millsy
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Post by millsy on Dec 26, 2013 22:47:49 GMT 10
Hi Millsy and everyone, For those who are wanting to get an idea of the van Millsy is working on, click here. His current project is 'van number one' on that thread. Millsy, regarding the requirements for re-registration in relation to the hitch, etc, you should read a thread Cobber started in the Technical Stuff section on this topic - click here. The basic message is that in most states if you are restoring a van, you don't have to meet most of the regulations for modern vans, just the regulations that applied when the van was built. However, you may need to argue the point because not all the registration inspectors are aware of this, or alternatively will try and bluff you into meeting the modern regulations. The obvious qualifier is that the original equipment needs to be in good condition and be capable of operating safely. Hope that's useful info for you. Don Ricardo Thanks Don. I am having a bit of trouble with my various computers. I shall try again now to get some pics up of my initial progress over the last few days.
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millsy
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Post by millsy on Dec 26, 2013 22:43:16 GMT 10
Here in vic registering our old van was too easy. 1. Weighbridge docket 1040kg 2. Appointment 3. Ring vic roads and get a vin no. And stamped onto draw bar. 4. Inspection checked vin and length and lights only. 4. Was asked what the gross weight was and answered 1700kq (which is now recorded on the rego) 5. Paid money and recieved plates. No electrical or gas checks or even a look inside or underneath... Yes, that does seem easy over there! I was reading a post on my 4x4 forum (4x4 Earth Australia) tonight about registration checks for vehicles in the various states, and how they compare. One post was saying that they have become quite strict on the change of ownership vehicle check in Victoria now. But surprisingly, they seem a bit slack on checking out old caravans. Amazing, considering their age. Maybe you have obviously done such a wonderful job on the restoration, at first glance of the shiny new paint etc, that they thought you obviously are the typr of person that would have done a 'spot on job' on all the mechanical side as well! I just need to find the time to give them a ring and see what they can tell me. I hope they can point to a checklist and then I know what I have to do. Rather than take my van down there hoping I have done everything and getting a nasty surprise. A simple phone call should solve the problem I hope. Thanks.
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millsy
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Posts: 52
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Post by millsy on Dec 26, 2013 22:34:47 GMT 10
Ok so this is really spooky - tonight we met Millsy who was riding past and stopped in to ask us about our van. It was very nice to me you btw What we didn't realise until after you left was that LAST NIGHT Steve was looking at this very thread - your wheel and hub cap are exactly like ours!! The similarities seem to end there but looking at the interiors of yours, I wonder if someone "restored" it before you got it in 1977 some of those cupboard knobs look very late 60's early 70's to me and as for the peg board ...pretty sure that wouldn't have been original Hi Willow! I have been a very slack in checking out this forum. I just stumbled on your post after clicking on a link Don Ricardo left on my new thread about the other van. Yes, what a coincidence that Steve was looking at my first thread on these vans and the next day I just happen to 'look left' as I was riding my bike down a street that I have never even driven before, let alone ride a bike down it! Now that I am getting into a bit of restoration I need to check out the upcoming meets and come and get some inspiration. But I must admit I think I am going to be out of my league when it comes to what you and the other members are doing with their lovely vans. Not sure whether I will have the commitment to do a lot with my van#1. Really just a very basic external restoration, and a mechanical checkout. That is going to be the challenging part I think. Hopefully spring hangers and bushes and pins are not shot. But probably are. Might not be too hard, or too expensive, to get new ones made up. Brake linings could be an issue. Hopefully I can just take them into a brake specialist and they can fit some new linings onto the old backing plates. But I have rebuilt engines and do most my own repairs with my cars, so am looking forward to the mechanical challenge of van#1. Finding a spare wheel will be a challenge in itself! Look forward to meeting up again one day. Your van was so close to being finished when I saw it. Have you finished it now?
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millsy
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Posts: 52
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Post by millsy on Dec 25, 2013 8:24:50 GMT 10
Thanks for the replies DC3Td and Murray. 1920s - wow! I don't think my van could be that old. But you never know! May be it is! Must get those picks up today. I have not seen anything else like it and I have been scrolling through dozens of threads on this forum. No wonder there is so much rotten wood lol. But really, that is because since i bought it it has never been under cover! And some years when I should have fixed the cracking plywood - I didn't. Water inside wooden wall cavities = wood rot! Anyway, I have been cutting out sections of walls over the years and slowly replacing the damaged timbers, and ply. Still a fair bit left to do. Need to make a new door. It is really cracking up, especially around the bottom.
