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Post by Roehm3108 on May 23, 2023 15:02:44 GMT 10
tooleyau, this is what the icebox looked like originally the top door is now the front upper door. Everything except the top frame, the small plywood fill panel and rear T&G panels have been reused. As the framing was oak, I couldn't get myself to toss it, despite it being heavier than I wanted.
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Post by Roehm3108 on May 23, 2023 14:56:26 GMT 10
This is an Australian vintage caravan site dealing mostly in pre-1970 caravans. We don't have many/any Swift caravans here, so I'm not able to say how these were built and whether the soft feel is normal. Before you installed the plywood, was there framing visible and was that OK? If there was a water problem and has been left for too long, it could also damage the frames. Have you tried this FB site? www.facebook.com/groups/SwiftCaravanOwnersClub/They seem to be English and could be of better help then was can
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Post by Roehm3108 on May 23, 2023 14:47:01 GMT 10
Many years ago I tried to interest a carpenter friend, who was having a really slow time of it for work, to build a Propert copy as any patents had expired. We got as far as making templates of the walls, but he lost interest in doing this. More's the pity as that year a friend was using Rubik's Kube as a prop for his business at the Brisbane caravan and camping show and many customers were asking if they were in production. He threw prices of between $17,000 and $21,000 and nobody flinched (this was around 2005). I think there is a place for a lookalike Propert because of the benefit of being able to stand in them and the ease of set-up. I would think some type of insulated composite panel construction would be the go!
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Post by Roehm3108 on May 20, 2023 7:47:13 GMT 10
Hi HD Nah, I'm not that clever as to mislead anybody. Its just the way things evolve. The colourful tiles were happenstance. When you think about it with small caravans, once the furniture is in, there's really not much wall space to see so why worry about bright colours. I prefer to highlight using accessories such as the tiles. I also have a luggage railway rack going in, which will feature another area.
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Post by Roehm3108 on May 18, 2023 15:06:16 GMT 10
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Post by Roehm3108 on May 17, 2023 22:23:50 GMT 10
This would be a wannabe Propert. Looks homebuilt. You'd want to really check out the folding mechanism and how well the two shells lock together. Looks to be an ambitious asking price.
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Post by Roehm3108 on Apr 27, 2023 7:00:52 GMT 10
Thanks for seeing Lysaght in that printing, John! Thanks also to you cobber, for your input. Unfortunately, there isn't any more useful printing on the gal to provide more info. I did do a google search on the logo and came up with this, what looks like a logo registration certificate going back to 1906. Perhaps it's a bust of a Lysaght family member, as I doubt that you could register Queen Victoria's picture, and she had died by then anyway.
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Post by Roehm3108 on Apr 26, 2023 7:49:02 GMT 10
Hi ST A hard decision for you to sell your much-loved projects. I fully understand what you're saying, and hope this goes to a willing restorer. Does this mean you might build a replica Gypsy? All the best! Ray
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Post by Roehm3108 on Apr 26, 2023 7:41:06 GMT 10
Hi all Not so much an update, but rather so bit of stuff that is of interest to at least one person on this site. I decided to convert an existing ice-box I had in my lounge, into a sink cupboard for Thistle-Do. To keep the weight down, I took out the back panel and removed the sawdust as well as the internal gal box. The box had this stamp om it, which might pique the historians. I'm thinking it's Queen Victoria? I can't make out the word though?
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Post by Roehm3108 on Apr 8, 2023 12:52:46 GMT 10
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Post by Roehm3108 on Apr 7, 2023 13:42:06 GMT 10
When I started this build, it was always my intention to fit the semi-flexible solar panel lengthways, along the raised roof section. But I was never totally happy to be actually gluing the panel to the roof, in case I needed to remove it for any reason. Yesterday I glued the 5mm corflute to keep the underside of the panel cool and intended to glue the whole lot to the roof today. I must have had a good sleep, as this morning I realised that the length of the panel and the width of the roof were exactly the same!! So I was able to attach the panel to the roof crossways, with screws and washers directly into the side frame of the vertical part of the roof via the eyelets in the panel. I did have to find the sub-frame for attaching the centre front of the panel. But It's firmly attached and I'm confident it will not rip off. After all, as you can see from the pics, the whole thing has a very low profile. Solar panel? What solar panel? Nice low profile
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Post by Roehm3108 on Apr 6, 2023 15:30:40 GMT 10
Unlike the exterior of the paintwork, I wasn't too worried about the internal colours - a case of get as close to the colour you would like without spending a fortune. So I have collected a few mistinted colours from the big green shed at half price, which were close to what I wanted. Now the bare interior is painted too. From now I put on my electrics hat! Tomorrow the solar panel!!! Which should be interesting, considering i have only got about a foot of space between van and carport rooves.
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Post by Roehm3108 on Apr 6, 2023 15:26:26 GMT 10
If you want all things slot-headed, Keables in West Footscray are the place to go. Google them, I think you may even be able to order online these days.
