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Post by doublechevron on Apr 1, 2014 13:10:43 GMT 10
Hi Guys, I purchased this old Chesney Pacemaker II on fleabay a couple of weeks back. It's remarkably tidy inside, and original. The guy I purchased from said he got it up in NSW from an elderly couple that were the original owners.............. When I went upto VicRoads to transfer it it was still in there name (so he'd never bothered to registered and transfer it down here).   The outside is rather "well used" and has had obvious repairs in the past. The side walls are a different colour.  This is my only concern with the caravan. It has overlapped bits of cladding down the side (this appears to be standard practice with Chesneys given the pictures I've found on the internet). So the look of it doesn't worry me, the fact it appears to have been removed for some reason then put back on very poorly does. Why would anyone need to remove a portion of wall sheet?? It's obviously the original wall section as it all lines up and matches in profile, the the side where it overlaps is flanged to overlap cleanly. I'm going to have to remove this and refit it properly. Does anyone know any "gotchas" that I should avoid.    The inside is amazing given this caravan would be 36years old!! There is next to no moisture damage to the caravan at all (bloody amazing). The 4seasons hatch and none of the windows have ever leaked. So what I"m going to do is pull all the corner trims off and windows out and re-seal it all (there is good instructions here on "hydraulicing" sealant into the windows and roof edges... I'll use butyl mastic as it appears to be the most recommended). Then give the whole caravan a fresh coat of paint. I have no idea what colour white is, so I might just head upto Protec paints in ballarat and see what sort of two pack urethane they suggest. A machinary white ( lower gloss ) would likely be far better than a high gloss automotive finish. I'll just fill the various marks around it's body with car filler (this doesn't phase me too much, I'm painted probably 10cars in the past). seeya, Shane L. |
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Post by doublechevron on Apr 1, 2014 13:12:38 GMT 10
I forgot to mention, the annexe rail, I chased up a period "Tebb" aussie made annexe for it..... But that annexe rail along the roof makes no sense to me, there is no "sleave" in it to pull the annex down ? Does anyone know how it works? It's a slightly 'U' shaped vertical channel.
seeya,
Shane L
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Post by bobandjacqui on Apr 2, 2014 6:49:24 GMT 10
I think that your van has the old Marconi type track on it. You need to change it over to sailtrack. Sailtrack can be bought from most aluminium stockists.
Cheers Bob.
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Post by doublechevron on Apr 22, 2014 23:04:13 GMT 10
Thanks, I'd never heard of that annex rail type ( I can't understand how it works by looking at it ). I'll get some sail track. Finally I've finished lifting up one of the crappy old sheds in my yard, so the caravan would clear under it....   This was the only thing that I was concerned about when I purchased this caravan. You can see a portion of the cladding has been removed and very poorly refitted.   The profile is correct, but you can see the line of pop rivets, and the poorly lapped sheets. One side does have is flanged, but poorly flanged, so it doesn't line up nicely.... This I could repair probably....  This is the bit I'm scratching my head about... See there is a raised part that overlaps the lower panel, but *not* on the section that's been removed... Rather it appears to be filled with silicon ( amazingly it appears to have never leaked !).  I figured whoever refitted the panel forgot to overlap the lip, and it would be hidden under silicon ... easy fit, remove and refit the panel....   Sadly this isn't case, the removed part overlaps by about 2cm, plenty to make a good leak free seal, but .... we really need this to overlap the lower sheet, rather than try to seal it. Not only is the silicon ugly, it also wasn''t keyed :eek: Why do poeple do that, if your going to stick/paint/seal something, sand the shine off first!!! I managed to peal a length of silicon straight out 'cos it let go with a bit of force from the shiny surface. No doubt this thing was repaired 20+ years ago, Does anyone have any bright ideas on how to fix?? Other than reseal the gap with a sikaflex type product that can be painted with the whole side of the caravan I'm not sure? I not even going to ask about buying replacement sheet, there's no way in a million years you'd find something with the correct profile seeya, Shane L. |
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Post by doublechevron on Apr 23, 2014 22:42:00 GMT 10