And the other unfortunate aspect of the van is that about 20 years ago I turned it into a closed trailer. I chopped the back off and gutted the inside. All that lovely handcrafted furniture destroyed! I know, I should be locked up for life. I am ashamed. But at least I still own it, and have not taken it up the dump, like all my mates, and my wife, tell me I should. I would love to get it back on the road. At the oment it is just used as a spare storage 'room'. Full of junk that my wife sells at garage sales once or twice a year.
So the biggest wood-working part of my resto is to give it a new back wall. I must admit I have bought a new window for the back wall, but it does not match those lovely old windows from yester-year. But if I do find a nice old window from somewhere I can alwyas take out the modern Jayco window and replace it with a 'proper old one' lol.
So as far as a roadworthy goes, I don't reckon I will need to be worrying about electricals or gas. I don't plan on installing gas or 240V power. The old wiring is very old. Instead of plastic insulation it is actually cloth insulation! Never seen that before. Will see if I can get a pick of it. Maybe that's what a lot of these old vans have.
I don't plan to do a full restoration. I just want to get it back on the road. I will just put lightweight house furniture in it, and screw it to the walls. I already have lots of 40mm x 18mm pine stripping screwed to the walls that I set up as tie-off rails for when I used the van to collect and deliver furniture. We had a couple of SH furniture/bric-a-brac shops in the late '80s and early 90's.
I am taking lots of pics of the rebuild so if I do have to take it 'over the pits' I can show them all the re-reinforcements and new wood that I have done inside the walls. I am particularly concerned about the strength of the fixtures that hold the walls to the floor pan. It has a very heavy duty steel chassis, and a really thick plywood floor base. But if the wall to floor joins are not strong . . . disaster on the road!
So, since the internal lining is 'shot' in most places anyway, I will be taking off most of the lining, especially where it meets the floor, and putting in lots of new bottom framing wood and new screws fastening it to the floor.
The other aspect I guess will be the hitch and the brakes and wheel-bearings. That is where I think I will be having most of my headaches. In the end I might have to fork out some big cash for a new axle, hubs, rims and electric brakes. And a new hitch.
Have a great Christmas day every-one. I will be playing with wood and glue!
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millsy
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Posts: 52
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Post by millsy on Dec 24, 2013 9:32:43 GMT 10
Well I finally started to restore the old van a few days ago. Making some good progress. All my friends tell me it is too far gone - take it up the dump!
I was just working around the window frame and went to tear off a bit of 'rubbish' stuck to the bottom of the window frame. Lucky it did not come off. I looked again. It was the manufacturers label - "Window manuf by L. O. Roberts & Sons Pty Ltd"
Would anyone know of this company. Maybe what town they operated from. Maybe in what years they were in business. Might give me a bit of clue.
I am just guessing that the van is between 50 and 60 years old. I bought it in about 1977 and although it was in good condition then, it seemed to have a very antique look about it, as if it was already about 20 years old. But it does have old aluminium window frames with very simple locks and fittings.
Need to get back out in the cool morning air. Will post a few pics later in the day when I need a break. Cheers.
Oh, the other clue was that the Registration sticker said it was a Newlands caravan. But I don't recall ever seeing a Newlands badge on it.
By the way, what would be the regulations about me getting it re-registered. It has been off the road now for about 15 or 20 years. One of my mates suggested I am probably wasting my time and money because it will have to be checked out by 'Regency' before I could get it registered. Does 'Regency' have a check-list that they hand out to people that are just embarking on a big rebuild?
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millsy
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Posts: 52
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Post by millsy on Mar 31, 2012 21:39:44 GMT 10
I reckon I saw something like this on the old Ghan line between Maree and Oodnadatta last year. If I remember correctly I think it was a desalination plant for the local artesian bore water, so that when the steam trains used the water their boilers did not rust out so quickly.
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millsy
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Post by millsy on Feb 29, 2012 23:16:05 GMT 10
I have been repairing cracked bondwood areas in my two old vans with cotton bed sheet material. I just paint it on with water based paint. I used to mix up a slurry of aquadhere, watering it down a fair amount to thin it out. But now I just use slightly thinned water based paint. It seems to have all the bonding strength needed.
This follows the same principle as my plywood vintage glider I helped restore in the seventies. We had to 'rebag' the wings with dacron and dope. And If I remember correctly we did the fuselage too.
If you want the best finish on a side of a caravan you would first need to remove the old paint, which in itself is a big job of course. Then carefully prepare the surface to seal it with primer and filler, or full strength primer, into the cracks. Then to make sure the cracks don't just come back a couple of years later, cover the whole side with fabric as I explained. The fabric needs to be properly bonded with enough wet paint between the wood and the fabric, and a careful rubbing that smooths out the wrinkles and stretches it across the surface. But not so much rubbing that all the bonding paint gets forced out. But certainly enough to 'rub out' any lumps of excessive paint under the fabric though.
