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Post by kerri on Nov 20, 2016 10:40:16 GMT 10
Hi, I have just bought a 1960s Viscount Valiant caravan and ready to start renovating it. what I am looking for is more details about the caravan. All I have is a serial number on the draw bar which says B177. Its 12ft long, 6.8ft wide and 7.7ft high. Silver but was painted maroon/brown. 15ft long to the end of the draw bar.image.jpegimage.jpeg Can anyone help. Kerri Attachment DeletedAttachment Deleted |
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Post by murray on Nov 21, 2016 6:32:07 GMT 10
Hi, I have just bought a 1960s Viscount Valiant caravan and ready to start renovating it. what I am looking for is more details about the caravan. All I have is a serial number on the draw bar which says B177. Its 12ft long, 6.8ft wide and 7.7ft high. Silver but was painted maroon/brown. 15ft long to the end of the draw bar.image.jpegimage.jpeg Can anyone help. Kerri Welcome Kerri link to b358Link to down history lane
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Post by Don Ricardo on Nov 24, 2016 21:49:50 GMT 10
G'day Kerri,
I've just posted some information about Valiant caravans on the 'Down History Lane' Valiant thread which will assist you with your van. Murray gave you a link to the DHL thread, as well as to a thread about his van.
As you have probably read by now, your van has the same 'American' ribbed aluminium cladding on the sides as Murray's van, but yours is a bit older than his, as indicated by your serial number of B177. The serial number of his van is B358.
Franklin1 worked out that Murray's van was probably produced early in 1963, and so yours would have been produced a few weeks earlier than that, perhaps possibly even back into 1962.
I note that the sticker on your van just says 'Valiant', whereas the sticker on Murray's says 'Valiant Royale'. That might just be another indicator that your van is earlier, or possibly Murray's was a bit more upmarket with a few more features inside. If you look at the internal photos of Murray's van you may be able to compare it with yours to see if his has any added extras that yours doesn't.
Hope that helps.
Don Ricardo
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Post by kerri on Nov 26, 2016 17:15:19 GMT 10
Hi Don,
Sorry for the late reply. Thank you sooo much for the info. I'm going with the fact that it would be a caravan with the ribbed options. There is also the possibility it may be a Royale. I will have a look further at the photos.
I don't have the steel rod at the back of Murray's van. I think there a just lots of things missing from inside the van. I don't have the drop down table at the end of the kitchen sink or where the seating area is. There was no bed in the van but I can check where the nails and screws would have gone. The kitchen cupboard is the same. The seats are definitely original. The flooring and wardrobe are the same. I am not sure if the gas bottle holder on the draw bar. The sticker does not say 'Royale', so I guess it's not.
Going by the advertisements on Murray's post, they made the 'Royale' in late 1962. I do have the sloping windows that were made in 1963.
The door is different as you can open it at the top, separately from the whole door.
I will add more photos soon but they are too big. I need to resize them.
So, after all of that, I'm either a 1962 with extras or 1963 with a slope.
Kerri
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Post by Don Ricardo on Nov 26, 2016 22:52:16 GMT 10
Hi Kerri, Interesting to hear more about your Valiant. The bar at the back of Murray's van is a towel rail which was quite a common after market addition back in the day, so the fact that your van doesn't have one doesn't say very much I don't think. But commenting on a couple of your other points: - The reference to the slanted windows introduced on Valiants in later 1963 is to the side windows (just to make sure we're talking about the same thing and not misunderstanding each other
 ). I've had another look at the photo of the side of your van and, while it is sometimes quite hard to judge angles from a photo, the side windows don't look like they're slanted to me. The slanted windows on Viscounts and Valiants are in the form of a parallelogram, whereas yours look like a regular rectangle shape, the same as those on Murray and Aeroliteej's Valiants. If the windows were slanted then their right hand sides would run parallel with the slant on the front wall, but instead the gap between the side of the window and the slant on the front wall reduces going downwards - at least that's how it seems to me, and how I'm judging it.
- You comment that your van may be a Valiant Royale, and indeed it may be. However, I was comparing the Valiant sticker on your van with the ones on Murray and Aeroliteej's vans. Yours just says 'Valiant' like the sticker on the earlier rescote/aluminum Valiants, whereas the sticker on Murray and Aeroliteej's vans says 'Valiant Royale'. I'm assuming that the difference in wording has some significance, possibly referring to trim level but maybe only a marketing ploy.
