Tooley's new van.

[tooleyau]

After spending a cold weekend in Tathra in a teardrop caravan, and seeing the ease and comfort of others in a van that you could actually stand up in Anne and I decided it was time to step up. I had been looking for a while and this one caught my eye before Tathra. After Tathra we checked it out again, did our sums and made an offer and it was accepted.

We dragged it home this afternoon. Its 10.5 feet long and more pictures will come of the inside and as I build it

The first question I have is "does any body know what make it is?"It is supposed to be a 1967something.

[Deleted]

Onya Tooleys

Its part of evolution of man. ( and woman) .. we started out near horizontal dragging our knuckles .. then we learned to walk upright and.. build caravans that could be both stood up in .. and .. laid down in.
You can now look forward to brewing the morning cuppa without braving the elements and dancing around under the TD tailgate.


A word of wisdom..
Dont sell your TD .. they are the masters of cheap accomodation / lightness/fuel saving while covering long distances to events.
At the end of the day.. all ya lookin for is a bed.

Regards
Reddo

[humpty2]

Have sent you a PM

[tooleyau]

1 week in and the front has been rebuilt.

[Koala]

Hi Mr Toole, what took you so long

Looking good!!!

Koala

[tooleyau]

Some of us still have to work.

While I'm here. Does anybody recognise the make of the van. I'm told that it is Viscount. The chassis number is W177 - if that's any help.

[tooleyau]

Week 4.


Van now in its work zone


New roof
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New rear quarter
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and upholstery work begun


Ready by Christmas - could be

[aquamum]

Looks like it's coming along nicely

[tooleyau]

Status so far. Week 5.
Painting completed.

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And fridged.

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Tomorrow its down to Bunnings to buy more glue and lots of screws so that I can start the rebuild process.

[tooleyau]

Guys. I have bought this van wth the intention of using it for a donor van. The aluminium on the outside is the same pattern as the one I am doing up , and it does not have hail damage.

I appreciate that some may suggest that this is sacrilege and if that is the case then the sacrilege can be prevented if someone wishes to buy the van from me, before saturday the 8th december. All amounts will be considered and any profit i make will be shared with the person i bought it from.

All I want is the outside aluminium. Everything else is up for grabs, make me an offer. Pickup in Canberra.

The van is 12 feet long it has some damage but is certainly fixable, and is basically all there, and still tows okay.

[tooleyau]

How long does it take to strip a van, remove all the aluminium outer sheets, take out the windows, remove the cupboard doors and screens. Then strip the timber, remove the floor, take the chassis to the tip, store the aluminium, windows, screens and cupboard doors and sink. And the clean up the mess. Three trips to the tip

16 hours. 8 on Saturday, 8 on sunday

This means that I now have cupboard door handles, windows, fly screens, sink, water pump, one light (12 volt, 240 volt) free (almost as we live in the beer economy).

All this came from a 1965. Millard.

If anybody is interested then message me. All the stuff that I don't want will be sent to the recyclers in January..

Of course this meant that the restoration of the van was on hold this weekend.

Merry Christmas.

[tooleyau]

It has been a while since I have posted -before Christmas. Since then We have been to my niece's wedding at the Gold Coast in January, then a longer than expected engine swap in my hot rod before the Gold Coast Street Rod Nationals at Easter. So between Christmas and Easter the van had been sitting abandoned in the carport.

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All nice and shiny.



After Easter my energy was redirected to the van. I made the decision to replace the damaged aluminum with new. The pattern doesn't match, but only the purists will care. Not I. This was purchased, the timberwork finished, the aluminium installed and then the whole van painted.

On 22 April it passed rego for the first time in 20 years. On Thursday Anne and I hooked it up to the Commodore and joined Ken and Judy (koala) and their van for a nice respite down at Nelligen (NSW).

A pleasant three days were had before we had to pack up and head back up the mountain to Canberra.

The van is only 10+ feet long, but after 10 years in a teardrop it was exciting to be able to stand up inside. It only weighs 560kg (unladen) so the 5.7 litre Commodore hardly knew it was there. It towed exceptionally well.

It's now packed up in it's bed waiting for the next adventure.


The pictures are: The front without curtains.

The back and tow vehicle.

The front with curtains.

The rear couch which folds down to a double bed.

The kitchen.

The table.

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[tooleyau]

Ready to head North to Forster

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[Deleted]

;D
Good onya mate
Shes lookin good. Interior looks sweet.
Hope you have a safe run up to Forster.
It appears we will have a van roll reversal at this event
.. you guys in a "proper" caravan ..
and me doin it tough in a TD .
You will be able to sit reminiscing in your van looking out the window at your nieghbour messing about with the TD on site #53.
Catch ya there
Reddo

[aquamum]

Tooleyau

Looking Good ;D

See you on the road to Forster

[tooleyau]

Found this on the interweb.
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[Deleted]

Puts a whole new spin on the term "Off Road Camping" aye.
You could park a TD under the 5th wheeler.. ;D

Regards
Reddo

[tooleyau]

The time has come to say goodbye to a well loved teardrop. I have run out of garage space, and since we have a huge 10foot Millard, we no longer need the teardrop.

It's for sale on gumtree.

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So, if you know someone who wants a cheap, but useable teardrop, the go to the link above.

[tooleyau]

The teardrop is sold. Deposit paid, pickup next weekend.

Does mean that I have a free car space for another project??? Don't tell Anne

[tooleyau]

I am attending my niece's wedding at Flaxton ( inland from Nambour Qld) on October 31. Does anybody know of a good park to stay in, or avoid, at Mapleton or Nambour.

Either a PM, or general post will be appreciated.

Thanks
Mike

[tooleyau]

SCH on Chassis ? ? ? ?

Do you have SCH welded on your 60's caravan chassis. If so the SCH stands for Seaforth Caravan Hire. It was welded on the Chassis by my Uncle. If you have one of these vans I may be able to provide you with it's history.

(I put this here as I did not think it was worthy of a new stream.)

[Deleted]

Hiya Tooleyau

When I was 18 I had a van with "SCH" on it ........ done some investigating and found that I too had a relative with a close connection to the van.
My old man had welded it on the drawbar...
Stood for "Stop Coming Home" ;D ;D ;D

Sorry for sidetracking your story mate but it was the first thing that came to my head when I seen SCH.

Reddo

[tooleyau]

As you know the teardrop was sold last month. The money for the teardrop, and the money for the sale of the 5 litre engine paid for my new tow vehicle. I know it's a bit young at 1980. But it will make a good tow vehicle.

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1980 Ford Fairlane,. 302 V8, 3 speed auto, excellent interior, new engine 25000k ago.

All ready for Broken hill

[tooleyau]

Those forum members that enjoyed the Christmas in July at Stockton would have seen the new van that I was lucky to purchase.


Not having the space to store two vans our reliable 1967 Gypsy is now up for sale.
We have given it fresh coat of paint inside and it is now listed on Gumtree.


First in gets the van. 5% discount for forum members

[tooleyau]

After two years of enjoyable travel with lots of good friends the trusty caravan has been sold. Unfortunately we don't have the space to store two caravans so the smaller one had to go. A family with a hot rod bought it and it will be towed to hot rod events.

So what now.

More travelling with friends in our 'new' 1957 bondwood.
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