Hi all, well this is interesting.... I whipped out my trusty pocket knife and ran it around the window, and it popped right out. um ................. i wasn't exactly expecting that .....   Oh boy, that's going to have to be trimed and overlapped to the outside where it can be viewed. I can't leave it like that :eek:  It appears it needs a "pitburg seam" there. It would be impossible to fold onto the sheet though... Has anyone struck this before. I wonder if I can get the "pitsburg seam" folded on there if I remove the sheet. seeya Shane L. |
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Post by ForumMod on May 11, 2014 20:47:55 GMT 10
G'day Shane, I'm catching up with your thread after being away for 3 weeks... Just to give you a bit more info about the old marconi annexe track - it was the method used back in the late '50s up to the early '70s, before sail track became available. Your van has the brass track fitted to it, and the original annexe would have had little brass clips fitted to it at regular spacings. The clips slide along the track. See this thread on our sister forum for Vintage Caravans for pictures of the little clips. The side cladding on your van will probably not have the Pittsburg seam. That seam was usually used on the roof. I would tend to think your van would have the other style of seam where the bottom sheet fits up into a seam in the sheet above it. There's a name given to this particular type of seam, but I can't remember what it is at the moment. It is described in the following link for information on the CaravansPlus website, and it was used on the sides of the 1977 Millard poptop that I restored a few years ago...  I can't make any sense out of how the cladding was refitted in your photos. Not a very professional job at all, by the looks of it. Hope you manage to get it all sorted out properly. cheers, Al. |
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Post by doublechevron on May 17, 2014 23:19:31 GMT 10
Thanks! I didn't realise someone had replied to my messages here I have a few posts over on the caravaners forum about it. I did remove the wall sheet....  They sure are nicely built these old things, even the window corners appear to be a nylon/plastic not wood.  I trimmed up and overlapped the panel to the OUTSIDE!! tucking under the lower sheet and trying to sell it up with goop is crazyness! This was obviously repaired when the caravan was quite new and the wallsheet was still available. What ever you do don't tell my wife the easiest way I found to cut the cladding!! I then re-installed the sheet using a polyurethane sealer (sandable and paintable).   To get around the ugly overlapping lines, I bought a roll of automative bump strip and ran it down the seems. This is the stage I'm at now. When the polyurethane sealer dries I'll sand it all slightly to match and prime. With it all painted white it should look fine. It doesn't look like I've done much here at all.... But I''ve spent a lot of hours labouriously removing all the old sealer, then wire brushing all of the edges. I've sanded/keyed the entire wall ready for painting. Slapped some bog over any low bits, high bits where the frame has bent the sheets slightly looks "right" to me for an old aluminium framed van so stays. With the sealing up bit, that cabcar over on the caravan forum suggest Bostik seal 'n' flex to seal them up (that I haven't yet found locally). What I have found at the local bunnings store is Selleys "flexyseal" polyurthane sealer. This should be perfect, the main thing is I don''t want an adhesive .... 'cos the 'van will then be permanently stuck together. A bit over $10 for a sausage of the stuff is cheap too ( and it unlike silicon can be sanded and painted). caravanersforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=103&t=46725Rainmaker over on the caravan forum painted his caravan with supercheap enamel would you believe ... $60buxs a tin ( amazingly cheap). He reckons the stuff was brilliant (given he's been a spray painter, I'll go with his recomendation).  Across the front has quite a lot of stone strike marks, so what I'll probably do is spray the bottom 1/3rd with water based stone guard painting before spraying (I've used it in the past, and it was remarkably good). The fun part is when this is done ............ I still have half a caravan to go ! Imagine if it was a 20+foot long 'van, it would take me forever to finish! |
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Post by ForumMod on May 18, 2014 20:27:31 GMT 10
It might seem like a lot of hours spent doing very little, doublechevron, but that's the nature of these restorations, hey?! Lots and lots of hours doing preparation work, and then suddenly one day you end up with a finished van.  Any progress is good progress!  cheers, Al. |
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Post by doublechevron on May 30, 2014 22:35:37 GMT 10
