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Post by Dave&Tammy on Jul 11, 2011 13:36:22 GMT 10
Reddo you are always at the right place at the right time, what an excellent little van & to have that beautiful annexe, poles etc just tops everything off.
Tammy & Dave
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2011 16:05:59 GMT 10
How much do you want for it all ? Cobber. Bugger orf Albert.  You work your side of the street and me n Dolly the Steptoe & Son draught horse will work our side of the street. finders keepers in this case... aye Mark "How much do ya want for it"..... Hmmmmph.  Spent my roster day running around at paint shops .. Turps ... sand paper... colour cards trying to get a colour that matches the FJ ute. Asked about silver frost for the roof and chassis.... my lucky day. He had a 4 litre tin that he sold a customer and the gases had built up blowing the lid off it. Still about 2 litres in the tin....a freebie....  Then on to the upholsterer with the seat cushions. Getting new material sewn into one side of em . The old cheese cloth has rotted on a couple of em. They have inner springs in them as well. Got a close colour match but the material wont be cheese cloth. Should be ready in about 4 weeks. He reckons he can replace all the missing yellow buttons as well... How am i doin Albert.. am i scoring brownie points here as a full blown restorer Took the yoot to a brake specialist today as well. Just for peace of mind i got em to go over everything. bit of adjustment and she is pulling up great. Dropped into a tyre service and ordered 4 new 15 inch radials ... so 2 of the ute tyres ( they are as new 4 plys .. cross plys..)will be going on the Cadet.....it has FJ rims so,,,, wont need a spare while i tow it with the yoot. ;D Gunna chase up the insert rubber for the Supalite sign during the week. If the weather stays kind i hope to get the roof painted and the sign out and back in next weekend... Then i gotta work out how ta get it into the shed of invention for the rest of the strip and paint marathon.....  I'll shut up now...  Reddo |
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halps
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Get out and enjoy your van man!
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Post by halps on Jul 11, 2011 16:50:54 GMT 10
Reddo,
It might be time for another "line up all the hobbies and get another photo" time...
All those vans, the cars, the bikes...this could be a good screensaver moment for us all.
If you could just get Jennifer Hawkins into the phot as well...that would really top it off.
HALPS
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2011 17:05:21 GMT 10
thats one sweeeet Supalite you got there Reddo .........how the 'ell did ya get onto that  ;D ......that'll look a treat behind the FJ ......... a 1950's car/caravan match made in heaven  I've gotta nice sticker for the caravan once it all painted ........it'll match the kinda redish/ pinkish colour in the annexe ;D ;D ;D  Mark |
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Post by cobber on Jul 11, 2011 19:06:51 GMT 10
I'm watching you arold...... I got that Newcastle van from right under ya nose but I don't know why nobody told me about this one  finders keepers in this case... aye Mark thats one sweeeet Supalite you got there Reddo .........how the 'ell did ya get onto that ;D  That Supalite sign with the light behind it is sooo cool I don't think we have seen similar on a vintage caravan before and ….... have you given the innerspring mattress the flick or have you not ?... worth keeping if you can manage it..... brownie points for sure but...................... I'm watching ya . Cobber. |
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Post by humpyboy on Jul 11, 2011 21:27:12 GMT 10
Got a question for you Reddo, HOW THE HELL DO YOU DO IT?  |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 12, 2011 19:54:14 GMT 10
I SMELL A RAT. Ok Cobber .. I will change my deoderant.... The innerspring left on the local curbside clean up truck yesterday. There are some things i simply refuse to use .. someone elses mattress... second hand socks and undies. ;D A nice ... light......new medium density foam mattress will replace the old one. Halps.. If i could lure Jenny Hawkins to my place as my new hobby i would gladly give up all my bikes , cars and vans..... ;D ;D Mark..... Yup..will order one of them thar flash pink stickers off ya. Managed to get the Supalite plastic and old rubber out today without breaking the plastic. Unusual H shaped rubber. will try a few of the rubber suppliers and see how i get on. The TD just sold on ebay... Its going to Rockhampton. I have agreed to take it 4 hours up the highway to Port Macquarie this saturday to deliver to the new owner....He pays my fuel costs.. saves him an extra 8 hours driving. He is going to use it behind a trike...... I had big plans for progress on the Supalite roof this weekend. Looks like it will be put on hold as i spotted another old bondy up past Taree poking its nose out of a barn on the last bike rally. Been lookin for an excuse to go take a good looksee ever since i spotted it. Will divert past there on the way home from Port Mac saturday arvo...... Stay tuned for photos .. and possibly another rescue mission.... Cheers Reddo......Bondwood magnet... will trade for a miss universe magnet. ;D ;D ;D
