Chalky's van. Lots of advice welcome & needed!

[chalky]

,

Hey guys! First up big thanks for all the awesome advice on these forums, I've been reading for a few weeks I've just bought this little number.. and as Murphy's Law would have it it's poured non-stop since purchase and we've not been able to get the poor leaky little thing here. So I'll get some more photos up when I can. The owner listed it as stainless steel but then said he wasn't sure. How can I tell?

I've had a few people scoff at my ambition to restore her, so I'm a tad dis-heartened But I'm eager, have a few tradies in the fam and have a budget for getting help when needed.

I have to admit I'm prob not going to overhaul the entire van. I've seen some *amazing* renos on here but as a first project I'll prob try and get away with fixing up what's needed.

I have to confess I'm not super handy. So please excuse my stupid questions.

Of which I have 1 million & 3. Not sure where to start.. here are a few for the brains trust! If you can point me to relevant threads I've not found - send me on my way.

[Removed a few questions! I think it'll be easier to ask them as I go now that I'm stuck in! Thanks.]

#4 My sister-in-law's an electrician so I'll get her to rewire it. any tips/pointers welcome.

#5 Would love any general advice about what's really hard and worth paying for (where possible)... and what's possible to have a crack at!

The kitchen's been removed unfortunately so I'm not sure what I'll do with the layout at present which is dinette on left, and bed on right.

Ok I've probably used up more than my allotted questions as a newbie. Thanks for having me - Alison.

[retro64]

Hi Alison,

Welcome to the forum,
congratulations on the purchase of your new van ;D.

There's always going to be scoffers :Pand knockers out there, but here on the forum i haven't heard one in regards to someone willing to have a go at restoring a van.

Its great to hear that the tradies in your family are on board with your project, looks like you're off to a great start.

Hope you get your van home and watertight soon. Fingers crossed for some sunny weather .

We'll leave the technical advice for more experienced members and just bid you welcome for now. We look forward to seeing the interior photos.

cheers retro64

[trub73]

Alison, dont let anyone deter you from doing what you want, especially when it involves saving a gorgeous old van, i get ribbed all the time by people for having 2 caravans....why would I need more than 1 ?....and why not buy a "new" van? and now Im coping it for the EK holden....its soooo old!!!! but you know what, I wake up each day walk outside, look at both my vans (Miss Frankie & Ruby-Rose) and the newbie in my family....Candy the EK.....
AND SMILE!!!!! they just make me a happy person!!!!
enjoy every moment of your reno, I will be eagerly watching your progress.....with a happy smile!!!!

[Jennison]

Hi there
I think without doubt you will find it's aluminium and not stainless steel Alison
roughly where are you located...perhaps one of our more experienced renovators can take a look 1st hand and pass on some advice.
Also lots of photos (inside and out)will help if you can post them up
jennison

[chalky]

Hi guys - thanks for your friendly responses. I'll be sure to post lots of pics - I know that's the protocol I might grab some from the listing to show you guys what I'm up against! It's not as ambitious as some I've seen.. but that's not to say it won't be hard work.

Jennison - I didn't even think stainless steel vans existed! Do they?! So much to learn...

Thanks again. Fingers crossed this torrential rain lightens up.

[chalky]

Got quite a bit of work in today with the help of my father & brother-in-law. Champions Here are the before shots, quite a lot of water damage. Got cupboards, dinette, bed etc out today. Left main cupboard in - hoping to salvage. Panels to come out during the week so we can reseal the roof from the inside...











BTW I'm using Flickr to post images
Hope everyone had a good weekend

[jenniewren]

Aww it's a cutie Alison.....and like everyone has already reiterated above...do not be deterred! You are on a mission.....holiday's, holiday's, holiday's in a retro van that will turn many more heads than a newbie van ever will!!! I noticed it had sliding cupboard overhead doors. Do you know I have only ever come across two other vans on this site with sliders! Mine does also and I thought originally that they had been converted...but they haven't! You will love fitting out your vv and will stand back with absolute pride when completed! ENJOY! J

[chalky]

Hey J I did wonder if the sliders were original! They seems to have 3 layers of paint like the other doors, haha. However the door tracks definitely look newer.

Do you have pics I can see? I'm keen to see kitchen pics too, as mine has no kitchen so I'll need to rebuild it. Despite me saying I'm not doing a complete rebuild.. I think now I have no choice.

I work for myself so I'm wrestling with the urge to spend all day on it!

[aquamum]

Hi Alison

You & I can be "newbie girls" together as I too have just bought a lovely old bondwood van that is "drying out" at the moment.

There is lots and lots of info on this site "tech wise" so have a good look around.....

Glad to hear you have some family to help out.

My husband and three sons came to help me load her on the trailer and I too was laughed at, but now my youngest (18) who is an apprentice carpenter/joiner is keen to give me a hand ;D

NB: You mentioned alot of rain, do you live in NSW? PM me if you do

[chalky]

Hi aquamum - glad to meet a fellow newbie I do live in NSW - I'm up on the Central Coast. I'm also a Mum to two boys.. but they're 3 and 1 so not entirely useful just yet Although the 3yo likes to think he's being very helpful!

