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Post by Gidget on May 5, 2017 9:32:36 GMT 10
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Post by Gidget on May 5, 2017 9:40:47 GMT 10
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Post by Koala on May 5, 2017 16:07:24 GMT 10
Welcome to the somewhat exclusive group of 18'Wayfarer caravan owners. It seems that you have a challenge there to bring the van back to its former glory. At least it looks to be straight in your photos so hopefully there will not be too much rot in it and with a good clean up and delouse it will be a good basis for a restoration. I am still learning about these vans but I guess that yours with serial #263 and some of the different design features that your van is earlier than ours (Serial #840). I have located a contact at Alfab and they still have the rubbers for the windows available. Keep the photos coming. Oh, and good luck with the tilt tray
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Post by kingswood308 on May 5, 2017 17:04:00 GMT 10
Well at least it's worth sh*tting on !!
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Post by kingswood308 on May 5, 2017 17:04:37 GMT 10
That's still salvageable
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Post by Gidget on May 5, 2017 17:40:16 GMT 10
Well at least it's worth sh*tting on !! Haha, there's a nest in the wardrobe, bird poop everywhere and when I opened a cupboard two rats waved back at me. I apologised for disturbing them and closed the door again The wildlife obviously approve We've decided to get it trucked into Bairnsdale to get a new set of wheels, get the bearings & brakes checked and tow it home. It's a 2.5 hour drive. Well that's the plan for now. The farmer who owns it keeps saying "it's a Slim Dusty caravan"... Either way we've decided to call it "Slim" The tyres have been flat for a long time and we can't get the door to shut. We've managed to pump up 3 of them but the 4th is cactus. I'm hoping that a new set of tyres will help to straighten it out enough to get the door closed before we tow it home. Any suggestions?
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Post by Koala on May 5, 2017 19:38:57 GMT 10
You should be able to get the restoration finished in time for Wangaratta Maybe you should call it `Pidgeon' I expect that the wood framing will be a bit sad but the beauty of wood is that it can be easily duplicated. Is the aluminium plain or does it have a textured finish ? Koala
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Post by Gidget on May 5, 2017 22:02:26 GMT 10
Koala, it seems to be a mixture of flat & textured (lower side panels) aluminium. Mostly flat. It has a very industrial look that reminds me of an Airstream caravan. Don't think we can make it to Wangaratta unfortunately and we missed the last Nats because of last minute work commitments. We should have the Wayfarer ready for 2020 Nats though!
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Post by scootman on May 5, 2017 23:36:06 GMT 10
this will be great when you get it all cleaned up and on the road
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Post by Koala on May 6, 2017 7:23:34 GMT 10
I would like to hear what Hughdeani has to say about this van.
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Post by Mustang on May 6, 2017 8:17:51 GMT 10
this will be great when you get it all cleaned up and on the road Once all the mattresses & poop are left behind , the resting paddock looks a good place, & you get some fresh air in there I'm sure this van will start smelling like the grand lady she once was??? "Winifred" comes to mind. Good Luck PS: The filler tanks each side are intriguing
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Post by Koala on May 6, 2017 9:25:40 GMT 10
PS: The filler tanks each side are intriguing Bourbon in one and Coke in the other. Struth, I thought everyone knew that Koala
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Post by Gidget on May 6, 2017 9:32:50 GMT 10
The best thing we ever did was buy a farm with big hay sheds. They might be designed for storing hay but I can fit a lot of caravans in them 😆. This van will be stored undercover and protected from the wind and rain that is the norm in Sth Gippsland. I can't wait to "declutter" and evict the current tenants (I will employ the neighbour's Jack Russell to help with that task) and have a proper snoop around to see just what we're up against. Maybe I should call it The Ark!
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Post by Deleted on May 6, 2017 9:52:59 GMT 10
Morning all, What a great find,I've never seen a tandem Wayfarer of that vintage. It looks suspiciously like a Viscount of the same era,wonder if there was a bit of deal swapping going on back then! I don't think it's one of Slim Dustys vans,as I've seen most of his and don't remember it.I think you will have your work cut out for you on this one but it will be well worth it in the end. Good luck! Cheers hughdeani
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Post by Gidget on May 6, 2017 11:11:36 GMT 10
Hughdeani, do you have a rough idea of age? We'll need to register it at some point.
