Joker 2, 63 year birthday

[yellowuki]

Hi All

As most of you know I have recently become custodian of Arthur and Pat's Joker2. The van is a little worse for wear though nothing some running repairs won't fix. I have opted to create a thread here with some updates, though Don Ricardo did mention perhaps creating a down history lanethread to capture some of the amazing history this van has.

The first two priorities are; weather proofing and braking.

As is well documented in other areas of this forum, Arthur built this van with a very well engineered vacuum brake set up. I have agonised over this and sadly, time has taken its toll and it's no longer practical to be using. I am currently going to great effort and expense to have a new axle fabricated to accommodate electric brakes while maintaining the original wheels. I had always thought the Joker had Vanguard wheels same as the original tow car, but not the case. The wheels are of unknown origin, they're 14' with a large stud pattern and large wheel studs. Tabs have been welded on to the rims to accommodate the Vanguard centre caps, modifications have also been made to the centre caps to accommodate the valve as it sits a lot closer to the cap than it would if it were on a 16" Vanguard wheel.
The end result of this particular project will be new axle, bearing brakes on original wheels. The vacuum tanks will remain in place so visually this modification will make no change.

hosting.photobucket.com/images/ac246/John_Bourke/axle.jpg?width=285&height=175&fit=bounds&crop=fill


hosting.photobucket.com/images/ac246/John_Bourke/brakes.jpg?width=285&height=175&fit=bounds&crop=fill

Roof hatches X 2. Probably somewhat unique for 1957, the Joker was built with two roof hatches. The are made of very light tin and Masonite. Time has not been kind and I'm amazed they made the trip home without flying off. These have been reconstructed using 12 ply and should be sound for a good number of years yet.

hosting.photobucket.com/images/ac246/John_Bourke/hatch1.jpg?width=285&height=175&fit=bounds&crop=fill

hosting.photobucket.com/images/ac246/John_Bourke/hatch2.jpg?width=285&height=175&fit=bounds&crop=fill

hosting.photobucket.com/images/ac246/John_Bourke/hatch3.jpg?width=285&height=175&fit=bounds&crop=fill

[bobt]

You have taken on a significant challenge there. Looking good

[Don Ricardo]

Hi all,

For those interested in the history of Yellowuki's Joker II caravan and its role in the establishment of the Vintage Caravans Forum, you can read about it here.

Don Ricardo

[yellowuki]

Hi All,

Some work has progressed on Joker 2.

Some rot had snuck in to the moulding which covers the front windows and holds the canvas blind on. Interestingly, in all the pictures I have, the front blind canvas matches the annex canvas. This blind, according to Arthur and Pats daughter Phyllis, flew to bits on the first truck journey to Perth in 1999 therefore the current one is new canvas.

Front primer by John Bourke, on Flickr

Front paint by John Bourke, on Flickr

Any ideas what this might be? I'm thinking it's an outlet for some sort of 12V appliance as the Pullin's were well known for heading off the beaten track.

Power point thing by John Bourke, on Flickr

I have created this to donate to the RACV Caravan Club, sadly they don't currently have a club room to display it but I believe they are working on this. Having spoken to Phyllis, it sounds like the club consisted of about 30 vans when Arthur and Pat joined C1950. She recalls travelling along roads which are now major roads and just stopping wherever they pleased and "setting the wagons in a circle" for the night. Joker 2 was also part of the first group of caravans to use the Princess of Tasmania to do the crossing. One van (not Joker2) broke a spring on the way to the boat but proceeded with a block of wood in place, made the crossing and was repaired in Tassie. I asked how so many families managed to travel for lengths of time as these distances weren't covered quickly in those days. Phyllis says that most owned their own businesses so would take 3 weeks off in the summer.
RACV board by John Bourke, on Flickr