Olympic van and Vauxhall Cresta spotted in Newie

[rossjools]

Does anyone here own what I would take to be a 1960s Olympic van, maybe about 15'-16' being towed by a fawny and white Vauxhall Cresta (wraparound windscreen and rear window spotted by me at Glendale in Newcastle this morning (Sat. 5th December 09), just south of the Crossroads and heading towards Toronto. Both car and van looked to be in excellent nick. Didn't get time to have a look at the plates as was I was waiting to come out of Glendale Centre at the time, so concentrating on the traffic, but it did pass in front of me.

Cheers,
Ross.

[humpty2]

I know the caravan 14' Olympic just purchased by the owner of the Vauxhall.........he dropped in to visit at Coledale.
Maybe he may surface on this site. ;D ;D

[rossjools]

:)Thank you for that humpty2. I live in Newcastle as well.

Cheers,
Ross.

[griffin]

Geez you blokes are on the ball
I was just looking for a post 'boblor' put me onto and found I was spotted only 10 minutes after parting with the cash for the van
I will put something on the site in due course and just for the record its a 1961 Velox, not the Cresta, hard to tell the difference when it's flashing by I wanted a manual for towing, Crestas have autos, but after our first trip away to Merimbula with it couple of weeks I want a V8

This pic is our first lunch stop with the van, Mt Pleasant Lookout just south of Kiama overlooking Gerringong. Old mate in the background was from Taiwan, cycling to Melbourne, and he took a fancy to it and took a few photos too.

George

[griffin]

Time for a little update on the Debonair. Some progress in the painting department since Coledale and the bottom half is now back to a matching fiberglass colour with a narrow stripe of Kodiac Brown to match the Velox. We decided Kodiac Brown is not our favourite colour either so a small stripe would suffice. Now its time for the other side so it's turned around in the driveway and getting the treatment.
Paint is acrylic lacquer so I don't make the neighbours dogs and small children crook. I just picked up a few colour cards from Bunnings, found a colour that was closest to the top of the van which I then took to the local auto paint shop. They didn't colour match but simply went though the same process with their chips and came up with a colour. As dad would have said, 'the difference is nothing a blind man on a galloping horse would notice'

AND good to see another Vauxhall and a Bedford on the forum as tow vehicles ;D. No V8 conversion for the Velox although a motor rebuild will start in the new year. I just have to live with driving in the 60s (which I have done happily for 20 years) but with the braking department a little more strained some self imposed restrictions will be observed.

George

[sportsman 1]

Looking very nice George.

When are we going to see you and the combo down here?

Are you coming to Churchill?

If I dont see you all the best for the new year to you and Barb.

Leigh.

[griffin]

Sorry Leigh, not indulging in the Churchill rally our trip to Canada was enough this year but best wishes to you and Karen, have a safe trip ;D

Hopefully taking the outfit to Perth for the rally next year, well year after next as it is still 2010 Then again we will be leaving next year to get there in time, I'm confused you know what I mean

George

[griffin]

Just an updated photo of the Velox and the new look Debonair 1592.
Some work remaining to tart up some undercarriage bits and finish polishing the window frames but otherwise we are happy with it.

Despite a lot of fiddling with the over-ride brakes I'm not happy with their operation >:(and a trip to Bathurst in a week or so will be the ultimate test to see if they survive or get the flick for some electrics. I figure they had to do the job in their day and as the Velox is standard I'm restricted to 1961 towing anyway Having said that though the best I can say about the brake set up is it is 'agricultural' compared to the mechanical brakes on my 1937 Vauxhall which stops quite nicely for what it is

For interest I took it to the local weighbridge to find out what I am dealing with and with full water and gas and most of our load it came in at 1.12 tonne a bit more than I'd hoped for, considering we have only used about 20% of the cupboard space, I'd hate to pack it full

The next little shock was the 72 bucks to fill the Velox with petrol at it's current price SKI again ;D ;D

Any VVers in Bathurst to call and see? Please send me a PM.

George

[seeshell]

Hi Griffin

As a fellow Olympian I'd love to see the interior of your van if you have some shots to share.

Cheers
Seeshell

[griffin]

Hi Seeshell

Attached is one interior photo, I haven't got involved with Photo thingy so can only post one pic at a time.

Email me at [e-mail] and I'll send some others:)

Interior is a bit dull with khaki curtains, we will brighten it up a bit in due course when we find a nice curtain material.

The previous owner converted it to single beds which use welded metal frames on legs, nice and sturdy and provides good storage access underneath for the bulky bits. Also fitted a microwave which fits in nicely and very useful.

I treated the wardrobe and pantry door edges with Earl's Wood Hardener then painted the edge with grey enamel to seal them as the chipboard was flaky due to moisture absorption and it stabalised it nicely Same with the underneath of the table.

All the interior fiberglass surfaces and doors polished up like new

George

[griffin]

'New' curtains at last for the Debonair.

We have been keeping an eye out for ages for something to brighten the van and while on holidays recently up the north coast I visited, among many, an op shop in Kendall. As I walked in the front door I saw one of the staff carry a piece of curtain material from the back and hang it on a rack and I made a bee line for it.

Some quick arm measuring and I decided there was enough to do the four curtains in the front of the Debonair and after some discussions with 'she who must' I shelled out the princely sum of $3 and headed back out the door with my treasure

The edge of the material tells me it is 'Capistrano Stripe' and someone will no doubt know all about it. It was exactly the right amount for the four curtains which have now been made up and installed. The Khaki can stay in the bedroom, Capistrano at that end might be a bit 'loud' to afford comfortable sleep

Patience has its rewards.
George

[sportsman 1]

Well done George, I will look forward to seeing it on the run to Cairns!

I assume we will be seeing you soon.

Leigh.

[griffin]

Hi Leigh

We will see you if you call in for a cuppa on the way up or back, no Cairns trip for us though:(

George