halps
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Get out and enjoy your van man!
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Post by halps on Aug 26, 2009 21:46:35 GMT 10
Many of you would have followed this story in Jan/Feb and March of this year. The Halpsies were on the hunt for a vintage van. We even traveled to Melbourne on a 3000km (plus) road trip to look at a "goodie", but didn't buy it. Then Reddo remembered one that he had looked at some time back and decided to give us novices a helping hand. I have been given permission to use some of his photos to jog your memories. The Capricorn was in a shed. Reddo had been given the tip from the other Reddo (his brother). The story went like this... Hartley around 9.00am today . I swung down the lane where the Capricorn van is. The lane is called Baanes Ln... no spelling mistake thats the name. I found the property and walked up the drive. I was challenged by the lady on the adjoining property. She mellowed out when i told her why i was there. The owner of the van is Lissie Cornicopher.. Kornicoffa or something similar. Blokes name is Jeff Sutton. The live near Frenches forest on Sydney's north shore. I left the neighbour my business card and asked that Lissie contact me next time she is at the farm. I also asked the neighbour if it was OK to look through the window of the shed to confirm the van is still there.... It is ;D ;D ;D ;D This lead to PM's and phone calls and trusting in Reddo's good judgment. It turned out to be well placed trust as dollars changed hands with the Capricorn's old owners. Reddo then kindly drove the van all the way up to the Sunshine Coast for us. WOW! He was a real champion and lived in the lap of luxury. The next thing we knew we had an official hand over ceremony in the caravan park. I had to get my priorities right. I had never towed a van before. I had towed camper trailers...surely it would be the same (you add "It's not...and don't call me Shirley" ;D). I needed to do some strong thinking... we went for a surf...we were on the beach anyway. After clearing our thoughts and tuning into the task we proceeded with caution. There was silence in the car. Two of the three kids could sense the tension. The other was asleep from too much fun. The tension was written all over their faces... The family car chugged along down the highway. Bringing the Capricorn to it's new home in Brisvagas. The kids thought it would make a fantastic doll's house, animal hospital, cubby even an orphanage (they were watching the movie "Annie" extensively during this period). Everyone was excited to get it home. There was just one problem...we live nearly in the inner city...where were we going to put it? And my wife had an hour and a half in the car to start a list of the things she wanted done to her Capricorn... HALPS (more to come)
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Post by extractor on Sept 9, 2009 19:58:32 GMT 10
Great storyline there Halps!
Being new to caravanning and all I wondered all sorts of questions ie how this unit towed and if it wobbled much?
Can you do 100 KM/hr in it?
Also can you manoveur ( sp!) around by yourself easily ?? ( I can't back really well!)
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halps
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Get out and enjoy your van man!
Posts: 229
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Post by halps on Sept 11, 2009 21:33:22 GMT 10
Extractor...welcome, To answer your questions (which were my questions to other members 1 year or so ago)... This caravan weighs about 650-700kg. I have moved it by hand with relative ease on solid, flat surfaces pushing it in and around on the solid jockey wheel (I have been told that it would be even easier with a pneumatic one). It becomes very hard if the surface is soft grass or almost impossible on sand. Hooked up to the car I tend to take it easy at 90km/ph in the 100 zones. It is very stable. The van is only 13f long. Our little 2l Honda pulls it no problems. I hope that you get into the hobby, lifestyle, community whatever you want to call vintage vanning because the people on this forum are a wealth of knowledge and give advice so freely. As Reddo will testify...I know next to nothing about things that screw, bolt, paint or nail. I had to ask someone how to get the fridge out after trying to pull (for 2 hours ), what I thought was an old, stuck fridge out of it's hole. (I assumed that the timber surrounding it might have shrunk because it was so old sticking it in place). Would you believe it ... it was bolted to the floor . Thank God I asked someone ... ;D VV is better than putting money in pokies... HALPS Brisbane
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2009 21:49:16 GMT 10
Hiya Halps "V V is better than putting money in pokies... HALPS Brisbane " Onya mate. Sure can an do worse things than blow a few bucks on the old van addition. Enjoyed the photos. Dont feel dumb about the fridge episode. I reckon every last one of us have done something dumb when working on something "alien" to us. Its just that the rest of us arent "blokey" enough to admit it on a world wide website. I have dang near severed my ear off on a ute spare wheel door....and more recently....smacked myself in the head with a Teardrop spare wheel mount crossmember.. have lived to tell the tale and post pictures here on the forum.. Ya gotta have a giggle at yourself sometimes aye mate... ;D Good to hear from you and the Halpys brigade...Keep the storys and van updates coming mate... Reddo
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halps
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Get out and enjoy your van man!
