Could someone please help identify my vintage caravan???

[alee4583]

First of all thank you for letting me become part of this forum I appreciate it, as you all have so much knowledge.

I know that this may be a weird question and it's my first time posting here but I thought I'd ask as there may be some vintage caravan enthusiasts/ experts on here that could help a novice like me.

I purchased a fixer upper ( yes lots of fixing up) ....
vintage diamond panel exterior aluminium caravan to work on over time.

The person I purchased it off said that it is listed as a 1964 Franklin- but that it was possibly a different van before that🤦‍♀️😱😱

]They had "started" a somewhat caravan restoration project..... I emphasise somewhat and had covered the original aluminium van in rustoleum x2 red onto the aluminium frame and rustoleumx2 white spray paint onto the 'original aqua panelling on the sides.

I have tried locating an original VIN/ chassis number and all I came up with was this on the tow bar.- welded number on right side of trailer '148D'

Then on the tow bar area these numbers appeared when I used the drill and powder brush to remove all old paint.;
2a1aR1- S101020202696053
]DYMWOOD
2 1/4 30 cwt
PAT No"45804-59

The Side lights on the caravan are Ferris channel master brand and the rear lights are NARVA.

I'm not convinced these are original as the holes that the original lights were are not in the same placings that the NARVA lights now sit.

I have researched how to remove that particular Spray paint and have used an acetone based product plus a ton (and I mean a lot) of old rags to remove what paint I can ( it's a a long process)!!!😳😏😩

It's still very much a work in progress, long term progress obviously.

I have the recovered some markings on the caravan after the removal of the spray paint used, but not a lot.
The reason I am trying to find the make/ model in a timely manner- is that one of the windows near the door is missing.

]Therefore I am looking to find the make -model- year, so i can source/locate a replacement window that is for this model and make it watertight to prevent any further damage to the interior.

I will also add here that the caravan doesn't appear to have any insulation.
It's just a brown crinkly material and then the roof.

It also has wrap around windows in the sense that the corner panels on front and rear windows are made of a plastic fibreglass material.

I know this is probably a lot to ask but if anyone has any information on this vintage caravan I would very much appreciate it.

I wish to restore this van to its original glory.
Why paint over original aqua panelling is perplexing...🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️Thank you for any information you can give me.

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Alee4583,

Welcome to the forum. It's great to hear about your van and your plans for it.

Based on the serial number you've given (148D), it sounds like you've got yourself a 1963 Franklin. The number fits the Franklin pattern, and as best as we understand it, the 'D' indicates 1963. You can find information about Franklin serial numbers by clicking here.

Apart from that, the other items you mentioned were used by a number of different manufacturers - for example the Dymwood hitch/coupling - so they don't tell us much on their own.

If you can post some photos of your van, we should be able to confirm its identity. You can post photos via a photo storage website such as Photobucket or Flickr, etc. There are instructions on how to do that in the 'Forum Guidelines & Helpful Hints' section of the forum. Or if that seems a bit daunting, you're welcome to email some photos to me and I'll post them for you. You can find my email address by clicking on my forum name in blue in the panel to the left of this post. That will open up a new window which will show you the address.

It sounds like your van will provide you with happy entertainment for quite a while during its restoration. We hope that you will post regularly while you're doing it. We always enjoy restoration stories. And of course if you need any advice along the way, someone here will probably be able to help, or you can use the Search tool to find relevant info.

Don Ricardo

[alee4583]

Hi Don,
here are the pictures that I have taken so far. This afternoon I will try and get more work done and then hopefully see the original markings better.
There is a faint line and it looks like a bird head with its wings spread and this image goes over the door and then blends into the side line that runs below the middle panel that is actually aqua.

No Idea what the markings are and they are hard to see in order to be able to get a good photograph.

The picture of the door at night is where the body and head of the bird symbol or wings is.

s1383.photobucket.com/user/abbie2621/library/

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Alee4583,

It's good to see the photos of your van - well done on uploading them to Photobucket. I've posted a couple of them here so that other forum members can see them. (Hope that's OK? Apparently the Photobucket link isn't working very well for some people at the moment.)