When this first 'painting'/bonding dries, then two or three more coats are needed to fill the grain of the fabric and produce a nice smooth finish. I have not actually covered the whole side of my van like this. Up to this stage I have only done 'quick fixes' with smaller strips and patches as required. Of course all of these little repair jobs are visible due to their edge lines. That's why I think the whole side would need to be covered. Might need to do it in three or four sections though, just to make it feasible.
A bit of practice on some scrap plywood would be the way to go I think.
I think this sort of treatment would last twenty years or more. A lot more if the van was under shelter. My two vans have never been under shelter and I am pretty sure the patches I did back in the eightys are still good today.
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millsy
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Posts: 52
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Post by millsy on Nov 24, 2011 21:51:17 GMT 10
Would this place be near Emerald? I see they have a pig race at their annual show. And a rodeo. I actually went to either the Emerald, or maybe the Springsure, rodeo as a kid. My uncle owned a big cattle station in the district.
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millsy
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Post by millsy on Nov 20, 2011 11:01:20 GMT 10
I used to have the same problem when I sleep in my car. I have a bed in the 4WD.
The simple solution was to leave a couple of windows a tad open.
Maybe you have the same problem. It might be just all the moisture in your breath.
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millsy
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Posts: 52
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Post by millsy on Nov 11, 2011 12:42:28 GMT 10
Byron Bay?
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millsy
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Posts: 52
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Post by millsy on Nov 8, 2011 6:13:00 GMT 10
Spot on Daggsey! Have you been there and 'walked the walk'?
I was wondering if anyone else had the same experience. There are some beautiful fields of wildflowers on the top of the Knoll, plus flowers of many different varieties next to the path on the way up. Just a great way to spend a few hours. I was lucky that day as it was about three days before Xmas but not too hot - perfect bushwalking weather.
But just a couple of days before that there was the sad story in the papers of an experienced bushwalker in his sixties, from nearby Albany, that loved visiting the Stirling Ranges National Park over many years. He became lost on one of his walks, but had his mobile phone and called for help. A police search party came out to look for him, and despite the phone communication they were unable to find him and he perished.
I still don't think he has been found. But that was not on Bluff Knoll. It's a big park with many other hills to climb as you can see in the pics.
What have you got for us Daggsey?
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millsy
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Posts: 52
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Post by millsy on Nov 7, 2011 19:49:36 GMT 10
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millsy
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Post by millsy on Nov 7, 2011 16:31:57 GMT 10
Love it! I have been trying to design a little bike trailer so that I can do some long distance touring around Oz. I was thinking about something with just one wheel, to reduce drag, but long enough to incorporate a bed. It would have fold down legs for support. Maybe also fold out to get the length of a bed.
But that video has given me another design line! There are plenty of two wheel bike trailers around, but nothing that big! I wonder how a one manpower engine would handle it?
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millsy
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Posts: 52
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Post by millsy on Nov 7, 2011 16:08:12 GMT 10
Tailem Town maybe? Went there 15 years ago with the grandkids. So cannot be sure! Got that look about it. Great place. Time I re-visited.
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millsy
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Post by millsy on Nov 6, 2011 20:50:24 GMT 10
Thanks for that Dave. If I lived in Victoria I would no doubt watch out for some of those spots.
Until recently I was convinced that a lot of the scenes were shot in SA. One of the the opening scenes in the first film for instance, where the Night Rider and Mad Max come together at a Y junction looks just like Giles Corner. This is a Y junction, complete with all the gum trees as in the film, half way between Tarlee and Riverton. The start of the Barrier Highway to Broken Hill.
I used to live in the Riverton district in the seventies and eighties, and heading south into that Y junction was a real 'Mad Max' affair. You were sitting on 80 or 90 km/hr, didn't really want to slow down for such a gentle corner, but had to be looking over your right shoulder to check for merging traffic, plus make sure there was no car coming at you around the bend from the south.
Yesterday I happened to be up north collecting rocks for my science class. I noticed that coming around that same corner on my way home that they have added an extra merge lane now. Such a simple thing to do to make it a very safe merge now.
The lane continues for at least 300 metres south of the Y junction, so you have plenty of time to use your rear view mirrors, plus the mandatory check over the shoulder of course, before moving out onto the main road.
It makes you wonder why they could not have thought of that 50 years ago!
Don must have gone bush for the weekend!