One thing we can be certain of is that your van was produced before Murray's because your serial number precedes Murray's by 181, so I think that does indicate late 1962/early 1963. But where Aeroliteej's van with the 'A' serial number fits in relation to yours and Murray's, well that's a question mark at the moment. I will be interested to hear what else you can find out in your van. Sometimes people have found build dates pencilled in cupboards and under drawers, so it's worth looking around to see what might be there, although it sounds a lot of the internal furnishings are now gone. Don Ricardo |
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Post by kerri on Nov 30, 2016 10:02:07 GMT 10
Attachment DeletedAttachment DeletedHi Don, Thank you for spending the time on this. I have attached more photos. As far as we can see, there is only attachments for a rail at the front of the caravan. 1. We have confirmation about the 'side' windows. They are not slanted. 2. I don't think it is a Royale. 3. Not sure about the 'trim level'. We will look for the build dates as we are pulling everything out. We believe the original colour is blue, as under the window edges, there is blue paint under the maroon colour. We think the blue goes around like a strip around the windows. I have also attached three more photos. Interior of an original, external paint work (silver with two blue stripes and a caravan with the exterior paintwork around the caravan.
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Post by kerri on Nov 30, 2016 10:18:34 GMT 10
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Post by kerri on Nov 30, 2016 10:19:18 GMT 10
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Post by kerri on Nov 30, 2016 10:19:58 GMT 10
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Post by kerri on Nov 30, 2016 10:20:28 GMT 10
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Post by kerri on Nov 30, 2016 10:21:06 GMT 10
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Post by shesgotthelook on Nov 30, 2016 14:24:06 GMT 10
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Post by kerri on Nov 30, 2016 16:21:15 GMT 10
Hi shesgotthelook.
Thank you for the instructions. I will try this when I need to add more photos.
Also, as my husband and I were looking through the caravan for a build number (which we could not find), we came across the 'Valiant' sticker and we can see 'Royale' embossed under the sticker. Not sure whether the ink has reduced due to age/weather or a standard sticker was placed over the top.
Also, we found cupboard doors and fly screens and the electric connector board for 12v which runs all the break lights, tail lights, blinkers etc.
We are getting excited as we are stripping the van. Need a name for the girl....
Kerri
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alprov
Junior Member
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Post by alprov on Nov 30, 2016 17:05:00 GMT 10
Hi Kerri , i too had trouble finding build number on my 63 Viscount , however reading through some older posts i came across one from SGTL to look under utensils draw & so i checked mine & there it was (thanks sgtl) i also found another under the table & 1 more under the bottom wardrobe cupboard, so good luck & hope your build number turns up..
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Post by kerri on Nov 30, 2016 18:37:18 GMT 10
Hi Alprov.
Thank you. We looked everywhere today. We will try again tomorrow at your suggestions. We don't have the table.
Much appreciated.
Kerri
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Post by Don Ricardo on Nov 30, 2016 21:15:59 GMT 10
Hi Kerri, Great to see some more photos of your van, and to hear that you found some 'hidden goodies' which will help you with your restoration. I was interested to read that you have detected an embossed 'Royale' on/under the sticker. That fits with all the other Valiants with the same cladding that I've been able to look at, and resolves one of the questions that we were thinking about. (I presume that you mean the Valiant stickers above the front and rear windows?) Regarding the livery (paintwork) on your van, the blue paint you've found surrounding the rear window and under the maroon paint on the sides, tells you that your van originally looked like Fenwood's Valiant serial number A379 with the same cladding as yours - click here for photos. In other words the plain unribbed cladding at window height right around the van would have been painted pale blue. The ribbed cladding would have been unpainted. Incidentally, the 'Royale' on Fenwood's Valiant sticker is very faint as well, so perhaps it is prone to fading if it is very weathered as yours appear to be? The blue and white caravan you've posted photos of (which now belongs to Littlewildflower) has been repainted all over, and while the blue panel between the windows follows the original, the colour blue that has been used isn't similar to the original. If you have a look at the early 1960's Viscount caravans on the Viscount thread in the Down History Lane section of the forum, you'll see the shade of blue that Viscount used for its van at the time yours was built. (Although of course it's your van, so you're obviously free to use whatever colour you choose!) The last photo you posted is a later model than yours because it has the multi strand ribbed cladding, and the painted arrow flashes on the side were introduced by Viscount in about 1964 or 1965 I think. But weirdly the flashes are the opposite way up to how they usually appear, so maybe they have been repainted at some stage. Regarding Alprov's comment about the build number, you already have your build number or serial number - B177. What you're looking for and may hopefully find written on the furniture somewhere, is the build date. It'll be great if you find it, and will help us date the other Valiants from around the same period too. Good luck with the search and let us know how you go. By the way, I've had a look at the door of your van in the photos you've provided. It looks to me as if it is either a replacement for the original, or has been modified. While a number of caravan builders included just a ventilation hatch in the upper part of the door, I haven't seen a Viscount van from the 60's with that style, and the hinges on the hatch don't look as if they are original. Don Ricardo |
