Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2007 10:50:06 GMT 10
Well folks
After mopping up all the poop that has been thrown at me for building a replica TD... a project which is still in progress. I thought i better redeem myself in the eyes of the purists vintage van restorers.
I put a bid on what was described on ebay as a '1940s teardrop'.
Most of those that where at Motorfest where well aware of the auction as i was on edge all day.
Here was me 100 miles away from my beloved computer and the auction was ending mid arvo. No way of counter bidding and no way of knowing if i had won or lost the auction.
Around 3.15pm in the peak of my glumness i recieved a text message from Col and Kris- Kaybees congratulating me on my win ... yes....
... well folks if we had been in a pub i would have shouted the bar 
;D
One minute i was cursing all the lectronic fangdangle stuff for causing me stress and the next minute i am elated to find out by the black magic of mobile phones that i am now the proud owner of something else to drain my finances.
.
The rest of the day was blurr of yarning with the vint van crew and going through ten thousand recitals of "yes .. we do sleep in our van".. "No it does not have a fridge ,it has an ice chest"
.
the next week at work felt like an eternity or so seemed . All i wanted to do was cuddle my new found love
. I had a roster day owing on the monday and i managed to sway the boss into letting me take the friday off instead. 
Friday 5.00am and me and eddy EK Yoot head off down the freeway with a 7X4 box trailer tagging along behind. through Sydney on the M7.. What a godsend that road is. Cuts out 31 sets of traffic lights. On down to Narellan road to unload 4 mags that i had sold during the week on ebay. The punter hands me $350 Cash ....bloody bewdy mate .. Harold steptoe now has 'is money for fuel for the rest of the trip.. sssswwwweeeettttt.
Rain to Marulan then things start heating up. 32 deg at 8.30.. No air con in the ute so i am starting to pong but the old grey hasnt raised a sweat and is happy with 60mph constant . 14" X 215/65s doughnuts and a high ratio diff is helping ease the pain . Temp gauge never got over 195 the entire trip.lived around 180 degrees 90% of the time. HR Radiator helped too. ( thanks for the tip on thermostats and radiator caps Col )
Down past Yass, Gundagai then hang a right and out to Wagga Wagga... 12.00. not bad going. Now 38 deg. a bite to eat and a fuel stop then on for another 60ks south west to a little place called Lockhart.
Marginal sheep grazing country all around with dry cracked dams but the main street is full of flowerbeds and looks picture perfect.
Swing into the punters back yard and there she is
( The TD) sitting up on 10 gallon drums and strung up by a chainblock around its bum. I had asked if it could be towed but he advised against it. so i checked on wheel track to make sure it would sit with its hubs outside of the 7X4 trailer. He agreed to set things up so i could just slot the trailer under her when i got there.
a bit of manoeuvering
just wind the chain block up a bit more mate.
There ya go my old darlin . now kick your shoes off , settle in and enjoy the ride home. .
Wheels are 15" Morris Oxford . However the hubs are early Chev that have had the stud centres redrilled to accept the morris wheels. The hubs stick out too far to run Morry hub caps.
With this axle and hubs i sorta believe that the van was made around the late 40s early fifties. i quized the owner about its history.
"A bloke owed me money. he didnt pay. i went round to punch him
and he gave me the van as payment. i dragged it home and stuck it on ebay... thats all i know" from there the history trail goes cold
Full timber chassis. 1 7/8 tow hitch. plywood sides . masonite roof . missing hinge out windows in doors. altogether not too bad for rot and splits although has a fibreglass..... ... Eeeekkkk .... repair on the roof .
left lockhart around 2ish and headed back to Wagga. 40 deg
This is no place for vintage van celebritys so we set the compass for Cootamundra via the olympic highway. 4.30 as we roll into Coota.
I notice the van park backs onto the railway line. No train spotting on this trip thank you very much. The old TD looked inviting but the thought of sleeping in a spider infested plywood and masonite box in 40 degree heat just did not appeal to me 
. I Swung into a motel , booked in and 5 minutes later i had the lid off a longneck and was soaking the blisters on my saddle sore bum in the motel pool. ...............
2 minutes later i was being clubbed with a broom .
Seems i failed to observe the sign that says "No Glass in the pool area" .. i explained to the manager that i have poor eyesight and thought the sign read "NO CLASS in the pool area .. therefore i quailfied ;D ;D ;D.
We ended up yarning and after a quick change into a formal pair of stubbies and singlet i got a lift with the manager in his air conditioned statesman to the local pub for tea. hung there for 3 hours downing schooners and enjoying happy hour as well as one of tyhe biggest rump steaks i have ver tackled. Then staggered 4 blocks back to the motel. A great nights sleep in air cond comfort.
