Help With Identifying Year Of Van

[carolineelle]

Hi everyone!

I’m a newbie to this forum but have been lurking in the posts getting as much info as possible on renovating a Franklin caravan.

I think we have a Franklin Arrow from the 1970s but am not sure. It has been unregistered for a long time and was given to is by a family member as they didn’t have the time to renovate it , so we don’t have any rego papers.

The only numbers I can see on the drawbar are V9/3. Does this identify what year it is.

Any info would be appreciated!
Thanks!

[sportsman 1]

Welcome, pictures would be a great help.

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Carolineelle,

As Sportsman1 said, if we can see some photos of your van we can be a bit more sure of the information we give you. There is info on how to post photos on the forum if you click here.

Going just on what you've said so far, it sounds like the serial number may be 'V913' or 'V973'? If that's the case, the 'V' indicates that the van was built in 1974 and the number indicates what number van it was built in that year.

Don Ricardo

[carolineelle]

Thanks for your response we so far. I have photos I can upload - my internet has been down all week so haven’t been able to upload them yet but hoping it’ll be fixed tomorrow and I’ll be able to get some photos up!
Thanks 😊

[carolineelle]

Hi again,

Finally got internet back after a week - amazing how much we've come to rely on having the internet - I felt like I could hardly do anything!
Anyhoo, I have a couple of photos I can upload. I am going to do a separate post with details of the renovation once I can confirm the year because I believe if it's 1970's I would have to post on the classic caravans website - correct?

Here is a couple of photos - one of the van itself and one of the numbers on the drawbar. I'm pretty sure it's a slash between the 9 and 3, not a number. It was the clearest photo I could get.

IMG_2398 by Caroline Elle, on Flickr

IMG_2749 by Caroline Elle, on Flickr

Thanks again

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Carolineelle,

Glad you've got your internet back and have been able to post some photos of your van.

I've seen quite a few serial numbers over the years and read yours as 'V963'. Some of the numbers in serial numbers on Franklins and Viscounts can be a bit hit and miss in terms of the way they are formed! As I mentioned previously, the 'V' indicates that your van was built in 1974, and the '963' tells us that the van was the 963rd built by Franklin in that year.

You are correct in saying that your van is a Franklin Arrow.

Hope that helps? We'd love to see some progress photos as you carry out the renovation.

Don Ricardo

[carolineelle]

Thank you so much for the info, that definitely helps. So, I'm guessing 963 would be early 1974?

Do I need to post info about the reno on the classic forum or can I post on this one?

Thanks again!

[Mustang]

Mar 7, 2021 0:07:32 GMT 10 carolineelle said:

Thank you so much for the info, that definitely helps. So, I'm guessing 963 would be early 1974?

Do I need to post info about the reno on the classic forum or can I post on this one?

Thanks again!

Hi Carolineelle,
Your van is a Classic, come over to the "Hall of Fame" in the Classic Section.

ditzygypsy.proboards.com/board/10/hall-fame

Cheers
Mustang

[carolineelle]

Thanks so much!

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Carolineelle,

I'm not sure how many caravans Franklin might have built in 1974, but I would think it would be in the range of 5,000 to 10,000. Either way number 963 would have been built within the first month or two of the year.

Don Ricardo

[carolineelle]

It doesn't seem like the classic forum is as active as this one.

I've registered over there but my registration has been pending for a few days so haven't been able to post about the van there yet.

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Carolineelle,

You're welcome to post info about your van and its renovation on this forum if you wish. I think most members of the Classic Caravans forum also belong here.

Don Ricardo

[carolineelle]

Ok great thanks!

[carolineelle]

I did do a separate post regarding the reno but I'm not sure if anyone has seen that post so thought I'd pop all the info here.

So, we decided last year that we wanted to get ourselves and old caravan as a reno project. We haven't owned a caravan before, never mind renovate one and we had no idea what year/make/model etc that we wanted. But the initial idea was to get something 60s/70's fairly good condition that just needed a bit of TLC.

We then heard a family member had an old caravan sitting on their property that they wanted to get rid of. All we had to do was go pick it up and it was ours. And that's how we ended up with this free Franklin Arrow caravan that needs a lot more than just some TLC.

The backstory of the van that we know of, is that my family member purchased it from a pony club who was using it as their office. So, we have have no idea how long it's been since it was registered. The pony club did lots of random things like cutting and pulling bits and pieces out and putting lots of random holes in it - we think they ripped out a back window and stuck a big air con through it. While they had, it someone tried to steal it and drove it into a tree and smashed in the whole bulk head at the front.

My family member then bought it from the pony club, put it on their property and it just sat there for 5 or so years. We took it with only the table, bed, a couple of windows and overhead cabinets in it. Oh and hundreds of spiders, lots of wasps nests, an ants nest and a family of geckos.

Sometimes I look at it and think "it's not THAT bad" and then sometimes I look at it and think "what are we thinking taking this on!" LOL

Once we got it home and could look at it properly the chassis is fairly good, a lot of surface rust. My Husband and his Dad (that's their specialty) will be taking care of the underneath of the van. I heard them saying today it's not bad and there isn't anything major that is going to need replacing/re-doing.

The interior is mine and my Dad's area as we are good at the design stuff and my Dad is a cabinet maker/carpenter so he is already working on the frame, cabinets etc. The frame is mostly in good condition. A few parts of it is rotted but my Dad has easily replaced that.

The interior has now been stripped and once my Dad has finished fixing up whatever parts of the frame need doing, we will re-panel the walls. We are going to be getting pre-finished plywood from Forest1 (who used to be Gunnersens here in WA).

We have a new hatch to replace whatever one was ripped out by the pony club.

And then we will have to work on panel beating out the smashed in front. This is probably the part that I'm most worried about because I'd really love to be able to get it back into that nice shape that it was before. It seems like it really just needs to be pushed back up but of course it most likely isn't going to be that easy.

Our plan is to get it water tight before winter and finished by New Year as we usually go away with family and friends for the holidays.

Any advice, tips or hints anyone has would be greatly appreciated. I have been scouring these forums over the past couple of months and have already gotten so much information from everyone's posts so far.

IMG_2398 by Caroline Elle, on Flickr


IMG_2399 by Caroline Elle, on Flickr


IMG_2391 by Caroline Elle, on Flickr


IMG_2394 by Caroline Elle, on Flickr


IMG_2393 by Caroline Elle, on Flickr


IMG_2962 by Caroline Elle, on Flickr

[carolineelle]

Hi all!

Now that we have cleaned up the chassis, the identifying number is a lot more clear but I'm still unsure what the exact number is. Does anyone know what it is? It still looks like V9/3 to me but could it be a wonky 1? Or something else?

Thanks!

IMG_3392 2 by Caroline Elle, on Flickr

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Carolineelle,

That's a lot clearer!

I can see why you're reading the number as 'V9/3', but it is actually 'V913' - trust me, you get used to reading those welded numbers after a while!

As previously indicated the 'V' indicates in 'Franklin speak' that it was built in 1974. The '913' indicates that it was the 913th van build by Franklin that year (not the 963rd as I suggested earlier).

Hope that helps.

Don Ricardo

[carolineelle]

Thanks so much!!