Homemade 1959 - Jailbarjuice new van

;D ;D ;D ;D

A glasshopper. You have travelled full circle. You have done your time in the world of fibre and have now come back to the roots (or is that the tree) of vintage caravanning.... Timber.. with a dash of aluminium.

Tis the dreaded restoration/ renovation bug gnawring at your earlobe once again.
She looks like an interesting old van too. Dont ya just love good old Aussie ingenuity.
Give me a yell if you get stuck for bits n pieces.
and Good luck with your endeavors.

I am heading to Scone tomorrow to bring home the "Lockhart 1948 TD"

Reddo
I fobbergross Sunliner
1 replica TD
1 real TD
I 12 ft Fairway
1 10footer in the shed part restored
1 10 footer has just made a blip on the wood-o-matic radar between Gulgong and Dubbo... stay tuned

There is no cure

Hi, Hotrod cross Caravan interesting all in one build, next you will need one with with the motor in it as well.
You are correct there is no end to the fun (Madness)
Pymie

I’ll have it registered & at Wintersun as my second van for my family to sleep in this year I hope.

Jailbarjuice


Whooooaaaa .. thats a big call.... Does this mean ya snore a bit old mate

.. Independant suspenders Could this be the cessnock fuglys big Bruvver.... umm arr... err "Lucille" the sister.

Reddo

Hi All,


Well I’ve been waiting for my paint for the Sunliner to come from Spray Chief in Adelaide, so I got stuck into Lucille, the ply van we picked up.

I stripped all the windows & external fittings off it, then got into sanding the exterior.

I repaired a hole that had been punched in the rear. It was about 200mm square. Glued in a patch panel with some backing strips, a bit of bog over the joins, sanded smooth, & you can barely notice the repair.



The ply is soaking up the oil based primer surfacer I’m brushing on. It certainly dried out in the weather.


Since I’ve got it, I bought a set of 600X16 Indian made conventionals. I shopped for US made whitewalls, & best price was $259 each plus tubes.


I got these at my local tyre service for $150 each, including tubes, removal & disposal of old tyres, & fitting on the freshly powder coated rims.



I’ve looked at the home made independent swing axle suspension it has many times since I got it. Its very wierdly put together, & the wheels sit like a VW without an engine.








So I’ve decided to replace the existing set up with a rubber torsion set up.

I can get a PBL axle custom made thru the local caravan & trailer parts dealer, for under $ 1000 including new hydraulic drum brakes.

I’m getting spacers machined to use the Chev wheels & tyres, to keep the early 50’s era of the van exterior closer to authentic. We’ll be removing the gas bottle from the front, & mounting a spare there.

At this stage that is the way I’m thinking.

Its fun working on ply. So much simpler than glass is.

But I still love our Sunliner, & it will remain my favourite, but this one is growing on me.

Jailbarjuice

hi All,

I'm looking for a LPG/12v/240v fridge,up to 90 litres but smaller is OK, reasonable exterior, but working well & clean inside, for Lucille. It would need to be within about 3 hours of here, sorta between Brisbane northside & Coffs Harbour, or up to Tenterfield.

Also looking for 12v/240v bits, like automatic battery tenders/chargers, etc.
Anyone know of anything?

Jailbarjuice

hi all , who owns the white 4 door ,with the k-mart plastic wheel covers, i have a set of stainless steel covers in cairns they look like they could be off a mopar ,mine have that cross bar in the center, spinner look, they might be the right style for a 60s car not your 50s. (mine fit 14" wheels)POA, ALL THE BEST KEL. 0740 581217

Hi Kel,

I dont understand your post.

I own the white 4 door with 16" mags,

Jailbarjuice

hi dennis

this is our battery charger/monitor



geoff 'n jude

reddo, it appears that my reply post has gone onto the wrong thread, it went under the photo of the battery charger, kel.

Hi all,

Been doing a bit on Lucille.

When Clyde & Barb called , I showed Clyde a levelling device that was on the tow hitch. ( That’s what I was showing in his picture he posted).

Its about the size of a round tobacco tin. It has a plastic lid that was originally clear, that screws on. Inside are 2 spirit levels, mounted on a spring loaded plate, at 90^ to each other. Its very similar to the one I have in my Sunliner, but this one is called a “Reese Levell-All”, & made in USA. I’ve never seen another like it..


I’ve been busy priming in oil based primer, over the weathered ply exterior panels. They have absorbed heaps of paint, & I’m sanding with my orbital sander between coats. Its getting close to being ready in areas for final paint when it eventually happens.




I got a water filler neck on Friday, gave it a polish & cut hole & fitted it. I also closed up all the other holes in the walls that were all over the place.



Cut out the home made suspension, & ordered a new AlKo rubber suspension axle, with hydraulic drum brakes in Toyota 6 stud, which are a copy of the late 40’s Chev 6 stud. $877 for new axle & brakes complete, custom made. You would spend near that putting new bearings & brakes thru an existing axle. I have to tidy up the chassis a bit when I fit the new axle, but its pretty simple to do.


Got my new hubcaps & trim rings from “Chevs of the 40’s” in the USA just before we left for Mt. Gambier, & put them on the rims & tyres. I’m happy with them for about $270 delivered to my door, for 3 sets.



Removed front 1/8” aluminium sheet that had suffered a lot of small dents & other marks. I then found that the rot in the RH front corner was a bit worse than I thought. So it gets a new ply front panel, as well as the replacement on the lower front RH





We are going to remove the 2 side windows from the front panel, & raise the centre window up to line up with the side windows. This will also help replace the rot above the existing front panel windows.



More to come as it happens

Jailbarjuice

Gedday Dennis,

Great work ;D ;D ;D
Its fantastic to see so many pics of your progress, it all seems so quick and easy watching your project come to life by scrolling down through the thread........but I bet your hands and back and liver are a little battle sore by now ;D theres some serious work gone into it so far....

Those tyres you`ve got look just like to ones I have on my FC. Does that say TWIN TREAD on the side wall? Mine are also made in india and have MRF, TWIN TREAD, 6 PLY NYLON, 6.40-13 (obviously a different size) on the side wall.
I've done around seven thousand miles on them including pulling the V.van and they havent missed a beat. However they do get big flatspots if the car sits for a month or so without being driven, but the bangada, bumpada, thumpada for the first few miles down the road still puts a smile on my face while they round themselves out again ;D
Just make sure everything in the van is well secured at the start of each journey

I look forward to seeing more pics of the progress to get me inspired to start my next project...

Chow,
Brendan.

hey JBJ,

Thats a lot of work you have been doing on the van and its looking great. It will be good for at least another 50 years when you are done. ;D

Where are you going to position the water tank and what type will you use?

Will you have enough time to get it ready for Neurum Creek?- (long drive for you)
vintagecaravans.proboards30.com/index.c.cgi?board=runevent1&action=display&thread=1202785085

Please post pics of the suspension setup when its going in,

regards earlee. ;D