I built my replica gypsy using treated pine house stud timber and ripped it to size, after finding that meranti was twice the cost!
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Post by Roehm3108 on Mar 28, 2023 7:26:32 GMT 10
Thanks for your kind words DonR. Of course I knew that the design and colour choices are in keeping with the 1930's era!!!! NOT! For some fun, I attempted painting a bit of pinstriping between the colours! Here's the result! Thistle-Doo!!
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Post by Roehm3108 on Mar 24, 2023 7:28:03 GMT 10
Geoff, I'd feel a bit like Rohan Atkinson trying to say Bubblegum Bedouin!! No, I think I'll settle on Thistle-Doo because of the thistle colours I've used.
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Post by Roehm3108 on Mar 23, 2023 18:11:03 GMT 10
Hi Philip. This is an Australian site. That body of the Indian Ocean would be a problem
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Post by Roehm3108 on Mar 23, 2023 12:17:26 GMT 10
Hi All After a lot of time consuming prep work, the paints have been chosen and now applied. I've temporarily inserted one window to give an impression of what it would look like. That numberplate block will be the same as the roof colour. Not that the photos really give you the true colours, because even during photographing, you could see the changes depending on the sun's activity while it played hidey!! For those interested in such things, I created the colours using the previous thistle photos on a Taubman's colour app called Coloursmith. It was great fun! The reason for bringing the roof paint colour down the wall in the little loops, is to distract the viewer from focusing on the horizontal plane of the lower roof section. You may recall that I mentioned earlier that I wasn't totally happy with the way I built that. I couldn't help the feeling of shades of Rubik's Kube with a couple of the colours, despite coming to the choices from a very different direction.
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Post by Roehm3108 on Mar 2, 2023 13:32:53 GMT 10
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Post by Roehm3108 on Feb 25, 2023 8:50:30 GMT 10
Sheet number 20 has finally been fitted and the cladding is complete. Still have some sealing work to do before adding a protective PSU and moving to the interior. Hilldweller, that 20 number seems to be it, doesn't it. It did include 4 x 3000mm sheets for the sides, as they were longer than the 2400mm standard sheets. I needn't have done that for the door side, but hindsight is a wonderful thing.
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Post by Roehm3108 on Feb 25, 2023 7:40:58 GMT 10
I knew you'd weigh into the discussion, DonR! Not being a huge TD fan, I'm happy for others to comment. Many years ago I considered building a TD, but decided against building something from which you have to step outside to change your mind!!! I do have a lay-persons question however - why would you tack a competitor's sign onto your own vehicle? In modern parlance, wouldn't it be like putting a Jayco sign on a Coromal caravan, or a Ford sign on a Holden car?
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Post by Roehm3108 on Feb 24, 2023 8:00:26 GMT 10
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Post by Roehm3108 on Feb 18, 2023 7:36:08 GMT 10
Congratulations for coming out of Vintage caravan restoration hibernation! With a lady like Mabel haunting you, I'm surprised it hadn't happened sooner. That is one complex corner window frame joint. More power to you for attempting to master the art of building the same. I'm sure you'll succeed, based on your past performance. Good luck with your project and just make sure you keep us posted. Going back to the previous stove chats for a minute. A huge inspiration for my Cino Vardo build was an American chap who had built one on similar lines. Even with such small vans, wood-burning stoves are still popular and you can see from this pic that this guy installed one too, just inside the rear door. It's pretty over-sized, but he got it for free!! They're OK as long as you make sure you have a hearth and insulated walls around them.
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Post by Roehm3108 on Feb 16, 2023 14:59:38 GMT 10
I must be slowing down! Finally got the front outer skin finished and the waterproofing compound fully done on the roof! I like numbers and when I checked to see how many sheets of plywood I originally bought - 20, it is nice to know that I only have two left to fit to the rear. So 90% of the inner and outer walls are done! It's so much slower when you only have one pair of hands. Won't get back to it again till next week, to do that final bit. With joints sealed:
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Post by Roehm3108 on Feb 13, 2023 19:20:00 GMT 10
This is an Australian site, so postage cost may be a problem
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Post by Roehm3108 on Feb 11, 2023 10:41:37 GMT 10
Have finally fitted the outer shell of the lower parts of the roof and sealed it against the vertical wall of the higher roof. This morning I applied one coat of waterproofing to the new sections and ran out of the compound, so need to make a trip to the BGS again. I have done the upper section with three coats of this compound and want to do the same with the lower part. As the forecast is for 35 degrees today, followed by 39 and 36 degrees after that, I think I'll take a break from using a brush for anything!! In hindsight, I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't venture into shaping the lines of the lower section of the roof the same as the upper section, (with the curves). Aesthetically I think it may have looked better, but going by the difficulties of bending this ply, it would have been much more difficult. I'll mark that down for when I come back in another life!! I have however made sure that the height of the section against the vertical part is 5mm higher that the outer wall, to lower the risk of ponding. As my foreman say, if it still does pond after that, wind the front up or down a bit!
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