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Post by Don Ricardo on Jul 12, 2011 20:57:55 GMT 10
G'day Reddo, Just wondering, have you considered reinstating the little red rings on your Supalite to the rear of the wheel arches that Supalite vans used to come with? You can see them on this Supalite:  This is a later van than yours, but the red wings can be seen in slightly different locations in the Supalite adverts all through the 50's. Quite a cool little touch. Maybe Daggsey could reproduce them with his clever machinery? They would go nicely with your Supalite window...umm..sign, and the Supalite annexe. No coercion or attempt to influence your personal preferences intended. Just a question.  Don Ricardo |
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Post by kingy on Jul 13, 2011 9:38:20 GMT 10
Great find Reddo, have only just been able to catch up on all the goss...........and come across yet another supalite being saved, none for years, then two pop up outa the blue Certainly looks to be in great shape, and that annexe is as gooda score as the van itself The FJ wheels differ from what mine HAD......MK1 Zephyr, i knew that because of the wheel caps. The hatch on yours is a lot bigger than mine.......wanna swap ;D The interior of yours does'nt appear to be lined.......same with mine, yet others were That ''supalite'' sign looks silly  ..........how much you want ;D The split door must have been an extra too, you can send that across with the silly sign ;D She'll clean up a treat Reddo, lets hope it's not long before we can get the two of them together Kingy |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2011 20:08:48 GMT 10
Hiya Don Ricardo.. Hmmmmmmmmm... dunno about the riginal red wings. And ... if i was to put them back on they would be done with the original stuff..... paint. The old couple have given the entire outside a coat of grey. The eyebrows over the windo wheer bright yellow. Wont know if the red wings where on the side until i start sanding things back. Kingy Yup... No lining. Nup .. ya aint gettinthe hatch... the fly screen hatch in the door............ or the silly sign. Did a bit or running around today.. original rubber is gunna be a prob .. so thinking i might use insertion rubber and make an inner and outer elongated "ring "out of ply to retain the "Silly Sign". From what i can gather from "Down History Lane "and info on "Öur Touring Past"website Supalite took a hike from 27 Mackenzie st, Liechardt Sydney out to Roselle back around 1960 I reckon they would have be done finished using FJ hubs and wheels by then... maybe they moved on to Zephyr wheels in the late 50s .... Dropping from 15" to whatever Zephyrs had on em to help lower the vans for less wind resistance... The van in Dons photo would be early 60s or very late 50s as it has aluminium windows. The Cadet has a lot of similar features to your van Kingy... . Except yours would probably be a foot or 2 longer. I have 3 venetian blinds from and old van i got up the back of Muswellbrook a few years back. The long one is around 6ft ad fits neatly across the van. Bloody curtains in there now take some wrestling just to get em to part far enough to see out the middle windows. Will do a bit of research on the cadets and see if they where offered with the blinds ??.. if so they will definitely get fitted to the front window and either side front windows. Maybe cut a bout 4 or 5 inches off the width of the curtsains so there is not so much material to scrunch up... i dunno.. i aint no curtain maker. This is the first van i have owned with full length piano hinges on the door. Sooooooo.. much better than the usual three hinge efforts and... a lot more water proof / sturdy. A standard feature on all Supalites. I think the only way that our supalites will ever see each other is if you guys are home in the spring time for the tour..... The cadet and 1/2 doz other vans will all be parked in your carport for a night on our annual migratory wobble north to Coledale. Cheese....ooops ... i mean cheers.. Red..(i smell a rat)..do D. Ratdroppings:D |
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gregw
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Post by gregw on Jul 13, 2011 20:47:35 GMT 10
