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Post by Koala on Aug 16, 2017 17:23:21 GMT 10
A small update to keep the thread active. With the rear end repairs completed I have bounced around various jobs both inside and outside the van depending on the weather. With a couple of days sunshine I have managed to replace the side window glass, polish the aluminium frames and replace the rubbers. With a day over 16 degrees I beavered away and rubbed back the one side and applied 2 coats of undercoat before the temperature plummeted again. As we intend to keep the van and travel I have replaced the original 13"early Holden rims with some period 14 X 6"alloy wheels which as a bonus add a bit of bling to the van. We did have a early Holden rim crack on the Franklin so would like to avoid that happening again. Here are a couple of photos with the side in undercoat and the wheel test fitted with the spat.......I like it. Double click on the photos to view larger. This coming Saturday is supposed to be warm enough to paint so I hope to get the colour top coat on this one side then turn the van around to do the same on the other side. When I removed the old paint the bottom edge of the ply outer wall was found to be damp and had been roughly repaired at some stage. There is now a new piece about 3"wide inserted along the full length of the side. This problem was likely caused by water sitting in the J moulding over the life of the van. If you run J moulding along the bottom then it needs to be filled with sealer to prevent water being trapped and damaging the plywood. Koala
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Post by Koala on Aug 21, 2017 17:21:26 GMT 10
Still making progress on this refurbishment but I should say two steps forward and one back. I wasn't planning on doing much at the front of the van but found that the right hand pillar was rotted so off with the front sheeting and rebuild of the rotted bits. Found this written on the front frame under the sheet. It says 'We Love the Beatles - John George Ringo and Paul'. We know that the Beatles toured Australia in June 1964 so there must have been some fans working on the Wayfarer production line. Also tried out some aluminium cleaner which had been given to me. This is the rear end and it is obvious where I have applied the cleaner. Just spray it on, leave for a few minutes and hose off. Great results!!! Koala
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Post by thegeneral on Aug 21, 2017 19:29:52 GMT 10
Hi Ken your limmo van is looking good. What is that ally cleaner called, do they sell it at Bunning's. Graeme
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Post by Koala on Aug 26, 2017 17:54:20 GMT 10
This is the aluminium cleaner which was given to me by a friend. A warning that it is quite dangerous to the user if you don't follow the safety warnings. Truckies use it on their aluminium fuel tanks but I don't know where you buy it. I had a BIG day today and managed to get a lot of jobs completed. A neighbour is a welder so I tempted him with a slab of VB to build a new drawbar. These vans are built very light and the old drawbar was slightly bent and flexed excessively so in to it with the oxy and grinder to remove the old one before the neighbour arrived. We took the opportunity to fit a spare wheel mount so that I don't need to carry it in the back of the ute. Still some painting to be done then reassembly of the hitch and gas. The old bar was approx. 70X50X1.5mm so the new one is much stronger at 100X50X3mm which is more like what it should be for a van of this size. Also replaced the lower half of the aluminium sheet across the front of the van, not original pattern but it looks much better than the checker plate which had been fitted by the previous owner. Nice day forecast tomorrow so back into it painting.!! Koala
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Post by aussieute on Aug 29, 2017 18:20:59 GMT 10
looking great such a lot of work but at least doing it your self you know it is done right looking forward to seeing it cheers chris
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Post by 2sneezles on Aug 29, 2017 20:01:20 GMT 10
Hi. Looks really good. Could you let me know were you got the rubber for the outer window please
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Post by Koala on Aug 29, 2017 20:11:17 GMT 10
Here is a bit of information for those who are restoring caravans from the early 60's which have the early Alfab windows which only have the aluminium frame holding the glass and without a inner aluminium frame. This means that the window seals directly onto the plywood side of the van with a rubber. Considering the length of time since these windows were made I thought I was taking a long shot and rang Alfab (03 94591333) to enquire about purchasing window rubbers and window stays. I was put onto Keith who it seems works a few days each week and he was very helpful and interested in the story of the Wayfarer.They are a bit slow to respond but they do come good. Email keith@alfab.com.au or vic@alfab.com.au To cut a long story short, these are the Alfab numbers for the correct rubbers; # 1081 Black Sealing Rubber Sash Only, Outside Seal. I ordered 17 metres for the 18' Wayfarer. # 1146 Glass Wedge Sealing Extrusion. Koala