Here's something interestingn.... That front window... I'm going to paint the front and side wall and seal them, then do the other side an rear wall. My first thought was "some moron has replaced all the screws with wood screws"........ hmmm...    The window fell out easily .... There appears to be no sealer really anywhere. Note: how clean and shiny the whole edge is.... It's obviously never leaked ....  behind the cladding looks brand new ... amazing given the age of the thing. How has it not leaked with no sealer there? Note: the front wall is wooden, not alloy... that's why the windows fitted iwth wood screws.   It's like a firm'ish rubber. It's a shame I can't re-use it ... given it's never leaked. I'll use foam tape and rubber butyl as suggested by the cabcar guy over on the caravan forum when I refit it. seeya, shane L. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2014 23:02:37 GMT 10
Hi Shane, Good looking job so far. Can I ask what you used to 'bog' the paneling? Looking at possible doing the same to our current reno project Cheers Sue |
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Post by doublechevron on Jun 17, 2014 11:50:52 GMT 10
Hi Sue, it's just standard automotive filler from the local auto-paints store. It's not like painting a car, I've only got it "close enough". You'd spend 1/2lifetime trying to get caravan cladding perfect. The cladding is *really* soft. I just left "highs" where the frame below it. the alloy frames tend to bend the cladding outward slightly where it's been pushed on. The wooden frame caravans wouldn't do this as the wood is a lot wider. I've struggled a lot 'cos the existing paint on this keeps frying up where ever I apply primer or even enamel pressure pack paint... So you end up chasing your tail in circles. Fortunately that supercheap enamel white doesn't cause it to fry. I did spray a coat of white enamel on it last week..... Wow I made a mess, I couldn't tell outside in the sun the gun was splattering like crazy and causing runs at the same time LOL..... Oh well, it's a nice guide coat for me to sand back for a better finish I'm going to use the supercheap enamel as a "sealer" coat by dusting it on, then give it a good solid coat to give a good finish. This time I'll setup the gun under some lighting and put the 2.0 needle/seat into it. seeya, Shane L. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2014 12:29:15 GMT 10
Lol, sounds like fun! Thanks for the info Shane, can't wait to see more Cheers Sue |
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Post by doublechevron on Jul 21, 2014 13:47:28 GMT 10
This is what I was working with when I tried to paint it outside.... hopeless to see how the paint was going on...  Hopeless right Anyway, I haven't been able to do anything for ages, as it's simply way to cold. Finally I decided I'd just see what happens. I picked a day that wasn't too humid...  The temperature made the paint thick ... probably 8degrees ... sigh .. but it applied quite well, didn't blush due to the coldness and still dried quickly. That supercheap enamel sure it surprising. It didn't apply perfectly everywhere 'cos I couldn't really see the wet edge when I was spraying it (gee's white is a nuts of a colour to see how it's applying. If it was a deep red or blue/black ... you'd see how it's going on as it came out of the gun). The kids helped mask up and paint the stripes down the side..... Oh yeah, don't use the bunnings masking tape ... The bloody paint wicks under the edges of it and you don't end up with clean lines. We'll get the other two sides a lot better  You can see where I applied stoneguard under the paint across the lower front too hide a lot of the stone strikes. It doesn't need to be perfect after all. It's just an old caravan that's worth next to nothing, I just want it too look neat and clean .......... and most importantly not leak! seeya, shane L. |
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Post by ForumMod on Jul 21, 2014 20:57:25 GMT 10
G'day Shane, That doesn't look too bad, hey?! I remember when I was restoring the Millard poptop, and spraying parts of the cladding with aerosol spray cans (first time ever spraying anything of larger size). The finish wasn't all that professional, but somebody on this forum mentioned at the time, "if it looks good from 10 metres away, then it's a good job." And from 10 metres away, I have to say it looked pretty impressive. I don't own that van anymore, but I did get to catch up with it at a Vintage caravan event back in May, and it still looks pretty good even after the 4 years since I finished its restoration. Which means that many onlookers will also be pretty impressed with how your van looks, even if it doesn't quite measure up to professional standards.  