Saturday up early and on the road to Bathurst. 'Arold Steptoe loves his swapmeets and 'es Gotta be there by 12 for the opening of the showground gates . About 1/2 hr out of coota i swung around a bend and i am bought to a halt by a few locals standing on the road. I blew up at them for not having the councilworker red vests on....
Took a while for em to get outta my way. even had the hide ( pardon the pun ) to rub their bums on my car and TD.
...
On Up through Young
and Spotted one of the biggest "willy willys" i had seen for a long time off in a paddock. bit hard to see in the picture but i reckon it was about 200 yards across in diameter and touched the sky. i prodded Eddy Yoot with my stirrups and we galloped on up to
Cowra for a bite at "Rotten Ronalds",then on through Blayney and into Bathurst. No speed records set on the way and Ed said he could feel the added weight of the TD on his back as we headed into the hilly country.
Bought a few lights for my 3 vans ( see dictionary and look up "sickness or obssession). A set of 13" white walls for Lukes EH wagon. An "Alladin" 2 burner kero stove. Downed 1/2 a carton of stubbies with a few of the boys from the FB/Ek holden club. Then slept in the TD . Got up for a pee during the night and banged my head on the overhead cupboards.
heres a few shots inside the van.
has cupbopards for and arft. the front cupboards are stepped so you can sit up with banging your melon. I set my swag up the opposite way around because of the way the van was sitting on the trailer. Had to sleep with the doors open to try and lower the fume level inside the van. Sort of a smelly concotion of old lead based paint, burnt kerosine, rat shit and reddo farts.
Enough to kill a brown dog... No..... THREE brown dogs.
Awoke halfway through the night to someone shining a spotlight in my eyes. Turned out to be the moon coming up. Slid down inside the swag and dreamed about colour schemes, rubber rats , and other things ratvan.....Up about 5 to boil the billy and down a hot cuppa to sort a few cobwebs out in my head. Wasnt too many new sellers on sunday morning so headed off about 8.30 for home. I called at a little place called Hartley to check out another Motorfest leadon an old van that a lady had told me about.
Not a bad van. i will post the info a photos under "for sales and wanted" later today.
From Hartley it is a really steep slog up to the top of the blue mountains and the great dividing range. I was getting a bit pekish by now and spotted a roadside picnic ground. Swung in and noticed this elderly gent waving his arms around . At first i thought he was having an epileptic fit . Then i realised i had seen this sort of behaviour before. His wife was trying to calm him down. Once the arms had slowed down a bit i caught a glimpse of his face. It was none other than our very own Cobber and Yvonne . They where on thier way to Lithgow to check out the Propert that he has listed on the forum.
What a fluke meeting these 2 after 3 days of driving. I had past hundreds of roadside rest areas and i had chosen the one that they picked for a break and a cuppa.
We spent half an hour yarning and checking out the old TD while i finished picking over the bones of yesterdays dinner KFC chook.
We discussed ratvanning and restoration prospects for the old darlin. Finally bid farewell and head off in different directions. I gave Chippdave a call while i was coming down off the mountains. Caught him at Maccas and we downed a coke and talked all things vintage caravans. Bit of ground work about the 2007 tour and old cars etc. Bloody hot day again so we bid goodbye and i took off back up the M7 and onto the Pacific hwy/F3 to newcastle .......got home about 4 oclock .
Roughly 900 miles of rescue and retrieve mission in three days. Car never missed a beat. has developed a few "Arthritis squeaks " and the floor is full of chip packets, mars bar wraps, apple cores, empty cordial bottles.
I seen parts of our beautiful country i had never visited before. Cant help saying a prayer for the poor buggers doing it tough on the land during this bastard drought. These people are the salt of our land and deserve a break. Real Australians being dealt a shit hand at the moment. Everywhere i stopped i was greeted with a "G'Day Mate.. what the bloody hell ya got on the trailer" . Always on for a yarn , a firm hand shake and full of good spirit.
I bite my teeth when i get back into the coastal environment and see all that green pasture. My guts turns when i see the actions and attitudes of some of the "introduced species of the human race from other countries'.
Its like 2 different worlds ... in the one country. Just gotta travel a little further inland each year to find the real australia and real australians.
Brother Jeff lent a hand yesterday arvo to unload the van off the trailer.
And so i sentence you to be hung by the chassis until pronounced
dead
Here is a few shots inside the kitchen
and so the road journey ends and the ... Restore, renovate, use as is, customise debate begins.
Its rescued, Its mine, its home, its undercover, .its gunna sit until i finish the 10 year TD project before Munmorah. ... No .. i dont want to see it in some bloody calander.... it aint a "REAL VINTAGE VAN"..like the latest addition....... its a replica.
So dont start picking on me.
