Phoenix Restoration

[shesgotthelook]

You have all probably worked out that I have bought a 10ft Phoenix caravan. Still a little unsure on the year, possibly 58-61.
As with many vintage caravan projects, once you start poking it is a much bigger job than first anticipated!

[shesgotthelook]

[shesgotthelook]

Thus far; one side cut out & replaced, door has new ply & back window which had been sealed up with chipboard is now cut out ready for new one.

[akeepsake]

Nice little van what's the inside like?
Looks like your having a crack!
Will watch progress with interest

[Deleted]

Hi sgtl,
good looking little van,
looking forward to see more pics of her restoration.
Cheers
hughdeani

[shesgotthelook]

[hilldweller]

Lovely pattern though, on the floor. Hope you manage to salvage it. The new cladding looks great and I love the fridge

[shesgotthelook]

New tail with 'stucco aluminium'

[shesgotthelook]

Have encountered a window crisis today. You can see the original rear window is long gone & had been filled in with a piece of chipboard. The glass people in Echuca say they can't make a curved edge frame, only square?
Where do I go? It is a fixed window.

[kaybee]

Hiya,do you mean the corners of the sheet need to be cut rounded to match the opening , or is the glass surface curved?...'coz the opening looks flat in the pics......

[shesgotthelook]

I think they mean the frame to sit it in? The opening is flat. Surely they cut curved corners on glass to replace the broken ones for the frames on opening windows I took up? I don't really understand why they couldn't do it.

[kaybee]

G'day again , did you mean you wanted an aluminium frame for the glass to sit in,and that's what they can't do?....if the window is a fixed unit, why not sit it in a rubber seal like most of that era's van's had....and leave the alloy frame out of the equation. The rubber seal thing is simple enough to do , a visit to Clark Rubber will get you the proper rubber extrusion section,then all you have to do is make a plywood pattern of the actual opening ,then trim off the thickness of the inner rubber core where the glass sits. That gives you the glass size , and then you get the glass guys to make the glass from the pattern.

[Geoff & Jude]

if it's the glass you're talking about, i'd suggest you go to a different glazier.

it's not unusual to have rounded corners cut, i can't imagine why they couldn't do it.

if it's a fixed window frame, i reckon there wasn't a visible external frame there in the first place and the glass was set from inside the van. there was/is probably a square cornered frame inside the van that is slightly (maybe an inch or so) larger than the window opening.

inside the van, the "overlap" is prepared with putty and the glass is positioned/pressed (from the inside) against the rear panel (within the frame) and the metal cleats hammered in to retain the glass.

the inside is then re-puttied to dress the finish and the outside is also puttied and dressed to seal the outside joint.

if this method is used, there's no need to have round corners on the glass, the rounded corner shape is created by the shape cut into the body.

geoff 'n jude

either that or what kaybee said.

[hilldweller]

Or if neither of the above works buy a second hand curved corner window - with or without glass - from a 'donor' van.

[Deleted]

Jan 31, 2014 13:34:04 GMT 10 shesgotthelook said:

The glass people in Echuca say they can't make a curved edge frame, only square?

What type of glass are they quoting on? Automotive? Toughened? Laminated?
Great job btw!

[shesgotthelook]

Thanks so much everybody, all makes sense now. Geoff n Jude, I think you are on the money. It does have the square wooden frame inside the van but Kaybee, what you suggest is what I was trying to explain to my builder man. I think I will print all this out, along with pictures & go to the various industries myself, including the caravan shop.
I do think the glass folk were thinking it needed an aluminium frame like the opening windows.
Hilldweller, if only I could find a cheap donor van! Should never have sold my $2 caravan

Another query, would painting the very rubbed, stained & discoloured roof & tatty looking J mould with zincalume or similar be a big no no?

[kaybee]

....it might look a bit crap ,just my opinion of silver paint, it always reminds me of Kromebright spray paint. Best result would be to rub it all back as smooth as you can get the surfaces and use something like a medium gray acrylic ,put on with a short nap roller so it doesn't get too "lumpy".....and if you're doing it in warm weather you need to add some retarder like "Flowtrol" to allow you some time to roll it on before it starts to dry out. The J mould will look a bit daggy if you paint it ,but a lot depends on your expectations and satisfaction level. I get a bit stuck on detail and definition ,but other folks don't and seem quite happy with that ,so I guess it all comes down to what you'll be happy with. You can always mask off the J mould and paint strip it back to bare,then give it a light rub with steel wool and clear coat it.....or put new stuff on if you're not happy with the look.....cheers.

[shesgotthelook]

Some progress with window, thanks to the above members
Unfortunately, the rubber cannot bend round such a tight corner. So whole back end coming off as I type & a new rear will be made

[shesgotthelook]

New front spats (Ugly phillips head thingys will be replaced)





New old tap replaces newer old 80's? tap. Water tank appears ok. I thought the outlet had been sealed up but upon poking with something pointy, the water I had put in it poured out

[shesgotthelook]

One step forward, 2 steps back



But did find this 1969 Sun newspaper & map for Apollo Bay

[shesgotthelook]

New tail, again




Mr SGTL lovingly polished the porthole for me

[shesgotthelook]

More serious sanding. I was reluctant to lose the original flash but it would have come through the new paint.

[shesgotthelook]

Undercoat happening. Lucky to get a day when the dust wasn't blowing about.

[Franklin1]

The van is coming along quite nicely, sgtl. It's certainly looking heaps better with all your hard yakka.

I was wondering how you fixed the framework that was rotten in the back bottom corners? You posted the 'before' photos, and then skipped straight to the finished cladding photo. I'm curious to know how you got it sorted.

The other question I have is about the rubber moulding for the back window. I also have to go through this process in the future, so do you know what the radius of the old window corners were, where the rubber wouldn't bend around the curve? Looking at your photos, I think the glass in my van has curved corners that are fairly close to your old glass, and I'm wondering if I'll strike the same issue that you've discovered. Is that the Clark Rubber stuff you're using?

ps. I hope hubby is busy polishing the Phoenix badge, now that he's mastered the art of polishing porthole windows.

cheers,
Al.

[shesgotthelook]

Window problems- I am assuming the rubber from the original rear window on your van is not in great shape & not re-useable? The ClarkRubber profile we are using is too tight in the original corners to allow the glass to be placed in it. The radius of the original is 9.5cm.
If I had a completely aluminium back end, would not have had all these problems, or so I'm told but I've dug my heels in & retained the wood I'm a firm believer in 'if something doesn't work, try a different approach'.
Re the rotten corners, well I have to admit, I threw money at a retired builder for all the tricky bits & he had it done & the sides on before I got a pic. But I do know he cut the shape out of pine? using the original as a template. They were quite wide pieces, not like steam bent or ply layered corners.