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Post by Noyesy on Oct 20, 2021 15:46:06 GMT 10
The thing that annoyed hubby as well was the different heights in the chassis and the use of timber beams under the floor to prop it. He did have a crack at cleaning it up but there was just too much rust and it was so heavy! View Attachment By the way Matt, I have shed envy, so much room in there! This is my work area, I have a very bad habit of cluttering up the middle there when I'm looking for something then have to clear it all away to work. My work bench is also my pile of poly coated caravan ply so I have to be careful I don't damage it. View AttachmentThat chassis is very different to mine, which I find interesting given they are both Franklin Regents of similar vintage. It almost looks like that's not the original, but there's probably another explanation - I bet someone on here knows. Mine is very lightweight, almost too much so, hence me hacking off parts and strengthening in a few places. I think mine will work out really well in the end once it's straight. You do work in a tight space don't you?! I am very blessed to have the workshop I have but I just finished major work on my 1987 Range Rover and didn't do that thing you're supposed to do between when you finish one project and start the next one
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Post by Noyesy on Oct 24, 2021 18:01:27 GMT 10
Time for an update, been a very busy week and I've been pushing myself to get the chassis completed. It's the least interesting part for me so I want to get it ticked off so I can move on to more interesting bits. I painted the chassis hammertone silver but it showed up too many imperfections (not that anyone will see them under there) so I did what all good craftsmen do and painted it black instead. I actually used butyl rubber, which I bought to paint the underside of the floor. Time will tell if that was a good choice but the rust is treated and it seems like it will provide an excellent waterproof layer. I'm still going to paint the drawbar silver in keeping with the original, but I'll finish that later. Underside Flipping it over Right side up, painting finished and did some more cutting and welding to get the sides straight, must have been crooked from the factory! Front and rear timber pieces cut up on tablesaw, bolted on and coated...figured I may as well since they're not seen. Floor made of three sheets, I half-lapped the joins for better strength Dry fitting everything Painted underside of floor Floor complete, used sikaflex to stick down and drove self tappers in to the frame...got blisters from drilling and driving!! Very satisfying result
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Post by aussieute on Oct 25, 2021 8:25:11 GMT 10
Looking good must have a lot of time to spare get Don Ricardo to move it to the members area for people to follow great to see your photos are working better now cheers Chris
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Post by Mustang on Oct 25, 2021 8:39:53 GMT 10
Wonderful achievement so far !!! Envious of your lifting rail in the shed. I noticed your brace under the drawbar, this is effective on longer drawbars, I just fitted one to our Waldens. Cheers Mustang
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Post by Noyesy on Oct 25, 2021 8:47:49 GMT 10
Looking good must have a lot of time to spare get Don Ricardo to move it to the members area for people to follow great to see your photos are working better now cheers Chris Thanks Chris, I was a bit lucky last week as I didn't have a lot on so I was able to launch in to it...this week is not looking as free, unfortunately. Good suggestion about moving the thread; I did wonder if this was the right place for it. I'll ask Don per your suggestion. Cheers, Matt
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Post by Don Ricardo on Oct 25, 2021 16:15:09 GMT 10
Hi Noysey,
I've moved your thread to the 'Members' Photo Album' section as requested.
If you would like to, you can also change the name of the thread seeing you've gone beyond just seeking 'some advice' (nothing against that - it's making it a really interesting thread). If you go to your first post on the thread and click on edit, you can change the thread subject to something like 'My Franklin Regent restoration' or whatever you'd like it to be. Just a suggestion of course. It's entirely up to you.
Don Ricardo
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Post by Roehm3108 on Oct 25, 2021 20:22:17 GMT 10
Dorothy is getting to be a very good looking lady. Your pace is breath-taking!
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Post by Noyesy on Nov 1, 2021 20:46:56 GMT 10
Evening everyone, just been enjoying reading some other threads on here and thought I would post an update. I "finished" the chassis, which means I will leave it until later in the project to add the finishing touches...so this week I wheeled it out of the workshop, had a gigantic cleanup over three nights and got a friend to pop around to help push the body in. Once in I lifted the body off the dolly using ratchet straps, broke the dolly frame down and extracted my workbench so that essentially I have a hanging empty shell (and my workbench back!) As I've mentioned previously the bottom rails were completely gone and with all the cabinets removed from the inside by a previous owner, the shell sort-of slumped down on itself, splitting or bending the bottom of both sides of the van. A real mess and actually quite overwhelming. So my first job was to get a hammer and dolly, lie on the ground and work my way across the bottom of each side panelbeating it as best as I could. I may have to replace some of the aluminium but I'll see how I go...I'd prefer not to. Next I got cracking on making new bottom rails. I went to Bunnings and another timber yard only to discover the racks empty...there's nothing to buy, so I used the leftover marine ply from the floor and laminated on some 7mm ply from my daughters old cubby house, which has long been disassembled. The rails are 3800mm long so I had to join several pieces together using lap joints. A major challenge has been that because all the wood in the van is gone there are very few reliable points of reference but I took my time and have cut out and made up new rails. I hope the buggers fit! Finished with a heavy coat of epoxy to stop water wicking in to the grain. Today I took the door frame out as there was very little left of it and built a new one...managed to use part of the old frame for the top part. Hopefully install it tomorrow...rails to go in soon once all the vertical pieces in the van have been replaced. There's so much work to do just to get some structural integrity back in to this van and as I said its a bit overwhelming at the moment, but im just trying to focus on the next milestone rather than think too much. I am really enjoying myself and thats what it's all about isn't it?