Posts: 229
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Post by halps on Sept 12, 2009 21:53:28 GMT 10
Thanks Reddo... Well the Capricorn came into it's new home. As stated we live in almost the inner city so if I was going to put it on our block it would require some pretty creative thinking. I decided to simply ease it onto the nature strip where the kin-folk could have a good look at it. It was late in the afternoon and we were all pretty stuffed from the adventures of the day so we left it hitched to the car and called it a night. I woke the next morning and needing the car to go to work I began to unhitch our little van. It was all a simple process and I was on my way. 100 metres down the road I noticed a piece of paper on my windscreen wiper. I pulled over and discovered I had a fine for $100.00 for parking illegally . I was really spewing! It burnt me all day while I was at work. I got home that afternoon and would you believe it there was another ticket on the caravan . That was now $200.00 for parking illegally. I was really spewing by this stage and my Irish temper was beginning to boil. This was the tonic that I needed to get stuck in and move a 5000L water tank and build a "structure" to house our new van. I was limited in where I could put it. "Don't touch that tree...Nanna gave that to us 7 years ago."... "I like that garden bed there."... "What are you doing?"..."Do you even think about something before you start?"..."You are bleeding!"... "I think your son has his hand stuck under there."..."You'll never lift that!"..."Kids get out of the way!"..."Kids don't speak to your father...he is measuring...AGAIN!"..."Someone get Granddad out of there" ...Were all heard coming out of my wife's mouth over the next week. Finally the caravan was in... Then it was time to pull it back out again and get some brakes fitted. I new nothing about brakes on a van. I had used trailers, but never any with brakes. I had noticed when we were towing in peak hour traffic that our car tended to be "shoved" slightly when we were going through the stop-start of driving through the city to get back home from the Sunny Coast. Reddo, Dosse and others advised on brakes as being the "safe thing to have". As I have precious cargo on board, three kids, my wife and a carton of fourex... I became a big fan of safety.The brakes were fitted by a contact of Dosse. He was only 3 km away and a really good bloke. He explained to me how they worked and the importance of checking the tension each time we hook up. He understood that I had limited experience and didn't make me feel like I was "stupid for not knowing something so basic." Next was the tyres...they had good tread, but the walls were all cracked so I replaced them with light commercial truck tyres while it was in the shop getting the brakes done. The van was in excellent condition for it's age...whatever that is precisely Reddo has allowed me permission to remind you of what the very original interior looked like: It was now time for some thoughts on colours...but before I could get time to look at a swatch of paint, my lovely wife wanted it cleaned. Every corner of it cleaned . HALPS Brisbane ;D
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Post by ronmcgr on Sept 13, 2009 10:56:14 GMT 10
Well done, HALPS. She sure is a beauty and I loved the story about the helpful wife ;D I have one who is a bit like that as well. As for the parking tickets, I'd take a visit to the local council and make some noise! Cheers, Ron
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Post by vernon on Sept 14, 2009 18:55:32 GMT 10
Hi Guys,
Des and Kel here great to hear your story (Des is quite demanding too!!!!! especially when he's throwing a tanty) (he dosen't think so). Groovy you guys have little ones too, so do we 7 and 4. Hope to catch up if your going to the weekend in Nov.
Love the van. What are you going to name your new addition?.
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halps
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Get out and enjoy your van man!
