Cardy George's Clementine

[cardygeorge]

It seems these one-off vans know where we live.

Introducing Clementine!

IMAG0557_zpsuzu9ehtu by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr

Harriet found Clementine on a local buy/swap/sell Facebook page, advertised for free. Further investigation turned out they really wanted $500 for it. Hmmmm.

Anyway, after quite a number of private messages, we came to an agreement to rescue Clementine, subject to inspection. Turns out it had been on the page for a couple of weeks, but every inquirer had the intention of turning it into a coffee/chip/business van, which the owner couldn't live with.

Inspection day brought this
FB_IMG_1497175168914_zpsjtwdsg3b by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr
IMAG0538_zps8waq9omy by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr
2af2d3a0-37ac-4bbd-aa9b-b0832bdd90ff_zps7uzsyqny by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr
IMAG0537_zpsgzdhec1h by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr

A freshly removed rear panel, with thanks to the beautiful Jet Black Great Dane, some floor ventilation, lots of water damage and a lovely big skylight! However, a strategic shove on various structures revealed a solid skeleton, and a nose under found a full metal chassis in pretty good condition. Those things alone sealed the deal, but the best was yet to come......

[cardygeorge]

Clementine is a local lass. She was hand built by a Cabinet Maker in Merbein, approximately 20 km north of here, and has stayed local. We're still waiting to receive them, but the last owner has a letterhead from the cabinet maker and Clementine's original rego label.

Moving day. Oh. My. Lordy. Moving day.

We moved house six months ago, and when we brought Gertie home we put her on an awesome flat bed trailer that had an electric winch and no sides. I made arrangements to borrow that same trailer earlier in the week and all was good. I rang the trailer owner the day before to confirm the availability, to find out it had half a ton of sheet metal and was being used all weekend.....  So I had to resort to a trailer with 18" sides and a hand winch.

IMAG0557_zpsuzu9ehtu by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr


See on the far left that clothes line? It was half over the gate, meaning the easy option of just backing the trailer up and winching away went out the window.

Thankfully the hitch sat over the truck's towball, and even more thankfully, the jockey wheel mechanism still worked.

IMAG0560_zpsjvzgpijt by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr
IMAG0559_zpsuxzghlmf by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr

I'll add it to the jockey wheel thread another day.


So Clementine's hooked up and ready to roll. Tyres not withstanding

IMAG0564_zpsokfjsoje by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr
IMAG0565_zpswfv1tdgo by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr


Which brought on another challenge. The dead tyres and the angle of the road meant she wouldn't straighten up. With no other option she had to be pulled from where she was and the angle she was on. This is where the electric winch would've come in REALLY REALLY REALLY handy.

Now, the following image is going to have some of the Safety Sam's among us convulsing in their boots, but a bloke's gotta do what a blokes gotta do to get the job done.

IMAG0568_zpslpvmyne2 by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr


If you think about the physics, the van is actually taking weight OFF the truck. I did have a safety strap attached while I was winching, more for her protection than anything else.

FB_IMG_1497182105114_zpshrzkoz4c by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr


Success at last! What was supposed to take maybe 3 hours from one house to the other has taken half a day and we even haven't left yet.

FB_IMG_1497182096676_zpsd7cvvzww by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr


The 16km trip home was an adventure too. It towed beautifully despite having half the van hanging off the back of the trailer, however we managed to peel a roof panel off only 2km in, and split the tarp in half halfway home.

FB_IMG_1497182133832_zpsc29jzgun by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr
FB_IMG_1497182150765_zpsihfhw06p by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr
FB_IMG_1497182154555_zpsowsuzwwr by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr


So remember those tyres? Yeah, there is no way Clementine is rolling anywhere on her own. She wouldn't even roll off the trailer and that was quite an angle as the ground slopes down away from the trailer.

IMAG0573_zpswuujtp5k by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr


Nothing left to do but more winching. Top quality clothes line this one.

IMAG0575_zpskxreo3ww by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr


The lack of tyre rotation and an old trailer brought yet another problem. The ramps barely hooked in so Clementine actually dragged the ramp down with her. Very VERY grateful she has a steel chassis as it made close friends with the trailer.

FB_IMG_1497182173038_zpse8nrrd9u by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr


It was a VERY long day. But she's home safe, wrapped up and waiting for us to feel like going near her to park her in her spot.

FB_IMG_1497182198162_zpsyth9vhza by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr

[aussieute]

Nice find good to see it won't be a food van it looks too nice a shape for that looking forward to the pictures of your progress as you start to restore it back to it's former glory think of the roof peeling of as one part you don't have to remove to put back on cheers chris

[mel]

Nice looking van. I love the shape. Look fwd to seeing how she scrubs up.

[Mustang]

You certainly are a devil for punishment.
Your day would have been less exciting with the right trailer!!
Good Luck

[Roehm3108]

Oh my Darling, Oh my Darling,
Oh my Darling Clementine.
You are lost and gone forever,
Dreadful sorry, Clementine.



Well, hopefully not lost and gone forever!!!!!!!!!!

