Our Touring Past

Howdy...

Why cant they make caravans with no windows and doors...
It would make restoring a whole lot quicker...
Making and fitting the door has slowed things down a bit ... but with time , comes results

Finished making the small hinge open door with key lock as well as nailing in some 10mm X 10mm mould behind the small door as a weather seal / stopper.




Then fitted the main door long hinge and the small door hinge..... Trial fitted.


A bit neat as it rubbed on the striker plate side of the door..

So i took to the door with a belt sander and ripped it down a couple of mill to allow clearance when painted.
Refitted and checked everything cleared properly and it even looks like someone that knew what they where doing had built it...


The left side door jam looked like it had been hit with a shotgun blast... It has had 3 or 4 different types of strile plates and catches cut into its skinny little 45 X 25mm body over the years... This in turn had made the stud "wonkey" for want of a better word...
We dont use the word "unstable" in the Shed of Invention... That is reserved for the owner of the shed

So.. I Cut the stud out and renewed it.. again.. another fiddley job.
I havent fitted the door lock mech yet.. still looking for a period old square lock and key to mount on the back of the door.. I have the 2 round brass knobs, the shaft , 1 brass outer ring and key escutcheon that i picked up at a garage sale at Jindabyne on the 2014 tour.

The side of the van and the 2 doors are all primed and ready to paint... just waiting for the red stuff in the thermometer to get up past "20"so i can get on with applying the first of 2 top coats...

Once thats done i can start moving towards the inside.. rebuilding the entry step which is bent downwards and rusted through in either corner...

Cheers
Reddo

Thanks Reddo,
Love seeing your progress!
hughdeani

Murrurundi here we come !!!!

Hi Reddo,

What a great van you have. It was great to read your progress posts and seeing the photos.

I look forwards to seeing more.

By the sounds of it you may be taking it to Christmas in July ?? It'll be great to see if thats the case.

Best of luck finishing it off.

Monica

Hi Guys

Thanks for the kind words
Dont let Strugglebrook cloud reality for you.

The facts are the van needs a LOT of work. Sure.... i could bang the windows in it.
Slide the axle, springs and brakes back under it and get it out of the shed and rolling before July..
However.. i would have to bring it back home from Murrurundi.. pull the axle and springs back out from underneath and slide it back in the shed to recommence work on the inside..
A lot of fiddling around / double handling just for a weekend away.

I dont wanna rush things ...and i dont wanna make predictions on when it will see the light of day again..
However...
I would like to have it somewhere near completed for the Shellharbour V.V get together in October.... or if things really get a roll on... i might make it to The Broke Village Fair in September ??
After that it will get its wheels run of it at just about every van weekend / tour that comes along.

As you all know i am not much into static displays nowadays.. Rather be touring... out in the scrub somewhere with the van... a campfire.... comfy chair....a beer in hand .. and having a laugh with good friends... Its these sort of thoughts that keeps me focused on getting the van finished
By the time most people get to see it .... it will be carrying stone chips , battle scars , highway bugs and look like its never had a makeover ( I wont use the word restorer as i am not a restorer... if i knew how to change the word "Resto " in the title of this thread i would ).

One thing i am really looking forward to is wake up in the morning .. or arvo if i have had a big night before..and being being able to stand up to get dressed in the van ... after a few years of " teardropping " it will be a luxury to wake up, and then stand up without having to threadle my carcass through the teardrop door before getting vertical for the day... Anyone who has ever lived out of a teardrop for a few weeks will know what i am talking about

Hope to finish fitting the door locks, strike plates , dust seals, J mould eyebrow over door etc today..
More progress pix later..
Cheers
Reddo

Reddo, as stated in a PM I sent you some time ago "I'm back!" And it is has been great following this thread. Really well done mate. The fact that you have taken the time to take photos, upload them to photobucket and then construct a narrative with them in it should be given due credit. Many thanks for doing that as you have provided me with some ideas to "borrow" for the Domino's van that you flick-passed onto me. I think the addition of the front and rear metal and the stained timber piece across the top adds a great feature and is certainly practical for maintenance after your short touring trips (much easier to clean away road debris and insects). I might borrow the idea for the door too (as the Domino's van needs either bracing or replacement altogether). I'm even going to use oil-based paints on the van too Slot headed screws could be stretching it
Keep up the good work.
HALPS
Brisbane

Hiya Halps

Yeah mate... Got your message and typed up a long winded reply. Unfortunately the site shuts down after 20 mins of typing etc. So if you havent finished and sent the message by then , you loose the lot..
I was a bit more than slightly peeved when that happen and i never got around to retyping the message. Need to type it up in word then copy and paste it over here on the forum..

Dont ask me why the system does that??..... to me you be able to be on here as long as need be .. then post your message.. not having to resort to using word and dropping the info in from over there...

Anyway mate.. pleased to read in your PM that the outside of the box with the dots has been painted up and you have moved on into the interior.

Good to hear you will be using oil based paint too ... dont let the kids and greenies at Bunnings convince you that "coloured water " will stick properly to timber.

As for Slot Heads .... ... I will let you explain yourself when Slot Head Bob finds out you have been .. "Sinning "

Cheers mate
Reddo

Good morning Mr Halps,
I would love to see some progress pictures of the van as we owned the little Purdon before Bargwon Reddo.

Cheers JD.

Sure, I'll start my own thread in the near future so that I don't hijack Reddo's evolving story of his resto.
Warm regards, HALPS (Brisbeckistain)

Onya Halps..
Will be good to see a few pix of the old Purdon.
I use to get a giggle when the strugglebrooks bought the Dominos box on the tours.
I could look back over a line of up to 14 vans and see the roof of the purdon with its red and blue blotches

Bit of action in the S.O.I this week... no call outs to work so got a straight run for a few days on the van
Finished off the door(s)...
Ages ago i was scouting a few junk mounds in the neighbouring street footpaths. A happy scrappy pulled up with a load of treasures on the back... so i started ratting around his ute instead of the junk piles. Ended up scoring about 8 metres of 600mm wide brass gauze mesh... sweet.
So the van door now sports some shiney new mesh... and hopefully there will be enough to do the rest of the windows when i get around to them


Finished off all the knobs, door latches and locks.
I have set up the cabin latch on the flyscreen door so that it can be flicked across forward as an extra security measure .. so that if the door locking mech fails the cabin latch will stop the door from slamming back against the side of the van
It is positioned so that the main door can still be opened and closed while the screen door is held by the cabin latch back in the fully opened position... Hence the 3 little keeper loops on the van


Next item on the agenda was the footwell.
This had suffered badly over the years and was bent into a banana shape.
I cut a section of 50 X 25 steel and made a "brace under the leading edge of the step. this is secured up either side to the chassis outriggers.
Nice and straight.. and will never bend again!!
Gave it a hit with some rust converter.. will leave as is until the interior is finished and do it last


From there i found myself sanding in the van looking at the ceiling.. i figured it should be next on the tro do list.. and so it was .
Wash down.. sand and 2 coats of semi gloss white.


Finished that and have moved on to repairs on the back wall..


I intend painting the walls at either end under the windows in the same blue as the little door in the photo. The side walls will be the same colour as outside . All the cupboard doors will be the same blue... wont know how it will look ??... might have to drop a bit of white in the blue to lighten /pale it.??
Trial and error.... i am an expert on error

More later.
Reddontstopnow.