"Shirlee" ..... 1948 Furness caravan

[tinnie]

Hey Mark,
Niiiice find!
Sometimes the artefacts are almost more fascinating than the van (I DID say almost!)
I wonder if that Golden wedding anniversary was the reason for the vans last outing 40 years ago?

Amazing to think that your vans last outing was around the same year my old Franklin rolled out of the Ballarat factory.

Kinda tempting to leave it as is, dirt and all??

Cheers,
Gristy

[Deleted]

Thanks guys for your replies & comments .....apologies for the delayed reply .







Cobber ......from the blurb posted above, I believe the drawer in the ice chest is the vegetable drawer ......there is no wire mesh in the drawer. And, the wardrobe cupboards are made of ply, not masonite.

Don R says ........
"Furness really did go the whole hog on the sliding window thing didn't they? I hadn't realised that the rear window was a slider as well until I saw your photos. I'm still intrigued how they dust proofed the windows and stopped them moving when moving (if you understand what I mean ). Once you have had a chance to check it all out, I'd love you to provide us with a report."
The sliders are absolutely caked with dust Don R, once I've cleaned her up, I'll have a close inspection of sealing, locking mechanism etc and report.

Reddo ......Shirlee's restoration is planned, and she'll hit the road as did the Holiday Home, but don't sit at your poot waitin' for resto pics to come up, coz there's a couple of others to be done prior ......Shirlee's gunna have to be patient ....and wait to be "tarted up" ;D ;D

If you have a gander at the options list in Furness advertising as above, its interesting to note what options (additional fittings) Shirlee has:
Rear bunk: Shirlee doesn't have a top bunk, but evidence of the bunk brackets are there
did get the original striped kapok matress though, as evidenced in the pics ......what a beauty .....and I got a pair of matching striped kapok pillows ......I'm movin' out Ditzy ;D ;D

Removable bed covers ......mmmm ......I wish

Stove .....no stove in it ......does anybody have a Blue Fame Kero stove they don't need

Pump over sink .....haven't got one of those .....I guess they weren't available

Battery space .....haven't seen that either, but there's plenty of lights and power outlets ..... have to have a closer inspection (maybe that's where the boombox is .....but surely they wouldn't put a battery in an overhead cupboard)

Bath ....yup, have one of those ......

reading lights ......have those too

just noticed the Jag at the bottom of the page .....what a coincidence .....I'm picking one of those tomorrow with the big .... little truck to deliver to next door neighbour in Beverley


and why am I crying in my beer you ask ......just had a close look at my first lot of photos of Shirlee, taken several months ago ......if you have a look at the pics of the stuff on the green cushions, I see an annexe , looks like an original job too ......I don't have an annexe
.....probably been used as a tarp


Mark

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the update - some great features there. Just shows how well the design of the Furness was thought out and implemented.

Re the pump over the sink and the water tank. The blurb says that the van comes with a 13 gallon water tank with tap. That suggests gravity feed, but I note that the sink is in front of a window so that means (I presume) that the tank isn't over the sink!! Is it under a seat or somewhere at floor level, or somewhere else?

[Wonder when pump taps began to be installed in vans? Anyone got any clues?]

Is your bath the short or long version? If it is the latter, that might explain why you don't have a top bunk (based on the blurb anyway).

Don Ricardo

[Deleted]

Picked up the Furness brochure yesterday from the P O box ...

Strangely, the brochure, through Ebay, cost me a lot more than the Furness caravan cost me ......doesn't really make sense







The brochure says re construction:

“New light construction. Prestwood outside, selected ply inside, bonded together in 200-ton hydraulic press.

What the ………….how am I going to match that for its resto ……its made of masonite & ply bonded together …..how am I going to replicate this ….the outside skin is masonite, but is it bonded together with ply ......according to the brochure

Reddo ......does the "shed of invention" have a 200 ton hydraulic press ;D ;D

Maybe somebody can shed some light on this method

Mark

[Deleted]

Hi Mark.