Posts: 229
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Post by halps on Sept 14, 2009 20:16:28 GMT 10
Thanks for the words thought Ron. To reply to your advice a "a visit to the local office" regarding those parking fines. I can't help but hearing those words from that famous song "I fought the law and the law won" rolling through my mind. At the end of the day we all know you shouldn't park on the nature strip. Our next door neighbour was fined for parking in his own driveway because it encouraged people to walk around his car and onto the street to get passed it. He fought and lost. City Hall is a big place...and it is filled with more important people than me. I simply paid the fine and then began thinking of that other famous song by AC/DC and substituted "I'm" for "their" whenever I think of City Hall I sing... "their on a highway to Hell...Highway to hell..." I am feeling better already (still wish I had my money though) Thanks for the words of encouragement Vernon, Banno & Joey, What will we name it...well the kids (the ones that talk anyway) want to call it "Maisey" (if you don't have kids out there in www land you will not know who we are talking about), but the tide has yet to come in on the "naming topic". I would like something tough, masculine and really intimidating like "Buttercup", "Sunshine" or "Daisey" ;D My fantastic, beautiful, most understanding, precious and caring wife gave me artistic permission to go with whatever colours I wanted with the condition that the whole van was painted. It didn't really need painting, but I just say "Yes" and then do what she asks. Everything inside was unscrewed. There were screws everywhere. Then I painted everything. I even painted inside lockers, and the cupboards housing the wheel arches. I then thought I would go for a real 1950's cherry red and did one coat of primer/sealer and three coats of the red...sanding as I went. After one coat... After two coats... And after three coats. The oil-based red looked great. Really deep. I listened to others and took my time, allowing the correct drying time (plus longer) between coats. I was really proud of myself for actually reading instructions for once. ;D My wife and my daughters hated it. Why didn't they tell me after the first coat of red? As we all know...there are times in your life when you have to put your foot down and stand up for what you believe in...I looked to my son for support, that unexplained bond that exists between men, forged in the stone age when we hunted together with wild dogs as companions and cooked animals until they were really well done on the open flames (none of this "blue" mammoth steak stuff). This was followed by the period when men were proud to be belted by their teachers and displayed the marks with pride at Morning Tea or even when we were happy with "instant" coffee. My son said nothing...I was stranded when is the little bloke going to speak! Even if he grunted I would have twisted those sounds into "Even he likes it." But his silence was deafening... My beautiful, deep cherry red was sanded... It was then primed...It was like a knife in my heart It will be the last time I read instructions Where are the instructions on my wife HALPS Brisbane PS: Wife if you read this...I did not write it...Some really insensitive male broke in, knew our passwords and typed for a really, really long time....
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dave01
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MR ROADHAVEN
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Post by dave01 on Sept 14, 2009 21:27:21 GMT 10
Love your van halps and love your posts, does the van really need painting? looks great to me...keep us informed of its progress good or bad , makes interesting reading. good luck with it....and the wife.
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Post by ronmcgr on Sept 15, 2009 7:17:39 GMT 10
HALPS,
That is a shame, I liked the red as well!
Cheers, Ron
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halps
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Get out and enjoy your van man!
Posts: 229
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Post by halps on Jan 11, 2010 18:05:56 GMT 10
Right...after getting out of counseling because I was out voted on the colours by all the females in my family, I am now turning myself into a computer. All they have to do is program me. Here are the new interior colours and YES the van needed painting because my wife said that it needed it. Note I even painted behind the fridge...now removing that fridge was a monumental effort...I never knew that they screwed these things down so after 2 hours of swearing, grunting and attempting to use some common sense I finally removed the four screws holding it in place I could only come out through the window ( at this point I was thinking of all those rock and roll bands that have thrown things from hotel windows ;D ;D This fridge was surprisingly heavy
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halps
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Get out and enjoy your van man!
Posts: 229
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Post by halps on Jan 11, 2010 18:07:18 GMT 10
I was a little worried about the floor tiles as they were brittle. I new that they would be OK for my wife and I, but my kids could begin chipping, pulling or scratching at the edges. So I simply made up a template out of paper... ...then placed it on the lino that we got from a local shop ...traced and cut around the edges. Worked simply While working on the van my pants and the kids skirts kept on getting caught on the handles of the cupboard doors. So I replaced the original ones on the left... ...with the chrome ones on the right. No more torn paints.
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halps
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Get out and enjoy your van man!
Posts: 229
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Post by halps on Jan 11, 2010 18:09:13 GMT 10
Moving onto the outside I asked a lot of advice from those "in the know" . Although they agreed that the paint was in good condition, they suggested that I would be better to give it a sand. One toxic test kit later and I was sanding up a white and blue storm. I had to repair some dry rot... ...and again I asked for advice, took my time and actually surprised myself. Then there was a lot of taping... ...to get the sealer/primer/undercoat stage (three coats later) I was ready to paint the top coats I cut and shaped a molding to split the two colours... Attached it... And it gave this the final look I was generally pleased with myself . So the moral of this story...listen to the females in the house as they have some good ideas. However...as I am now a computer...next week we are going to have a computer CRASH More to come... HALPS
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Post by RollyDog on Jan 12, 2010 21:42:35 GMT 10
Halps Love the posts and comments but like others thought red was the go. My former partner, a european lady painted my kitchen a similar colour so after putting up with it for 4 years took great delight recently in removing it with a sledge hammer. You have done a great job overall with the Capricorn. Are you going to make it to Mudjimba ? Rollydog
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halps
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Get out and enjoy your van man!
