My Castle Caravan

[cobber]

Retro,
Them’s my sentiments too.
Many people don’t realize there are nuts out there who enjoy restoring these old things.
It seems to work best if our vintage vans are shown where old cars are on show,
that’s why the Motorfest worked so well last January I think.
That Reo you spotted appears to be the same shape as the T@B you
mentioned some time back, but they have done away with the porthole in the door, bad move eh?

Cobber.

[will and lyn]

;D
Go Retro
collect them thar trophies boy
and keep that little humdinger van of yours blowin those rockin rollin minds
are you going to coledale or are you to far away

Will

[retro1]

Sorry but I won't be going to Coledale this year .............

[humpty2]

Did you ever get all those latches/handles for your Castle you requested at the start of your resto??

[retro1]

I have got the handles now but I used some NOS Turner handles that were used in the 50's.
I have start to collect various caravan bits for future projects or for other caravan rebuilders. The handles I were looking for came in a couple of styles and everytime I thought I found them something would be different.
It has been about 10 months since I finished the restoration and I have been on 5 major holidays and have enjoyed the caravan to the max.
The main comment I get is "do you stay in that or is it just for show" or "where do you sleep".
It also get people remembering the good old days that they spent with their families in old bondwood vans, this always makes them happy.
If you are considering getting into vintage vanning don't hesitate.
Cheers
retro1

[retro1]

Well it has been 1 year since I have had Diner1 on the road. Ican't wait for Morgan. At the moment we are at Normanville Jetty Caravanpark and I think half the caravanpark has gone through the van ( people say I should charge an entrance fee). The good thing I see coming out of it is that people are loving the old vans even more than ever now and when you tell them there is a website they are blown away. Whilst we are down here I have found an old Sunliner (in need of full resto)that I'm looking at contacting the owner (FINGERS CROSSED)but not getting my hopes up to high. The EK towed the van well must be the 173 engine that helped a bit
Anyhow I must get back to my holiday which finishes on the 7th.

Hope everybody had a great new year
Cheers
retro1

[Scoootman]

Hi Retro,
Just a couple of quick quessies. Where did you get the foam for insulation and what is the name of the waterproofing stuff you bought?
Thanks Scoot

[retro1]

I just looked up POLYSTYRENE FOAM in the Yellow pages. I think it was about $50 to do the whole van in 12mm thick. You can get different grades so spend the extra bucks because we just went through a couple of 40 degree plus days and it surly helped. The outer coating is acrylic and made by www.gripset.com
Just click on the blue highlights and you will find all the info you need

[scoota]

Thanks Retro

[scoota]

Thanks Jailbar, Have now been down to bunnings and got the gripset. Dont need it yet, but was going there anyway.

[John]

G'day Retro,
A quick technical question. You've used what appears to be an alliminium angle iron for the exterior edge of the castle. First question is/ is that what it is ? and second, How did you bend it without getting creases?
I'm so close to finishing my restoration and have hit this hurdle that I just can't figure out.
Thanks for any advise you can give me,
Cheers, John

[retro1]

The edge is alluminum and there is a few different profiles you can get. I used a 20mm x 12mm as it is very close to what I thought was on the van but if you look on in the member photos in "My Convair Caravan" that has a 12mm round with a flat on it. As for bending it, it is fairly easy and if you stuff it up the stuffs that cheap go and buy another piece. Just a hint go to an alloy dealer and not a caravan repairer to buy it as they charge you heaps. Here are some pictures

img.photobucket.com/albums/v384/castlecaravan/

[John]

Thanks Retro and Trodler,
I've seen you guys talk about this J mould before, should have known!
The only J mould that I've experimented with is the old gutters off the van, just to see what it would look like, but I didn't realise that you can get it in different sizes.
Have made friends with our local alloy man as I been in quite a few times this week so looks like another visit is in order!
Thankyou again for your advise, I really appreciate it.
Cheers , John

[retro1]