I dont see bonding the 2 sheets together as being a big problem. Take a couple of bedsheets and place in a ute with the masonite, ply and a couple of dozen tubes of selleys "Maxbond" ( liquid nails ).

Drive around the streets of Perth until you come across a council road crew using a 42" steel drum vibrating roller.

Lay a bedsheet out on smooth concrete surface. place masonite sheet smooth side down on sheet. Apply blobs of maxbond all over upside of sheet. Apply Bondwood to masonite ( sorta like making a SAO biscuit sanger) . Place second bedsheet over the whole shooting match and roll the crap out of it.....First pass vibrating ... then another 3 or 4 passes with static drum no vibrating.... by now ya should see the gunge coming out all around the edges. Trim off excess with stanley knife. allow 5 minutes for glue to set..... Bingo.... "BONDYNITE" or is that "MASOBOND"..... ... or just plain old wood pulp.

Only too happy to help out.

If above process proves unacceptable. Please send stamped addressed envelope to "reddotel International" and we will post you back a Dehydrated ACME... 200 ton Press..Just tip contents into a glass and add water..
Gauranteed to work. I seen the Coyote do it on the Bugs bunny show years ago. ;D

Reddonlytoohappytohelp

[Deleted]

A couple of members were interested in how the sliding windows of the Furness are sealed & secured .......

I haven't forgotten, just waiting for one of those 36 degree days in Beverley whereby I'll pull the Furness out of the shed, hose it down thoroughly, and take some good pics of its sliding windows, seals and latches

stay tuned ..........

its still a "tad" dusty






Mark

[bobt]

Mark

Thanks, yep I am curious.

Just checked Elders weather, guess we will be waiting a bit longer.


Thought you would have had it painted and polished by now
Bob

[Deleted]

Today, I took the legendary 48-215 Holden historian & author
Don Loffler to York and Beverley, whereby we visited the York Motor museum, the Beverley shed, and the Avondale Discovery farm museum.

Don knows Anthony & Janet Furness well, the son & daughter of Keith & Lorna Furness, manufacturers of Furness caravans.
In fact Anthony Furness is a piano tuner, and regularly tunes Don's piano.

In his first book "She's a Beauty" (1998), there's a pic on the inside cover page of Don Loffler (as a child) and his parents with a 1948 Furness caravan, being towed by the family's 1928 Chev.

Don was delighted today to see a "Furness" caravan in the flesh, as he had never seen one again since those early family caravan holidays. He took great interest in the caravan & took many pics to show Anthony & Janet Furness.

Of course, I went to alot of trouble to fastidiously clean up my Furness caravan for the special occasion ;D ;D








Mark

[bobt]

Hey Mark

Remmeber this statement??? ;D ;D

"I haven't forgotten, just waiting for one of those 36 degree days in Beverley whereby I'll pull the Furness out of the shed, hose it down thoroughly, and take some good pics of its sliding windows, seals and latches"

Yeah I just looked back in this thread. I take it you have not yet experienced a 36 degree day? ;D ;D

Sounds like you are getting the most out of Don Loffler's visit

Well done

Bobt

[cobber]

G'day Mark,

Boy I wish I had of been a fly on the wall of that Beverley shed during that visit.

Do you remember the discussion in the DHL thread at the bottom of this page where it was suggested you should inspire Don Loffler to write "The History of Caravanning in Australia" ?

Was he impressed with the collection in "The Shed" ?....... did he say something like.... "Somebody should write a book about these old caravans"

Cobber.

[Surf Tragic]

Hi mark
Great to see you all inspired & digging those vans out, it would be great to share the passion with a bloke like Don Loffler, he couldn't help but be impressed

:oReally you shouldn't store tyres on the Furness's roof mate ;D see the marks

Surf Tragic

[barkpaint]

such a great old find, the van . The radio is definately an A.W.A. according to my husband Col. His family had one in his childhood, definately 40s model, but according to him, could be plastic, not bakalite. He used to be a radio tevevision technician, cheers, Heather