what ?? .....no Roller !!

[Deleted]

mmmm........can't afford a mid fifties Rolls Royce , so over the xmas break, had bit of a scavenge 'round the Beverley shed to find somethin' suitable to tow the 'Big Beautiful Bondy from Mildura'..........Ditzy plans to do a bit of vintage vanning in 09
in the BBB from M.

Found a dusty ol' Ford V8 in the far corner of the shed ;D, .........so moved a dozen caravans to get it out, gave it a quick hose down, and hooked it up .
The old Ford is roughly the same era as the van ............

Here's the result:





























Just gotta get rid of those crappy 12 slot wheels on the car ;D, put some origi wheels & caps back on, change the colour of the caravan spats and side flash to a pretty blue,......... and Grandad Rigby's "flashest caravan in the park" will be on the road again !!

The Fairylane tailights are a good match for the round caravan rear lights, ........dunno 'bout the FJ centrepiece but



Mark

[bobt]

:(don't you dare change a thing. _{well a bit of dirt from travelling will not hurt}

It looks real good just as it stands.

[Deleted]

awwweee geeee Bobt .......can't I at least have a bit of a 'play' with a can of p r e t t y blue paint ;D

[DC3Td]

Must be a great feeling to'move a dozen caravans' to get a dusty Ford out. Both great looking. `65/263 v8? Sweet. cheers gordon

[firefighter]

yep change the colour of the spats and flash to match the ford

van & ford will look good in Mildura in 2010 for the vintage van nationals

f/f ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[Deleted]

yeah Col .......a 59 Tank Fairlane would suit better, but they're bloody expensive

Gordon ......its actually bloody hard, dusty, back breaking work shifting old caravans around ;D, 'specially when the garage skates buckle in the centre causing the castor wheels
to sprawl

Also got Joker 11 and the FC out .....they hadn't coupled since 04 .......pics to follow

[Deleted]

Dave,
the BBB from M was custom built to order for Grandad Rigby ......its a 'one only' build & design, not a mass manufactured caravan.

As for the flash .......some of the mags of the era displayed different design flashes, so probably both vans were copied from the same mag

Mark

ps: just noticed Grandad Rigby's first caravan had the same flash

[cobber]

Mark,

Wouldn't matter what you pull that 'van with.... nobody will notice, the 'van is so beautifully proportioned it will be the center of attraction where ever it goes.

I'm not to impressed with the FJ tail light either...... but it has to stay eh?

Cobber.

[Deleted]

BMC lights Col .....what model BMC lights

'wedge shaped plinth'...... uh ?

[JBJ]

Hi Mark,


When I fitted the lights & number plate on Lucille, I cut timber sections to space them away from being flush mounted on the body. It also gave a bit better clearance behind the light to clear the rear bits of the car type light.

By tapering something as Kaybee suggested, you could have the lens part of the Holden light assembly sitting vertically, which would probably look better.

Its pretty easy to make a plinth from pine. Play with different thicknesses, & from being larger (wider) than the light down to the same size.

Pretty simple stuff. Dont matter what you end up calling it. Kaybees terminology is on the mark.



JBJ

[whippy]

Great Rig.!!!!!

[Don Ricardo]

G'day Mark,

Great to see some pics of the BBB from M out of the shed and out in the open. Just confirms what beautiful lines she has. The essence of grace and style!

Re the discussion of the FJ tail light on the BBB, as I guess we are all aware, Holden bits and pieces (and not just the wheels) seem to have been used by various van makers, and not just home builders or custom builders. The following advert from the 1956 edition of Winser shows that Roadmaster were using the FJ tail light on their caravans at that time:



The light may be pointing up a bit more on the Roadmaster compared to the BBB, but not by much I don't think.

I think the FJ tail light on the BBB quite suits your van and is an interesting feature which illustrates the approach taken by van makers of the time when sourcing fittings like lights, etc, so has some historical value all on its own.

I have some thoughts about retaining the flash as is, but I'll keep them to myself. Don't want to get myself into trouble again by mentioning paint colours. ;D ;D ;D

Not sure about the tow car though. A 50's Buick or Cadillac would look good. The shape of the car would complement the shape of the van. (Says he who tows a 40's van with a Noughties Commodore, and clearly has no taste at all!! )

Don Ricardo

[jrod]

Forget the Roller, how about that Kingswood!!

Love the Van, agree with Don Ricardo, i think an Art Deco Buick would set it off!

Ciao J

[Deleted]

thanks kaybee & jbj for your explanations / comments re a "plinth" for the FJ tailight.