[cardygeorge]

Hahahaha! Rescued in the knick of time!

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE

And it's all the good stuff too!

There are so many 'look at that!' things in this van that's it's kinda hard to know where to start. It's an extremely well thought out van.

We might start in the dining area. I'm looking towards the back of the van, standing where the table used to be, and the space is about the size of a double bed. There's a wardrobe at the end of the kitchen, and a bath, well, shower room behind the fridge, with the bedroom right at the end, also containing a double bed.
IMAG0540_zpsyzlonih9 by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr

Then we'll move on to the Electrolux LPG fridge.
IMAG0541_zpsvfqourmz by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr

Complete with ice trays
FB_IMG_1497178899324_zpsamtc2l7q by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr

And the original instructions Don't know if it works yet, but time will tell.
FB_IMG_1497182204498_zpsdi3x4twb by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr

On to the kitchen. Not a huge amount to look at but it does have a cooker and a sink.
IMAG0594_zps6xfsu7ci by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr

It's a bad angle, but there's glass holders in the bottom.
IMAG0595_zpsbacuvder by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr

Not so minty anymore
IMAG0592_zpsegwcmspr by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr

The shelf liners were a flash back. The Melbourne Herald from 1972, and The Melbourne Truth from 1971
IMAG0599_zpsslaphpzu by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr
IMAG0598_zpsuvxvytdi by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr
IMAG0597_zpsd3dtws7x by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr
IMAG0596_zpscq5shbax by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr

Now for the bathroom. Very cosy is the best description. I can turn around in it but washing my hair may be a challenge!
Water pump (I assume) to the overhead water tank.
IMAG0600_zps6k5ctglt by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr

The shower is just a plastic hose at the moment, no sign of a shower head
IMAG0601_zpsw1msffiu by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr

Medicine Cabinet
Medicine Cabinet by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr

The hand basin is very funky. No plug hole, and it's not small, taking up a chunk of space in the tiny room.......
IMAG0603_zpsiyfwe7ih by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr

Until you've finished with it. Water goes down the hole!
IMAG0604_zpskpejzhey by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr

So quiz time! Who here has been paying attention? Particularly in the kitchen and bathroom segments?

Did anyone notice there are two taps on those walls?

First clue is in the wardrobe, there's a water tank in the top with pipes running down into the kitchen area......
IMAG0609_zpshixose4t by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr

Running straight into the stove.
IMAG0593_zpsdj9r72yh by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr

Or as I like to call it, the water heater! 
IMAG0594_zps6xfsu7ci by Jeremy Roden, on Flickr

I'm stoked to have rescued such a unique van. All of this innovation would've been lost if it fell into the wrong hands.

The jury is still out on whether Clem will go back on the road, we do have Gertie after all, but we will be restoring her to her former glory. The restoration plan is a very thorough clean up and then to only take off what we need to make sure she is actually structurally ok, and replace the water damage. Then the usage plan is to turn her into a room for the Oldest Child until he's old enough to stand on his own. After that we're not sure. I'd like to put her on the road, but I have to finish Gertie first. We shall see!

[shesgotthelook]

I must admit when you first posted this van, I thought 'what an impossible job' but given the absolute uniqueness & class of what's inside , I say 'go for it'. If you are fixing it up to be liveable, then it's not too much more work to make it roadworthy & probably easier in the long run to do it all while you've got it apart. I'm sure you will have the support of everyone on this forum. Congratulations on recognizing how special it is & saving it. SGTL

PS I am actually restoring 2 vans at the same time, but don't tell anyone

[cardygeorge]

Jun 19, 2017 8:55:44 GMT 10 shesgotthelook said:

I must admit when you first posted this van, I thought 'what an impossible job' but given the absolute uniqueness & class of what's inside , I say 'go for it'. If you are fixing it up to be liveable, then it's not too much more work to make it roadworthy & probably easier in the long run to do it all while you've got it apart. I'm sure you will have the support of everyone on this forum. Congratulations on recognizing how special it is & saving it. SGTL

PS I am actually restoring 2 vans at the same time, but don't tell anyone

Thanks SGTL, I really appreciate the words of support

To be fair I wasn't walking in completely blind on inspection day. The owner had PM'd us some interior pics which allowed us to negotiate a better deal. I was really only there to check the bones and see how much damage there really was. When I stepped inside it was hard to contain my excitement. I clearly haven't driven it, but as far as I can tell the brakes still move freely along with the overide hitch, in fact the only part that didn't work was the locknut on the ball socket. Reckon I just need to add lights and she'd be right.

It gives me something to work on while we're waiting for funds to return.

P.s. Your secret is safe with me

[mysunfinder]

Hello Cardy George,
What a great find. You didn't mention the beautiful laminex splash back, it looks in good nick. Also love those appliances - it will look fantastic after a bit of love

[cster]

I've no idea how those two taps work, I cant figure out what the right angle stop plug is doing in the pipe near those two taps either. Its thermosiphen heating so does it need both taps turned off to keep the hot water from losing heat???

It's a true one off. Hope you decide to have a crack at it one day.