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Post by 2sneezles on Aug 29, 2017 20:20:05 GMT 10
Thanks I will give them a call
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Post by Koala on Sept 10, 2017 18:00:21 GMT 10
The Canberra weather gods have been kind for two days so it was finally time to finish preparation, undercoat and top coat one side of the Wayfarer. I used 1/4 tint of Classic Cream in Taubmans Endure exterior paint. 3 coats of undercoat and two coats of top coat sanded between each coat using a short nap roller which gives a smooth finish. Also finished some aluminium polishing on the windows and vents, installed the battery and charging wiring, connected the electric brakes and connected the park brake cable. It doesn't look like 2 days work but I have been going flat out trying to get it ready for Shellharbour. Will apply the Wayfarer flash down the side in a week or two after the paint hardens. Click on the images for a larger view. Koala
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Post by Gidget on Sept 10, 2017 19:36:24 GMT 10
Looks great Koala! We're about to do the same on our Hilandale so it's interesting that you've applied 3 coats of undercoat. Is there any particular reason for that? Sounds like a lot more than 2 days work. Well done!
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Post by Koala on Sept 10, 2017 19:56:49 GMT 10
It took 3 coats to get to the point where i was happy with the finish.
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Post by kerri on Sept 10, 2017 21:15:18 GMT 10
Looks great. Can I borrow you soon... Wiring! About 4 weeks.
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Post by Koala on Sept 17, 2017 17:57:00 GMT 10
Still making progress on the Wayfarer but it doesn't look like it right now. Now that the right side is finished I have started repairing the left side which has opened up a can of worms with some rot and poor previous repairs. It was pleasing to have Michael (Tooleyau) drop in to give me a couple of hours work with his heat gun to remove the paint. The top coat came off easily and the original base coat is like chalk and sands off. While Michael was busy I took on the task of replacing all the 240 volt and 12 volt wiring and installing circuit breakers. I was prompted to do this when I removed a interior light and looked through the hole in the ceiling to see daylight through pin holes in the aluminium roof. So off comes the roof and out comes all the wiring which had gone brittle and had exposed one wire where it had rubbed through the insulation. Now I have new wiring, circuit breakers and a earth leakage safety switch all tested and now working. Tomorrow the new roof goes on and hopefully a coat of paint on the left side. Koala
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Post by Warrenk on Sept 17, 2017 18:52:54 GMT 10
While Michael was busy I took on the task of replacing all the 240 volt and 12 volt wiring and installing circuit breakers. Tomorrow the new roof goes on and hopefully a coat of paint on the left side. Koala Instead of using a RCD/RCBO a RVD. in my opinion is a better option in a caravan. I have installed them in my modern caravan as well in the my vintage caravan. www.rvdsafe.com.au/product/residual-voltage-device-rvd/Also if you have mobile telephones, tablets etc and bring chargers with you in the caravan think about installing a Camec RVMedia 240v double pole power point with 2 USB charging ports. No need to worry about chargers anymore. Warren
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Post by Koala on Sept 17, 2017 21:56:51 GMT 10
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Post by Koala on Sept 20, 2017 19:20:54 GMT 10
With help from a good friend and 3 days work I now have a new roof on the Wayfarer. It turned out to be a tedious time consuming job which turned out Ok in the end. Just because I can and because Judy and I intend to use the van to travel and free camp I took the opportunity to insulate the roof cavity and fit 2 X 100 watt solar panels and a exhaust fan in the shower. By my calculation we should never run out of 12 volt power to run the fridge so except for water we can free camp indefinitely. I still need to polish the old aluminium which I reused on each end and refit the J moulds. Michael (Tooleyau) must be bored as he turned up again today and made a welcome contribution by sanding the side and doing other odd jobs. Koala
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Post by Gidget on Sept 21, 2017 10:08:16 GMT 10
Selfishly, I'm so glad you're doing this reno, Koala. I'm basically going to be following in your footsteps and using this thread as my go-to guide for the Wayfarer and the Hilandale. Keep up the good work! Lisa
