Post by sunnyone on Feb 27, 2012 20:44:39 GMT 10
I have been a member of the VV forum for quite some time now, but this is my first post. So forgive me if I ramble or if there are any issues with the pictures that I (attempt to) upload. I hope you enjoy reading about Daisy's journey so far!
We purchased our beautiful 1958 Sunliner around 18 months ago from another lovely forum member and have slowly bought her back to her former glory. It was a long process during which we discovered our total lack of knowledge when it comes to anything fiberglass!
My father and I attempted to tackle the sanding ourselves and after buying a load of equipment and spending a huge number of hours blindly sanding away with no real idea of what we were doing, we decided to get in a professional to take a look at her.
Our biggest issue was that we did not have any available covered space to work in, and the weather seemed to always be against us! On top of this, the van had around 5 different coats of paint on her and quite a few fractures in the fiberglass. We thought that it would be a relatively straight forward task to sand her back and patch the glass, but it proved to be quite tricky working around the weather and not really having any expertise.
Enter Brian Booth - Fiberglasser
We decided to hand over the restoration of the exterior to someone who not only knew what he was doing, but had the space and time to do it promptly! Brian did an amazing job. We could not have been happier!
The Exterior was completely sanded back and the stress fractures were repaired. The entire van was sprayed with undercoat and them with 2 coats of marine top coat. The end windows were restored to the original style. These had been "modernised" to create opening windows - quite ingenious really!
With the help of some kind and friendly forum members I was able to track down the original style rubber and had the perspex windows remade at Lingel in Moorebank (where they have a mold ready and waiting for desperate Sunny owners). I'm sure you will agree that she is looking pretty cute now! She turns a lot of heads on the road and we have daily interest in her. We had one 80 year old couple follow us for 10km's until we pulled over. They had a Sunliner in the sixties and wanted to share their stories - So Gorgeous!
We have a few minor things left to do with the interior. But this is pretty simple and enjoyable work. We have rebuilt the bed area with strong marine ply as the old plywood was buckled and needed replacing. At the moment we are in the process of giving the cupboards a fresh coat of paint, but are being very careful to retain all of the original colours as we feel that a lot of Daisy's appeal lies in her close to original state. We received the original purchase receipt and owners manual with Daisy when we bought her! All of the cupboards, laminate, cooker and flooring are original. (I think the fridge might have been a new addition?)
We would love to hear any opinions, feedback and advice! Thanks so much for reading and we look forward to seeing you on the road!
We purchased our beautiful 1958 Sunliner around 18 months ago from another lovely forum member and have slowly bought her back to her former glory. It was a long process during which we discovered our total lack of knowledge when it comes to anything fiberglass!
My father and I attempted to tackle the sanding ourselves and after buying a load of equipment and spending a huge number of hours blindly sanding away with no real idea of what we were doing, we decided to get in a professional to take a look at her.
Our biggest issue was that we did not have any available covered space to work in, and the weather seemed to always be against us! On top of this, the van had around 5 different coats of paint on her and quite a few fractures in the fiberglass. We thought that it would be a relatively straight forward task to sand her back and patch the glass, but it proved to be quite tricky working around the weather and not really having any expertise.
Enter Brian Booth - Fiberglasser
We decided to hand over the restoration of the exterior to someone who not only knew what he was doing, but had the space and time to do it promptly! Brian did an amazing job. We could not have been happier!
The Exterior was completely sanded back and the stress fractures were repaired. The entire van was sprayed with undercoat and them with 2 coats of marine top coat. The end windows were restored to the original style. These had been "modernised" to create opening windows - quite ingenious really!
With the help of some kind and friendly forum members I was able to track down the original style rubber and had the perspex windows remade at Lingel in Moorebank (where they have a mold ready and waiting for desperate Sunny owners). I'm sure you will agree that she is looking pretty cute now! She turns a lot of heads on the road and we have daily interest in her. We had one 80 year old couple follow us for 10km's until we pulled over. They had a Sunliner in the sixties and wanted to share their stories - So Gorgeous!
We have a few minor things left to do with the interior. But this is pretty simple and enjoyable work. We have rebuilt the bed area with strong marine ply as the old plywood was buckled and needed replacing. At the moment we are in the process of giving the cupboards a fresh coat of paint, but are being very careful to retain all of the original colours as we feel that a lot of Daisy's appeal lies in her close to original state. We received the original purchase receipt and owners manual with Daisy when we bought her! All of the cupboards, laminate, cooker and flooring are original. (I think the fridge might have been a new addition?)
We would love to hear any opinions, feedback and advice! Thanks so much for reading and we look forward to seeing you on the road!
,
WOW 
MAURIE & KATE . 
