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Post by King Fisher on Jun 12, 2015 17:13:26 GMT 10
I had seen Brenton's add for a Burwood for free. On the way to Ecuca I finally nailed down wiffie for a chat about wheather we should express interest in this van or not. She was very keen to have another project and gave the OK. It was one night that I went and sat down under Brenton's awning for a chat and I got chatting about this van I had seen on the forum and how I was looking for the owner to have a chat with to discuss about if the van was still available. As it turned out I was talking to the owner…. Duhh! Anyway he had it also on eBay and someone was coming the Sunday of Echuca to come and have a look at it. The long and the short of it they didn't turn up and I got the van offered to me. So we dropped in on the way home from Echuca to go and have a look at it to see if we wanted it. My first look was “oh gosh” but it was the cute shape, wooden windows and wooden chassis that sold it for me. With a hand shake I owned a pile of fire wood 1955ish Burwood van. I said to Brenton, “You know what you have done now! Now the forum will be flooded with photos as I do this one up...” Last Sunday I went and picked up the 'free to a good home' van clearing up some space in Brenton's back yard. As stated from the beginning it was in bad condition and I wonder if I have bitten of more than I can chew, so it looks like I will just have to chew harder to get this one back to some form of usable state. I will start with a couple of pickies to show the state of this van. Basically it will be a rebuild not a restore, as most of it is rotten and gutted.
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Post by brenten on Jun 12, 2015 19:33:29 GMT 10
the burwood is very lucky if it turns out anything like bessie it will look great im very interested in seeing photos of the rebuild good luck... brenten and robyn
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Post by overlanda on Jun 14, 2015 10:45:31 GMT 10
Any thing is possible to be rebuilt as you have a very good set of patterns and after the other van you have done this will be a walk in the park. Have fun.
Regards Gerald
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Post by don257 on Jun 20, 2015 9:37:14 GMT 10
great work will have to follow the progress. good onya for saving another .doug
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Post by King Fisher on Aug 19, 2015 11:45:57 GMT 10
Poor Jack has been sitting waiting shivering in the Melbourne cold while we abandoned him and have been away enjoying the Tropix on the Mekong delta for the past six weeks. Now we are back I will have to dig out those photos I forgot to post before heading away.
Not long now and I hope to get stuck into this one and get the rebuild under way. Soon the weather will improve and the renovating/restoring season will be here in full force and he will start to not look so sad.
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Post by King Fisher on Sept 3, 2015 16:10:53 GMT 10
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Post by Don Ricardo on Sept 3, 2015 16:37:18 GMT 10
You're a brave pair King Fisher and Wiffie! But I'm looking forward to watching the story unfold. Not many of the Burwood/Moreland caravans have survived,so it would be great to see one back on the road. Don Ricardo
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Post by Mustang on Sept 3, 2015 17:06:16 GMT 10
Amazing that any one would even "consider" a re-build??? I take my hat off to you.
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Post by King Fisher on Sept 3, 2015 17:55:50 GMT 10
It is only because of it's cute factor and rareness (the fact it's all wood helps too) that we consider such a thing. I am looking forward to the day when we can look back and reminiss on this story.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2015 18:43:42 GMT 10
Can't wait to see the end result, You are always so thorough with rebuilding and I love watching the progress through your photos. Cheers hughdeani
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Post by Gypsy 10 on Sept 3, 2015 22:52:32 GMT 10
Hi King Fisher, Your a braver man than me. Good luck. Have you set a time frame for completion? Well that don't matter. I know the end result will be fantastic. Gypsy 10
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Post by King Fisher on Sept 4, 2015 13:53:30 GMT 10
Hi King Fisher, Your a braver man than me. Good luck. Have you set a time frame for completion? Well that don't matter. I know the end result will be fantastic. Gypsy 10 Not sure about brave maybe a bit crazy Should be ready by the NATS (In 2020 that is). I figure that Bessie took 4 years to finish and about 30% of that was sanding and stripping paint, which I won't have to do with this van as it has very little usable wood left. This should save a lot of time for building. So time wise I am thinking it as being a 4 (and a bit) year project and should be ready to take to the 2020 NATS, all being well . Just as a side note some of you may have picked up that we have called him 'Jack', this is after my grandfather who's real name was John, but everyone called him Jack, and our other van is Bessie after my grandmother's nick name as her real name was Elizabeth. You might hear us refer to Jack as being the Prince Fisher's van and that is because it is, I am doing it up for him. So that later he can enjoy this special little van with heaps of character, and remember his dad well into the future. Unfortunately he is not too good with the tools at the moment, so it's dad's job to work on his vintage caravan for him. Although by the time it's nearly finished he might be able to help out a bit.