Your van is quite an interesting one. As I mentioned previously, the serial number fits the Franklin pattern, and in addition your van has the "Franklin shelf" - that's the little shelf in the galley supported by one bracket. That's something that Franklin included in all of their vans, but almost nobody else did (most manufacturers supported their galley shelf with two brackets). So the shelf is often a distinguishing mark of a Franklin. BUT...the curved top of the door isn't a Franklin feature, and the front and rear styling of the van doesn't look very Franklin to me either - I've just been through the Franklin thread in the Down History Lane section to refresh myself on Franklin styling.

I'm sure someone will be able to help you identify your van.  Hughdeani will probably be able to do so - he has an extensive knowledge of 1960's caravans.

I can tell you a bit about the 'Korong' branding on your van, though. Korong Caravans was a second hand caravan dealer in Bendigo that put its name on every caravan it sold, irrespective of who had built it. So that means that your van went through their hands at some stage in its life.   Underneath the line below 'Korong' they usually wrote a number indicating the length of the van - so 'Korong 14' or 'Korong 15', etc.  I can't quite read the number for yours, but you may be able to do so when you look at it.  There's more info about Korong caravans here.

So some answers, but not all of them, at this point.

Don Ricardo

[alee4583]

Thanks Don for your reply. I have searched and searched everywhere . I did notice the shelf as I had read up on distinguishing features of the franklin van, because as I said the man that had it with his parents had told me that it was listed as a 1964 franklin but it wasn't actually a franklin originally and then when I noticed the shape and the curved door on the outside and also the interior curved fly screen wooden door - it didn't fit with the Franklin models I had viewed on numerous sites. The fact it has diamond shaped paneling is also a bit different - not to mention hard to get paint off😳😩😂
I looked under every cabinet and all doors and panels I could find to see if I could see another number that might indicate the VIN or chassis of the van but nothing.
I had read about the branding of different vans and I think that this van may have been through Ballarat at some point or anoast owner may have lived their as I found tiny snippets of old newspapers lining the cupboards in the back ( they were only small slivers and mentioned Ballarat and not much else , apart from the fact you could rent a house in Ballarat furnished 1brm for $34 dollars per week. I've kept the snippets and I will laminate and frame so I can make it a feature of the van history when I decorate in time. I'm happy for you to post the pictures as any information I can get would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much again for your help.
Kind regards,
Abbie

[Deleted]

Hi all,
That is one very rare original bondwood Franklin Freeway!
They didn't build many of these but they do pop up occasionally.After this model they went to silver aluminium and squared of the bottom rails and door,which was easier to build with aluminium,interior was basically the same,except inste,ad of a van run of overhead cupboards on the curbside,they changed to long cupboards overt each side of the kitchen window with glass or mirror sliders over the top of the window.
Very interesting van
Hope this helps
Cheers
hughdeani

[alee4583]

Thank you so much for the help. I really appreciate it. After a day of scrubbing and a little polishing in areas. It turns out that the aqua stripe panel was not original as there was another white unde there as well and when I cleaned what I could off it was all aluminium including most of the edging to the windows. The windows have been frosted at some point so I may have to work on fixing that.....? Maybe that is how they were made I'm not sure but it looks handy Job from home spray adhesive.
I cleaned and polished what I could off the door so that I could see the beautiful aluminium underneath- hardly a scratch I'm very lucky. The paint that was used all over will take many days to get off as it has embedded itself in all the diamond surrounds😒😱😏🙄😳 so you know what year that this may have been made? Is it 1963 like Don said or another year. I am trying to locate some pictures so I can have an inspirational picture to work beside, when I have no fingernails or fingerprints left for that matter. Is it very rare? I had no idea. I feel like a pirate who found gold, lol 😂. One more question and I am sorry for all the questions. Where would I locate parts as in original windows, light fittings etc? I'm thinking that this may not be so easy.
Thanks you again for all the help🙏👌👍😁

[alee4583]

s1383.photobucket.com/user/abbie2621/library/
These are the photos after today's small attempt at paint removal, awful awful awful work but I think it will be rewarding in the end:)
Sorry for the photos at night everyone, once I get stuck into a project I can't seem to stop. 🤔😊😏

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Alee4583 and Hughdeani,

Wow, Alee4583, you've certainly achieved a lot in a day. I'm impressed. You must have worked really hard.

