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Post by stu8 on Oct 30, 2008 20:43:17 GMT 10
my name is Stu, i'm Tonya's boy, and this is my van. the dog's name is Dizzy. i think it is a mid '60's van. the sticker on the rear says Caracraft of 66 Parramatta rd. Summerhill. two years ago we slept in it at our friends farm in Nowra, N.S.W. and two years later they were happy to see us so happy with it. that's my mate driving, i was in the back watching to see if the brakes worked. we drove to Nowra, put two new tyres on it, a new brake cable, new rear lenses and hitched it to our eh ute and drove the coast road to Melbourne. with out any problems, except for smashing the exterior light glass on a no standing sign in Bateman's Bay. we stayed out two nights. since i've had it at home, while the paint in the house dries, i have managed to get the fridge going, fire up the stove, find a replacement for the out-side light, thanks tony at northern caravan accessories, fixed the screen door lock and the front towel rail. the interior is quite a time capsule except for some holes cut for stereo speakers, carpet squares and the curtains. we plan on using daggy tea towels and venetian blinds. i had to scrape the surfing stickers off the back window on the way home. i really love this site and have been lurking for quite some time. before the forum. it didn't inspire me to get an old van i have always loved them. my grandfather used to have bondy that he had built in his carport at tewantin for when we visited in the school holidays.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2008 23:35:46 GMT 10
G'day Stu8 .......luv ya rig .......the EH "oot" is a pearla ......this is what we're all about, hook up a smart lookin' mid 60's van to a stock as a rock mid 60's car ..... and get out there and have fun Your rig probably doesn't owe you a fortune, but it looks great on the road .......enjoy .....plan to use "daggy" tea towells and venetion blinds ...mint ;D ;D I have a pet named Dizzy also ......woops I mean Ditzy, she's a pet partner ;D ;D
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2008 5:41:51 GMT 10
Onya Stu8 Great story about retrieving the old girl. Ute looks good hitched up to the van. Nothing like a few days on the road with your van to get you "Hooked" on vintage vanning ..... Its all about "doing it". ... getting out there and enjoying the hobby ... and the stares and comments from people you meeet along the way. What was wrong with the surfin stickers?? I love seeing those old surf town stickers on the back of old caravans and panel vans.... Noosa, Byron, Sawtell, Uladulla etc... the vans wear them proudly to boast they have provided accomodation for familys at beach side resorts back in the 60s... Every sticker has its own story I say Go the daggy tea towels and ... venetians always look cool in vans.. Cheers mate Reddo
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Post by stu8 on Oct 31, 2008 17:10:35 GMT 10
thanks for the smiles guys. the ute is stock. the stripe is the only after market bit but it's a period accessory. the surf stickers were all recent brand names. i would have gladly left them on if they were even more than 10 years old. i dislike brands and advertising but will see past it if there is some vintage cool about it. we're going to use the tea-towel curtains as a sign of where we've been. the next trip is to Wilson's Prom in a week. here's some more pics, i like posts with pics. how's the new tow vehicle? 50cc of raw grunt.
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Post by stu8 on Nov 4, 2008 21:43:25 GMT 10
quote
" Hey stu, one option worth thinking about is to go to your thread you started on the Vintage caravans forum, and ask anybody if they can provide any information about the Caracraft vans. Keith Winser published an annual book about caravans back in those days, and there might be some info in his books from the mid-1960s. Somebody on the Vintage forum will have those books and should be able to tell you a bit more about the Caracraft. Definitely nothing to do with Viscount, I reckon. Probably more likely related to the Carapark manufacturers.
cheers, Al. "
any one?
history is good.
thanks
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Post by Don Ricardo on Nov 5, 2008 20:52:43 GMT 10
Hi Stu, A great little van you've got there. Looks good behind the ute too. I've done a bit of a search through the V V forum, and can't find any previous mention of 'Caracraft'. I've also googled the name (as you may have done yourself) and the only couple of references are to boats. Because of the location of the Caracraft sticker (on the rear only, under the window) my guess - and it's only a guess - is that Caracraft was a caravan sales place, or maybe a caravan and boat sales place, rather than a manufacturer. I note that Al has suggested a link between Caracraft and Carapark because their business addresses were so close, so maybe Caracraft was Carapark's used caravan business where they on-sold trade-ins, or something like that. All this is pure guesswork of course. One of the things that interests me about your van is that it is plain (ie not painted) aluminium with the coloured panel at window height, which is a 60's style. See for example Mgal's Roma (Reply #6) on the following thread: vintagecaravans.proboards30.com/index.cgi?board=chat&action=display&thread=2044For another example see this thread on Glida caravans: vintagecaravans.proboards30.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=chat&thread=3066However your front window is a horizontal split window, which looking through both the V V forum and the Classic caravans forum, seems like a 70's style. See for example the Valiant caravan Ditzy was looking at a while back: ditzygypsy.proboards107.com/index.cgi?board=photos&action=display&thread=22There are quite a lot of caravans on the Classic Caravan forum which have a very similar window to yours. In contrast, almost all 60's aluminium caravans seemed to use a 2 or 3-panel vertically divided front window (similar to Mgal's Roma or the Glida vans). So maybe your caravan is very late 60's or very early 70's? Somebody will probably shoot me down in flames on all of my speculation by pointing to something I've missed in your photos, but it will be interesting to see what others think... Maybe somebody will be able to find something about Caracraft in one of the Winser manuals from the 60's as Al has suggested. In the meantime keep on enjoying your van! It's obviously pretty light if you can use that motor scooter as a tow vehicle!! ;D ;D ;D Don Ricardo
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Post by stu8 on Nov 8, 2008 12:44:11 GMT 10
thanks for that don, i agree the front window is more of a late 60's / early 70's style. the sticker on the back of the van could very easily be a dealer sticker. it's made out of a sheet of thick foil (?). the writing on it does have an early 70's flavour. there's a good chance it was added when it was traded. the 2004 rego papers listed it as a 75 model but i don't feel that this is the correct age for it at all. the construction methods for the interior are 60's. it feels like the ply paneled interior of a sixties fibro beach house. the cupboard doors are a very coarse chip board with a white timber veneer. i can't quite place these. i feel the fridge is sixties too. as is the stove. the fridge is 240/gas by Holstrom. all i had to do to get it running was clean the flue and knock some rust from the jet. i'm not very good with dating hitches. mine does have operate by cable and a what i think you call an over-ride brake. it works as a handbrake when you're stopped. the blue stripe on the side may have been a later addition. there was paint on the lock face, left by a sloppy painter. the aluminium under the blue paint has a diamond texture through it. so because i have a mid sixties car i'm going to pretend that the caravan is too. until i'm corrected. i'm packing it tomorrow as i'm about to have a week at wilson's promontory. my favourite place in the world. i'll post photos. but for now.....