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millsy
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Post by millsy on Nov 6, 2011 15:44:47 GMT 10
Hey you stirrer! I Googled Mundi Mundi Lookout and got a million hits! Isn't that good enough? And what makes you think it's a private road? Just because they wrecked all those vehicles making that film doesn't mean it had to be a private road does it? I was watching that second clip from a couple of posts back, and it looks like they might have even done the closing 'truck chase' around that same road. It really is amazing how they did it. Maybe it was all done with little model trucks and cars. But looks so real! I remember listening to one of the stunt drivers who worked on the movie. He made it sound like in those days in the Australian film industry, especially in that movie, there did not seem to be any OHSW rules. Apparently Hollywood was in awe of what they did to get their action sequences. Bur I reckon the only way they could have got that little kid to be balancing on the roof of that truck would have been in the studio. If I was his mother I certainly wouldn't have let him anywhere near Silverton, or Broken Hill for that matter! www.silverton.org.au/sights.htm
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millsy
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Post by millsy on Nov 6, 2011 9:08:45 GMT 10
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millsy
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Post by millsy on Nov 6, 2011 8:54:08 GMT 10
Well done Don. And I must admit, I am a Mad Max fan. When I took the Japanese teacher out to that lookout it was not because of Mad Max. I did not know that there was a scene shot there. But I always had fond memories of this place that I had visited 20 years earlier with my wife and baby son. A place where it seemed you were looking out into the middle of 'no-where'. Into the far outback. I thought he would enjoy the view. And then I just felt like taking a pic form the middle of the road for some unknown reason. As we were driving back to Adelaide I thought about the Mad Max films, and suddenly thought that place was a bit familiar. The first thing I did when I got home was put Mad Max 2 on and sure enough . . . I reckon I was standing right where he parked the Interceptor! For all us Mad Max fans it was so disappointing to hear that the Mad Max 4 film, due to be shot around Broken Hill this year, was canned. This was because the brown desert had been painted green due to all that rain! And I don't think they are waiting for the next drought! No doubt you found the name of the spot by watching this clip - www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLCmcV4gC_0 Your turn!
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millsy
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Post by millsy on Nov 5, 2011 19:22:02 GMT 10
I don't thnik it is a private road. I don't recall seeing any sign up tp that effect. You are certainly on the scent when you mention Mad Max. And I reckon another film, Cactus, had a scene shot near here - over the hill and another km or so down the bottom and around a corner to the right.
Now how good are your detective skills. Can you find the name of this spot? It has what sounds like an Aboriginal name to me.
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millsy
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Post by millsy on Nov 5, 2011 17:59:01 GMT 10
A little clue. This was the spot on the road where a well known actor parked his 'mean machine'. It's not too far from Broken Hill. Am looking for the name of the place next to the road, not quite in view in this snap.
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millsy
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Post by millsy on Nov 4, 2011 21:49:25 GMT 10
This should also be an easy one. For some!
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millsy
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Post by millsy on Nov 3, 2011 21:01:34 GMT 10
stooy, yes, this is a lot easier! First one impossible.
It is on top of the hill near Broken Hill-the Living Desert sculptures. I took a Japanese tourist for a drive one weekend to show him a bit of the outback. He loved it!
After looking through a few art galeries in town we then went out to the Living Desert, and then arrived at the next spot just on sundown.
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millsy
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Post by millsy on Nov 2, 2011 12:44:10 GMT 10
Fisherman's Bay near Port Broughton, South South Australia?
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millsy
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Post by millsy on Oct 31, 2011 20:47:49 GMT 10
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millsy
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Post by millsy on Oct 31, 2011 19:11:18 GMT 10
No probs. There was another old van there too. It had wooden windows and a steel tube frame, rather than wood. That one looked like about 16 foot long, and was a real caravan, in original condition. But if anyone was to restore it there was a lot of work to do. A lot of the outer skin had fallen off, to expose the steel tube framing. It had wooden windows.
Inside was not too bad with all the interior lining still keeping most of the weather out. But the door had fallen off and some rain/weather damage as a result.
It was as if the van had been parked there, in the bush, after its last holiday and never been touched since. Still had lots of 1950's bric a brac on the shelves, and in the cupboards - plastic flowers, ladies hygienic pads, cups and saucers, . . . . Completely untouched for 60 years!
Will get some pics up.
This was one surprise historic park, about 20km off the Sturt Highway, and no sign posts on that road to indicate to any one on that road that they were driving past one amazing snapshot into the past. There were many old buildings of the district all full of 50's, and much earlier, memorabilia, including a school class room, early settler's cottages. Also lots of old farm machinery in a huge shed.
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