and is 6'3" (1920) wide. Inside the cabin it measures 10'6" (3200) and 6' (1830). Looking at the Franklin History thread I can see that the concave shape under the front window and the cladding profile indicate 1965 as the earliest possible year and the brow over the front window suggests 1966 at the earliest - so I have updated the subject of this thread. Regards. Richard Tapp |
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freeway
Full Member
Make way for the Austin Freeway!
Posts: 191
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Post by freeway on Nov 21, 2009 7:27:00 GMT 10
Looks like a great purchase, good luck with the pick-up trip!
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royalv8
New Member
1966 Franklin / Korong 11'
Posts: 17
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Post by royalv8 on Nov 24, 2009 22:10:31 GMT 10
Hi Al
I spoke to Reg tonight and he did not find any welded numbers on the draw bar.
He has a serial number on the registration papers - 1044518 - but I don't know whether or not that can be found anywhere on the van. Reg has left for a month or so, with the van safely locked in his shed, so no further exploration is possible at this time.
I am quite excited that the height to the top of the hatch is 2300 mm - because my garage opening is more than that! ;D
Richard
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royalv8
New Member
1966 Franklin / Korong 11'
Posts: 17
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Post by royalv8 on Feb 18, 2010 23:27:34 GMT 10
Hi All This van is now back in Adelaide. Forum member Graham Bailey and partner Jenette brought it back. You can read about their trip here: www.chrysler-restorers-sa.org.au/crcmag186.pdf #page=16 Graham took it to the grit blaster for me and had some surface rust removed from the draw bar and chassis. He also fitted some new window stays. Photos of the trip back from Queensland and the grit blasting experience can be seen here: picasaweb.google.com/rhtapp/1966FranklinCaravanReBadgedAsKorong#: There is definitely no serial number welded onto the draw bar near the jockey wheel mount. We had plenty of dramas getting it into the garage! It seems I measure garage doors the same way that I measure carpet - badly. I thought I had 2430 mm so a 2300 mm height at the hatch should have been sweet.  However, the clearance under the garage door frame is actually 2270 mm and that 30 mm corresponds pretty closely with the amount of air that had to let out of the tyres.  Next step is to fit a new axle into the Easy Mover ($9.31 from Manutec - can't complain about that!) so I can get it in and out of the garage without herniating 3 people. Then it needs to go over a pit so I can paint over the primer applied by the grit blaster to the chassis. Richard in Adelaide |
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Post by Franklin1 on Feb 19, 2010 22:54:50 GMT 10
Hi Richard, good to see the van find its way home to you! ;D
I've been having a look through my Franklin history stuff on my computer, and I came across a particular advertisement from the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper. In August 1965, they were advertising a 10ft 6ins Franklin Premier van. But the Premier model supposedly has wrap-around front windows, as far as we understand the history. Maybe they couldn't fit wrap-around windows into something this small, so they went for two flat windows instead. The appearance of the front of your van is not unlike the first of the Franklin Safari models, but these didn't come out until around 1966, and I'm pretty sure they didn't make them in the 10ft 6ins size, as this was already taken by the Franklin Mini model.
Certainly the little shelf with the single centre support (above the sink) is a signature feature of Franklin vans from that era. Plus the distinctive shape of the wheel arches is also typical of Franklins.
The other interesting thing is the door is skinned with the same pattern cladding as the rest of the side of the van. Usually Franklin would skin the door with a plain sheet (no ridges).
So, a few little mysteries for us still to solve sometime in the future. In the meantime, enjoy your new acquisition! Looks like it's in pretty good nick, and should give you many happy times on the road!! ;D
cheers,
Al.
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