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Post by JBJ on Aug 2, 2015 21:21:50 GMT 10
Hi Steve
I love this van. But I dont want another project, so I cant buy it from you. JBJ
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Post by JBJ on Aug 2, 2015 19:09:07 GMT 10
Hi All, Abit of progress made. The steel framing for the floor is partly done. Doing a bit as I feel like it. I made the framing, then put a layer of adhesive on top. It then was pushed up under the edge of the existing floor under the cupboard. Framing was then screwed &/or welded into existing chassis. A lot of work, but only way I could think of other than totally dismantle van I replaced the ply in the front corner, & across the front. Made new framing for front ply, & replaced much more than I expected. This van has been patched poorly in a lot of areas. Seeing there is no timber frame, the repairers just stuck MDF over the rotten ply walls. So I've removed as much rotten ply as I can get to, then glued & screwed new ply in place. It seems to work, but who knows what will happen after a bit of travel. We've primed a lot of the interior, as well as the doors. They were varnished over the back of the ply, & pretty poorly at that. I'm taking my time with this one. I have no idea what to expect as I progress, as I havent worked on a van built like this before. Its sot of like a home made ply van, with only ply as walls, then clad with glass sheets, but the whole construction seems to be lightweight & minimally built. It will end up a nice van. Its still fun, much better working on a hobby than worrying about the troubles of the word. JBJ
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Post by JBJ on Jul 27, 2015 8:14:55 GMT 10
Hi Griffin,
The first van you posted looks very much (to me) to be a Crusader. The side profiles & big front window are very much the same as one I had once.
JBJ
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Post by JBJ on Jul 20, 2015 8:32:02 GMT 10
Hi All, It was another great weekend, like we always seem to have at Canungra. One highlight for me was meeting Murray & friends, up from Taswegia. Had a good reminisce about old vans & posts on the Forum. It will good to catch up again at South West rocks Nationals. The dinner at Canungra Pub was pretty good value & quality, & with the free bus up & back it was even better Thanks Cathy for putting it together. Roll on next event in Northern NSW/ Southern Qld. We have a pretty good group of vintage vanners here, that have lots of fun.
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Post by JBJ on Jul 14, 2015 19:19:46 GMT 10
Hi Humpty
I thought Quest's were fibreglass, but they are are a timber van clad with fibreglass, or at least mine is. Every van I have rebuilt has ended up being much more work & expense than expected.
But its my choice to get involved, & I enjoy the manual work & thought involved.
It still is nearly always fun working on cars & old vans. JBJ
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Post by JBJ on Jul 14, 2015 9:07:39 GMT 10
Hi All, Well a lot of time has past, with me looking at this one, & finding problems everywhere I looked. I left it while I worked on my Dodge, as I only work on one project at a time. So while my upholster is still letting me down with his work on the dodge ( he told me he would start on fitting the headlining back in February, & still not in place), I switched back onto the Quest. Its been very frustrating so far. The van appears to be very cheaply/lightly built. Very minimal angle iron chassis, chip board floor >: >:DD, sides are sheets of ply , with joins vertically at sheet edges, fibreglass skin over glued only at window openings (that I can see), with a light pine 40x20 framing across between the sides to hold up fibreglass roof skin. Front one piece panel had several horizontal 40x20 pine holding up internal 3mm ply skin. I can see why it was so light to tow. So first problem I found was floor was total stuffed & patched up. It was chipboard from factory, which for the life of me I cant understand why someone would use a product that rapidly becomes useless & soft in presence of any moisture. It had been covered on top with 6mm MDF (nearly as bad as chipboard) & patch strengthened from underneath using more chipboard. Not a trace of ply, which is much more suitable. I let that part sit to think about while I started on other areas. The ceiling was plastic coated ply sheets, stapled in place. The plastic was lifting around edges & at joins. This is inside the robe, where I am keeping the plastic sheet. I will instal a quad moulding in corner. It also shows how they covered/joined the side ply sheets. So I decided to tear all the plastic off, then wash the ply with thinners to remove the glue. With a little puttying at edges, I gave it a light sand then a light coat of primer to see if the glue/thinners residue would affect the paint. Been sitting a month or so without any problems appearing, so so far so good. The internal ply wall linings & cupboard faces were painted woodgrain finish, with a real good gloss finish. But about 50% of the walls had been painted, or covered with MDF sheets. I removed a few of the MDF sheets, & found water damaged ply under. These sections will be repaired as I go. I sanded all the ply, taking the gloss off to give a surface that