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Post by DC3Td on Sept 12, 2015 23:35:42 GMT 10
Ok Amy.FIRST OFF: Get hold of a gerni (water blaster).Cheapies from the big green shed.Maybe a couple hundred dollars. Gerni off the crud covering your van making sure of course the windows & door are closed.Its a no brainer thing doable over a week end.You`ll want to do the roof first so make sure you have an adult manning the ladder. Don`t tackle getting up/down a ladder with a gerni in tow.Things go splat! AND don`t stand anywhere on the roof.You don`t know for sure if its structurally safe to do so anyway so play the gerni wand as best you can off the ladder.Alternatively you can have some one (partner) place a full width plank (painters aluminium plank?) across roof for you to stand on.Work from the centre to the front/centre to the rear. ? So you can see where you`re walking.That`s ?.Once you`ve cleaned it all down then show/tell us about what it looks like.Then you can move on to stripping any paint off.After that comes the actual prep cleaning of the ali panels which to all intents stay put.Have a look at SteveJ food vans or check out previous forum member - Willyn - & his 24` Airstream. A mirror finish to die for. gordon A teaser of Willyn & his Airstream. That`s his F100 in the reflection.
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Post by akeepsake on Sept 13, 2015 11:00:48 GMT 10
Lots of discussion and I agree with everyone , it's a whole bundle of work and as I said before will take a huge amount of time .......but if you have a bunch of friends that could help out that's a big plus! Also if it takes 10 years or even more picture yourself and your then teenage child trekking off somewhere and setting up camp in the van by the river .... Having a goal then mapping out a plan is the only way to do it ! As someone else said and if it was me I wouldn't gut it but get it waterproof first! Summers around the corner so work a plan to remove outer shell, access frame damage, facilitate repairs, replace shell and make watertight ! If you just focus on that and set that goal only then it's a huge achievement ! Celebrate those achievements then set the next goal etc etc !! JBJ is right! Reality unseen causes enthusiasm to trip up every time! See it for what it is , understand the magnitude , break it down into smaller projects, get help and lots of advice . Know your limitations and embrace them then embrace someone who strengths counteract them and go for it!!!!!
Disclaimer! I haven't done a toaster so this may not be the best first step and if it's not someone who has will tell you but get it watertight!!!
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Post by justanotheramy on Sept 13, 2015 11:16:26 GMT 10
Thanks for the encouragement I thought I would need to gut it in order to waterproof it, as a big part of its issue is that rust from small holes is making the frame swell, creating bigger holes. Won't I need clear access to the frame in order to repair it? Or can I do it from the outside, and not all at once?
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Post by King Fisher on Sept 14, 2015 11:29:34 GMT 10
If you do take this on you can always always ask the forum for advise.
You may get a few differing opinions but generally the help here is fantastic, and there are plenty of old posts covering all types of repairs and processes for repairing all sorts of problems.
Good luck.
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Post by justanotheramy on Sept 21, 2015 16:46:53 GMT 10
Step 1 seems to be to clean the shell? Pressure clean with water, then strip the paint? Googling about removing paint from aluminium, and I'm reading people on forums in the UK and U.S. using an aluminium stripper called " Eldorado PR-2002" to get paint off things like aircraft, boats, bike frames, Airstreams… Aledgedly much more effective and also slightly less poisonous than the alternatives? Is that something available in Australia? What have people used? Beyond even just normal health and safety, the van is in my backyard with my pet goose, our fruit trees, my daughter playing… I'd rather not turn the whole site into a toxic runoff zone, yeah? Suggestions? And before I even get into that, should I be taking out the cabinetry and storing it somewhere safe? With the leaks and all, this sounds like it could get messy…
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Post by justanotheramy on Oct 10, 2015 19:38:27 GMT 10
Well, doors are off the wardrobe, and I've pulled out the ply with the worst damage so that I can have a look at the frame, get a feel for what I'm getting myself in for… So… What am I getting myself in for? Looking towards the back. Behind the wardrobe. Left side, over the wardrobe, looking towards the back. Same spot, looking to the front. Other side, upper kitchen cupboards in the foreground, frame damage over window.
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Post by stevej on Oct 11, 2015 21:23:45 GMT 10
Amy, sorry I have been too busy to spend too much time here of late and your thread slipped me by. We have had a few chats over on the Carapark FB page, please feel free to shoot me questions on my email (below) I would love to see your van progressing and I am happy to help out with whatever I can as time allows
Re a few of the questions detailed here (sorry I have not read the entire thread but...) a very rough approach in brief would be;
- The interior is worth saving. You are going to need to remove all the furniture / fittings very carefully, keep what can be saved and store somewhere dry and rodent proof until you can carry out structural resto, aesthetic resto, or build facsimile of any stuff that can not be saved (document it well so you can repro it.), keep a good floor plan and lots of photos. Keep all the electric fittings, kitchen kit etc etc. The priority is to remove and save the interior then focus on the shell as it is not weather tight and the interior will deteriorate quicker than the shell.
- Once gutted, water blast the show business out of the exterior, remove all that 'growth', clean and scrub with truck wash and rinse it really well, it is going to leak like a colander but that is ok if you have removed all the internals.
- Once all cleaned, start removing the exterior panels by drilling out the rivets with 3/16th drill bit. Do one section at a time and label it so you know where it goes back (get a good numbering system and draw maps of the panels and store them safely. You will need to get it back to a bare frame so you can deal with the corrosion problems (of which you have many)
-Once you have a bare frame take a heap of pictures and contact me and I will give you a run down on what the frame resto involves (essentially plasma cutting out the rust and replacing with new structurally sound steel etc), lots of fun and sparks ☺
That should get you started but I know you will have lots of questions so write a list and email it to me.
Steve vintagefoodvans@gmail.com.au
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Post by justanotheramy on Oct 12, 2015 9:39:46 GMT 10
Thank you so much, stevej — will definitely take you up on that While the state of the ply… all of the ply… has been a little daunting, I've been very pleasantly surprised by how well the rest of the interior has fared. Everything solid is still… solid. Since I realised that the shell was getting worse, getting the good bits of the interior out and somewhere safe has been my first priority. Not quite sure yet where that "somewhere safe" will be, but it's good to have it confirmed that I'm on the right track, and that the subsequent order of progression is pretty much what I'd thought. Will try to get my questions a bit more organised and concise, and then will email. Thanks again!
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