Our Touring Past

Gday Reddo. You bought a sliding trailer eh - TDouble (expander) coming up next? We`ll wait & see what you decide to cook up. gordo

jennison wrote:I have thought of the perfect resto job for you Reddo....you need to find and get hold of the WW2 jennison ambulance caravan, then you can lay down and get repaired on the job without any downtime
jenno

Hows about this baby whilst hunting down a Jenno ambo?

http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_trks ... &_from=R40

Yeah yeah.... I know I have been a bit slack..
What with running up and down the coast buying old motorbikes , checking out vintage vans at Moruya , as well as bidding on a van I use to "Waltz" with( but foolishly sold it to Bart and Jules) there has been little time for tiny teardrop construction.

Have bought the spring mount brackets/slipper boxes for the TD and have a new 40mm round axle and hubs to suit 13" Holden rims.
Just have to find the time to weld the slipper brackets in place and buy a pair of springs.. porobably 3 leaf will be plenty heavy enough for a 8x4 TD. 1/2 a days work slapping the rolling stock together and the chassis ... could... be rolling. ... just missing enthusiasm !!!

Yawwwnnnn.... back to the lounge and TV remote..

Reddoingbuggerall

Sniff sniff.... smell that ???
That my friends is the smell of progress... with a bit of sindged hair.. and congealed blood mix in
I launched a full on offensive on the TD today...
Determined to get it rolling .....I attacked at daylight.
First up was weld on the spring mounts...
I got these from Felk trailers... the boat trailer mob. Cold gal dipped. $50 ea.
I had fiddled with the axle location last week and got what I hope is the right position.... partly determined by where the wheel looked the best when I stood it next to the van... and.. partly influenced by balance/towball weight... Anyway.. if its wrong now it will just have to stay there...

also welded in a front brace just behind the coupling to take the jockey wheel later on. Gave the whole thing a coat of galmet paint

Once the spring mounts where both in place i went searching for an axle I had rejected when I built the NECOT TD. 40mm round and luckily about the right length.
Had to grind off the locator tags and move then 20mm inwards on either side.
With that done I went and brought 3 leaf ( 300kg ) slipper springs @ $22 ea.
I figured the TD wont weigh anywhere near 600kg when finished and loaded. Any heavier springs and it would have bounced and jarred the van to pieces on the road.
Slapped the springs in..
Dug up to 13" Holden hubs and gave em a good clean and repack with grease. Bunged em on the axle.


Used two of the panelvan 13 X 6 rims with radials to get it rolling...


The mudguard brackets stick out about 240mm from the chassis rails and the tyres are 260mm to the outside wall.
The radials are 200mm wide..

There is a company on ebay that roll guards for rods.. trailers.. one tonner tubs etc.. they have the guards I want for $55 ea.. plus a bit of postage from Wodonga..
A lot easier and tidier than chasing up old bike or car mudguards and then having to weld up holes and modify them to suit.. here is the link if anyone is chasing some..
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Mini-Tubs-Go ... 4d1cae8684
Check his other items.. has all shapes and sizes.

That's it for now...next step is to get the body back in the shed painted and sealed underneath and on to the chassis....
Cheers
Reddo

Reddo

Hi All

Another day of messin with the TD..
Today kiddies we have a lesson in weights and breadcrumbs.... umm, fulcrums.
Centre of gravy .. umm gravity..... pivot point etc etc...
Pythageris would have been proud of me...
The Egyptian pyramid builders would have signed me up if I was around back in their days..

Yup..... moving mountains with trailers.. ceiling trusses and motorcycle tie downs...

First up was the task of loading the TD body back on the box trailer and transporting it back into the shed of invention.. no probs..
Then ..
align the TD rolling stock behind the box trailer and attach motorboik tiedowns to rafters and roof of TD

Snig each side up a bit at a time to lift the TD body off the box trailer.
Remove trailer and leave it dangling...

See ... centre of gravity.. point of balance......what did the Egyptians have that I aint got.. dead bloody easy....
Hack out bits n pieces that will foul on the chassis when lowered into place.. Then slip rolling stock under....Cooooool.



Let body down onto chassis and check all is onkey doorey


Secure body to chassis...all done for today


Now that it isn't sitting up on wobbley old car stands I can get focused on doing some of the inside work.

