Post by onesneverenough on Feb 5, 2012 20:04:47 GMT 10
Hi, whilst I may be a little unfamiliar to many, I have been around the scene for years. This van has many Don features and is similar to the ‘1948 Holiday Home’ featured on this sites home page. It does however deviate in one major way, it is clad in ply not Masonite and has absolutely no markings or identifications anywhere. Doug & Vicki have seen the van and commented on how similar in many ways it is to a don although it is unlikely to actually be a genuine Don.
I rescued the van from a farm years ago with the intention of restoring her. Life however, got in the way and she has been sitting around in sheds ever since. When I first acquired her around 2001 I sent photos to Mark when the forum didn’t even exist.
Since acquiring her I have restored my teardrop.
Bought and extensivly used my Roadhaven.
And am now working on a new project that will allow a bit more room and practicality for the family. This one is only slightly newer than the other two.
As such this one has to go. To make room and as a tacit admission that I am probably not going to get to her in the near future regrettably. When I acquired her the shed that she was in was old school, timber frame, pitched roof and old corrugated and had been built around the van such that it could not be extracted without tearing out one of the walls with an excavator. The shed is now demolished.
Features of the van include full ice chest in good condition provision for kero stove with flu overhead. The sink was removed but I have acquired another that is a near perfect fit with room behind for pluming etc. All this needs is a small frame to be built to mount it. At the rear is a day couch / divan that drops to a double and the table similarly drops to make another double. It has masses of cupboards including grouse curved overheads both sides, lingerie draws and also a pantry next to door. It also has the wash basin drop down in the wardrobe door as per similar era Don vans. My intention was to pick 4 pastel colours and rotate these through doors.
Structurally the van is in near perfect condition with virtually no rot known of. The ply laminated frame on either side at the lower front has been water affected and has a little (very little) dry rot and the glue has delaminated. It could either be replicated or reinforced with steel if the cladding was not to be removed. It also has a few ripples in the ceiling around the hatch but these are very minor.
There is a gal water tank under the front LH seat. It currently has no brakes and runs standard Ford (late Model) stud pattern. The Dolly wheel is quite unique with rapid drop via acme thread and then the crank handle is used to do the heavy lifting. I suspect the gears inside need some attention and the wheel has disintegrated and was discarded. I was going to replace it with a new wheel.
Most of the hardware has been re-chromed a while ago by Prahran Platers and is all in good condition. I did not do the hinges as they were going to cost quite a bit and I thought they could be replaced cheaper with repro ones. I also acquired a new different type of window securing rod to hold the windows from Arcana in Dandenong when they shut down and these are included.
There are a few other items that would require a little attention such as the hinges for the windows were rusted and broke so would need replacing etc but overall basically all that is needed is a good paint job and the results would be spectacular. Finally it is light as a feather I move it around by hand without the jockey wheel with relative ease. I felt it would have been ok behind my EK. I can’t say the same about the Roadhaven. The van is located in Lang Lang and I would like to see it go to someone who would give it a good home. If anyone is seriously interested please send me a message through alllowercase@internode.on.net or call Gregor after hours 0418 513 702.
I rescued the van from a farm years ago with the intention of restoring her. Life however, got in the way and she has been sitting around in sheds ever since. When I first acquired her around 2001 I sent photos to Mark when the forum didn’t even exist.
Since acquiring her I have restored my teardrop.
Bought and extensivly used my Roadhaven.
And am now working on a new project that will allow a bit more room and practicality for the family. This one is only slightly newer than the other two.
As such this one has to go. To make room and as a tacit admission that I am probably not going to get to her in the near future regrettably. When I acquired her the shed that she was in was old school, timber frame, pitched roof and old corrugated and had been built around the van such that it could not be extracted without tearing out one of the walls with an excavator. The shed is now demolished.
Features of the van include full ice chest in good condition provision for kero stove with flu overhead. The sink was removed but I have acquired another that is a near perfect fit with room behind for pluming etc. All this needs is a small frame to be built to mount it. At the rear is a day couch / divan that drops to a double and the table similarly drops to make another double. It has masses of cupboards including grouse curved overheads both sides, lingerie draws and also a pantry next to door. It also has the wash basin drop down in the wardrobe door as per similar era Don vans. My intention was to pick 4 pastel colours and rotate these through doors.
Structurally the van is in near perfect condition with virtually no rot known of. The ply laminated frame on either side at the lower front has been water affected and has a little (very little) dry rot and the glue has delaminated. It could either be replicated or reinforced with steel if the cladding was not to be removed. It also has a few ripples in the ceiling around the hatch but these are very minor.
There is a gal water tank under the front LH seat. It currently has no brakes and runs standard Ford (late Model) stud pattern. The Dolly wheel is quite unique with rapid drop via acme thread and then the crank handle is used to do the heavy lifting. I suspect the gears inside need some attention and the wheel has disintegrated and was discarded. I was going to replace it with a new wheel.
Most of the hardware has been re-chromed a while ago by Prahran Platers and is all in good condition. I did not do the hinges as they were going to cost quite a bit and I thought they could be replaced cheaper with repro ones. I also acquired a new different type of window securing rod to hold the windows from Arcana in Dandenong when they shut down and these are included.
There are a few other items that would require a little attention such as the hinges for the windows were rusted and broke so would need replacing etc but overall basically all that is needed is a good paint job and the results would be spectacular. Finally it is light as a feather I move it around by hand without the jockey wheel with relative ease. I felt it would have been ok behind my EK. I can’t say the same about the Roadhaven. The van is located in Lang Lang and I would like to see it go to someone who would give it a good home. If anyone is seriously interested please send me a message through alllowercase@internode.on.net or call Gregor after hours 0418 513 702.
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