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Post by halps on Jan 13, 2010 7:57:12 GMT 10
Rollydog, Thanks for the comments and I am right with you on this one...the red was cool and matched my kombi perfectly. My wife and my daughters get together at night and come up with a strategy to "bully" me into doing their "evil bidding". I wanted this caravan to look really "tuff", but I will now be pulling a little Barbi van. I will have to wait until my son gets a little older so we can form an alliance. I repaired a few dents in the ally yesterday. I have said before that I don't come from a "mechanical" background so even simple jobs that others would take in their stride can be very challenging for me. I was happy with the end result... Here was one of the dints (although hard to see clearly). It was about 15mm deep and about the size of your palm. I had about 4 along the back. One looked like someone had thrown a star picket at it. I peeled off the ally in sections... ...and then set to work with a small hammer, tap, tap, tapping. To get to this result... and then placed my hand behind the ally to support it, i then finished it off... I was very pleased with my result. You can still see a small bruise mark on the ally because the pattern was damaged in the original accident, but it looks a whole lot better Doing this project and the project on the Kombi have made me realise that it takes significant skill, intelligence, patience and street smarts to undertake big restos. I have a new found appreciation of the likes of JBJ, Kaybee and others that seem so skilled. As for the next two SEQ runs, Rollydog...again they are falling on school sport weekends and my boss won't have the Under 10 "F" Cricket team go without a teacher. So I am locked into commitments for the next 11 weeks. Thanks for keeping me in your thoughts. HALPS Brisbane
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halps
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Get out and enjoy your van man!
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Post by halps on Jan 14, 2010 7:29:29 GMT 10
So now the Capricorn has transformed from this... ...to this stage... and my wife and kids are pretty pleased with the result. As we are going to use the van extensively during the school holidays for up to 4 weeks at a time (and some long service leave touring); we will add the following over the next few weeks: a new fridge, an air conditioner, a microwave oven, TV/DVD player, better internal storage for clothes and toys, an external connection for a hose for mains water supply and internal tap, a small trunk/storage box on the draw bar, relocation of the spare wheel and a small bunk bed system that we can remove should we not need it. All the new electrical work will be backed up by new wiring, safety switch etc installed by a qualified electrician (my wife's uncle). The annex will need some modifications to cater for all of us and so too will the window shades (which have shrunk). I will sand blast and paint the underside of the van also. So there is still a lot to keep me busy. Now if we just had a dentist, plumber, doctor and carpenter in the family we would have it made ;D ;D HALPS Brisbane
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Post by ronmcgr on Jan 14, 2010 8:02:04 GMT 10
Well done, mate ;D
It looks fantastic!
Cheers, Ron
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Post by JBJ on Jan 14, 2010 8:05:10 GMT 10
Hi Halps,
Like the colours, they suit it & its age. You've done a good job.
Now the fun starts, & thats enjoying it & your holidays. Even little trips are great battery chargers. If your kids enjoy your caravan trips as much as I did as a real young kid, from around 5 up to around 16, they will great lifetime memories.
All the best to you & your family on your adventure
JBJ
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Post by dosse on Jan 14, 2010 14:26:05 GMT 10
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2010 18:05:01 GMT 10
G'Day Keith and Family Wow the old Capricorn is coming up great mate. The colours are bright and breezy and have that "lets go have some fun"look about them. Pleased to see you are taking the.." Ïts my van and i am gunna fit it out the way that best suits my families needs ". approach. Everything you have mentioned that you plan on .. or have done makes caravanning that much more enjoyable and less stressfull when you have a young family. The van will look cool matched up to your Kombi. Just dont be in a rush .. and leave plenty of room between you and the car in front when motoring along. Those of us that know the story behind your charitable work in "The islands"will know that you are a great bloke and have well and truely earned a break away with your young family .. Say G'day to the Kids from ..... "Freddo".....tell em to enjoy the holiday too and love thier old caravan. ;D Reddo
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Post by bobandjacqui on Jan 14, 2010 18:49:31 GMT 10
G'day Halps,
Looking great... I'm sure your family will be stoked when you are enjoying your holidays where ever you go. You will find plenty of people wanting to have a look through your holiday home, Enjoy .... Bob and Jacqui.
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halps
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Get out and enjoy your van man!