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Post by Roehm3108 on Nov 1, 2021 21:49:40 GMT 10
All major restorations can become a bit overwhelming at times. This too passes! When I built Vino Vardo, I used logging and recording onto this site regularly as a form of motivation. I also had a 'to do' list on the wall in my work area which, as each item got done, I happily crossed off. I knew that I was one step closer to the finish line. As the saying goes a long journey is only achieved one step at a time!
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Post by Mustang on Nov 2, 2021 6:08:49 GMT 10
Great job you are handling there, your daughter will appreciate her cubby contributing to the cause!!
Bunnings appear to be re-stocking timber from somewhere, but trims I was using have disappeared altogether, along with marine carpet, they haven't had that in Caloundra for a year. Cheers
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Post by Noyesy on Nov 2, 2021 12:29:40 GMT 10
All major restorations can become a bit overwhelming at times. This too passes! When I built Vino Vardo, I used logging and recording onto this site regularly as a form of motivation. I also had a 'to do' list on the wall in my work area which, as each item got done, I happily crossed off. I knew that I was one step closer to the finish line. As the saying goes a long journey is only achieved one step at a time! Very sage advice there! And its strange, posting here does create its own motivation. I must put a whiteboard in my workshop for a to-do list, thats a good idea...I love crossing things off
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Post by twocutekelpies on Nov 3, 2021 6:59:22 GMT 10
Going great there Matt and loving the details. It will be a great source of reference for future rebuilders. I find keeping the online build log helps me too especially when someone asks "what size whatever did you use there?", it also helps with motivation like Roehm said. I have a to-do notebook rather than a white board that I have with me in the house of an evening so I can quickly write down something that "I have to do before I do that other something or it won't work" or just trying to remember it won't let me sleep. I have pages and pages of things crossed off but still a long list to go. Keep going, loving the updates. Shelley
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Post by Noyesy on Nov 14, 2021 18:31:00 GMT 10
Evening everyone, time for an update. I have been very busy with work etc the last couple of weeks but some progress has been made. As I have gotten in to this further it has slowly been becoming clearer how these vans were put together and therefore the order in which I need to tackle things. For me to "marry" the body back to the chassis, the internal lining needs to be replaced and for that to happen, a lot of other things also need to happen. I started by doing a more detailed inspection of the front wall and window frames. The frame is completely shot. I decided to completely disassemble the wall to remove the frames and the rotten timber underneath. I think it's a nice coincidence that the poster twocutekelpies is restoring a very similar van and I also have a kelpie; here is Rusty keeping me company while I work. Discovered that the ceiling was lined with some sort of canvas type stuff (although it's synthetic by the feel of it)...you can see it in the foreground of this photo. I made a template and routered some timber rails to replace the timber behind the window frames. It's not how the van was made but I like the idea that there is timber running all the way down the wall and keying in to the base plate. I used ply as grain direction would be an issue with solid timber. There will be bunks here so this is one point that the bunks can be tied in to. Yes that is a boxing glove on the end of that piece of timber - to stop me from banging my head on a sharp corner! Next I started making up the rails for the window frames. I'm trying to use timber I already have and I had some timber from an old workbench out of a mechanics workshop. Two of the boards are tassie oak, so I am using this for the frames...ripped down on table saw then hand planed to size (I wish I had a thicknesser and jointer but I don't!) Right now I'm notching out the base rail so that all the new vertical pieces in the walls can be glued in to the base rails and will hopefully get all that done in the next day or two. Have purchased sheets of lining ply and will start on that once the gluing is done and I have run some electrical cables. Quite a lot to think about at this stage of the project as I have realised that I need to run most of the wiring now, which necessitates deciding where batteries will go, 240v setup, switch locations and lighting. I'm doing a lot of sketching at the moment and really enjoying it.
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Post by twocutekelpies on Nov 15, 2021 5:16:11 GMT 10
Another great update Matt and love that you have a kelpie too! Not sure if you've seen this thread in your research but Grandad Jim did a test on various glues for his Franklin which I wish I'd read before doing mine due to the expanding nature of the one I used and having to throw everything at my walls, including me to get the ply to sit flat!