Reddo
Vintage vans... collect the whole set.
;D
After mopping up all the poop that has been thrown at me for building a replica TD... a project which is still in progress. I thought i better redeem myself in the eyes of the purists vintage van restorers.
I put a bid on what was described on ebay as a '1940s teardrop'.
Most of those that where at Motorfest where well aware of the auction as i was on edge all day.
Here was me 100 miles away from my beloved computer and the auction was ending mid arvo. No way of counter bidding and no way of knowing if i had won or lost the auction.
Around 3.15pm in the peak of my glumness i recieved a text message from Col and Kris- Kaybees congratulating me on my win ... yes....
... well folks if we had been in a pub i would have shouted the bar 
;DOne minute i was cursing all the lectronic fangdangle stuff for causing me stress and the next minute i am elated to find out by the black magic of mobile phones that i am now the proud owner of something else to drain my finances.
.The rest of the day was blurr of yarning with the vint van crew and going through ten thousand recitals of "yes .. we do sleep in our van".. "No it does not have a fridge ,it has an ice chest"
.the next week at work felt like an eternity or so seemed . All i wanted to do was cuddle my new found love
. I had a roster day owing on the monday and i managed to sway the boss into letting me take the friday off instead. 
Friday 5.00am and me and eddy EK Yoot head off down the freeway with a 7X4 box trailer tagging along behind. through Sydney on the M7.. What a godsend that road is. Cuts out 31 sets of traffic lights
. On down to Narellan road to unload 4 mags that i had sold during the week on ebay. The punter hands me $350 Cash ....bloody bewdy mate .. Harold steptoe now has 'is money for fuel for the rest of the trip.. sssswwwweeeettttt. Rain to Marulan then things start heating up. 32 deg at 8.30.. No air con in the ute so i am starting to pong but the old grey hasnt raised a sweat and is happy with 60mph constant . 14" X 215/65s doughnuts and a high ratio diff is helping ease the pain . Temp gauge never got over 195 the entire trip.lived around 180 degrees 90% of the time. HR Radiator helped too.
( thanks for the tip on thermostats and radiator caps Col )Down past Yass, Gundagai then hang a right and out to Wagga Wagga... 12.00. not bad going. Now 38 deg. a bite to eat and a fuel stop then on for another 60ks south west to a little place called Lockhart.
Marginal sheep grazing country all around with dry cracked dams but the main street is full of flowerbeds and looks picture perfect.
Swing into the punters back yard and there she is
( The TD) sitting up on 10 gallon drums and strung up by a chainblock around its bum. I had asked if it could be towed but he advised against it. so i checked on wheel track to make sure it would sit with its hubs outside of the 7X4 trailer. He agreed to set things up so i could just slot the trailer under her when i got there.a bit of manoeuvering
just wind the chain block up a bit more mate.
There ya go my old darlin . now kick your shoes off , settle in and enjoy the ride home.
.Wheels are 15" Morris Oxford . However the hubs are early Chev that have had the stud centres redrilled to accept the morris wheels
. The hubs stick out too far to run Morry hub caps. With this axle and hubs i sorta believe that the van was made around the late 40s early fifties. i quized the owner about its history.
"A bloke owed me money. he didnt pay. i went round to punch him
and he gave me the van as payment. i dragged it home and stuck it on ebay... thats all i know" from there the history trail goes cold Full timber chassis. 1 7/8 tow hitch. plywood sides . masonite roof . missing hinge out windows in doors. altogether not too bad for rot and splits although has a fibreglass.....
... Eeeekkkk .... repair on the roof . left lockhart around 2ish and headed back to Wagga. 40 deg
This is no place for vintage van celebritys so we set the compass for Cootamundra via the olympic highway. 4.30 as we roll into Coota.
I notice the van park backs onto the railway line. No train spotting on this trip thank you very much
. The old TD looked inviting but the thought of sleeping in a spider infested plywood and masonite box in 40 degree heat just did not appeal to me 
. I Swung into a motel , booked in and 5 minutes later i had the lid off a longneck and was soaking the blisters on my saddle sore bum in the motel pool. ...............2 minutes later i was being clubbed with a broom
.Seems i failed to observe the sign that says "No Glass in the pool area" .. i explained to the manager that i have poor eyesight and thought the sign read "NO CLASS in the pool area .. therefore i quailfied ;D ;D ;D.
We ended up yarning and after a quick change into a formal pair of stubbies and singlet i got a lift with the manager in his air conditioned statesman to the local pub for tea. hung there for 3 hours
downing schooners and enjoying happy hour as well as one of tyhe biggest rump steaks i have ver tackled. Then staggered 4 blocks back to the motel. A great nights sleep in air cond comfort.Saturday up early and on the road to Bathurst. 'Arold Steptoe loves his swapmeets and 'es Gotta be there by 12 for the opening of the showground gates . About 1/2 hr out of coota i swung around a bend and i am bought to a halt by a few locals standing on the road. I blew up at them for not having the councilworker red vests on....
