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Post by Felicity on Aug 28, 2013 23:32:24 GMT 10
Hi Andy, I just bought a 1978 ACT cruiser and would be very kean to see the windup conversion pages you have, I am in a wheelchair most of the time and have been searching everywhere for how to convert these campers to an easier lift system If you are unable to post all 20 on this forum (not sure if there are restrictions ?) Would you please email them to me at felicity@iprimus.com.au Thanks,
Now about your windup modifications. My ACT Camper is a windup and I am happy to sort you out with any photos etc but I can actually go one better. I checked the pile of papers I got when I bought it and I found a booklet called Assembly Instructions for Camp Care Conversion Kit. This appears to be a step by step instructions for converting the ACT camper to a windup. It has diagrams, colour photos and detailed instructions. All up it's about 20 pages of information. I will scan it today and then I just need to work out how to upload it to the forum. Andy
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2013 0:59:11 GMT 10
Hi Again Have registered with the forum (My 1st post above) This is some photos of the 1978 ACT cruiser I just purchased. Just a quick question, I noticed some of the photos posted of the same caravan some of you have somthing that may be missing on mine or you may have added, an extra piece of canvas ( it looks like cavas on the photo's) going accross the top of the beds. Have searched through all the gear that came with mine and I dont seem to have this (came with original awning in fantastic condition ) If this is missing on mine, or added, could anyone clear this up for me? Would be kean to know what fabric its made of and the dimensions and way its mounted (have photos of the top of mine showing whats there (may need to add something to mount these to?) As I would like to get these remade. If they aren't original, they look like a good idea and would still like to make them up. Fantastic to have found this forum, as not much is out there on these campers Thanks, Felicity Attachments:
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2013 1:03:40 GMT 10
a couple more photos, that wouldnt fit on the last post These last 2 show the top of the camper where the fabric that I was to add/ re add would go Thanks
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2013 8:26:11 GMT 10
Hi, I pressume your talking about the fly ends fitted to my camper. I had all the canvas replaced on the main section of the van and the annex repaired, parts of it were modified from the original to make it a better fit and for convenience when setting up. The white fly ends were done at the same time, an alluminium slide channel the same as the annex channel was fitted to the front and rear of the roof the canvas made to suit. They are like a heavy plastic tarp material and just give the bedends a bit of extra cover in the rain and sun. They weren't expensive.
Hope this helps.
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Post by bambang on Aug 30, 2013 19:12:44 GMT 10
Hi Felicity, your Cruiser is exactly the same as mine outside except different colour canvas...but interior style of the cupboards is a little different. From your photos it sort of looks like there is an aluminium "rope-track" along the top of the ends and sides ( mine has the rope-track mounted lower on the vertical face of the fibreglass ). If that's not a rope-track that I think I see, then you can fit one easily yourself ( can be bought from caravan spares places, or maybe even Bunnings etc )....just drill some holes in the fibreglass roof and attach the aluminium rope-track with self-tapper screws or even stronger hold with very small bolts&nuts right thru the thickness of the fibreglass skin. Then you need to get the bed-end fly for each end made up with a rope sewn into the end that attaches to the track...up to you what type of material ( canvas, woven polypropylene, coated nylon like lightweight tents ). All this can be done at an upholsterer or canvas specialist. The bed-end fly setup does give that extra protection ...but in the meantime you could just cover your whole trailer with a big poly tarp anyway ( this actually gives the ultimate cover over the trailer and annex together. Cheers - Steve.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2013 1:17:29 GMT 10
Thanks, for the replies guys, Dont think I have rope tracks on mine, but will look into fitting them as I think that extra protection would help with keeping it looking best for as long as possible. If Andy is about, still really kean to see those pages on converting to an easier lifting system too. Really love my little camper, was looking on gumtree for a while, and orginally looking at those tent trailers, but I already have a 12 man tent that is a bit of a pain to set up, so glad I found this little thing. Steve is it your camper that has the welded parcel shelf at the back, with a place to store gear like jerry cans? How easy is it to do, if that was yours, and where abouts does it need to be welded to? Thinking that would be handy for an esky or the annex gear (or anything really ) to sit.