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Post by Noyesy on Nov 15, 2021 8:39:59 GMT 10
Another great update Matt and love that you have a kelpie too! Not sure if you've seen this thread in your research but Grandad Jim did a test on various glues for his Franklin which I wish I'd read before doing mine due to the expanding nature of the one I used and having to throw everything at my walls, including me to get the ply to sit flat! Ah yes, I did read that but had forgotten about it, thanks for the link. I bought some of that sika spray foam that you used but it's pretty unwieldy to use. Now I know you would have followed Grandad Jims post and used Sika-bond PVA, that's what I'll use. I'm actually not sure how I will attach the lining...the walls are vertical and there's no way that I can think of to apply even clamping pressure across the panel. Any suggestions from any posters would be greatfully considered. I guess I will apply the PVA to both surfaces, wait for them to tack up then press them together as best as I can.
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Post by Roehm3108 on Nov 15, 2021 9:57:09 GMT 10
"Any suggestions from any posters would be greatfully considered."
What are you planning to use for lining? If you're going to use ply and paint, why not tack on with a fine 1mm nail at points that will be obscured by cupboards etc? Leave the head proud and remove the nail when glue has dried and use putty on the holes. I would even consider doing that if using laminated ply.
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Post by Noyesy on Nov 15, 2021 10:31:12 GMT 10
"Any suggestions from any posters would be greatfully considered." What are you planning to use for lining? If you're going to use ply and paint, why not tack on with a fine 1mm nail at points that will be obscured by cupboards etc? Leave the head proud and remove the nail when glue has dried and use putty on the holes. I would even consider doing that if using laminated ply. Good point, I should have mentioned that. I'm using standard 3mm caravan ply with the "leather" textured white coating. I'm not intending on painting the lining, which is why I'd prefer not to nail/screw it to the frame, even though that is a very good suggestion. I'm actually starting to think perhaps I should disassemble the rest of the way and do it flatpack style like twocutekelpies and Grandad Jim did. The downside is that it could be more work and my walls are 14', which potentially makes them more tricky to move. But the upside is that it will ensure the walls are flat and the ply is well bonded to the foam core, both things that would be tricky with the walls vertical. I'm lucky to have a flat workshop floor so I could do them directly on the floor. Will give that all some thought. Thanks for the suggestion, I appreciate it, especially from experienced builders like you.
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Post by twocutekelpies on Nov 15, 2021 16:31:31 GMT 10
I added a bit of framing to the walls to fasten cabinetry to and stapled the ply lining to that framing as I knew it would be hidden later on, it also tells me where I'm fastening the cabinetry to as I can see the staples so win/win. I've also stapled the lining to the edge of the window frames etc knowing the pvc trim will cover them later and I riveted it to the aluminium track that goes all the way around the walls. Absolutely better to be able to lay the walls flat for maximum clamping but the above may offer options if you decide to stay upright. The leather look is nice isn't it? That's what I'm using too. I can understand your hesitation, at 10ft, it was still a nervous walk to the chassis, although the walls did feel much more solid than when we started. (hubby and neighbour carried while I directed and ran around with the clamps etc )
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Post by Noyesy on Nov 16, 2021 12:16:32 GMT 10
I added a bit of framing to the walls to fasten cabinetry to and stapled the ply lining to that framing as I knew it would be hidden later on, it also tells me where I'm fastening the cabinetry to as I can see the staples so win/win. I've also stapled the lining to the edge of the window frames etc knowing the pvc trim will cover them later and I riveted it to the aluminium track that goes all the way around the walls. Absolutely better to be able to lay the walls flat for maximum clamping but the above may offer options if you decide to stay upright. The leather look is nice isn't it? That's what I'm using too. I can understand your hesitation, at 10ft, it was still a nervous walk to the chassis, although the walls did feel much more solid than when we started. (hubby and neighbour carried while I directed and ran around with the clamps etc ) <button disabled="" class="c-attachment-insert--linked o-btn--sm">Attachment Deleted</button> This is really useful...I am also adding some more framing to allow fastening of things later, so maybe that's the way to go. I'll make a decision which way to go in the next few days. Yes that leather look ply is really nice, much nicer than I anticipated even.
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Post by Noyesy on Nov 22, 2021 10:30:31 GMT 10
A couple of questions for you vintage caravan almanacs based on the photo below: - Between the rear windows, at the top, there is a hole there. What is it for? Looks like it might be a high-level running/brake light but can someone confirm?
- Does anyone know where I could find that Franklin decal? I quite like the look it and would like to add it back once I have painted.
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Post by Mustang on Nov 22, 2021 10:44:01 GMT 10
linkI have used this firm, nice quality.