Im happy.. so is Cleopatra. Gotta to go take the camels for a walk ... you should see the size of the bag I have to take to scoop their poop.
Reddo

Well she`s certainly coming along quite nicely Reddo.Gotta be happy with the look. gordo

Yeah .. thanks Gordo....
As you work on these things ya get a feeling of reaching different milestones.
Once it is rolling on wheels you feel as though you have "turned a corner" and progress is being made.

I was heading to the big green barn today to buy 4 litres of 3 in 1 primer sealer undercoat.( $63.00). was driving along thinking about what to do with the outside. Then I remembered
Capral Aluminium.. only 5 mins down the road.
So.. I called in..
A sheet of flat smooth 0.6 x1200 x 2400 polished alumimium is $26.00... wwwwwaaaaaayyyyy cool.
Why would I bother slapping 2 or 3 coats of primer and 2 coats of top coat on the raw ply outside when I can sika a sheet on either side for $26 ea .. ?? Its a no brainer.. and I fall into that category
Hell yeah.. I can even do the roof and hatch lid...but I will skin them with 3 ply before I alloy sheet em..
Way things are going this TD will be the exact opposite to the NECOT TD.. all alloy with a timber flash

All good..
More later. I gotta get some sleep.. I am off to meet an old flame tomorrow.. no .. not the acetylene bottles.. a different sort of 'Old Flame"

Reddonepainting
Reddo

Hi
As most of you know by now I have recently bought back "Matilda" the 1954 Bondwood Fairway van I use to own back in 2006/7.
She needs a bit of TLC .
So to free up some shed space I am offering you guys first dibs at buying the TD project in its present state.
I have just finished undercoating every thing.
Comes as seen in the photos ( except the wheels.. they are off my EH panelvan. I will supply a couple of early holden wheels and tyres)... asking $1200 to cover materials so far.

I guess if there is no interest here I will list it on ebay at 1200 start .. no reserve.. if no one takes it from there I will wrap it up and store it until such times that I get "Matilda" tidied up ... then resume work on it.. Bare in mind that the TD was always going to be offered for sale when finished...
Here is an opportunity for someone to buy it and finish it off to there own taste.... colours , wheels, guards, internal and kitchen space options are endless.
Anyway .. please consider and get back to me if you are interested.

Reddo

Yo...
A few more hour of progress today..
Built a new tailgate /bootlid.
Cut down the existing 2 side rails from 150mm to 75mm. cut 4 new cross rails. screwed together. Trial fitted.

Clamped and sanded side rails so they are exactly the same shape as the body of the TD.
Then cut a couple of corner gussets to help keep the frame square..... (screwed a temp bace across three of the cross slats later on)... all good.
Sat the frame back in place and got to thinking about a hinge.. .
Was going to use a length of "Hurricane Hinge" that Koala used on his TD a while back...
Then I got to thinking there is another way to hinge the lid without using a hinge.... if that makes sense
With the frame sitting exactly in place I drilled a hole in the body of the van to line up about 15mm in and 25mm down from the frame corner on either side.
Then screwed in a 75mm X 10g woodscrew through the bondwood body and into the end of the top cross rail......

Grabbed hold of the rear of the frame and gently lifted it up .. waiting for it to bind on the vertical cross wall of the kitchen....
But it cleared it all the way up.... .. as the tailgate rises .. the front of the lid at the hinged point actually drops and comes away from the wall... couldn't believe my luck

With it fully open there is about a 10mm gap.... with it closed it has about a 3mm gap between tailgate frame and kitchen cross wall of van.

I spent the rest of the arvo dreaming about how to waterproof the gap ...
In the end.. answer is dead set simple.. just drill and mount a length of 25mm wide J mould to the roof so it protrudes 20mm over the join and rubs on the tailgate lid when shut.
If I do have trouble with leaks later I can also use a 50mm wide strip of rubber across the gap like I did on the first TD .."Splinter Hilton"..
So.. at the end of the day.. not a massive amount done.. but... progress just the same.
I spent the rest of my free time removing the sports steering wheel off the EH panno and putting the original one back on... man.. it feels like I am driving a mack truck with that big wheel... but hey.. at least the horn doesn't beep everytime I go around a corner now like it did with the cheap Chinese racing wheel on it..
Can cure the problem .. but not for a while now.
Reddo

Well you screwed that up good & proper didn`t you Reddo - so to say.Sometimes it`s the simplest things that work. Some bling lights & handle & it`ll look the part. gordo