Took a while for em to get outta my way. even had the hide ( pardon the pun
) to rub their bums on my car and TD....
On Up through Young
and Spotted one of the biggest "willy willys" i had seen for a long time off in a paddock. bit hard to see in the picture but i reckon it was about 200 yards across in diameter and touched the sky. i prodded Eddy Yoot with my stirrups and we galloped on up to
Cowra for a bite at "Rotten Ronalds",then on through Blayney and into Bathurst. No speed records set on the way and Ed said he could feel the added weight of the TD on his back as we headed into the hilly country.
Bought a few lights for my 3 vans ( see dictionary and look up "sickness or obssession). A set of 13" white walls for Lukes EH wagon. An "Alladin" 2 burner kero stove. Downed 1/2 a carton of stubbies with a few of the boys from the FB/Ek holden club. Then slept in the TD . Got up for a pee during the night and banged my head on the overhead cupboards.
heres a few shots inside the van.
has cupbopards for and arft. the front cupboards are stepped so you can sit up with banging your melon. I set my swag up the opposite way around because of the way the van was sitting on the trailer. Had to sleep with the doors open to try and lower the fume level inside the van. Sort of a smelly concotion of old lead based paint, burnt kerosine, rat shit and reddo farts.
Enough to kill a brown dog... No..... THREE brown dogs.
Awoke halfway through the night to someone shining a spotlight in my eyes. Turned out to be the moon coming up. Slid down inside the swag and dreamed about colour schemes, rubber rats , and other things ratvan.....Up about 5 to boil the billy and down a hot cuppa to sort a few cobwebs out in my head. Wasnt too many new sellers on sunday morning so headed off about 8.30 for home. I called at a little place called Hartley to check out another Motorfest leadon an old van that a lady had told me about.
Not a bad van. i will post the info a photos under "for sales and wanted" later today.
From Hartley it is a really steep slog up to the top of the blue mountains and the great dividing range. I was getting a bit pekish by now and spotted a roadside picnic ground. Swung in and noticed this elderly gent waving his arms around
. At first i thought he was having an epileptic fit . Then i realised i had seen this sort of behaviour before. His wife was trying to calm him down. Once the arms had slowed down a bit i caught a glimpse of his face. It was none other than our very own Cobber and Yvonne . They where on thier way to Lithgow to check out the Propert that he has listed on the forum.What a fluke meeting these 2 after 3 days of driving. I had past hundreds of roadside rest areas and i had chosen the one that they picked for a break and a cuppa.
We spent half an hour yarning and checking out the old TD while i finished picking over the bones of yesterdays dinner KFC chook.
We discussed ratvanning and restoration prospects for the old darlin. Finally bid farewell and head off in different directions. I gave Chippdave a call while i was coming down off the mountains. Caught him at Maccas and we downed a coke and talked all things vintage caravans. Bit of ground work about the 2007 tour and old cars etc. Bloody hot day again so we bid goodbye and i took off back up the M7 and onto the Pacific hwy/F3 to newcastle .......got home about 4 oclock .
Roughly 900 miles of rescue and retrieve mission in three days. Car never missed a beat. has developed a few "Arthritis squeaks " and the floor is full of chip packets, mars bar wraps, apple cores, empty cordial bottles.
I seen parts of our beautiful country i had never visited before. Cant help saying a prayer for the poor buggers doing it tough on the land during this bastard drought. These people are the salt of our land and deserve a break. Real Australians being dealt a shit hand at the moment. Everywhere i stopped i was greeted with a "G'Day Mate.. what the bloody hell ya got on the trailer" . Always on for a yarn , a firm hand shake and full of good spirit.
I bite my teeth when i get back into the coastal environment and see all that green pasture. My guts turns when i see the actions and attitudes of some of the "introduced species of the human race from other countries'.
Its like 2 different worlds ... in the one country. Just gotta travel a little further inland each year to find the real australia and real australians.
Brother Jeff lent a hand yesterday arvo to unload the van off the trailer.
And so i sentence you to be hung by the chassis until pronounced
dead
Here is a few shots inside the kitchen
and so the road journey ends and the ... Restore, renovate, use as is, customise debate begins.
Its rescued, Its mine, its home, its undercover, .its gunna sit until i finish the 10 year TD project before Munmorah. ... No .. i dont want to see it in some bloody calander.... it aint a "REAL VINTAGE VAN"..like the latest addition....... its a replica
.So dont start picking on me.
Reddo
Vintage vans... collect the whole set.
;D