What a fanatastic find, I have been hanging around this forum for quite awhile and admiring the great work of many of the members, many renovations take pride of place on my favorites bar. I have been inspired by Reddos find to post something of my own.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 17, 2011 7:23:24 GMT 10
Hi Had a good run up to Port Mac yesterday. What use to be a 4 or 5 hour run a few years ago only took me 2 3/4 hours with a TD on behind. Something i did notice was that i used more fuel towing the TD than i did a month ago when i towed Rosie ( about 100kg heavier) to Sawtell. About 4 litres more ....over a distance of around 160ks... to the first fuel stop . I read somewhere a while ago that external mudguards like on TD's and box trailers etc create a lot of drag. Must be some truth in it. It was a perfectly calm day.. i travelled at my usual 100kph where possible..... Anyway.... i met John Conway at the big service centre on the turn off to Port and a deal was done...after the magpie had given his nod of approval...   . As i had made good time on the way up i decided to do a bit of a detour on the way home to where i thought i had spotted a little van while on the bike run in March... Turned off the highway and about 1k up the road i came across the van..  Looks like it may have taken a few styling ques from a Propert... however not a fold open van...  Owner wasnt home so i got chatting with a local. He is gunna ask the owner what he is doing with the van, I will phone the local in a week or so to get the answer..  . Looks to be homemade with a bit of aluminium around the lower half......modern tai lights... vent grill for fridge etc.. etc.. Never mind... always worth making enquiries while ya in town aye... You know the old sayin...."Öne thing leads to another".... who knows there might be a vintage bike inside it... . Got home about one oçlock......mowed the lawn.. put the 2 wheels back in my Norton ... now shod with new tyres... Still had a few hours of daylight so started stripping the paint off the J moulds on the Cadet with wire wheel in the drill. Something i noticed was that Supalite mounted the annexe d catches on the roof about 1/2"across from the J mould. .All other vans i have seen have the clips mounted on the J mould. I suppose this idea would help give a better weather seal as any water would run off onto the roof instead of onto the j mould and possibly back under the annexe edge across the j mould and down the side of the van Its drizzling here this morning , so i will have to evict Rosie out into the elements and put the Cadet under shelter if i am going to make any progress today. I am sick of calling the Cadet "The Cadet... will have to get busy and come up with a name for her......It is a her isnt it??? As usual it will have to be an ölder type of name...similar to Doris.. Rosie.. Matilda... Ruby.. Dorothy .. etc Was thinkin maybe ...." Ethel "or "Gladys"..... Was there ever any famous female Cadets during the wars???" Hows about we run a competition and you guys come up with a name for" ït" Bye for now... Reddo |
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halps
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Get out and enjoy your van man!
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Post by halps on Jul 17, 2011 10:23:48 GMT 10
I'll start Reddo...
Have you had a "Nancy"?
In keeping with the Cadet war theme... Nancy comes from Australia's WWII Nancy Wake. I have "cut" some information and pasted it below...
By 1943, she was the Gestapo's most-wanted person, with a 5 million-franc price on her head. When the network was betrayed in December 1943, she had to flee Marseilles. Her husband, Henri Fiocca, stayed behind where later, unknown to Nancy, he was captured, tortured and executed by the Gestapo on 16 October 1943. She was not aware of his death until the war was over. Wake had been arrested in Toulouse, but was released four days later. After reaching Britain, Wake joined the Special Operations Executive and on the night of 29–30 April 1944 she returned to occupied France, being parachuted into the Auvergne and becoming a liaison between London and the local maquis group headed by Captain Henri Tardivat. She coordinated resistance activity prior to the Normandy Invasion and recruited more members. She also led attacks on German installations. Many allied agents praised her fighting spirit, amply demonstrated when she killed an SS sentry with her bare hands to prevent him raising the alarm during a raid." (Taken from alternative source)
HALPS
Brisbane
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mezmo
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Post by mezmo on Jul 17, 2011 17:48:37 GMT 10
Hi Reddo,
Nice little Van there. A nice addition to the "Reddo Re-do"
List. [Just made that up for ya.]
