1974 Viscount Royal R44140

Hi Camich

Sounds like something I did around a month or so ago. Your plan also sounds similar to ours, keep the outside looking as close to original as possible but refit the interior to our needs. Enjoy the resto, I will watch the progress intently knowing the joy and fun that you will benefit from doing up a classic van.

O yeah, more pics please.

Cheers
Gav.

Kitchen and front

can anyone tell me how to add multiple photos to a post

OK so here goes, work has begun

Dismantling the interior...






Removing the Gun rack !!



I thought rather than just rip everything out I would try and dismantle the interior, so this is what I have done. The whole van has been stripped but I have been careful in the dismantle. That is the cupboards I jigsawed the front off, the kitchen the same. I have left the overhead cupboards in. Apart from the front RHS wall which was rotten I carefully pulled the walls and the same as the roof and both ends, and floor. The intent is that I might be able to use the peaces as templates, maybe I wont, but the little bit of extra care and patience gives me the option.

So its down to its socks and undies now. will post some pics soon

Ok so I have been busy on the van. Once the van had been completely stripped inside, my thoughts were to clean up the chassis, paint and refloor so I started to check out the chassis thoroughly
The chassis was actually pretty solid with only surface rust so that was a good start but
The main rails and main end and rear beams are only constructed of 75mm x 35mm C channel which flexes enormously at locations were there is any force on it such as the side wall supports, the entry step and of course the drawbar.
Someone, maybe factory, had fitted a rear bumper and the spare wheel was attached on the LHS of that, the weight of the spare wheel had over time resulted in the LH rail bending down at the rear by over 50mm
Measuring diagonally the whole chassis was out of square approx 50mm I suspect caused by the drawbar twisting the front half of the main rails.

I really didn’t want to go to the effort of rebuilding the van itself if the basis of the van wasn’t structurally square and solid. The factory chassis is of very light construction and really in my mind simply just not strong enough. There is certainly no way anything can be mounted on the rear of the van such as a rear bar. I would also think it reasonable that most of the leaks that occur around the windows on these vans are probably originally caused by chassis flex. I don’t know if this van has just had a hard time or whether most vans of this construction suffer similar issues.

So anyway enough said, I set about constructing a new chassis that would be square, straight, strong and allow a rear bumper if needed.

Photos
Getting it square 100mm x 50mm Gal


I cut the centre out of the factory chassis and trimmed it up to fit the new chassis. I figured with some additional cross-sectioanl bracing this would be solid enough



Drawbar bracing using 50mm x 25mm square tubing. Nice strong gussets


Cross sectional bracing for wall supports


New Axle and Electric brakes, 7 leaf eye to eye leaf springs. Set up the handbrake.


Finished chassis

Fitting the new chassis under the old girl. Fair job lifting the van up and cutting the old rails out, blocked the new chassis in under the van and used the new corner stands to lift the chassis and level it. The lowered the van down onto the chassis and welded in place.










Finally repaired and welded in the original step with cross-sectional bracing


All finished, added weight approx 80kg. Now I can begin the rebuild

great job you are doing there, keep up the good work and keep the pictures coming. Looks so much like ours except our chassis was sound. We are just in the process of doing all the windows.

I gotta say you boys and girls never cease to amaze me with the into it boots and all some with litte or no experance in the field of welding carpentry paint it really is a great forum if for no other reason but to aide others
JOLLY GOOD SHOW ALL

I imagine that the builders didnt expect the windows to ever leak !!, Chipboard is also cheaper than timber or plyboard so from a manufacturing point of view over the number of vans built would probably be more attractive

Observing how the window is screwed in place and the fact that the upright supports between the curved windows and the inside windows are screwed from underneath I would take a guess that the whole window (2 outside and central) was constructed and installed as one piece, hence you end up with that strange gap under the whole window. So the bottom shelf is actually being supported by the top shelf via the central window. It is little wonder that the window starts to leak over time with some unavoidable movement of the whole frame and chassis flex combined with the chipboard both top plate and bottom plate/shelf swelling and drying out over and over, and the outside bottom starts to drop away from the top.

I am now considering recreating the original method and remove the whole frame, rebuild and reinstall as one unit. I think that a better seal would be achieved, but I need to think this one through a bit more

Cameron

Hi Camich,
I was also thinking of making the windows up in one unit, maybe replace those strange tin wrapped uprights with alluminium box tube and plate it all top and bottom so that I am sealing metal to metal.
Sealing timber to wood is never a good move IMHO!
I haven't quite got my head round it yet either, but there's no hurry!
Alex

Yeah, interesting that with the rivets, my roof hatches were the same with rivet tails left in the sealer, naughty Mr Viscount.
To reseal the roof I have gone with sikaflex, this stuff wont let go and seals wel, we used it on everything when I was coach building and rarely got anything back with water leaks. Check the use first and prime the surface before applying the sikaflex.

Cheers
Gav.

G'day Cameron,

You won't find these Viscount stickers around anymore. People have got replacements for other brands of vans, made by the vinyl sign makers, but they ain't cheap. I wonder whether a can of black paint and a steady hand might give an acceptable result, by touching up what you already have?

cheers,
Al.