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Post by Deleted on May 6, 2017 13:42:55 GMT 10
I would guess 1960. hughdeani
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Post by kingswood308 on May 6, 2017 20:47:47 GMT 10
Make sure you post plenty of photo's of the restoration Lazy If you ever want to part with that rounded corner fridge, just send me a message and let me know You will be surprised after a clean up on the bird messages and other things how well it will look then. Dave
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Post by Don Ricardo on May 13, 2017 15:16:38 GMT 10
Hi Lazy Glamper, What a fabulous van!! As Hughdeani has commented, I don't think we have seen a tandem Wayfarer as early as this on the forum before, and I think it may be quite a rare van from that perspective. Well done you. A few comments for what they're worth: - One of the problems with dating Wayfarers is that they did do a lot of experimentation with their vans, and also did some 'badge engineering' by sourcing vans from other manufacturers and then slapping a Wayfarer badge on them. As a result Wayfarer built and/or badged an extraordinary range of models. We have often only seen one or two of some models, and where they fit in by build date is quite hard to determine. To add to the difficulty, Wayfarer didn't do a lot of advertising, so we don't have lists or a lot of photos of their models.
- Despite the above, I agree with Hughdeani's suggestion that the build date of your van is around 1960 or perhaps 1961. The main indicator for me is the aluminium angle uprights used to create and seal the wrap around front windows (or perhaps we should call them 'semi wrap around', given their construction?). This was a window method used exclusively, or almost exclusively by Wayfarer in the early 60's. We have a 1963 advert here for a Wayfarer 'Model W' showing similar windows, but I am inclined to think that it's possibly a photo of an earlier model, because we have have photos of a Wayfarer Roadliner with regular wrap around windows, and photos of several different Wayfarer Roadliner 63 vans. We have interpreted the '63' in 'Roadliner 63' as indicating that it is a 1963 model, which presumably makes the ordinary Roadliner pre-1963, or 1962. In addition, the Roadliner and Roadliner 63 vans have the cast metal knight's head badges on them, whereas your van has the signwritten 'Wayfarer Deluxe signage' from earlier vans. All this leads me to the conclusion that your van with the braced front windows, is pre-1962. The serial number 263 also suggests an early van.
- Hughdeani suggests that your van reminds him of a Viscount, and that possibly it was built by Viscount and then badged as a Wayfarer. I have compared your van with early 60 Viscounts and can see where Hughdeani is coming from. However, after comparing the details, I have concluded that your van wasn't built by Viscount. The profile of the front of your van - while similarish - is actually fairly different, and the way the front windows are constructed and installed in your van is very different to the Viscounts of the same era. In addition your roofline is very flat from front to back, whereas the roofline of Viscounts had some curve from front to back.
- Wayfarer advertised aluminium cladding on their vans from the early 60's - perhaps before - however, most of the Wayfarers we've seen from the early 60's have aluminium clad front, roof and rear, and bondwood clad sides. This being so, I am wondering if your van has had its sides re-clad with aluminium at some point. My reason from saying that, is that while the near (kerb) side of your van has been clad with two long, horizontal strips of aluminium, the off (driver's) side has been clad using a patchwork of pieces of aluminium sheet (please excuse the term 'patchwork' - I am not meaning to be derogatory). If you look inside the cupboards, etc, you may be able to see whether there is bondwood under the aluminium.
So all of that contributes to why your van is so fascinating. I would like to copy some of the photos to the Wayfarer thread in the Down History Lane section because it is such an early tandem. I hope that's OK? Don Ricardo Addendum: Lazy Glamper, looking through my collection of Wayfarer photos, I just found some pics of a shorter, non-tandem version of your van. But apart from it's length, it looks identical externally.
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2017 17:12:47 GMT 10
Hi Don, I'm pretty sure the aluminium is standard,the patchwork on the off side is because there is no door to break up the sheets.I remember them being sold new like that,so it's not been recovered. I still reckon Viscount had something to do with these,because if you look at interior photos they have the same vents in the cupboards,handles,light fittings,colours,mattresses,roof hatch etc. Too much of a coincidence in my book!it also has a flatter roof because it's longer. Cheers hughdeani
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Post by Gidget on May 14, 2017 9:17:35 GMT 10
Thanks for your comments Don and hughdeani. I'm even more excited to be bringing this van home as soon as possible. There has been much discussion between the farmer, his son and my other half as to the best way to get it home. I told them I don't care how it's done, I just want it home before the Queens birthday weekend... enough is enough already! As soon as it's safely tucked up in the hay shed, we'll be ripping out the bad and assessing the good. Only the rats know what's lurking within the cupboards and under the carpet! Pics will be posted of course for comments/advice. Interestingly, the van was purchased about 20 years ago by the farmer/stock agent (who lives locally but has properties in Bairnsdale) from a farm only a few kilometres from our property. It was bought for $500 as a teenage retreat for their eldest son. After the son left home it was towed to it's current resting place. They still know the previous owner (now living in nearby Leongatha) and plan to contact him to find out the history of the van. The more we learn about the van, the more we are eager to get cracking on the restoration. We can picture ourselves enjoying this van for many years to come, perhaps even a lap around the block one day. So the challenge will be to maintain the vintage integrity of the van's interior whilst adding some discrete modern comforts. But all in good time. First things first, we need to get it home! Stay tuned Lisa, Rob & "Sunny" ...get it? some more photos... that's about all I have for now...
