1959/60 Aluminium Olympic Custom

[oztinbasher]

I have been rebuilding this van for about 18 mths now and have almost finished. It was in very poor condition with the floor rotten and the roof collapsing. So I didn't think anyone would be offended if I changed it. Unfortunately the last owner smashed out all the interior and nothing was saved. This was good in one way as my wife wanted a all new interior, and I had a idea for a late 50 early 60 custom metal flake design in my head.
This is what I started with.








Cheers Steve

[Cruz]

Looking forward to seeing the finished product.

[Don Ricardo]

G'day Oztinbasher,

Welcome to the forum and thanks for telling us about your van, which is a very interesting and unusual model.

I don't recall seeing one of that design on the forum before. Are you able to tell us any more about it's history?

Have the aluminium panels either side of the front window and rear window been used to "fill in" where there were originally additional window panes? In other words do you think that the front and rear windows originally consisted of three sections?

As Cruz has said, it will be great to see the photos of your rebuild when you are ready. While it may have been good to have a blank canvas to work with, it also means that you have had to put a lot of work into it. But I'm sure it is very satisfying to see it all coming together now.

Don Ricardo

[boblor]

oztinbasher
The Olympic guru here, -- What history do you have on your van ??. How do you know it is a 1959-60 model and is called 'Custom'. Did the van have the Olympic name signage painted on it or a cast 'Olympic' emblem . Is a chassis no. visible. I have photos of similar Olympic vans, but I am on the road for the next couple of months and cannot refer to my files.
Where do live , maybe I may be passing your way on this trip. Feel free to give me a call on 0428 850 666.
Cheers boblor

[oztinbasher]

Thanks Cruz, Don, and Bob,
I think the windows were filled at a later date as they used pop rivets and the rest of the van has screws.Hi Bob,we met at Cooly rocks last year and we came for a visit.I know it was built around 59/60 as it has a date stamp on the wheel well from Lysart 28/10/59 and it had 60 falcon tail lights,there were Olympic stickers on the front and back and on the hubcaps. I live on the Southside of Brisbane at Forestdale. I build Hot Rods and Customs for a living making panels; I have changed the shape of the van so it is definitely a custom.

This is the only cupboard that was left.


Cheers Steve

[murray]

Steve,
keeping us all in suspense till next year !
Like a good custom
Murray

[JBJ]

Hi Steve,


I reckon you have performed some great work getting that shell back to a usable state.

I've rebuilt a few cars & vintage vans over the years, but what you have done is beyond most people's skills ( including mine).

Keep at it. As long as its what you want it to be, it serves the purpose.

Hope to catch up with you & the van on the road one day, hopefully at a Vintage Caravan event in SE Qld.

JBJ

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Oztinbasher,

Interesting to read those extra details about your van, especially the date for the Lysaght galvanised iron in the wheel wells. Not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to date their van so precisely.

I'm not sure if you've had a look at the Olympic thread in the Down History Lane section of the forum, but it is evident from some of the photos there that Olympic used Falcon tail lights for several of their models. Your van is another example of that. At some stage someone said they were XL Falcon tail lights, but I'm guessing from your comment that they are XK Falcon lights. Is that correct?

Don Ricardo

[oztinbasher]

Thanks Murray,JBJ,Don,
Yes Don my van came with 1960 XK Falcon Tail lights but the lenses were in poor condition so I changed them for XP lights for one of the Custom touches.Here are so more photo's , there was some rust in 2 corners of the frame to repair. I wire wheeled the frame and painted it with KBS chassis paint. I also added shocks and changed the bracket to fit a plastic water tank. This was the start of reshaping the body.



Cheers Steve.

[oztinbasher]

There was very little of the orignal timber frame that wasn't rotten, and i'm not much into wood so I used 25 x 25 shs tubing for the base of the walls and folded some zinc sheet into angle to make the curved top edge. I used a Lancaster shrinker to make the curve. The idea was to make it into a bond wood van shape. The roof was zinc sheet folded into a channel.


Cheers Steve.

[oztinbasher]

Once I was happy with the shape I moved the side windows at the back forward to clear the new shape of the back.I made more angle to frame the windows.

I used precoated plywood for the interior to save some painting and for a more durable surface. I didn't notice that it was hardwood and did not bend real well.

I think that a lot of old caravans leak because the wooden hatch, so I changed that to a modern style.
Here is some of the wardrobe coming together, i'm not much of a wood worker, just ply and pine.

Cheers Steve.

[oztinbasher]

I stripped the old peeling paint off and primed it with phosphate etch primer.

[oztinbasher]

Then I painted the base coat, then the metal flake and clear.


Cheers Steve

[oztinbasher]

I used a stretching tool in a air planisher to make the corners of the inner window frames.

This is how they came out.

Cheers Steve.

[oztinbasher]

I painted all the cupboard doors and fridge door the same aqua metal flake, and gloss white for everything else.

The bench top, table, and splash back are laminate in silver/white ( pearl white) and the sink is from ikea. The fridge is just a bar fridge painted and a 1938 Plymouth wing badge. The 50's style seats were done by my upholster Andy, in the same Aqua metal flake.

The bed is a queen size pillow top and my wife Kerry found all the matching aqua accessories.

Lights are all LED, and flooring is retro theme checker vinyl.
I had it regoed a few weeks ago and we will have it at Toowoomba swap at machinery hill this weekend A2.
Cheers Steve