My brother-in-law however is a carpenter and gave me a hand on Sunday.. he's always loved old cars and told me if I get sick of this he'll "take it off my hands". He loves a project.

The bondwood's are so cute! Do you have more pics up? I still don't know what my van actually is.. I need some help identifying it..

[chalky]

I've not been back in aages, but I've been on working on her, promise! Although I've slowed down a bit in winter. I met some other VC folk in Byron last week which inspired me to get some pics up.

Here she is gutted and ready for wirebrushing, rustkill etc.

[chalky]

Here she is BEFORE polish...


And here she is AFTER:



I used the US product Purple Polish after reading reviews on here. It's expensive but you don't go through too much. I tried and electric polisher but it gave me numb hands pretty quickly and I don't think the result was as good as ol' fashioned elbow grease. She's still not finished with polishing, can only do bit by bit. I also used the ALUMINIUM DEOXIDISER with it, from same company. You don't need as much of this. I bought 2 bottles of Purple - I think about 3 would do the whole van, although don't think I will do the top.



In this pic I'd only done the bottom half. Was pretty happy to find these awing/blinds under the bed too. I've four. Still in the market to get full annex made, one day...

[chalky]

Here's my awesome FIL doing the floor, we laid it over existing floor. You can also see the insulation, we used 12mm polystyrene which was really easy to work with apart from all the tiny bits you get everywhere.





We've found it really hard to work around the wiring. We got a caravan guy to do it - he was terrible. He cut bits of the metal frame and had the wiring sitting on sharp metal. We had to fix it all (including removing wall panels to do so). Long story but now all the panels are on, it's not working. We think we've screwed through it putting the o'head cabinets in. I could cry!

[chalky]

Going with a golden yellow themed interior. I bought this fabric fro $5 p/m from a place in East Gosford. I still have a whole roll of it



Believe it or not (for the sewers) each cushion is one piece of fabric! It ties closed underneath. It's not piping either is simple top-stitching (is that what it's called?). It's a bit difficult to explain how I did this but I'll try if interested. It's all about the corners - I'll try to find a youtube on how to do these.

This is taken inside the house obviously. Also shows the dinette seats which have been laboriously sanded, undercoated and painted in white gloss only to find they peel easily. I thought the mistake was water paint on oil paint? So for the overhead cupboards I did oil on oil (sanding in between) to find the same thing. What am I doing wrong?

[penny61]

Jul 21, 2011 16:25:56 GMT 10 trub73 said:

Alison, dont let anyone deter you from doing what you want, especially when it involves saving a gorgeous old van, i get ribbed all the time by people for having 2 caravans....why would I need more than 1 ?....and why not buy a "new" van? and now Im coping it for the EK holden....its soooo old!!!! but you know what, I wake up each day walk outside, look at both my vans (Miss Frankie & Ruby-Rose) and the newbie in my family....Candy the EK.....
AND SMILE!!!!! they just make me a happy person!!!!
enjoy every moment of your reno, I will be eagerly watching your progress.....with a happy smile!!!!

Know how you feel... I have 2 VW beetles (a convertable with no roof and a hartop) another Beetle I share with my sister (it was our first car) a 75 Kombi I'm hoping to start a business with travelling around the country.... With my Propert folding caravan trailing behind. The amount of times I've been told to send them to the crusher.... or put Subaru motors in so they go faster..... When Penny Propert arived I was like a kid at Christmas.... They all make me smile.... Well, apart from Abby the Kombi at the moment, but that's not her fault, we haven't had a chance to get to know eachother yet, she's been stuck at my mechanic's since she arrived from Darwin...


Wow, it's amazing what a bit of polish and old fashioned elbow grease will do isn't it.... And I love those cushions! I'm thinking of getting a friend of mine to help me recover Penny Propert's... maybe get new foam cut but the old stuf is still quite comfy.... but it's always seemed too hard.... but yours look really nice! But only one piece of fabric....? ;D

Can't help you with your painting problem though.... we haven't had to go there yet, thankfully.

Vanessa, Penny P. Propert, Sophie Chester and Herbie.

PS. Bet no one's 'scoffing' now ;D ;D

[Swellwillys]

Your going great guns chalky.
It's long and slow and challenging,but your work to date is great ! New skills, new knowledge, new goals.
Keep up the good work, and we'll see you in Byron again some day when she is finished.

Regards,
Swellwillys.

[dawso]

Chalky,
As with all painting you should Undercoat all surfaces.
Use a product from Taubmans called 3-in-1 its a primer, sealer, undercoat,no need to sand unless the surface is rough.

[chalky]

Hey swellwillys! Great to find you on here - you guys provided me with the kick up the bum I needed. Still have a few more pictures to get up.

I think the big last dilemma is the windows - going to look into those.

Dawso - thanks! I did undercoat so not sure where I went wrong. Pretty frustrating to put all that work in and see how easily it scrapes off! I will try the taubman's product next.

One other q - I'm trying to get a ballpark (even a range) for getting an annexe made up. I have no idea.. can anyone advise me? I did ask ages ago but I got no replies

[Swellwillys]

Ours cost $2000.
Am very happy with the outcome.

Swellwillys

[hilldweller]

That's a nice looking van and I love those little sun shades on the windows. Looking forward to more pics.