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Post by Koala on Sept 24, 2017 18:34:30 GMT 10
Another full weekend goes by restoring the Wayfarer New main door fitted to replace the worn out original. Tidied up a lot of my rewiring. Today I replaced the original Flavell Stove with a brand new one....straight out of the box packed with English newspapers. Sometimes you can have a good win finding NOS bits and pieces. Fitted all new gas lines and regulator. The weather wasn't any good for painting outdoors so I only managed to repair the side ready for painting. The lower 100mm of the outer side wall was rotten and had been previously poorly repaired with builders bog so I cut the damage out and inserted new plywood. Koala
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Post by Koala on Oct 2, 2017 18:23:29 GMT 10
Have a bad dose of the flu but this did not stop progress on the Wayfarer. Having completed the right side of the van it was demoralising to walk around to the unrestored left side. This side was also rotted along the bottom so once again I cut out 200mm and inserted new plywood before repainting. The door was in pretty ordinary condition so it went into the bin and a new one built by a bored friend fitted in its place. Here are a couple of progress photos. Have I said that I hate painting Koala
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Post by mysunfinder on Oct 4, 2017 22:35:38 GMT 10
Here is a bit of information for those who are restoring caravans from the early 60's which have the early Alfab windows which only have the aluminium frame holding the glass and without a inner aluminium frame. This means that the window seals directly onto the plywood side of the van with a rubber. Considering the length of time since these windows were made I thought I was taking a long shot and rang Alfab (03 94591333) to enquire about purchasing window rubbers and window stays. I was put onto Keith who it seems works a few days each week and he was very helpful and interested in the story of the Wayfarer.They are a bit slow to respond but they do come good. Email keith@alfab.com.au or vic@alfab.com.au To cut a long story short, these are the Alfab numbers for the correct rubbers; # 1081 Black Sealing Rubber Sash Only, Outside Seal. I ordered 17 metres for the 18' Wayfarer. # 1146 Glass Wedge Sealing Extrusion. Koala Thank you Koala, I drove up there yesterday and took a frame with me - the chap saw the sticker and went off to get Keith who was fabulous. Quite a few staff came out to have a look, one of whom was telling me how he remembers a loaded truck a day leaving full of frames. I was shown how to just replace the plastic inserts as the stays are intact but need a bit of polishing. I am eager to get to work on these now but would like to know if there is a way of removing the old rubber without breaking the glass? Naturally all the rubber has deteriorated but several windows still have intact glass. All advice gratefully accepted
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Post by Koala on Oct 5, 2017 5:20:33 GMT 10
Hi Mysunfinder I am pleased that Alfab were so helpful. For the outer rubber there is a bit of aluminium bent at the top corners holding the rubber. Just straighten this enough to slide the old rubber out. For the rubber holding the glass you need to remove a screw at each top corner so you can pull the frame apart and slide the glass out. You can then cut the rubber into shorter bits and slide out of the channel. Note that the glass sits on felt pads and these will need replacing to hold the glass in its correct position. Koala
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Post by Koala on Oct 8, 2017 15:56:47 GMT 10
With the Shellharbour gathering of Vintage Caravan tragics happening next week I have been working every available minute to finish the Wayfarer to the point where we can live in it for a few days. According to my records we started work on the van on 22 May 2017 and today I hitched it up for a blast down the road in order to check things out ready for its registration inspection tomorrow. It tows nicely and doesn't feel very heavy. I still need to fit the J moulds, interior doors and finish some painting. Did I mention that I don't like painting Koala
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Post by Mustang on Oct 9, 2017 9:27:51 GMT 10
Such a sweet looker !!!!!!!!!
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Post by strugglebrook on Oct 9, 2017 12:02:24 GMT 10
And the Van looks good tooooooooooo.
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Post by Koala on Oct 9, 2017 16:39:23 GMT 10
And the icing on the cake OK, time to hit the road. Across the weighbridge it weighed in at 1360kg which is less than my estimate of 1500kg......so if a litre of Bourbon weighs say 1kg and I have a gross weight of 2000kg, now I understand why they have so much underseat storage space Koala
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