.....and thanks others for your comments ......I tend to agree, the ol' Fairylane doesn't really do the BBB justice


Mark

[Jennison]

One day when I get to WA I would LUV to get a look inside that shed. Either it is the size of an aircraft hanger or it must be like the Tardis! Jennison
Pardon my iggorance! but whats a BBB from M?

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Jennison,

BBB from M = Big Beautiful Bondy from Mildura

It's the way Mark T introduced the van to the forum after he purchased it, and the name has stuck. It's a bit of a mouthful though so somebody somewhere (maybe Mark himself) started to referring to it by its initials.

Don Ricardo

[Deleted]

anyway, also over the xmas break, whilst shuffling caravans around the shed, I also took Joker 11 outta the shed and gave it a good clean ......was as dirty as .

Whilst out of the shed, thought I'd couple it to the FC .....just like old times .....these two haven't been caravanning for 4 years .....Ditzy & I did five caravanning trips in Joker in 2004, and none since

I was interested to see whether the caravans vacuum brakes still worked ........and they did ......perfectly

Joker 11's vacuum brakes saved our bacon on one of our trips when leaving Perth in 04 ......... a 4WD jumped the red lights and appeared in front of us at an intersection .......dunno how many of you know how hopeless standard FC Holden brakes are ......but without those magic caravan brakes, there would've been mangled FC metal ..... & green splinters all over the place

Here's some "reunion" pics:



















The green "www.vintagecaravans.com" stickers on both the car and caravan were done long before the forum days, and were the only on the road exposure the new vintage caravan website got .....


Somewhere in another post, somebody was bagging the use of anti sway bars ......well, ...... this is one combo where they are a MUST ......the weight of the car is 1142 kg versus caravan weight of 1020 kg ..... with little weight difference between the two, and the potential for the caravan to easily unsteady the car, I don't travel anywhere without the bars. The rig cruises beautifully at 95 kmh (100 downhill ;D)

One day I'll drag out..... and photograph the antiquated stabaliser arrangement Arthur Pullin engineered in the mid 50's for Joker 11, long before stabiliser bars as we know them .........


Mark

[Deleted]

G'Day Mark

You wrote...
"the weight of the car is 1142 kg versus caravan weight of 1020 kg ..... with little weight difference between the two, and the potential for the caravan to easily unsteady the car, I don't travel anywhere without the bars. The rig cruises beautifully at 95 kmh (100 downhill )"

Not 100% sure here but i believe that this combination isnt entirely legal

I was of the belief that the it was illegal to to tow anything more than 3/4 the weight of the towing vehicle.
Maybe that only applies to "unbraked trailers or vans"

Can someone clarify this

Reddo

[bobt]

Hi Reddo

Van weight versus car weight use to differ from state to state. A couple of years ago I think you would have been correct for NSW. The countrys law makers got together and agreed on a universal standard. I understand it is now no more then 1 1/2 times the weight of the tow vehicle, unless the manufacture specifies different. Then you are restricted by the maximum recommended weight specified by the two bar manufacturer. (That is for a trailer with Brakes)

Does anyone have an FC Owners manual?? Is it mentioned in this?

Mark would you be good enough to show us some pics of the draw bar on Joker 11.

Bobt

[Deleted]

Reddo,
Joker 11 and the FC are a legal combo in WA.......the caravan / trailer is not to exceed 1.5 times the weight of the car, must have brakes, and not exceed the towbar manufactures specified maximum weight etc .....has bobt says

The towbar on the FC was manufactured to tow "Joker 11", I can't remember ..... but its probably good for 1200 / 1400 kg or similar.

Mark

[tillynsid]

Dec 29, 2008 20:48:11 GMT 10 @marktaylor said:

mmmm........can't afford a mid fifties Rolls Royce , so over the xmas break, had bit of a scavenge 'round the Beverley shed to find somethin' suitable to tow the 'Big Beautiful Bondy from Mildura'..........Ditzy plans to do a bit of vintage vanning in 09
in the BBB from M.

Found a dusty ol' Ford V8 in the far corner of the shed ;D, .........so moved a dozen caravans to get it out, gave it a quick hose down, and hooked it up .
The old Ford is roughly the same era as the van ............

Here's the result:





























Just gotta get rid of those crappy 12 slot wheels on the car ;D, put some origi wheels & caps back on, change the colour of the caravan spats and side flash to a pretty blue,......... and Grandad Rigby's "flashest caravan in the park" will be on the road again !!

The Fairylane tailights are a good match for the round caravan rear lights, ........dunno 'bout the FJ centrepiece but



Mark