The front lower half of the cladding on the Millard poptop was riddled with "salt and pepper" indentations from flying road gravel when I bought it. As much as I tried to panelbeat them out to a more smoother surface, you could still see the remnants of the pock marks. When I saw the van again this year, the new owners had bought some thin rubber sheeting from Clarke Rubber, and sikaflexed it to the lower half to cover the marks. Then they'd put a cover strip across the top of the rubber from side to side. It certainly made the van look heaps better than how I finished that section, and will hopefully give them quite a few years of protection from stones. I just remembered that somebody posted a photo of the Millard poptop on the Vintage forum from when it was at Broken Hill back in May, so I've copied the photo and posted it here. You can see in between the towels on the front towel rail, how the rubber sheeting was fixed...  That might be an idea worth pursuing if you want to improve the look of the front of your van. cheers, Al. |
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Post by doublechevron on Jul 22, 2014 22:13:30 GMT 10
Thanks Al, yeah it should look quite tidy when finished. I never intended getting it "perfect", just tidy. I like it, every time I see the bodgy "to wide" light blue stripe across that fridge vent, it'll remind me of how excited the kids were masking the side of it up, and having a go at spraying the stripes LOL. I should be out there now doing the other side (stripping all the old sealer off). It's bloody cold though.... 0degrees out there .... I guess all the scraping off of sealer would keep you warm though The vinyl across the front is a good idea. It'll no doubt happen at some point in the future. This is what the stoneguard finish looks like. It's applied with a stoneguard gun prior to the colour being sprayed  seeya, Shane L. |
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Post by Sharky on Jul 24, 2014 23:47:52 GMT 10
Nice pickup and reno there Shane, looks good
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Post by doublechevron on Aug 19, 2014 22:47:02 GMT 10
Wouldn't it drive you crazy.... I wanted to convert the HT 14" holden wheels on the caravan to HQ 14" wheels to match the same stud pattern as the trailers here.... that way they could share tires/spares etc... I purchased some replacement drums off ebay after getting the seller to measure them all up. They appeared identical. I just went to fit them up. Can you believe it, the rear bearing seat sits 4mm deeper in the HQ drums. Yep didn't see that coming. So I can't use them unless I change the backing plates, pads and mounts.
Bloody frustrating right ?
seeya,
Shane L.
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Post by doublechevron on Sept 11, 2014 11:56:43 GMT 10
I've been doing some tinkering on the old caravan over the last few weeks. The lights didn't really work when I towed this home. I've wired the old tug in the past with both flat and 7pin round. All of my trailers are 7pin round. So first step is to change the caravan to match, that way any of the cars can tow it in a pinch if required.  The wiring into the plug was pretty suss.... I snipped the wiring harness itself back to the drawbar and still found traces of black rot when the wires were stripped.... So I taped some fresh 7pin wiring cable to the existing wiring and pulled it back through the drawbar.......  Look what was in the wiring that I pulled out of the drawbar... bloody crappy rotten old wiring joiner .... urgh.... with traces of black rot in the wiring both sides (wow, just as well I decided to replace the wiring the lenght of the drawbar, I'd never have found this otherwise and had endless issues with the caravans lights.  Fortunately I found the original factory wiring was perfect back at the caravan body itself. The replacement crappy chinese 7pin cable has about 50% of the wiring thickness of the nice old wiring used 30+years ago when this was made  Oh well, at least it's new and not rotten! I just soldered the wiring in and covered everything with heatshrink. Those crappy old screw type wirring joiners have no place under a caravan! seeya, Shane L. |
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Post by doublechevron on Sept 11, 2014 13:28:46 GMT 10