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Post by seeshell on Sept 4, 2015 14:38:33 GMT 10
Hi King Fisher, Wiffie and Little Prince! I think it might be optimistic to think that your van will be ready by the Nats - even 2020. I don't doubt your capacity for hard work, repair, or ingenuity - rather, darling little babies have a way of taking up a good deal more time, money and energy than you ever plan. And of course it is completely enjoyable. I salute your rebuild, and hope that the pieces remaining can act as good templates for the job. Best of luck! Cheers Seeshell
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Post by King Fisher on Sept 4, 2015 16:40:35 GMT 10
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Post by King Fisher on Sept 4, 2015 16:43:59 GMT 10
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Post by King Fisher on Sept 4, 2015 16:50:28 GMT 10
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Post by Don Ricardo on Sept 4, 2015 23:01:18 GMT 10
Great photos King Fisher. With all that you have to do, I'm glad to see that you're doing it under appropriate supervision. Prince Fisher looks as if he's got a good eye for detail, and won't let you cut any corners - although I note that some of the corners are a bit more theoretical than actual at this stage! One of the intriguing questions about your van is the serial number - 659. What we don't know is whether Les Gough numbered the vans he sold/built sequentially irrespective of brandname, or whether he numbered Hawthorns and Burwoods separately. I tend to think the former because I can't imagine that he sold 659+ Burwoods. There just aren't enough Burwoods about to make that seem possible. And the Hawthorns with a serial number similar to yours also seem to be about the same age-wise, whereas if they were numbered separately I would expect a Burwood around 600 to be quite a bit younger than a Hawthorn around 600. Anyway that's what I'm thinking at the moment... Don Ricardo
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Post by King Fisher on Sept 14, 2015 17:41:02 GMT 10
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Post by King Fisher on Sept 14, 2015 17:43:38 GMT 10
Last Saturday 12/09/15 I went around to dad's shed and acquired a few lengths of hard wood which we put through the thicknesser and made them like new. Once back home I removed the floor supports from the kitchen side and got the main beams ready for their operation. With a router I carefully took 1mm off one side of the beam for the length of the C-chanel insert, to make it fit snugly. With the beam shaved down I test fitted the C-chanel to the beam On the door side the old step went too and that beam was also shaved to fit. The rotten ends then were cut off leaving only good wood. Got a visit from the site foreman who was checking in and surveying the quality of work. Talk a bout a hard task master With the beams shaved and cut I did a test assembly of the steel C-chanels that will form a front sub assembly to strengthen up the front of the van. They will soon get welded together into one piece and cut to fit the width of the van. The hard bit will be deciding how long to make the one across the front... Before packing up I noticed that the front windows were nearly totally coming apart as the front has drooped down as it's only being sported up by the tin cladding. So I put a couple of pieses of wood in place to hold up the roof for now… And took a lot of measurements in case it all falls apart one night…
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Post by King Fisher on Jun 7, 2016 16:04:57 GMT 10
Nothing has progressed much because of my health etc... but it has come time to start thinking again about this rebuild. What I wonder is? as this van has NO interior should I put a modern interior and modern fittings, old interior and old fittings or an old looking interior with some modern fittings? My inclination is to to old looking cupboards, sink etc, but use a modern retro looking light, tap, cupboard fittings etc with some discrete mod cons like inverter/water pressure pump/diesel heater???/12v charge sockets etc...
What do you all think? and what mod cons would you include?
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Post by Koala on Jun 7, 2016 16:37:39 GMT 10
I guess that how you fit the van out will depend greatly on what you intend to do with it when you get it on the road and your budget. My choice would be to at least make a period looking interior with some modern fittings to suit your lifestyle. You don't really need much with the main items being obvious, clean water, somewhere to cook and somewhere to sleep. Maybe look around for some period fittings, add a battery and charger if you intend to travel. I have stuck with a original hand water pump and it works just fine. Spend your money on being comfortable with decent mattresses. We don't actually cook in our van that much but cook outside as it keeps the van cleaner.
Koala
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Post by aussieute on Jun 12, 2016 17:55:12 GMT 10
congrats on taking up the challenge to restore the van I love the way you glad wrapped the van to bring it home it is a big challenge to try for 2020 nats at the pace you are going it looks very possible will be keen to follow your progress cheers chris
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Post by King Fisher on Dec 8, 2016 12:48:05 GMT 10
Still might make the 2020 nats but my health has put a total pause on doing anything on the van, (got pulmonary sarcoidosis), but I expect to be back into it real soon as my energy is returning with the meds, although it might be the 2022 nats... LOL
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Post by mel on Dec 9, 2016 9:35:02 GMT 10
Sorry to hear you have been unwell. I enjoying reading your posts and often refer to them when working out how to tackle tasks on my own van. Glad to hear you are on the up.
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Post by King Fisher on Dec 9, 2016 9:44:57 GMT 10
Thanks Mel, great to know my posts are still being looked at Whats even worse than endlessly coughing is that the doc has temporarily banned me from driving, kinda put a dint on taking the van out at Christmas. I feel like a bird with a broken wing not being able to drive or tow...
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