our little viscount van

[igor]

This is our little van we purchased from Warrnambool
cheers
Lesley

[Cruz]

Looks just right behind the Holden.

[harko]

Great package , Nice little FB

[Deleted]

sweeeeet Igor ......nice original FB towing a nice original lil ali van .......a perfect match

Mark

[Franklin1]

Hi Lesley, it sounds like an interesting story of how you picked "igor" as your member name. I have visions of Count Dracula and his laboratory assistant, but I'm sure that's not the case here.

I notice in the other thread that you thought your van was a 1956 model. Unfortunately it's not quite as old as that. If you change it to read 1966 then I think we're much closer.

At first I thought it was an Ambassador (made by Viscount), having the chassis number you said was B3047. I always thought the Ambassadors got the 'B'-series numbers but maybe not so. The Ambassadors in the mid-60s had double hopper windows at the front, whereas yours has two single windows. So I've had to switch my thinking and now believe your van is a Valiant (also made by Viscount).

The following newspaper advertisement from Sept 1966 shows an Ambassador with the double hopper window at the front (see the 'inside' photo)...



The painted side flashes on the Ambassador are similar but different to yours, so I think we can be fairly safe in saying your van is a Valiant.

The three generations of owners have certainly looked after it well. Should give you many happy hours of caravanning. ;D ;D

cheers,
Al.

[igor]

Hi folk
thank you for the compliments and the advise. We had really no idea what year it was, only what we were told from the original owner. We also believed that it was a tad later than 1956 but it does not matter, it is a good oldie.
hmmmmm....Igor long story, that is the name of our classic fb campervan. It was built by a retired engineer, constructed on a fb holden station wagon, in the early '70's, It has a fb holden front and then a camper caravan. It was christened "Igor" meaning big and ugly., when built., "Igor's" details pics etc can be found on the fb holden website. A great holiday vehicle which we have fun with.
cheers
Lesley

[cuz]

Hi Lesley, nice little van and just big enough for the FB to tow. The burning question is, are you going to get claustrophobic in it like you do in igor
Regards Bill

[igor]

Hi Bill
The person we bought Igor off's wife could not use Igor because she was claustrophobic. Strangely enough I suffer from this too, but have absolutely no problems in Igor. Yes, our little van is only 580kg's so absolutely perfect for the sedan, and our wagon when it gets tidied up. Looking forward to our first getaway in the van sooner rather than later
cheers
Lesley

[Dave&Tammy]

:)Great looking little van & very nice FB, I am sure you will enjoy holidaying in it.
Dave & Tammy

[igor]

The interior of the little van is finally painted and the small area of the interior roof repaired ( due to water leak). Exterior has been re-sealed, new lino on the floor, and new curtains made. Only job left to do is replace the seal under the hatch, and get an annexe made for it. (The interior at some stage had a 1 coat of bright yellow which was a bit hard to put up with, especially with red/black floral curtains. Photos coming soon, but more importantley getting very close to being able to use it.
cheers
Lesley

[igor]

Good morning folk
Well our little van is completed inside. We are taking it to the "annexe makers" tomorrow to have one made to suit. I was wondering (and I apologise if it is in the wrong thread) what is the best product to use to polish the exterior. I have tried various metal polishes but to no avail. The finish is a rippled aluminium so a buff is probably not the best way to go. Would sincerely appreciate any advice. I will take pics to add to this thread when we have the annexe made and the exterior finished. (Will be used for the first time middle of April.) Seems to have taken ages to do the things we needed to really be able to enjoy it.
kind regards
Lesley

[atouchofglass]

Hey Igor

Look forward to those interior photos
And of course the exterior when she's all polished up
;D ;D ;D ;D

Looks great behind your tow car

Cheers
Atog

[igor]

Hi folk
Having much difficulty in getting to work posting pics out,but have printed off "Jim's instructions" and followed word for word, one can only hope I have "nailed it".
Here is a couple of inside pics of the little van. As in previous posts the repairs have been done. New "retro" lino on the floor. We have removed the stove (it is in storage) and replaced with a microwave. We are not fans of cooking inside, so as in Igor all cooking will be done under the annexe. We have removed the water tank as well, we wondered why the old lady had a direct hose connection added, until we put it over the pit and realized that the water tank was barely a shell. Carting water is not a problem for us. The little van use to be a very very bright yellow with red curtains (regretfully we did not take any before pics of the interior...really not a pretty sight).
We are happy with the result and looking so forward to hitching up to the fb sedan and off we go. All a very new experience for us.
cheers
Lesley

[igor]

Picture number 2. Thought I had 2 pics together but guess not
cheers
Lesley

[igor]

Hi folk
Little van is at present on it's maiden "mini adventure". With autumn disappearing and the hot weather here again we have taken advantage of using the little van for a couple of nights 30k's away at Port Mac Donnell. It was an ideal distance to check that all is well with towing/set up etc. All went well so now will purchase an annexe for it. In my last post I said it was off to the annexe makers for a quote etc, unfortunately we got the opinion that he was not interested, with a" quick 5 minute look" and a phone back with a price that we figured was so unrealistic, we have decided to buy one ready made, which will be much lighter weight as well , and most importantley at least half our quoted price. With our maiden voyage done, and I am sure you will all agree it is a bit nerve racking the first time....was for us anyway,
we are ready to use this outfit more often.
cheers for now
Lesley

[littleblackbird]

Did it match the car when u bought it???
Its very sweet and I love the green look inside.