Given that we've confirmed that the van is a Franklin, and based on the serial number, I'm still going for 1963 as the build date.  What do you think Hughdeani?

Hughdeani, you commented:

Jun 20, 2017 17:59:24 GMT 10 @hughdeani said:

..That is one very rare original bondwood Franklin Freeway!...

However, it seems from the photos that the van is fully clad in aluminium.  So was Franklin maybe doing some Freeways in bondwood and some in aluminium at that point?

Don Ricardo

[Deleted]

Hi again,
It looked like wood to me in the pics! My bad!
It must be one of the first silver ones till they decided to streamline the contours for mass production,as in the later vans.
Yes Don Ricardo,I will go with 1963.
Cheers
hughdeani

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Alee4583 and Hughdeani,

Looking through the 'Down History Lane' Franklin thread, the closest to Alee4583's van seems to be the Franklin Freeway shown in this post by Franklin1 - it's the van on the right under 'Some other examples of Freeway models'. However, Alee4583's van would seem to be earlier than that van because hers has the rounded top to the door.

In Franklin1's post he commented that the Franklin Freeway model: "started as early as 1965 (possibly even earlier)". A 1965 or later Franklin would have had a serial number following the pattern of XXXX-Y, where 'X' was the build number for the year, and 'Y' was a number indicating the year. The fact that Alee4583's van has a serial number with the earlier pattern of the year indicated by a letter of the alphabet shows that Franklin1's hunch about the Freeway model starting earlier than 1965 was apparently correct.

Another little piece of info added to our knowledge of Franklin!

By the way Alee4583, some of your earlier photos of your van seem to have been deleted from your Photobucket account. Are you able to upload them again for reference purposes?

Don Ricardo

[alee4583]

Thanks so much for the information everyone. Here is the uploaded Photobucket again.
s1383.photobucket.com/user/abbie2621/library/

Sorry I accidentally deleted a few and I couldn't work
Out how .
I'll have a look at the photos you suggested and again thank you. This is exciting thinking she may be an original of her model🙂

[alee4583]

Hi there caravan experts,
So after hours of more paint removal..... worst job ever. I think I have found some markings on the van that spell something but I haven't been able to get anything clear yet ( my husband thinks I'm imagining things , could be a possibility due to paint removal exhaustion) - I have uploaded what I have seen in the below link photo bucket. Have you seen this before or am I imagining writing design etc, my husband says that they may be marks from trees or wear over the years. Any help would again be greatly appreciated as always, thank you in advance . Kind regards,
Abbie

[alee4583]

s1383.photobucket.com/user/abbie2621/library/

[alee4583]

s1383.photobucket.com/user/abbie2621/library/

Some photos In the daylight. Im sure there are markings on there ,.......😏🙄🤔

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Alee4583,

I've had a look at the photos you've uploaded to Photobucket, and I can clearly see the remnants of the Korong signage in a couple of photos, but nothing else that I can recognise.

There are couple of other photos which show the remains of what might have been a sticker or something, but I can't make anything out of it. Maybe someone else can? Here's one of the ones I mean:



It sort of looks like 'Franklin', but I don't recall seeing Franklin using that type of script on its vans (but am happy to be shown to be wrong).

The writing in the photo above appears to be just below the Korong writing seen in this next photo. Is that right?



Maybe Korong gave model names to the vans they sold at some point???

