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Post by maplegum on Mar 22, 2015 19:01:38 GMT 10
Hi all, We have just picked up our Miami Princess from South Australia and have moved her 'home' to Victoria. This is our first restoration although I have been interested in vintage vans for a number of years.  The van is in very good condition on the inside, with very little 'visible' water damage. Someone has cared for her very well over the years.  The exterior needs some TLC. Her racing stripes have been hand painted back on by a 5 year old it seems. The rear end of the roof has some damage which is possibly from a tree?  We have some technical questions that we are hoping you can help with. Firstly, the towbar coupler. It's a Dymwood. What's involved in rebuilding these? The master cylinder is wide open with no fluid present. It's been sitting like this for many years. 
  Where do we source similar lights? We want to use LED lights but keep a similar looking housing for them.  Would anyone know her vintage? We can't located any identifying plates that would assist us. I was thinking 1967-1969? Would I be far off the mark? Hope someone can help with our questions, it would be greatly appreciated. |
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Post by Rattles on Mar 22, 2015 19:38:36 GMT 10
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Post by maplegum on Mar 22, 2015 20:23:58 GMT 10
Thanks for the prompt reply. I have added some further photos of the coupling set up in my original post if you don't mind taking another look Rattles. That's a great website and it should help with many of the items we are sourcing, so thanks again  |
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Post by Rattles on Mar 22, 2015 20:40:56 GMT 10
Looks the same fitting from the extra Photo's, The wheel cylinders may have to be Repaired by a Brake Service Centre as I believe the Wheel Cylinders may be hard to get, if staying with Over-ride brakes the Hydraulic type are a much better than Cable operated however a little more TLC is required. This ling may help in pulling the coupling down (last item on page): vintagecaravans.proboards.com/thread/14278/tow-coupling-struts-hitchesI hope you enjoy the Renovation Journey and have many trips in you Van. Rattles |
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Post by maplegum on Mar 22, 2015 21:18:38 GMT 10
Looks the same fitting from the extra Photo's, The wheel cylinders may have to be Repaired by a Brake Service Centre as I believe the Wheel Cylinders may be hard to get, if staying with Over-ride brakes the Hydraulic type are a much better than Cable operated however a little more TLC is required. This ling may help in pulling the coupling down (last item on page): vintagecaravans.proboards.com/thread/14278/tow-coupling-struts-hitchesI hope you enjoy the Renovation Journey and have many trips in you Van. Rattles My husband has signed up to the forum also so he will look over these technical details. Thanks so much for your assistance, we can't wait to have her restored to her former glory! |
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Post by cobber on Mar 23, 2015 7:46:27 GMT 10
G'day maplegum, I have recently pulled one of these Dymwood override brakes apart and also replaced the master cylinder. The 3/4 inch one rattles has given you a link to is the one you need. click here to see my coupling Just pull it apart and clean it up....... there's nothing to them. Be careful you don't lose the pin under the brake housing as shown in this photo Mine had been welded in but I don't think that is the usual practice, it’s there to limit the travel of the shaft. Cobber. |
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Post by maplegum on Mar 23, 2015 21:12:17 GMT 10
Thank you all very much for your help. Mr Maplegum has looked into your suggestions and found it very helpful. He's onto it Tomorrow marks the start of our restoration process. The chassis needs to cleaned up to get rid of that surface rust. Let the 'fun' begin. Is anyone able to assist with the year our van was built? There are no identifying plates on the chassis etc. Would we be correct in thinking 1967 - 1969? There is an old SA number plate on it and an old registration sticker (does not show year of manufacture). Are we able to trace back the manufacture date through these? Our van also has a broken exterior light cover. The make is Kempthorne. How easy are these to source so that we can replace the cover? |
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Post by Franklin1 on Mar 23, 2015 21:59:01 GMT 10
G'day maplegum, When I looked at your photos yesterday, I thought I was looking at a Franklin Mini (click on this link to see an example), but then I realised your van has the extra bulges under the front and rear windows. I think you would be pretty close in your estimate of 1967 to 1969, assuming the aluminium cladding on your van was originally painted white from the factory. To replace the glass in your exterior light, you have to measure the diameter of the opening. The standard sizes sold these days are 200, 250, and 300mm diameter light fittings, so you have to know which replacement glass might suit your base. Click on this link for the CaravansPlus spare parts available. You can try your nearest new or second-hand caravan sales yard, and see if they have them in stock. Some caravan yards carry a few spare parts of the more commonly required items. If you can't get a suitable glass to fit your base, come back on the forum and post a Wanted Advert for a complete light fitting. You never know your luck.  cheers, Al. |
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Post by Don Ricardo on Mar 23, 2015 22:50:34 GMT 10
Hi Maplegum, I'm not sure whether you've seen the Miami thread in the Down History Lane section of the forum, but there is quite a lot of interesting info about the history of Miami caravans there. If you haven't see it click here. According to the info on that thread, Miami changed from unpainted aluminium cladding to white baked enamel cladding in 1967 or 68, so that means that your van won't be any older than that. The other thing about aluminium cladding is that over time manufacturers used cladding with different profiles (ie the pattern of lines or whatever pressed into the aluminium sheets). This was partly influenced by fashion. If you look at the DHL Miami thread you will see photos of vans clad with a variety of profiles. The van which seems to have cladding the most similar to yours is Jula's Miami Contessa which she dates as 1969. Assuming she is correct in identifying the build date of her van, that would suggest that your van might also be 1969. Havng said that, the painted flash on your van is different to the flash on Jula's van, which may indicate a different build date for your van. However, until we see more pics of Miami vans to help us date them, my thoughts are that 1969 is a reasonable guess for your van because of the cladding. Don Ricardo |
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Post by Rattles on Mar 24, 2015 8:50:14 GMT 10
Thank you all very much for your help. Mr Maplegum has looked into your suggestions and found it very helpful. He's onto it Tomorrow marks the start of our restoration process. The chassis needs to cleaned up to get rid of that surface rust. Let the 'fun' begin. Is anyone able to assist with the year our van was built? There are no identifying plates on the chassis etc. Would we be correct in thinking 1967 - 1969? There is an old SA number plate on it and an old registration sticker (does not show year of manufacture). Are we able to trace back the manufacture date through these? Our van also has a broken exterior light cover. The make is Kempthorne. How easy are these to source so that we can replace the cover?  Try this link: caravansplus.com.au/catalog/index.php?cPath=32_139_429Hope this helps. Rattles |
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Post by maplegum on Mar 24, 2015 10:38:21 GMT 10
You guys are great, so helpful! We have read over that post regarding Miami vans. Pretty lucky to have that info first hand from someone who worked there. We are about to start another thread with our progress, or lack thereof, of the work we are doing on her. Stay tuned |
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