Hard to top the Nancy WWII tale, but 'will suggest another
name from the 1950s-1960 or so. "CoCo" as in CoCo Chanel,
the French fashion/perfume lady. It's short and different.
That see-through Supalite badging is quite unique. Why not
take it a little bit further and build a light box behind it [That
would be in the other interior cabinet's style.] on the shelf behind
it and duplicate the present logo on an interior glass/Plexiglas
panel that could be used as the interior side of the light box and
display to the interior. You could light it with a CFL bulb or LEDs
or such. No one would know the difference if it were original or
not - never hurts to gild the lily once in awhile. Just a suggestion.
Cheers,
Norm/mezmo
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Post by Don Ricardo on Jul 17, 2011 22:52:38 GMT 10
G'day Reddo, While searching through the 1961 edition of Winser for something else, I came across this information about Supalite caravans:  (Source: K Winser, Australian Caravan and Touring Manual for 1961, p 157) They are later models than yours because they have aluminium windows, but the thing that struck me was that both the vans have the Supalite perspex sign located in the roof above the front window like yours. So it appears that they were doing their signage from 1957 or so when they built yours, right through to at least 1961. So there you are, you've taught us something (again!). Notice that the Cadet model in the advert is still sporting the little red wings I mentioned earlier. Don Ricardo |
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Post by firefighter on Jul 18, 2011 7:58:19 GMT 10
G'day Reddo part of your posting in reply 36 I have 3 venetian blinds from and old van i got up the back of Muswellbrook a few years back. The long one is around 6ft ad fits neatly across the van. Bloody curtains in there now take some wrestling just to get em to part far enough to see out the middle windows. Will do a bit of research on the cadets and see if they where offered with the blinds ??.. if so they will definitely get fitted to the front window and either side front windows. In the ad above it shows venetian blinds were used in 1961 the research has been done for you f/f ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2011 19:48:44 GMT 10
Hi DonR and F/F Thanks for the info. It appears that by 1961 Supalite had done away with the small hatch in the side of the Cadet?? Or Are my old eyes decieving me?? Managed to score some new "H"section rubber for around the Supalite sign today from the car restoration shop across the road from my place... $15.00 for 1.5 metres. The last of it in stock.. We are in for some pretty wild weather here in the Hunter over the next few days so i doubt if i will get much done on the van. Rosie has been relogated to the wide open spaces with a strong tarp wrapped around her. The Supalite is in the car port... Hiya Mezmo.. Yeah i had thought of doing something like a light box behind the sign in the narrow shelf. Set it up with 2 position switch . 1 position for on permanently with a small wattage 12v globe . Second position wired through an indicator/flasher unit as used on a cars indicator circuit to make it flash on and off....... Sorta like a late 50s neon sign use to do... Could do the same on mains power 240 volt and use a flurecent light starter to cause the 240Volt bulb to flicker. Hey.. if ya got it... ya may as well flaunt it... ;D Jury is still deliberating on a name .. Thanks for the suggestions so far.. I was glancing over the original rego papers and noticed the original owners had the van registered in the owners wifes name.. Her name was .... "Audrey".... as in the famous Hepburn actor Please note here that Audrey Hepburn had her name up in lights too... so that sorta ties in with the sign idea.... "Äudrey Cadet"....appearing here tonight with Humphry Bogart " ;D ( Was it Bogart and Hepburn in the Movie..."Äfrican Queen??? Man ....what i would give to have that boat nowadays) So.... "Audrey " is holding the winning votes at the moment. Ouch... .. Who threw that Ok.. I'll go now Reddo |
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Post by Roehm3108 on Jul 19, 2011 22:19:46 GMT 10
Good to see you keepin' up the good work Reddo, she looks a COOL van My tuppence on a name: If She is a Supalite Cadet, what about a military name like Wren - I know, not a girly name, but it IS a bird Cheers Ray |
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mezmo
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Post by mezmo on Jul 20, 2011 12:56:36 GMT 10
Hi Reddo,
Another name to consider until the final decision.