Thanks, Felicity
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Post by bambang on Sept 3, 2013 19:54:26 GMT 10
Hi Felicity, there are 2 major chassis rails running lengthwise under the floor....these are ideal to weld on rearward extensions for bumper-bar or rear boxes or tyre-carrier etc. The "shelf" you mentioned on my rear is actually extra bracing for under the bed platform....and it actually slides in & out to the required position ( I welded 20cm long segments of 50mm x 50mm square steel pipe to the underside of the chassis rails left & right, then welded up the required "L shaped" braces joined by a cross-beam at the same level as the bottom of the bed...and the base of the "L" on each side just fit inside & slides in & out within the 50x50 bits welded under the chassis. I slide the brace out about 1 metre rearward to give extra support under centre of the bed platform once everything is set up, then when packing up I just slide the brace back in until it's near flush with the rear of the trailer...so it sort of looks like an extra bumper bar or shelf. You might not want to go this far, but certainly can weld extensions onto the chassis rails to carry whatever you like on the back. Hope this helps. Cheers - Steve.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2013 17:06:14 GMT 10
Some pictures of the inside after a full reno....
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Post by bambang on Sept 6, 2013 16:42:59 GMT 10
Crackers........wooah ! that's top notch, love the fusion of modern and period style - gives me some ideas for mine too ( thinking about adding a seat across the end with the table too, which could convert to an extra single bed with the table down ). The fridge and cupboards look pretty tall - how is the clearance with the bed platforms when they slide back in ? Good setup mate, they did a great job there.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2013 9:42:54 GMT 10
Hi, I did all the internal cabinet work myself, it was a 4 month job from start to finish, I had some of the cupboards pre cut by a local cabinet shop, ADP caravans did all the canvas work, foam and upholstery.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2013 20:57:41 GMT 10
Hi All, Have just signed on to this forum as we are the proud owners of an ACT Camper Trailer. Will try and put some pics up. We will be looking at doing a bit of a makeover on it to breath a little life into it. Looking forward to getting our teeth into the project. Seeking some of your experience of hindsight, if you had your time again, is there anything you would have done straight away when you got your ACT Camper (any advise will help)./Users/bjness/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Originals/2013/17:09:2013_2/$(KGrHqJHJFUFI(clHQo2BSLU,dc9yw~~60_57.JPG/Users/bjness/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Originals/2013/17:09:2013/$T2eC16hHJG8FGq00QoiUBSLUZ2zMeQ~~60_57.JPG/Users/bjness/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Originals/2013/17:09:2013_3/$(KGrHqIOKpMFIsNrgOLnBSLU,h1q9w~~60_57.JPG
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2013 12:18:59 GMT 10
Hi all I have also just got myself activated finally. I have owned two ACT Cruisers the first one was a full soft top brought in 1981 then sold it when I brought my current Cruiser in 1985. I think mine in one of the last to every be produced as it has larger wheels with red lower body white top and brown canvas. The camper has not been used much over recent times but fortunatley it has always been garaged so it is still in original condition including perfect original canvas. Will try to upload some photos when I work out how. Look forward to on going discussions particularly about converting camper to wind up version. Cheers
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Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2013 19:10:33 GMT 10
I purchased an ACT last year. The registration certificate describes it as a 1984 Consto Caravan. I believe this should possibly read as a Consort in reference to earlier messages. I am most interested to improve the ease whereby the roof can be lifted. I attempted to lift the lid by myself recently but it swayed all over the place and only just got the front end lifted. I have been advised that the springs may need retensioning and earlier someone had installed gas struts. Is there an expert out there
I live in eastern Melbourne and if anyone can provide some direction, it would be greatly appreciated
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Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2013 13:27:29 GMT 10
Hi again, Thanks for the info on the rood lifting mechanism, will need to jump on my PC to view it, as my tablet doesnt seem to open it. But greatly appreciated. Nearly hurt myself big time dropping my roof the other day. Just wondering does anyone know what model/type the lense covers at the back are? One of my is broken, and think I want to try to put the same back on rather than newer, boxed shaped LED. The rest of the indicator lights are old school retro and the spot where they are is molded for that shape,so I think the newer lights would not fit as well in their position. Thanks again, Felicity
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Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2013 16:33:25 GMT 10
Hi yabby, My camper had two supports with broken wires and I managed to fix them after taking them apart to see how they worked. Was a reasonably easy job once I had a look. Both supports needed the wires replaced and reattached to the springs and it definitely made it a bit easier to lift and lower the roof. It cut out the sway while going up, and took all the weight when coming down, so it was much easier. It would still be a task to lift on my own though. One good tip I got from one of the crew on here was to use an annex horizontal spreader bar (extendable with a hole at each end)in between the struts on the back of the camper once it was raised. This was excellent for keeping the whole setup more rigid.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 1, 2013 13:05:29 GMT 10
Hi M uttonduck thank you for your response. I have attached, hopefully, a photo of the spring mechanism attached to my van. It doesn't seem to fit the description of your reply. The spring is attached to the end of the arm but has little tension and I believe this is my problem. I will be taking a spring off next week and showing it to a spring specialists. You may notice there is an arm or channel which is about at 45degrees to the arm. This helps keep the end square as you are lifting the lid and stops sideways movement. I don't know if this is a standard fitting or an add on by a previous owner. Unable to download photo if you send you email address I will forward. Now worked how to download but it is a little small. Regards Yabby
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2013 10:24:50 GMT 10
Hi Felicity, the tail lights are available re-production, I am pretty sure that NARVA is the company making them, I bought mine off the shelf in my local REPCO.