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Post by twocutekelpies on Nov 22, 2021 20:51:43 GMT 10
- Between the rear windows, at the top, there is a hole there. What is it for? Looks like it might be a high-level running/brake light but can someone confirm?
I wonder if that hole was an antenna plug? Anything on the inside?
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Post by Noyesy on Nov 23, 2021 10:51:38 GMT 10
- Between the rear windows, at the top, there is a hole there. What is it for? Looks like it might be a high-level running/brake light but can someone confirm?
I wonder if that hole was an antenna plug? Anything on the inside? You're right, it could be an antenna hole, but alas there is nothing on the inside that gives me any clues. If it's not a requirement to have a high-level light there I might just cover it. Getting some internal lining on now, which is quite exciting. Also, when I was sweeping debris I found a 1c coin that must have dropped out of somewhere (an employee put it there?). It is a 1966 coin, which was the year Australia converted to decimal currency, so it's one of the first ever minted. For those that don't know (I didn't) the change over to decimal currency happened on valentines day of 1966! Was a nice little treasure and my 15yo daughter found it quite intriguing.
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Post by Noyesy on Dec 15, 2021 9:22:27 GMT 10
It has been a busy several weeks since my last post, hiring and firing at work, lots of school-related things etc etc...so progress isn't as good as I would like, but progress has been made. I have started the internal lining; since some of the lining had been removed I didn't have parts of the old stuff for templates, so I carefully made them up with paper and taped it all together. This worked well. First piece of lining on and wiring in for switches etc. I have made up new window frames for both ends, which was a bit of a debacle as I made the second one 10mm too short...so easy to drop 10 or 100mm. I freely tell people to measure twice cut once but I need to heed that advice myself! You can see it in this photo Rather than remake them I think I will cut the bottom frame down 10mm and add 10mm of timber to the bottom. I hate making mistakes like that but once it's all sanded and varnished it shouldn't be too obvious. Or it might annoy me so much that I'll remake the frame :-) In a previous note I mentioned um-ing and ah-ing about whether to remove the walls to re-line them; I have decided to re-clad the walls vertically and staple as has been suggested. I am using a coat of titebond II glue on each face and will use it a bit like contact adhesive. It's similar to Sikaflex PVA but is less expensive and I have used it a lot in woodworking so I'm familiar with how to work it. It's also waterproof when dry which can't be said about most PVAs. I will line the walls, re-marry the body to chassis then attack the roof...that's the plan. Another conundrum I have resolved is what to do about the finishing detail along the bottom of both sides of the body. The aluminium is crushed, split and stretched from when it collapsed and will never look good no matter what I do to it. My "panelbeating" made it a little more presentable but it's not good enough. Instead I got some 1.6mm aluminium folded which will wrap around the base boards and come up on the outside of the aluminium cladding, hiding the bottom 100mm. It will tidy it all up and should give me a nice finish. I'll post a photo once I have one. Hopefully over the Christmas break I'll get a chance for some serious progress. Have a great Christmas everyone, thanks for your support, encouragement and wisdom thus far. Matt
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Post by Noyesy on Jan 19, 2022 21:27:25 GMT 10
Happy 2022 everyone. I had hoped that it would be the year COVID stopped effecting everyone so much, but the year is off to a pretty ordinary start! However, I have had time to indulge in interests including progress on Dorothy. Just before Christmas a combination woodworking machine and bandsaw came up for sale and I decided to buy them. The combination machine (a Felder) is a sliding table saw, spindle moulder, jointer and thicknesser. It came in many, many pieces having sat in a carport for 5 years, and I spent 4 full days over Christmas figuring out how to clean it, assemble it and get it working. It is fantastic as is the enormous (24") bandsaw. Woodworking is a big hobby of mine so I am going to get a lot of enjoyment out of the new setup, and I love that I can now mill timber to whatever size I need (and make it straight!) On the caravan, I have done so much work but it doesn't look like it! I have done more lining, and through creative use of clamping I think I have arrived at quite a good finish. Where two boards met, I inset a narrow piece of timber in to the foam so they could be stapled all the way around; it has worked well, which is a relief. I physically have more pieces than if I had done it on the ground, but I will make trims to tidy it all up, and most joins will be behind cabinets or beds anyway. You may recall that the bottoms of each of the walls were crumpled and split from having slumped. I thought long and hard about how to fix that situation and in the end I got some 1.6mm aluminium folded in to a channel shape. It protrudes up the inside of the bottom rails by 50mm, wraps around the bottom of the rails, then up the outside of the wall 120mm, thereby covering all the damaged and cracked cladding (riveted and glued to the existing cladding). It was a big job to fit them but I am thrilled with how they have come out. With those channels attached I have wheeled in the chassis and sat the body on it for the first time in a few months. There's a bit of finessing to get them aligned correctly before I fix the walls for good, but it finally feels like progress. Until next time...hope you are all doing well. Matt
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