will accept primer. I removed the stove, & reconstructed the bench top higher, to create a cupboard for my microwave.. I then started removing damaged internal front panels, & found MDF sheets covering all sorts of damaged ply. But it all cleaned up OK, & will be relatively easy to replace properly. I will also put some extra timber in where I think its needed. So after much thought, including one of towing the van to the tip at one stage last weekend, I decided to cut the existing sections of chipboard floor out. It was so rotten in many places that I could crumble it to powder in my hands. I intend to instal a steel angle iron frame around the edge of the cut out, supporting both the retained chip board under cupboards, beds & seating, & the new 15mm waterproof ply sheet I will be installing. I also will put a lot more angle framing in to reduce the big spacings between the factory chassis angle irons So thats where I'm up to. I had no intentions of rebuilding another van, but I guess S*** happens. JBJ
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Post by JBJ on Jul 12, 2015 8:35:48 GMT 10
Hi, No wonder Chippydave knew it, its just behind his back fence ( well almost) JBJ
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Post by JBJ on Jul 8, 2015 19:01:32 GMT 10
Hi, What about you send me a message with your mailing adress, & I will send you one of the ones my windows use. Then you will know if they are the right ones. Easy peasy
JBJ
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Post by JBJ on Jul 7, 2015 7:55:49 GMT 10
Hi,
Do you mean the bits that slide along the bottom, with a hooked end, & hold it shut?. I Think I have a few of them. JBJ
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Post by JBJ on Jul 6, 2015 20:09:56 GMT 10
Hi Your windows appear the same as on my Olympic.
I found Camec had most of the bits required, but they aren't cheap. I also found Camec in Sydney were the best to deal with, & their postage/delivery was OK. Camec Qld I found to be cowboys in general, & would never deal with them again. I had heaps of problems with orders being sent to wrong adresses, Being duplicated, not delivered, & generally pretty amateurish for a big company. I ended up only talking to the department managers in the end, as everything went to crap. Hopefully they sorted themselves out, but be wary.
If you ordered one of each part initially, you would be able to see if they fit properly. Beware that the colours you get may not be what you expect.
I have a few new bits surplus to my last window rebuild. Mainly little bits. BuT I dont have any winder boxes from memory. They were around $20 each, plus handles, etc. Dont buy their window seals, as I found my local glazier used a commercial section that worked. I also gave up trying to fit the glass myself. He did it without breaking panels like I did. And a lot cheaper.
I will look tomorrow & see what I have, & email you. they are new, but as I dont need them, I will do a deal if you need them. JBJ
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Post by JBJ on Jul 6, 2015 14:31:12 GMT 10
Hi Al,
Good to see you get it completed. Now you need to get out & enjoy it. I've completed a couple of projects over the years, & have found the best part is being out camping & travelling in it.
You have done a great job, & I hope to see it one day
Thanks for the enjoyment we all got with your postings JBJ
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Post by JBJ on Jun 18, 2015 16:00:15 GMT 10
Hi This is the Lismore pie Cart as it sits today. It was restored externally a few years back, when it was relocated across the road to its new location I remember it from when I moved up here in 1980, when it was operating in its gray colours. I know its not a van, but appears to have possibly been a semi trailer bus from early 50's, but maybe someone else will know more. Its certainly a part of Lismores living history I believe that model Austin was sold (at least) between 1950 & 1958, but I'm no expert on Austin Trucks. JBJ
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Post by JBJ on Jun 17, 2015 22:39:26 GMT 10
Hi,
That caravan cafe from Lismore , behind the Austin truck, has been completely restored, & is a permanent pie cart next to Lismore post office. I'll try to take some shots of it tomorrow if the weather allows.
JBJ
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Post by JBJ on Jun 14, 2015 19:29:11 GMT 10
Hi Derk,
Stick with it mate. The problem is that medication is a lot of guesswork on the doctors behalf.
I recently found myself having breathing difficulties, & went to the Doctor. With my local surgery you have to wait up to 6 weeks to get to the doctor of your choice, but sometimes you can get lucky & get in sooner if you have an immediate problem
So I got to see a doctor I knew, & found my heart rate was very low. But I was on a tablet (for about 10 years) to lower my heart rate. Stopped taking it, & guess what, I went back to normal. Now they are talking about putting me on a pacemaker, which I dont like the idea of. I have heard that I wouldn't be able to weld or use electric motors.
I dont have a lot of faith in doctors most of the time, so I guess I have to go back to the Cardiac specialist, who told me a couple of months ago I was going so good that he didnt need to see me for 2 years. Go figure.