Posts: 229
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Post by halps on Jan 14, 2010 20:58:57 GMT 10
Thanks for all the feedback Dosse, Reddo, Bobandjacqui, JBJ, Ronmcgr, Rollydog and others.
I will have to make a special mention of Reddo...without his support and good intentions we wouldn't have the Capricorn.
The great thing about this community (and I don't want to sound like a bloke who is sucking up) is that it has provided me with the motivation, inspiration and (most importantly) the support to tackle something way out of my comfort zone, with the knowledge that if it gets too hard, or I get stuck all I have to do is ask someone else (of which I have done).
The people of this community have made a significant difference to our lives...as we are now living!
BOBANDJACQUI...every person that walks past the house has a chat about either the van, or their time in one as a young child. The "Halpsies" have become suburb social legends.
And again Reddo, you made it possible...
HALPS Brisbane
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halps
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Get out and enjoy your van man!
Posts: 229
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Post by halps on Jan 23, 2010 17:58:34 GMT 10
"Water in tank BAD! Struggling to talk! Parched! Me no think can survive! It be good 36 years! Elvis I'm coming! Jim Morrison, I will sing with you and Jimmy H will play his guitar!" Alright, I am being slightly over dramatic, but the water coming out from the tank on the Capricorn was a "cola" colour. The wife and the girls were not standing for it. My son said nothing as he is only 2 so I took that as a vote on dad's side to forget it...but I was still out voted. So I had a think about it and wondered if you could hook up a simple "mains" connection? ? I went to the big hardwear store and pitched my idea to the 37 sales assistants that were either 16 years old or 87. Why was there not someone in between? I left disillusioned. I then went to a local plumbing specialist and pitched the idea. They asked 1000 questions about the van. Where I got it? How I got it? What I tow it with? Until finally they said they could help me. They gave me the following hardwear... They encouraged me to go to an irrigation shop for the hose fittings as they thought that normal hardwear stores would not have "pressure rated" fittings...ie they would leak. I did and they were right. The irrigation shop sold me some brass connectors that are pressure rated to "mains water" so they would not leak. So the plan: plumbing fittings inside the van: specialist irrigation fittings outside the van to connect the drinking water hose from the tap that the caravan park will supply to the van. SIMPLE
Here is the original set up I undid some screws and got to this stage Then took off the sink by disconnecting waste and water intake and was struck with a problem. It was a big nut. I didn't have a large enough spanner. I went to the local huge hardwear store and bought this on the recommendation of a 15 year old kid. It cost $8.99 and was from North Korea...obviously a sign of quality (I think they are known far and wide in the spanner community). It broke!I went 5 doors down to my wife's grandfather's place. He spent 46 years in the navy and served in WW2. He has dementia now and always forgets our names...but can he tell you a great war story about German U-Boats in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf, battling against our Aussie Corvettes. He also knows where everything is in his shed. He gave me this... It was as if at that moment I felt like I actually knew what I was doing. It gave me some sort of power. Perhaps it was even knowledge passing from the "old spanner thingie" (obviously it didn't give me the knowledge of it's name)...into my DNA. I felt like a "tradie". What type, I don't know, but I was suddenly overcome with the urge to swear, not return phone calls and finish early for smoko. I left my wife's grandfather to return to the challenge of the Capricorn. He said goodbye "Terry" (Not my name)...but I didn't care!. HALPS Brisbane More to come
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halps
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Get out and enjoy your van man!
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Post by halps on Jan 23, 2010 18:43:31 GMT 10
Right, so I arrived back to my place with a new confidence to tackle that large nut. It unscrewed with ease I then simply cleaned up the hole and popped in the new fittings. I then dropped the flexible hose down through a small hole in the floor that I will seal with a flexible filler. It hangs below the van, but not so low that you can see it. As this picture illustrates: I attached the hose using the brass irrigation fittings, clicked the hose to the tap on my house, turned it on and guess what? No leaks! ;D The Capricorn now has a connection for "mains" water and apart from the old hand pump I left all the old stuff in place in case I need to reconnect it. This was a simple process. Any mug like me could do it (and I am sure that they do). The only problem is...was it me that did it, or that old "spanner thingie" from my wife's grandfather? Next job is selecting a splash back from one of these samples: HALPS Brisbane
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Post by dosse on Jan 24, 2010 6:31:19 GMT 10
G'day Keith Another good job finished It may have been done by you all-ready .....If not may I suggest a bung on the end of the pipe when not in use Would help keep out the dust and crap When you felt like a ( Tradie ) did you find one . dosse .
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