Our 8'6" caravan (The fronts off/out)

[lisian]

We picked this up today from Bigdidda (Don). It is a great little Van and when I say little I mean little it is 8'6" across the very bottom in lenghth and 7' across the top and 5'6" wide ;D ;D Its awesome, tows really well and with a bit of TLC and some paint it will look a million dollars, and it will even fit in our garage!!!

Here are some pics.

Cheers,
Ian and Lisa.

We love our new Van!!!!!!!

[will and Lyn]

;D

Hi Lisian
what a great little van to suit your Mini Cars
I can see why you are excited
the van is just perfect for you guys

Congratulations
Will

[lisian]

Hi Jailbarjuice,
it is definately cosy. There is no TABLE or CHAIRS. The storage boxes all fold out their lids to become a short double sized bed, then there is about a foot of walk way and then the kitchen. Which has a tiny sink and bench space, it even has an ice box . The cooker is just at the end of the bed so you can sit in bed and make breakfast . It has lots of little cupboards for our carefully folded clothing and nic naks.

Luckily we have a 60's picnic table to take away with or we would have no where to sit So we can sit out in front under our little awning.

Below are a couple of shots of the inside but they dont show you much.

[retrovan]

Hi guys,

Love the look of the van behind the travellers!!

Was good to see you yesterday.

I bet you don't read this until tonight Ian because you are there polishing, and trying to figure out how to install an external hinge down table (in polished aluminium??) ;D

Tim

[trodler]

Hi Ian and Lisa
The van looks really good.
I suppose you are spending today looking over under and through the van to reveal any of its secrets.
Have you decided on a cloour scheme yet?
So now that you have found your first van are you looking for van no 2 now?

Cheers.
Trodler.

[lisian]

Retrovan - As much as we would like I dont think we could fit a table in there ;D ;D ;D. We have been at a 4 years old Birthday party today so have only just got home so NOW i can go in the garage and fiddle ;D ;D ;D ;D and maybe polish some things
Nice to meet you's yesterday, let me know when I can help you make your van SHINEY (I think I have a polishing fetish)

Trodler - We hope to paint the bottom half a blueish grey and the top half white with a blue tinge, to match the colours we want to paint the mini. We had enough trouble today getting this one in the garage so I dont think we will be on the look out for no 2 in a hurry. We had to get Jacks at the front and back today and take the wheels off to get it under our garage door it just slid under ;D We will have to get some rims without tyres to put on everytime we want to take it under the door but once its in its fine.

Now im off to go polish something!!

[bigdidda]

Ian,
Now you understand why vintage caravanning is suuuuuuuch fun and those who involve themselves are on an unusual mental plane. ;D
Kindest regards to you both
don

[veedubnut]

Hi Ian and Lisa,

Now where have I seen that lil van before ?

Great to see it go to another mad vintage vanner... It will look great once you're finished withs its renovation.

Cheers

Greg

[lisian]

[glow=red,2,300]Retrovan - [/glow]Was at my Mum's today and found Dad's old camping lantern. Looks crap now but guess what its brass underneath all this crud. You know what that means ,polish, polish, polish!!!!!!! ;D ;D ;D

[retrovan]

Go Ian!!!

You da man
to polish our van!! ;D ;D

Somewhere I have a matching pump up kero cooker to your dad's lantern...If I can find it you can have it. Although I am afraid it probably will only need a buff to bring it up

[lisianswife]

Well looks like all this long weekend Ian will have disapeared into the garage as work starts on our Van. With a little of my help ;D. Anyway the back windows are out and Ian has got to work with the sander (the paint is about an inch thick, bit of an exageration, but it is really, really thick, with lots of pretty colours) while I scratch back layers of paint on the Aluminium trims to find the screws and clean em all out to get the trims off (A lot of fun ) So far we have found one bit of timber that needs replacing and that is the aqua/green panel you can see at the bottom in the below photo, so hopefully thats all we will find. Better get back to work as I am using this an excuse to escape the garage.



Thanks,
Lisa.

[lisian]

Well I finally got the nerve up and cut out the lower section I was a bit hesitant as I didnt know what I was going to uncover. But thankfully enough all is well under there, so with a new peice of ply she will be great. ;D ;D ;D

We will be off to bunnings tommorrow spending up on primer and looking at colour chips so we can argue what colour we want to paint it.





;)Ian.

[cobber]

Ian & Lisa,

I really get annoyed when threads like this one pop up and I haven’t noticed it’s beginning ....my excuse on this occasion is it started when my stupid computer was “down”
When you get that combination up and going you will spend hours talking to people every time you take it out...they will be flabbergasted
She looks great!!!.

Cobber.

[lisian]

Here are a few more pics of todays progress.

New peice of ply that is being put in.


Lisa sanding the cupboard doors that are made from 2mm thick ply, I think they had about 2mm of paint on them.


The doors ready for painting


The back of the doors in the blue we have chosen, we are doing the van blue at the bottom and white on top, with white inside and blue accents.


The inside after Lisa was left in there for a few hours



Cheers Ian.

[bigdidda]

Ian & Lisa,
I knew i did right selling that van to you.
You are obviously having a hell of a good time.
By the way i found the fan that i was talking about so if
you still want it leave a message at my email address and
i'll post it off to you.
kind regards from the somewhat cooler mountains.
your mate
don ;D

[lisian]

Hi Don,
glad you approve of what we are doing to this little beauty. It still has a long way to go and hopefully it will be finished before Coledale so you can check it out. ;D

Cheers,
Ian.

[lisian]

Well Lisa went and bought a Heat Gun yesterday and it is the best $62 we could have spent!!

I was sanding the van for hours and getting no where, so we thought we would give the gun ago. It is soo much quicker than sanding, the paint just scraps off with little effort, it is still time consuming. Lisa bought the gun yesterday and within an hour and a half she had stripped nearly half the side of the van before I came home from work.

Now we arnt worried about getting it ready for Coledale as it definately will be ready. Probably shouldnt say that and jinx it, but it should be done at least on the outside. ;D

[veedubnut]

Hello Lisian,

Great to see you're making progress on the van! Alot of very hardwork and as alot of us are well aware physically and mentally draining...

Am I the only one awake at 1am some nights thinking of my vans restoration?

Hope you manage to find a nice Type 3 too would look great towing your restored rig.

Cheers

Greg

[lisianswife]

The kitchen has been pulled out to make a new one very similar to the one that was in it. It will also make it easier for a few repairs it needs at the front.

[lisian]

Well today I went to replace a peice at the front that someone had previously done a bodgey repair on, and I found it was really bodgey and they had nailed the ply to inch x inch maple that the frame is made from . So upon prising off the ply ever so gently it broke some of the frame. So now I am in the midst of repairing that . And whilst I was at it I thought I might as well replace it up a bit higher so it doesnt look like a patchwork quilt, as we a boxing in the corners where it originally had perspex rounded windows, and maybe going to try and make up some portholes instead.

Anyway the photo's speak for themselves.

Ian ;D

[lylack]

Hi Lisian

Just looking at your pics and your garage is looking just like ours. I just can’t believe your van is in the state it is and when I look at the photos and see the walls missing it looks to be more of a challenge than it probably is.

I hear you met my son today. He was impressed with your project. Good to watch your progress and if you decide to buff up that old lantern or wish to get it going again just email and I can save you lots of time using other methods rather than polishing.

Leonie