The other Hepburn 'actor's' [actress - what ever happened to
'actress'?, everyone is an "actor' nowadays---] name was
Katherine, who also went by Kate now and then, so:
Kate Cadet, Kate the Cadet, Kate de Cadet, Katie Cadet,
Katie the Cadet... etc..
Cheers,
Norm/mezmo
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Post by Geoff & Jude on Jul 20, 2011 13:06:02 GMT 10
The other Hepburn 'actor's' name was Katherine, who also went by Kate now and then, so: Kate Cadet, Kate the Cadet, Kate de Cadet, Katie Cadet, Katie the Cadet... etc.. Cheers, Norm/mezmo and she was the hepburn who was in african queen. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 20, 2011 19:17:42 GMT 10
;D ;D ;D Ok then .. So i aint no Bill Collins of the movie world ;D Katherine ya say.....fair enough. I stand corrected.. I am still sorta leaning towards ... " Ëthel.".. I think a lot of old caravans look like an.. Ethel... except for MRFJ55s Doris... she looks like a Doris. ;D Man that was a great old boat..... from memoy it was a steam /boiler engine. wasnt it.. can still see old Humph up to his waist pushing the boat along in the swamp... Might see if i can hire the DVD.... Caravans.. caravans... yup.... i ordered 4 litres of Oil based .. full gloss enamel..."Sea Spray"at the paint shop today. Pretty close match to the FJ . Got 4 new 165 X 80 X 15"radials on the ute today... i can actually steer it.. and it goes around corners now too.. Gunna run 4 ply light truck tyres on the van. Regards Reddo |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2011 20:24:39 GMT 10
In between showers today.... ..and..... in the shelter of the caravan carport I managed to sand the hatch and give the roof which is covered in Calico a light scuff and prepped it all with mineral turps to get any yuckys off it ready for a dose of silverfrost paint .. OIL BASED of course. Got what i thought was a nice even coat on it considering the dampness and cool conditions i was working in... around 12 deg here today. Given that silverfrost is not suppose to look like chrome i figured it wouldnt hurt slopping it around the roof and letting it dry a flat or semi gloss finsh.. The hatch lid came up trumps but the entire roof when dry came up semi gloss but....showed long brush strokes where i had been "laying off"with the brush.... oooo... bugger. So.. Second coat was applied and i used the brush to "dapple"the finish. In other words i dabbed the brush nose on to the surface after i had brushed an even coat on to disperse the brush strokes... End result was a coat that gave the same appearance as the calico with no brush marks.... Well.. sorta.. there is a few blotchy spots to go over again to get an even finsh. While i was stuffin about on the roof i noticed a few small "Cuphooks"around the edge of the hatch?? Have a look see here...  I have sorta been wandering what Supalite used as a flyscreen when the hatch is open. .. especially as it is so large and there is no sign of clips or brackets ever being fitted on the inside?? So... i figure there must have been some sort of flexible fly screen with "rubber bands"or similar that where attached at the corners and half way down the sides of the screen and stretched over the cuphooks>> Has anyone got a similar set up to this... if so can you post a photo for me so i know what to build it would be much appreciated.. Must be easily removed so that you can get to the hatch brackets to lower the hatch?? I have removed all of the annexe and skirt d clips. spent an hour on them with the wire and buffing wheel this arvo... Here is what i mean about them being mounted ïnboard "of the J mould to create a better annexe seal against the weather....  Also pilled the towel rail off and found the original colour under the mount point...  It appears to be very close to " Äu de nil".. sorta like the old green palmolive soap .. and .. a colour i use on the reddotel fleet vans Trouble is i have already ordered 4 litres of "Sea Spray"which is as close as i could find on a colour chart to the FJ ute.... She'll be right mate. What has surprised me is the lack of undercoat and primer behind the fittings.... Perhaps thats how they made the vans .. "Supalite".. lack of paint saves on weight. Even the timber on the sides of the roof hatch had a coat of silverfrost straight over raw wood... Check the first photo... Hope to get the Sign back in its proper place tomorrow .. a job that cant be rushed then move on to sanding and prepping the front eyebrow and window surrounds which will get a coat of "millet"... also a Reddotel fleet colour. Hey .. i have got to strike a happy median with the colours as it will have more than one tow car. cheers Reddo |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2011 19:46:03 GMT 10