Today, Sunday the 2nd of April was the National Motor Museum's Rock 'n 'roll Rendezvous held at Birdwood . It attracts about 5000 people and around 400 cars. As we are members of the Adelaide rock'n'roll club we went for the day.
We polished up the EK and washed the van down.Grabbed some stuff to do a display and set up the "My Castle".
As I have said before it was amazing the response we got from the public. The main comment was" where did you find that". Little to our knowledge we were being judged for the event. Towards the end of the day we were told to move the car and van near the stage as we had won a trophy.
We walked away with "runner up in the best spirit of the day" and a weekend for 2 in a Bed and Breakfast(sorry but the van will have to stay home that weekend) and a Maguires Gold car care pack. It is always good to get a trophy but I really enjoy just letting people know that these old vans are out there and still being enjoyed just as much as the cars that tow them. The public are starting to see old caravans as cool and some of the stories you hear from them I think as we have all seen (by Mark T's great for-sight)that it is only going to get bigger and better as more and more vans are found and restored to there former glory.

The first shot is looking over as the cars start to roll up early in the morning.


This shot is near the stage,



And this is the trophy we won.

[lisian]

Hi Retro1,
Looks like you have a new admirer. A mate of mine saw your Van today while he was down your way visiting a friend. He rang me this afternoon to tell me about this real neat Van he took photos of that he will show me when he gets back on Tuesday. Not bad considering he's not really into vans- thinks Lisa and I are nuts for buying one- maybe a new convert
Buy the way it is a very neat van, a real credit to you.
Thanks
Ian ;D

[Mark T]

great stuff Retro .....hope your rig was wearing one of our stickers !!!

Looking forward to meeting you at Morgan .....

cheers

Mark

[retro1]

Both car and van proudly have the Vintagecaravan.com sticker on them and I always tell people to have a look at the site to see what others are doing as well.
Cheers
retro1

[will and Lyn]

luv your work Retro 1
great looking combination congratulations
Ive coined a phrase for you to be known for and that is "anything that is worth doing its worth doing well"
quality and plenty of it in everything you tackle Mate


Will and Lyn

[retro1]

Just got the local paper today from a friend in the area near Birdwood. We knew we had the photos taken but were suprised on the story. The good thing is that the caravan got another mention and hopefully inspires someone else to treasure these classic old vans. As we are locked in a temp timewarp with our car,van and rock'n'roll life is treating us really well and if the interest in my van( I would regard as huge), the interest in 12 or more at Morgan will be fantastic. I'm looking forward to meeting some of you and admiring some of your vans.

Here is a photo of us in the paper(sorry don't have a scanner)

[will and lyn]

;D
go retro
your the real thing so is your lady
living your dream how good does it get

Will and Lyn

[retro1]

Just a quick note .
The lady that does all the work for the the Birdwood Museum told us the other day that next year other people were intending to bring there vans
She also told us the some were pissed of that we had ours
At Birdwood there is a large area up there and a massive motor museum. Would anyone be interested if I made a few inquires about a run to Birdwood for a caravan display at the next Rock n' roll rendezvous?

[raym]

Iwill be entering my FE Holden ute as I have done in the past and would like to take my teardrop van. Next years rock n'roll rendezvou is to be held on 25 Feb 2007.please let me know if you get aproval to take vans raym

[retro1]

I'm starting to use my van a bit more now. I recently painted it to give it a new look.
I also had it sign written. Now the weather is better I'll be using it a heap more.
Added a few pics, one is of my new push bike I got from my Princess for X-mas.
As we have 2 miniature Sausage dogs they needed a ride that suited.If you look closely you can see them in there..
As for the tow car....
the EK stayed home and yes the Kombi in the background was towing my van.
Some of you may laugh but with a mild stroker crank/cam and twin Dellorto carbys it towed great(even in 30+ degree weather). As a Ute we need the space for the bikes and dog trailer.

[retro1]

I'll be there but not sure about the van in the street as I did it a couple of years ago.
I like to see new things there. I mainly go for the dancing and fun.
Cheers
retro

[jenniewren]

Hi Retro.....had no idea how cute your van was and I LOVE the makeover colours (I need to repaint shortly! sigh, sigh).......AND you have a Kombi ute!!! Aaawesooome! The boy adores them! We are seriously considering one to tow our vv but wasn't sure if it would do the job! We like stangs, camaro's, corvettes, XY's, FB's, etc etc....and have been looking...looking....but those Kombi utes are just so cute....would love to see a pic of kombi/caravan together or have I missed it in Tow Car section? Glad you are enjoying van/kombi & of course dancing! LIFE be in it I say!