There's was quite a bit of work in this side too... there was several larger dents I slapped some bog over in the doors. I removed all the old broken annexe wall clips and filled the holes. The old marconni type annexe rail was removed too.   I struggled to get the supercheap white to apply reasonably again. You would either have it not anatomizing and splattering .... or you'd apply more and have runs. I did figure it out. The stuff always runs.... What you need to do is dust/splatter a first coat on .... once this is there, you can then spray it on so it applies correctly (I ended up hosing it on with a 2mm tip in the gun). It doesn't run if you have the first patchy/light coat on. And leaves you with a nice wet edge so you can see what's going on.  the sail track is about $35 bucks from the local caravan joint. They said I need to fit it with a bead of silicon on the back. I left thinking "what sort of fool would plaster bloody awful silicon over the side of there caravan that's impossible to clean off for no reason"..... Yes I realised why by the time I got home. If you don't run a bead of silicone behind it, it'll leak water down the caravan wall if it rains!   If you check the rivets that hold the cladding on ... Running a straight edge up the side of these will give you the fixing points on the sail rail... so your attaching the the wall frame uprights. Not just the soft, fragile cladding. |
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Post by doublechevron on Sept 11, 2014 13:47:12 GMT 10
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Post by doublechevron on Sept 11, 2014 13:58:31 GMT 10
 You can generate so much pressure pushing the sealing through as you gently touch down the screws, that you can blow the foam seal out! I'll just let it cure a bit, clean it up (if possible) and push the foam seal back in to protect the butyl mastic from the sun/weather.   I'm slowly getting there. All of the windows are now back in, so are the rear light housings.   The edging strips are quite battered and took a hell of a lot of cleaning. I gave them a quick coat of paint to make them look a little presentable. The rear light housings are incredibly fragile/aged plastic. I've painted them to protect them from the elements a little. I really only need to refit the side edging and setup the annex so I can pop rivet the new wall clips to the wall in the correct positions. I'm every so slowly getting there. seeya Shane L. |
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Post by doublechevron on Sept 11, 2014 14:05:51 GMT 10
 I guess I should chase up some "Pacemaker II" stickers for the side of it too. There's quite a few ebay shops that sell vinyl letter stickers. Has anyone tried using them before ? seeya, Shane L. |
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Post by doublechevron on Sept 11, 2014 15:14:43 GMT 10
Out of interest... Just look how all the small amounts you spend tidying something up accumulates. $215 wheels & tires x 2 delivered to my doorstep. stores.ebay.com.au/SS-Tyres-and-Parts?_trksid=p2047675.l2563 **Highly recommended. $80 Stainless steel screws. Both self drilling metal and wood. stores.ebay.com.au/Fasteners-Galore?_trksid=p2047675.l2563 **Highly Recomended. -10g x 22mm x 200quantity wafer head square drive self drilling G410 stainless $40 -8g x 3/4" x 100quantity 19mm metal self cutting G316 stainless steel $20 -8g x 3/4" x 100quantity 19mm self tapping wood G316 stainless steel $20 $30 10amp power outlet (weather proof two pole) stores.ebay.com.au/Electrician-Wholesale-Direct?_trksid=p2047675.l2563 ##Recommded $35 New clipsal 15amp power inlet stores.ebay.com.au/ChristmasLightShop?_trksid=p2047675.l2563 **recommended $45 Annexe rail and water filler inlet www.ballaratcaravans.com.au/ ##Local pickup, very helpful people. Highly recommended. $150 8litres of supercheap white enamal. 2litres of enamel reducer, 1litre of prepwash. $35 killrust expoxy enamal for drawbar/chassis bunnings $40 sandpaper/stoneguard paint. J&D auto paints ballarat ( as always highly recommended) $55 8 x Sika Roof and gutter white -- bunnings $20 aluminium pop rivets -- bunnings $50 new jockey wheel, 7pin round plug, 5meters of 7core wire -- sunday market $38 4 x foam weatherseal for windows $35 foam tape caravansplus.com.au/ (highly recommended) $35 4 x ezy caulk (rubber butyl sealant) caravansplus.com.au/ **highly recommended. $45 new annex wall clips and door roller caravansplus.com.au/$60 pressure pack paints ... bunnings... for side stripes etc. $355 used Tebbs period annexe won on ebay. So our "cheap" $2500 caravan has already had $1325 minimum spent on it before it's even turned a wheel. Hopefully we will have a tidy leak free caravan for a considerable time into the future though! I guess we'd easily get the $3800 that it owes us if we ever tried to sell it |
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Post by atefooterz on Sept 11, 2014 17:40:29 GMT 10
Top quaity work there Shane, looking awesome, that all weather external 240V outlet looks impressively practical.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2014 19:29:39 GMT 10
Great job Shane - I'm impressed!
Cheers,
Des
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Oh well, at least it's new and not rotten! I just soldered the wiring in and covered everything with heatshrink. Those crappy old screw type wirring joiners have no place under a caravan!