Goodluck.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2013 14:36:29 GMT 10
Hey Yabby - If you take the external spring (and the bracket it attaches to) off your arm, then it looks exactly like mine. However, mine has an internal spring inside the arm itself. It is inside the lower half and attaches to a bolt about 3" from down near where the arm is bolted onto the chassis. It then sits inside the square tubing. The top of the spring is attached to a wire which attaches to the bottom of the top arm. As the roof lowers, the spring becomes tensioned and helps you lower the roof safely. I hope this is clear. It looks as though both springs would be doing the same job as they both have most tension when the roof is lowered.
I can definitely recommend using the horizontal spreader bar on the back of the camper to help keep things more rigid. Attached to the pins / bolts you use to keep the arms straight once lifted, it keeps the whole structure a lot more stable that it is without it.
Down here on the Eyre Peninsula it gets a bit breezy so every trick helps!!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2013 10:40:19 GMT 10
Hi muttonduck,
Thanks for the response. I am replacing the springs as they have lost their tension and hopefully this will help solve my problem. Will keep you informed. Regards
Yabby
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Post by bambang on Nov 8, 2013 20:04:56 GMT 10
Hi Felicity, wasn't sure myself about the lights until I stumbled across the same beast at my local Mitre-10 store yesterday. They weren't Narva brand but some no-name type ....and the pack said "standard trailer tail-light". So it looks like they are a pretty standard thing that you could find at Repco, Bunnings, Mitre-10 or such. Hope it's that easy.....cheers - Steve.
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Post by ACT Brochure on Nov 20, 2013 15:08:03 GMT 10
I have the original sales brochure for the 1977 ACT Cruiser which I would like to share - just testing a post without registering
Ray
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Post by ACT Brochure on Nov 20, 2013 15:32:33 GMT 10
Sorry could not find out how to upload an image from my computer
Ray
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2013 13:57:46 GMT 10
Hi Again, thanks for that crackers, will see what I can find. Got another question, the gas lines on mine looked a little dodgy so we just finished testing all the joins with soapy water after a week of searching for a replacement regulator that would fit. All good so far, but the rain started so we had to do a rush pack up in the middle of trying to get the gas fridge to work. It looks to be the orginal 3 way made by finch, noted a model number on the back, just before we had to pack up, being D533T. I ran it on 240V a couple of weeks ago and it was cold but not brialliantly so (granted it was empty, but I ran it on MAX) Does any one have this same fridge and able to to tell me how to work the gas? Seems to be a seperate electric thermostat and a gas one. The knob, I think is for the gas,has 3 settings min and max with a setting in the middle showing two squares one orange one white . The button you pushed down to fire seems to stick after one press and you need to pull it up to press it again, but might have the settings wrong in the first place. Didn't get an awefull long time to play with it before rain started in, and there seems to be no user manuals or info of anykind on the web (that I can find) about this fridge, couldnt see a pilot light either. Any help would be appreciated, as we would really like to have this working on our first trip away with the camper this weekend (provided the now looming weather forcast, is completely wrong) Thanks guys, Felicity
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2013 14:08:39 GMT 10
Hi yabby, could you email your photo of the springs to tassieshedevil@gmail.com , cant seem to see it as its very small. But think I can see that I have the same setup. I was also doing the "huh what?", when reading how others spring mechanisms work - just thought I was having a blonde moment though.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2013 19:28:46 GMT 10
We just bought our first caravan, a little orange "ACT cruiser 6". I'd love to learn more about them as we tidy it up. Do you guys have a group on fb?
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