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Post by rfw on Nov 8, 2008 13:05:27 GMT 10
Looks like your van is coming along slowly but surely. As for your Hallstrom fridge check behind the grill under the bottom of the door for Id number/s. Alternatively at the back in about same area. Cheers & happy camping at Wilsons Prom.
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Post by tinnie on Nov 13, 2008 23:46:34 GMT 10
Hey Stu, Hope your enjoying / have enjoyed the Prom. Top spot, Victoria's best kept secret I reckon. What part of Vic are you from mate? I live in gippsland, within 2 hours of the prom. Hmmm.....the prom would make a bludy beaut weekend VV run, not too far from Melbourne for all the VVers there, pretty close to Impala, not bad distance for me and goingrey. Oh, by the way, neat yute and a coll van, I like the teatowel curtain idea.....wish I'd thort of it ;D Cheers, Gristy
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Post by sportsman 1 on Nov 14, 2008 6:32:20 GMT 10
Hi Gristy.
I had a 4 day weekend down at Shallow Inlet in the Teardrop over Cup weekend.
Shallow Inlet is near Yanakie/Wilsons Prom. Nice spot.
Either there or Tidal river would be good, have a think about it.
cheers, Leigh.
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Post by yellowuki on Nov 14, 2008 7:04:21 GMT 10
I love your van because it's so original ;D While I like all of these perfectlt restored vans, if it wasn't for my bondy needing a paint job I'd have left it all original. Nothin like a down to earth, untouched, bushies rig I reckon ;D Yellowuki
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Post by tinnie on Nov 18, 2008 21:04:14 GMT 10
Good thinkin' Leigh. In some ways Shallow inlets easier, half hour odd less travel than going right into the prom. Never camped there myself, but I expect it would be beautiful. Name a time and I will check the calender. Cheers, Gristy
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Post by sportsman 1 on Nov 19, 2008 12:11:02 GMT 10
Hey Gristy,
how does Labour day weekend sound? This is the 7th, 8th and 9th March 2009. Probably go down Friday arvo.
I had no trouble booking at Shallow Inlet for Cup weekend, thought it would be busy.
Stu8, sorry if we have hijacked your thread. How does a long w/e at Shallow Inlet sound to you?
Let me know and if its a goer I will put something in the coming events thread.
Cheers, Leigh.
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Post by stu8 on Nov 19, 2008 19:17:12 GMT 10
here's a pic of the van at the prom. i sewed a rope into a calico drop sheet for an awning. then ran it through the annex track. it worked a treat. when we got back from the prom two days later we headed to big river for a night. all to ourselves and free. we camped right next to the river. it was quite the garden of eden. i didn't take a pic of the river for some reason. here's a couple of shots of the tea-towel curtains. we need to collect more. i think four on each of the smaller windows. there are more photos of the prom to follow. on another note the fridge worked fine for 24 hrs then lost all of its cold. the flame was still burning. could this show a need to re-gas? thanks
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Post by chippydave01 on Nov 19, 2008 20:16:40 GMT 10
Great photos, Glad to see the old way instead off led lights,great to see ya using it ,its what its all about Instead of dribble. Cheers Dave
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Post by stu8 on Nov 20, 2008 15:19:40 GMT 10
we sure are using it. lots for camping. including from next thursday through to tuesday out past ballarat at a music festival. we are the envy of our friends, especially when it's raining. but the silliest use it gets is when our friends come over to ours in collingwood, where it has sat on the street for a couple of months and we sit in the van around the table and entertain. it makes a great bar. we're thinking of writing to the council to see if we can't get a significant building permit. ;D
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bobt
Full Member
"Ugly as Sin"
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Post by bobt on Nov 27, 2008 19:26:36 GMT 10
aaahh spotted 11.20am today thursday, heading west in Flinders St, Mel burn ;D ;D Guess Stu is doing what he said... out using it bobt
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Post by minicamper on Nov 28, 2008 7:25:41 GMT 10
Hey Stu, Your fridge doesn't run on gas in the sense of modern household refridgeration/cooling, where a gas is compressed by the compressor and then released into the system, the expansion of the liquified gas under pressure creating the cooling effect. It operates on an absoption method where liquid ammonia is evaporated in Hydrogen gas (causing the cooling) the ammonia gas then passes through a container of water which absorbs the ammonia, this mixture is then heated by the heat source (gas flame, electric element) which in turn evaporates the ammonia from the water mix and starts the cycle again. I have no idea who would be able to check this and get it going again. It is likely that the hydrogen or coolant has leaked from rusty pipes, or, there can be a blockage. There is some interesting info here including how it works (visually) home.iprimus.com.au/rfh/refrig.htmlCheers Chris
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