Bondwood Furness Caravan- with a million questions

[amy]

Hey, I am new and I have just bought my first caravan a few weeks ago and am needing quite a bit of advice because I want to restore it right.

Its a Furness 14 foot bondwood caravan from the late 40s or early 50s. 
I suspect that it wasn't built after 1953 since there was an advertisement saying that they now could put refrigerators in their vans and mine has an old ice box (May be wrong though), but certainly not after 1956 because there is a picture with a fridge in the van.
Mine sounds like the 1948 one described in the Furness advertisements but is there any way to find out exactly when it was built?


The history of the van is that the previous owner's parents bought it second hand when he was a boy and did a few family trips in it but only down to Beachport, before then it may have had some more excitement. Since 1989 it has been sitting in an enclosed shed in Port MacDonnell well until I bought it that is! My friend was able to move it for me to another shed and he said that it towed really nicely.

It needs a bit of work done but my amateur eyes thinks that it is in pretty good condition, especially in comparison to a few others I have seen while searching the web and this site.  There isn't any visible water damage, but I will find out more once I start working on it I'm sure.


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all the benchtops are in good order, so happy that I can keep them that way. With a bit of a clean, fresh coat of paint and a few adjustments the inside will take care of itself easily.

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For the outside some of the tape on the joins are peeling off, some sites have suggested sylglas tape, what was this originally and what have others used?
Also what do others suggest for sealing and painting the caravan? Will I need to re-waterproof it underneath once I sand it back? 
What type of paint should I use?
I have heard a few different people talk about the different types and that while not original a water-based will move better with plywood and therefore not crack or wear as easily.

I am thinking about changing the colour of the outside stripe to a lettuce or jade green, described in an advertisement, because I think it will go better with the green interior and still keep it as close to original as possible. 


Other thoughts that I have been having are:

in regard to the side lights, as I still have the covers but the rubber bit is completely deteriorated and bent out of shape.
rewiring-  my brother is an electrician so I am thinking of getting him to have a look at that
gas stove- I have no idea what to do in regards to making this safe or replacing it for other gas or electrical stove.
the water tank and sink- the sink needs new seals and such but should I be using an old water tank and if so how to I clean it out?
finally the windows, 2 are broken (the front and back) and the sliding mechanism seems to work but all the rubber or whatever it was has degraded and needs replacing, does anyone know what I'm looking for?


I can't think of anything else I need to know at the moment, I'm sure there is plenty I am forgetting, but it is enough to get me started. I am planning on starting to think about/plan or do some sanding back of the outside later this week. 

I would so appreciate some of your thoughts about my questions, or even comments on my little bondwood beauty.
Thanks, Amy.

[cobber]

G'day Amy and welcome to the forum,

As you have already found the Furness thread in our Down History Lane board I imagine you would realise you have acquired what many of us here regard as a very special example of vintage caravanning history, lucky you I say

You mentioned plywood ?, according to the Keith Winsor manuals Furness vans were Masonite (prestwood) externally with plywood internal walls, still delicate and need to be kept under cover, that's why there's not many of them around.
Some of the photos we have of them sort of look to me like they have plywood in some of the panels, if you could confirm that ( or not) it would be interesting.

Ice boxes are beautiful aren't they ? we even have a thread devoted to them HERE and it would be great if you could contribute photos of the Furness ice box to that thread. The fact that you have an ice box does indicate it is one of the earlier models.

A very good example of a forum members use of fibre glass on the corners of a van can be seen on this one of akeepsakes .
Another product used on joins is 'Pinking tape' if you click here you can see discussion about it and it's uses.

Regarding your water tank..... there was discussion on this thread recently with some good hints.

Regarding which paint to use on plywood or Masonite, I think you're on the money there with your suggestion, water based acrylics sounds good

If your electrician brother wants to replace all the beautiful Bakelite switches the van was built with divorce him ........ there are safety measures that can be implemented (out of sight) if he feels they are necessary.

I'll go and have dinner now and leave some of your other questions to other forum members ........ I love your Furness Caravan

Cobber.