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Post by kerri on Dec 2, 2016 9:53:37 GMT 10
Hi Don, Thank you again for your reply. Yes, we saw 'Royale' on the sticker at the back. We didn't check the front. OMG! So, are we saying it is now a Royale? We will either keep the van bare metal and the blue or paint it white and a red/maroon stripe to match our car. Don't tell us off if we are killing the originality of the van. The blue on our van is very light. I guess its the same as this picture. vintagecaravans.proboards.com/post/100348I'm not going to worry about the multi stripe. I just wasn't sure what year they did these. All good. OMG! I'm on a mission to find this date!!! I could definitely see that the door is different. So, where I am at is a checklist of start to finish on renovating a caravan. I have my stage 1 checklist but not sure if it is a correct order. Did you want my list or is there one out there? Kerri |
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Post by Don Ricardo on Dec 2, 2016 20:38:55 GMT 10
Hi Kerri, Yes, the fact that you can see 'Royale' on one of the stickers indicates that your van is a Valiant Royale, the same as the other Valiants we've been discussing. And the light blue on the caravan you provided the link for is indeed the colour I was referring to, and the colour that was on your van, or very close to it. It was quite a popular caravan colour back in the early 60's, and was used a lot by Viscount and some other manufacturers. Whether you repaint your van a similar colour or not, depends on how original you want to keep your van. Some people on the forum (including me) go for originality, and others don't. It's up to you. Having said that, a matching caravan and tow car always look fantastic, and I don't think anybody would be critical if you end up painting your van to match your car. Regarding checklists, a few other forum members have posted theirs from time to time, but what's on the list depends very much on the state of your van, and what needs doing. Maybe you'd like to post the list you've started and various forum members can then offer suggestions about what your tackling and/or answer questions if you have them? And definitely show us some photos as the work proceeds. We will all be interested to follow your progress. Don Ricardo |
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Post by bubbles on Dec 2, 2016 21:47:09 GMT 10
Looks like a good project , are you going to remove the paint and restore it to the original
Maurice
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Post by kerri on Dec 3, 2016 18:22:25 GMT 10
Attachment DeletedHi everyone, We have decided on painting it grecian white and red stripe around the windows. This will match our white holden. Yay, we made a decision. Here is a pic of the red colour we will match it with.
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Post by Daggsey on Dec 17, 2016 18:41:39 GMT 10
Hi Don Ricardo,
After all that I posted about "Lady Madonna", my refurbishment and her travels over the past 8 years, new forum Member and current owner Lushly has discovered that by the chassis number she might actually be a 1962/63 Adelaide build😳😳.
Because her birth certificate (rego papers) showed her to be a 1968 model, I naturally assumed that to be correct. Consequently I named her based on that year..me being a Beatles tragic and Lady Madonna was a hit in 1968!!
Just shows that we can never stop learning something new in this hobby of ours.
Daggsey
Footnote to the above:
Don Ricardo, I have just re-read the DHL on Valiants after many years and realised that you had edited a post of mine concerning the age of Lady Madonna 😀😀
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Post by kerri on May 7, 2017 16:06:37 GMT 10
Hello vintage caravan world. I'm back!!! Yay and ready to get this old girl and the caravan on the road.
OMG! where do I start.
Husband is never well, I have finished uni after 5.5 years. I have sooooooooooo much time on my hands and want to get this baby done
I will be a good girl on here and stick to one thread. This one.
I hope people remember me. I'm the girl with no idea and always asking question, but will be smarter now.
I do apologise for all the hassles I have caused based on the treads. Water under the bridge for me.
I hope you still love me.
Anyway, here I go.
Kerri
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Post by kerri on May 7, 2017 17:30:32 GMT 10
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Post by kerri on May 9, 2017 15:24:11 GMT 10
Living in Canberra, you learn very quickly that there will be only one person who can physically help you out. That one person, in 1hr, has helped me out so much. Just like you guys, you have helped me out so generously.
So, the verdict on starting my van.
1. Get the underneath checked. (This was my original idea anyway). Getting it sandblasted,painted and tar on the timer floor. This will allow me to see what damage there is and i'll keep in mind that welding might need to be done and further damage from sandblasting might happen.
Apparently there is only one person in Canberra that can do the job. So, here goes and keep you posted.
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Post by kerri on May 16, 2017 18:13:03 GMT 10
Yay. I finally had my first real piece of restoration happen on my caravan. I had a friend who welded 'off' the tyre holder at the back. This is what it looked like before.  Getting it removed  Back to originality.  |
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). I've had another look at the photo of the side of your van and, while it is sometimes quite hard to judge angles from a photo, the side windows don't look like they're slanted to me. The slanted windows on Viscounts and Valiants are in the form of a parallelogram, whereas yours look like a regular rectangle shape, the same as those on Murray and Aeroliteej's Valiants. If the windows were slanted then their right hand sides would run parallel with the slant on the front wall, but instead the gap between the side of the window and the slant on the front wall reduces going downwards - at least that's how it seems to me, and how I'm judging it.