[igor]

Thank you for the compliment. Yes it already had the blue stripe on it, almost a match "in the flesh", we have to now polish the exterior and will probably re-do the blue exactly the same as the car. Thankfully the green in real life is not quite as bright as the pics show, we are pleased with the result. I toned the green down with a fawn ceiling/ and some of the smaller walls and behind the sink in the fawn colour. With the brown/fawn curtains and of course a Betty Boop quilt cover has softened the whole lot.
Easter will see us hopefully obtaining the shiny exterior!
kind regards
Lesley

[igor]

Hi folk,
Thought it a good time to add to our little van segment. Since on here last we have been on a couple of mini adventures. The exterior has been polished.(before we did this we studied carefully the signage and it is a valiant viscount, we knew it was a viscount but most of the sticker was non existant except looking closely we followed the lines of the tarnished bit and found out exactly what it is) New tyres and a new "hitch" added to it a couple of weekends ago. We bought a lightweight readymade annexe and have done what is required to fit it to the side of the van We have just bought a HQ one tonner to tow it, reason being that we can set it up with carting extras needed for our adventures(holidays/swap meets etc). As the little van is only 10' long it is a bit too small to cram all our needs into. Also at this point we are reluctant to use the fb sedan to tow it as it has drum brakes, and would prefer a bit more stopping power. (The sedan runs on historic rego and in this state using that scheme the vehicle has to be 100% as it came out of the factory so until the new "modified" scheme is introduced we will continue to use the tonner. When / if the rules change then the sedan will also be used as the tow car, with disc brakes.
Next adventure, away camping October long weekend.
cheers for now
Lesley

[igor]

Thank you Lisa for your comments. We have buffed it and have received a "pretty good finish", but might give the purple polish a go, and see if we can get the ultimate shine! I never gave it a thought, but should have! ::)We used pruple a fair bit at work to do roll bars/bull bars with amazing finish.
Thanks for reminding me of this product.
kind regards
Lesley

[igor]

Hi Lisa,
realise and apologise to everyone as this is "off ttopic", but have just bought and read issue 3 of the magazine. Have just purchased issue 1 and 2 so eagerly awaiting them.
Some "purple" being purchased this week, so no guessing what is happening at the weekend eh!
Keep up the good work and thanks.
kind regards
Lesley

[igor]

Morning folk
Have just spent 3 days camping in the little van and slowly but surely are getting it right. We now have the oz quik annexe sorted out and is perfect and light weight for our little van. We certainly tested it out as we had torrential down pour on the first night and thankfully neither the little van or annexe leaked. We were very cosy. We also have a gazebo that we erect over the annexe opening so we can put our bbq under cover. Worked really well. We will be towing it with our HQ 1 tonner for a while, we have fitted boxes down each side of the tray to store our annexe, toolboxes etc while travelling. As the little van is only just that, we needed the extra room. The "Q" did not even know it was towing it which was great. (We are contemplating changing the stripe on the side of the van to suit the "Q" for now, which is cream colour). Eventually we will be towing it with our fb wagon (iris colour...mauve) but that is under restoration at the moment.
Roger and I are certainly considering attending the 2014 vintage caravan nationals. We cannot unfortunately consider attending next year as we are full on in preparation for the fb ek nationals here in Mount Gambier in June.
Yes, and I will attempt to post more pics soon.
kind regards
Lesley

[igor]

Time for an update I s'pose! Little van is about to come out of mothballs and head off to Narrawong for a long weekend at the end of the month. Still being towed by the "Q" the wagon resto is a MUCH bigger one than we thought would be!! Still have the deadline set for the vintage caravan nationals in 2014. Should be ready well before then but this resto is throwing all sorts of problems/challenges at us. The wagon is iris with a "white flash", so the little van will have it's colours changed to suit. So looking forward to having fun with this "retro wagon and caravan outfit".
However we still plan to be out and about with the "outfit as it is" over these warmer months ahead.
cheers
Lesley

[aquamum]

Igor
Would love to see any photos you have of the van now ;D

[igor]

Hi Sandra
The little van has not changed in appearance much since the last lot I posted. The only exterior difference is that it is a fair bit shinier. Still not as good as I would like it, but come warmer weather I hope to hop into the polishing again this time with "purple polish". Roger buffed it and did wonders, but still needs just a little more shine.
Looking at the weather forecast, may be a couple of weeks before we head off for a long weeknd
cheers
Lesley

[igor]

Morning folk,
I apologise for this probably not being in the right thread, but because my pics of our little van are on here I am asking for some advice and it will be easier for you folk to see the pics.
While we have an annexe adapted to fit and is perfect for a "few day stay", we are wondering if anyone can advise us on where you get just the basic shade awning made. Also we would appreciate if you can guide us in the right direction to where we can get the proper "slide rail" to suit. Would very much appreciate your help on this as we cannot seem to find any business here that knows what we are talking about or are interested in helping.
kindest regards
Lesley