I guess the options to doctors isn't that brilliant
JBJ
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Post by JBJ on Jun 9, 2015 20:58:38 GMT 10
Hi
Sunliners didnt have window frames at front or rear. They had perspex fixed panels, moulded to shape, & held in with rubbers. if you have one with a window frame, its either modified by someone, or possibly a Gracemure queensland built. It would be easier for us to tell if you posted some pictures. Not many of us are mind readers, & dont really know what you are looking for unless you show us.
But there are heaps of photos of sunliners on here. If you cant post a photo, why not look thru old photos on here, & tell us which one its the same as
Then you may find someone can help you
JBJ.
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Post by JBJ on Jun 6, 2015 8:46:50 GMT 10
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Post by JBJ on Jun 3, 2015 4:36:40 GMT 10
Hi All, Progress is very slow, while I am waiting on my upholsterer to get his act together. I've been waiting several months now since he said he would put a new headlining in it, so I could get the front & rear screens fitted. Still waiting patiently. So I have done lots of little bits, & have it at the auto electricians getting air conditioning gassed up & working. Its running & driving sweetly (at present), so when the upholsterer decides to shock me, it will progress. Really only need his work, then a week or so with others, & its ready for rego. So near & yet so far JBJ
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Post by JBJ on Jun 3, 2015 4:26:11 GMT 10
Hi All, Well finally got around to working on the van. We have been (well Boots has been) doing a few little little bits inside, trying to get our heads around what extent we are going to go to with our work. At this stage it will be cleanup & repair as required with the van. Possibly repaint some of the interior. I've started removing the silicon around the openings, & its a big job as its been laid on very thick. I'm removing it using a plastic scraper, & washing it away using gunwash thinners that I still have. I'm then rubbing the fibreglass surface using cutting compound. By doing the rubbing in small areas with hand application, I've been able to restore a lot of the gloss to the gel coat. After I get the exterior uniform, then I'll look at what I need to repair. With the interior, we are removing the gas stove, & it's for sale if anyone wants to make me an offer. It can be sent by Australia Post. We were told it works OK, but thats all I know. We are also looking for some of the brass coloured plastic edging strip, & a fair bit of ours is damaged or missing. Pix below shows it, Boots has restored the roller blinds that were in it, & has almost finished painting inside the overhead cupboards, & has cleaned up & repainted all the door catch handles. The orinal hinges are the same as the ones available from Bunnings, so thats easy to fix. Slow & steady with this one for us. JBJ & Boots
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Post by JBJ on May 30, 2015 9:36:38 GMT 10
Hi,
I've always been able to buy soft J mould from our local aluminium suppliers. All I did was ask for it, & tell them I didn't want the hard stuff.
JBJ
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Post by JBJ on May 26, 2015 1:22:50 GMT 10
Hi,
You got it. Its a lovely little town , a bit away from everyday travel paths, but well worth a visit. The caravan park is well run, with clean & tidy facilities run by a very committed operator, who is trying to set high standards in its operation.
We had a good time there over Easter, even though it poured rain most of the time. JBJ
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Post by JBJ on May 25, 2015 18:03:44 GMT 10
Ok Thats probably a bit obscure for anyone that hasn't driven past & noticed it. Heres some more from same town This wierd building is visible as you drive into town. This is the town pub, so all you cheats that google these thinges will find it, then it will be your turn The town also has a community museuem based on an old general store, with all of the store stock still on the shelves. It also has the overhead cash carriers still in working order. Its a nice little community JBJ
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Post by JBJ on May 24, 2015 21:17:18 GMT 10
Hi Richard, Ford USA started using round tail lights in 1952, & continued thru well into the 60's & later. Most lights were specific to a model, but were similar. They varied in diameter &finished shape from model to model. I would think it likely that the Aussie Ford in the 60's were similar to the USA ones, but even though I've seen a lot of lights, I make no pretense of being knowledgeable on all of them. The one person that knows much more on Fords than anyone I know, appears to be uninterested in commenting on these at this stage.
JBJ
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Post by JBJ on May 22, 2015 15:52:14 GMT 10
Hi Humpty
No not Hebel. Its in the granite belt country of northern NSW/Southern Qld. JBJ
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Post by JBJ on May 22, 2015 7:32:46 GMT 10
Hi Richard,
I question the weight of 1 1/2 cwt in that advert. Thats only 76 kilos for the van, & think it would be just a tad heavier than that. Sure I know its only a typo error, but someone might read it, & say they know that Sunliners are only 76 kg. Shows you can't believe everything you read
JBJ
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Post by JBJ on May 21, 2015 21:48:29 GMT 10
OK I found this in my files , taken on a trip with our van a while back. A bit of yard art JBJ
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