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Post by Don Ricardo on May 15, 2017 16:58:01 GMT 10
Hi again Lazy Glamper and Hughdeani,
Interesting to read the history of (nearly) your Wayfarer, as well as to sense your excitement, Lazy Glamper. It looks like a great project.
Interesting also to read your comments about the aluminium cladding, too, Hughdeani. From the last photo Lazy Glamper posted, I see that the near side cladding is also made up of pieces. In the earlier photos, it looked like the cladding on that side was made up of just a lower and an upper sheet, but I see that is not the case.
The photos that I found of the shorter, single axle van version of Lazy Glamper's, does seem to be clad with just upper and lower, full-length sheets. I guess the difference in how the two vans have been clad probably reflects the size of the aluminium sheets available at the time? Is that likely to be the case?
I hear what you're saying about the fittings in this Wayfarer and those used by Viscount. I guess they could have come from the same supplier, but you know more about 60's vans than I do, so I accept what you say. My comment about the flatter roof was based on a comparison with a Viscount tandem about the same length and date as the Wayfarer.
Lazy Glamper, I note that the photos from your first post about this caravan have disappeared. Are you able to put them back in (via an edit), or re-post them please? It would be great if you can. Thanks.
Don Ricardo
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Post by Gidget on May 16, 2017 8:21:11 GMT 10
Sorry about that. I had moved the photos into an album. Should be all better now.
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Post by Don Ricardo on May 23, 2017 19:46:44 GMT 10
Hi all, Full marks to Hughdeani for sussing out the origins of Lazy Glamper's Wayfarer, shown above! In a Facebook post on the Hilandale Caravan Owners - Australia page, Hughdeani showed some photos of an Ambassador caravan he recently came across which bore quite a resemblance to Lazy Glamper's Wayfarer. That led us back to the Ambassador thread in the 'Down History Lane' section which contains some photos of an Ambassador caravan which belongs/ed to forum member Tinnie: From memory, although a tandem, Tinnie's van is only 15 ft long, whereas Lazy Glamper's is an 18 footer, but the two are clearly identical in shape, profile and styling. As Lazy Glamper noted on Facebook, even the signwritten brand names on the Wayfarer and the Ambassador are clearly done in the same style: We already know that Wayfarer used to do a bit of 'badge engineering' with caravans, even as far back as the mid-50's, and sourced their caravans from several manufacturers. Apparently Ambassador was one of the sources! (There's a possibility that the vans were built by Wayfarer and badge engineered as Ambassadors, but that doesn't fit with what we know about both companies.) It is important to point out that the caravans above were produced by Ambassador, which was an independent South Australian caravan manufacturer up to 1963 or 1964, not related at that point to Viscount. However, subsequently the Ambassador company was purchased by Viscount, who then began to market some of its vans as Ambassadors from 1964 to 1970, and then as Viscount Ambassadors from 1970 to 1975. So that means that the vans shown in the post are non-Viscount (or perhaps pre-Viscount) Ambassadors! There is more info about the independent Ambassador company, and more photos of Tinnie's caravan here. Don Ricardo
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Post by Gidget on May 23, 2017 22:16:33 GMT 10
So my Wayfarer was built in SA and transported to Camberwell in Melbourne for sale or perhaps to fill an order. I need to speak to the previous owner to ask if he bought it new. Adding some pieces to the puzzle. Looking at Tinnie's original post, it's interesting to note the sign written addresses near the door on both vans too. The fridge in the Wayfarer is smaller and looks to be an older style but I believe both vans have the same laminate pattern and colour. At this stage the Wayfarer should be arriving the weekend of June 3rd.
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Post by Gidget on Aug 6, 2017 18:47:40 GMT 10
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