By the way, if there are particular photos you want us to look at, you can copy and paste the URL code for the photo into your forum post and they will display in your post. (That's what I've done above.) To do that, click on the particular photo in your Photobucket album, and when it opens up in a new window, click on the IMG code to the right of the photo. It will say 'copied' briefly, and you can then paste the code into your forum post so that it will display when you press 'Create Post'.

Don Ricardo

[alee4583]

Hi Don,
Thanks so much for your reply. I hope these work the photos of the markings I found today I upload and then copied the IMG link as you said so hopefully they will get through 🤷‍♀️New to photobucket lol

I have found some markings after tireless work on this but it's not easy to get layers upon layer of years of paint from diamond aluminium panels..... I like rustoleum paint but at the moment I'm cursing it like nobody's business.

There are markings on both sides similar to this but I have no idea what they are. My husband thinks that maybe the van was graffitied at some point?
However in a lot of the bigger markings you can see a faint yellow stripe around the mark.
So you have any more suggestion on how to remove the paint to get a better look at these without damaging the original marks (if there are any) I have tried acetone, paint stripper that you then wash and hose off and then a water pressure cleaner and then a bigger with a degreaser agent.
I'm thinking I may never know what they are at this point.🙄Any help again from any of you knowledgable caravan enthusiasts would be very much appreciated.
Thank you again for replying and being patient with my inundation of questions and queries,
Kind regards,
Abbie

[alee4583]

Was meant to say a light buffer with a degreasing agent. Silly auto correct!!!

[alee4583]

Hi Don,
Thanks for responding to my never ending queries on the caravan. I have tried again to get some markings to come up. They appear t come up if I use a pressure hose and water after applying a paint stripper. Tomorrow if I can use my arm I will hunt for a cut and polish that may reveal more.
These are what I found today under all the layers of paint- they are from the opposite side of the van. I can see letter but I can't make out a word.
They are black letter outline with yellow trim a round and inside them. However I can't uncover the whole letter in a lot of areas. . The registration plate area at the back of the van does have some markings above the Korong sign, but not sure yet what it says. It may have been a sticker as you suggested.

I am at a bit of a loss here, not sure what to cut and polish with as I have lifted as much coats of paint that were applied to her through the times as I can.

I want to find the markings and then look at getting some original pictures.... ( if there are any of her type) and then restore her writing as it would have been when she was made.

I did read that Franklin wrote signs in the van originally as opposed to badges that were applied to caravans at a later date. I'm not sure she has a make or model, maybe she is a kit van..... and someone welded that number on to make her an imitation Franklin..... oh bother.

I thank you so again for helping me with my enquiries. At this stage I don't know what to call her model... all I know is that she is mine👍

[alee4583]

Hi Don and Hughdeani,
After many, many, many hours I have gotten a lot ( not all) the paint off my caravan. Note to self wear three layers of gloves next time.

I have a few questions to ask if that is ok? Hopefully it is and you can help me answer them.
My van does not appear to have ever had insulation... it just has a brown crackly paper and then the wall or roof, is that normal? Also I found a number at the back of the sink edge and one on the towbar area before the 148D ( looks to be more of a marking) so these numbers mean anything. One last question. Did Franklin caravans get fitted with 'Shields' jet flame hot plates? Mine has them and I have joined every possible caravan information group to see if this was normal but I haven't discovered anything yet.
There appears to be just wooden walls and flooring as well, but it has a pressed tin roof which is lovely. So my questions is- are these all traits of the Franklin vintage caravan?
I hope you can help answer any of these or maybe Franklin 1 will be able to give me some feedback as well if possible.
Thank you again,
Abbie

[alee4583]

[Deleted]

Hi Abbie,
Yes,the brown paper insulation is normal,some used thin Masonite as well.
With your stove,you had a choice back then as to what stove you preferred and that was fitted accordingly,same with the fridge or ice chest.
You will find the ceiling is actually plastic or Masonite,not metal.
Hope this helps
Cheers
hughdeani

[alee4583]

Thank you so much