1969 Franklin Regent timber frame

[ripper]

Hi all. I did a search but didn't find what I need.

Our Franklin has some rot in the wall frames and I'm not prepared to pull the cladding off and replace the timber. My plan is to attach a strip of 2.5mm aluminium sheet right along the outside of the van from the bottom of the wall up about 300mm to reinforce the bottom of the wall. I'll then put an angle piece along the side, from the outriggers under the van, up and into the new panel.

What I'm wondering is how I find where the timber uprights are, as I'd like to try to screw into them in addition to using Sikaflex to stick the extra panel onto the original one.

The photos here
www.facebook.com/pages/70s-Franklin-Caravan
make it look like there's only timber around the door and windows, but I don't think that can be right.
I've also studied this thread for ideas
vintagecaravans.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=photo&action=display&thread=11758

Pushing on the outside of wall might gives very little clue, as it all feels quite solid.

Does anyone know of a way to find where the studs are in a 1969 Franklin Regent?

Thanks

[val]

Hi. We also have a 69 Regent that we are restoring.......no sign of the timber frame at the bottom of the walls ! - We have removed a section of the cladding and replaced the steel and timber that supports the walls and cladding.....will have to remove a section of the inside wall I reckon to find the frame??!! ( a section of the back needs replacing anyway due to water damage) Good luck...does yours have a fibreglass hatch? Ours does and I have been searching for the mechanism that raises it as ours is broken...any suggestions?)
cheers Val

[ripper]

The previous owner replaced our hatch with a skylight Val. Not sure why they did that, but we're leaving it as is at the moment. We want to register it asap, so structural issues are our priority for now.

[Franklin1]

G'day ripper,

What I'm wondering is how I find where the timber uprights are...

There aren't any.
Your van was built in the new Franklin factory built in Wendourie (Ballarat) in 1967. Completely different construction techniques were used compared with previous Franklins. The walls of your van were built on a worktable as a composite of the cladding, the foam insulation, and the panelling, all bonded together with 3M adhesives. No timber framework required, other than for windows, door, and ceiling framework.

If you click on this link, it will take you to a thread on the Classic Caravans forum, showing how a 1974 Franklin was dismantled and various repairs carried out before putting it all back together again: 1974 Franklin Regent - V2541

cheers,
Al.

[ripper]

Thanks Al, you've saved me again.

I'll just run timber along the walls inside to spread the load then (it'll be under the seats and bed, and inside the cupboards), and bolt through that from the outside. A second row of bolts will go through the steel section of the chassis which the wall sits on. By using small cup head bolts, I should be able to get it to all look fairly tidy in the end.

There's no way I can do what they did to the one at that link. They deserve a whole row of trophies for their efforts with that project.