Up early.... Too early to use a sander on the van , so i took to it with a flame thrower and a spatchaler and shaved the paint off the front until around 9,00am. I have tried all sorts of paint stripping techneques over the years .. belt sanders.. orbital sanders...paint stripper... But a good burner attached to a gas bottle is one of the most effective and least invasive ways of removing years of oil based paint coats from a ply van.. as long as you dont hold the flame on the paint for too long.. I removed the front Ëyebrow"from above the window and then took the clearance and front blinker lights off.. buggered if i know why ya would want front indicator lights on a caravan ... but the supalite has them... maybe an afterthought by the owner. Took about half hour to stip the paint from above the window down to the aluminium stone gaurd.  smothed everything off with 60 grit sandpaper . Also stripped the eyebrow back to bare metal inside and out .  A coat of etch primer both sides . then a coat of top caot while the sun was out. Skys became black about 3.00pm so i whipped a coat of primer sealer undercoat on the front of the van so the rain cant soak into the ply. I am enjoying this... its all straight forward stuff with no designing to do... just reair /claen up/ paint whats already there. Finished early... cooked up a heap of fresh green tiger prawns in garlic butter in a wok on the barbie for dinner... . Just sittin here burping and enjoying a few beers while i scroll around the forum.. Lifes good. Reddo |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2011 15:47:30 GMT 10
Isnt it great when the sun comes out and warms the bones....Not only makes for good bondy hunting weather.. Also gets one motivated to do a bit of resto work. I picked up my 4 litres of "Sea Swell"on Tuesday arvo which was my near guess at picking a paint match for the FJ Ute colour. It isnt all that far off the original colour of the van either. So....Seeing as though i had managed to get 2 coats of "3 in 1"on the bare timber the other arvo all i had to do today was give it a light sand and dust off .. then slop some colour on the front of the van. After cussing and swearing trying to get the Supalite sign back in with the u - beaut rubber i bought .... .. i finally gave up and headed for Clark rubber and managed to score a very close match to the original rubber..... bit over $20.00 for 1500mm.... bit dearer than the last chunk but this one has the correct cutaway in the "H "section. So..... managed to fit the sign back in . Also remounted the eyebrow awning over the front windows..and fit some of the annexe "D "clips that i have wire wheeled to get all the old paint off.... Couldnt resist trotting the ute out and doing a comparison. Hmmmmm... the van looks to be a bit lighter than the ute..... but not by much....    Its one of those colours that appear green one minute and blue the next... Duzznt matter.... .. Roof is done... sign is in....front is painted. Even managed to spend a night polishing the heads on about 60 1/2" X 4G brass slot head screws that hold the awning and the d clips on..... All the awning screws are lined up vertical ;D ;D ;D Now if that dont score me a few brownie points with "slot head Bob"..... i dont know what will..... I'm off to the pub to celebrate... Hey... i would have gone and celebrated even if i had achieved nothing today.... Regards Reddo |
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Post by cobber on Jul 29, 2011 15:06:10 GMT 10
G'day Reddo, Getting stuck into it aye?....can't get over how good that "Supalite" window looks  Just one little problem mate ... the slot headed screws mate...... you've polished 'em up ..thats good, but if the awning you're talking about is the "eyebrow" the slots should be... IE. HAVE TO BE..... lined up horizontal .... sorry mate  Just do it that way and you'll see how much better she'll look If.....if perchance you need verification of that opinion just have a read of this very informative and sometimes humorous thread on the subject Cobber mate. |
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..........how much you want ;D
