Miss Minnie Franklin

[bellavondoll]

Hello everyone,
My name is Rachel, aka Miss Bella Von Doll, which is my official Pinup Name from participating in Miss Pinup Australia last year.
My husband and I just purchased our first vintage retro caravan and it arrived yesterday at its new home in Maryborough Qld.
She is a Franklin Mini and we think she is a 1968 or maybe a 1969, but not too sure exactly.
We have read other posts on the forum that helps identify your Franklin Caravan by the chassis numbers, but we are finding it hard to identify the numbers, especially the last one after the dash from years of wear on the welds.
The numbers we think is on the chassis is 253-8 or 9 but then found the number under the sink so now we are confused.
The 253 is easy to see, read and run your finger over like braille, but the last number is not.
I have attached some pictures which I hope work.
We started the process today of cleaning and checking over the areas that are in need of major repair.
We are really excited about renovating our latest project that will eventually be towed around by our one of our classic cars to many car events.
Thanks in advance for any assistance with our restoration project.

Bella

[Roehm3108]

Cute van ;D ;D Wonder if the number is 253 4? Check behind the fridge vent on the outside of the van, the electrical tag might still be attached there, which would have an inspection date/

[Jennison]

I seem to recall these were a 1970/2 model....franklin 1 will soon sort it out for you when he logs on next
jenno

[Franklin1]

I wondered whether the number in the cupboard was supposed to read 253-1, making it a 1971 van. The main query with that is that the Franklin sticker on your van was changed in mid-1970 and I would expect a van made in early 1971 to have the newer sticker. However, stranger things have shown up in the caravan history, so it's possible somebody stuck the old style stickers on a '71 model.

The other query is that the Mini model seems to have stopped being included in advertising around the end of 1970, but that doesn't mean the model wasn't made in early 1971.


Perhaps you need to wire brush the welds to see if the last number shows up more clearly. The van is certainly from the very late 1960s or very early 1970s.


Just by the by...something has happened to the van above the door, and a pretty amateurish repair has been done at some stage. When you're checking the van out, there might be some damage to the framework in that repaired area.

cheers,
Al.

[willow5075]

Minnie is very cute!

[bellavondoll]

Oct 14, 2013 22:32:56 GMT 10 Franklin1 said:

I wondered whether the number in the cupboard was supposed to read 253-1, making it a 1971 van. The main query with that is that the Franklin sticker on your van was changed in mid-1970 and I would expect a van made in early 1971 to have the newer sticker. However, stranger things have shown up in the caravan history, so it's possible somebody stuck the old style stickers on a '71 model.

The other query is that the Mini model seems to have stopped being included in advertising around the end of 1970, but that doesn't mean the model wasn't made in early 1971.


Perhaps you need to wire brush the welds to see if the last number shows up more clearly. The van is certainly from the very late 1960s or very early 1970s.


Just by the by...something has happened to the van above the door, and a pretty amateurish repair has been done at some stage. When you're checking the van out, there might be some damage to the framework in that repaired area.

cheers,
Al.

Thank you for everyone's welcome and input to my query.

Yes Al the repair on the van is very amateurish and sad to see such an attempt of repair. We will be fixing the look of that for sure, but no leaks shown in this area.

On the chassis the numbers show definitely 253 but the last number after the dash looks like a 3, which again makes identifying her as clear as mud.
Our theory is the 3 is a badly worn 8 or a 9.

The original fridge is in the van but its not working, so we will be pulling it out to attempt fixing and will have a look behind there for more info as well as removing other cupboards etc to repair the floor. Hopefully in time she will show her true birthday.

....seems a bit obsessive, but I guess its because we love our classic cars and vintage memorabilia that its all part of the passion to know the history of an item and identify its origin.

Will post more as time goes by of Miss Minnie Franklin's makeover.

[grandad]

Oct 15, 2013 19:12:49 GMT 10 bellavondoll said:

The original fridge is in the van but its not working, so we will be pulling it out to attempt fixing and will have a look behind there for more info as well as removing other cupboards etc to repair the floor. Hopefully in time she will show her true birthday..

A tag on your fridge is probably your best bet in finding a year apart from the drawbar. That 254 number will appear on almost every piece in the van including cupboards, wall panels etc.

It looks like Franklin made all the components in different parts of the factory and then gathered them all together to assemble. That number obviously identified which van everything was for.

If its of any help, with the exception of the ring holding the LPG tank Miss Mini is identical in every respect to my Pumpkin.
You may find some info you can use while deconstruction in my thread HERE

Sing out if you have any questions at all. Its good to see another Mini in our midst.

Cheers
Jim

[caboodle69]

Cute shape

[grandad]

Hey Bella,
How are things going with Miss Mini Franklin?
Any news?

Jim

[viscount60]

Before you throw the fridge, have you let it run for 3-4 hrs?

I have a similar old fridge in my viscount 60 which made no noise, seemed dead, but it cooled down after 3 hrs of power.

[King Fisher]

I agree it's probably one of the old style fridges that don't use a compressor so hence there is no motor noise when operating (great at night when sleeping ). We have an old 3 way camping chest fridge in our van which is like that and it takes a few hours to get cozie cold. Once cold it works a treat.