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Post by richo66 on Jan 17, 2019 19:32:40 GMT 10
Hi all I've just become the proud owner of a 1977 franklin arrow, unfortunately upon commencing remodel/restoration I've discovered unexpected wood rot in the bottom of the composite wall panels. the walls are aluminium/foam/ply sandwich construction with hardwood framing around windows doors etc, due to water leakage the ply on the walls around the rear windows has damage not a big issue what is of concern is the sill beam/batten that runs along the wall at floor level that's been extensively damaged and will require replacement! has anyone faced similar issues and how best to affect repairs any advice would be greatly appreciated  |
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Post by Mustang on Jan 18, 2019 9:35:17 GMT 10
Hi Richo,
You have picked a tough one first up.
I will leave this to our Franklin reno members.
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Post by snoops on Jan 18, 2019 12:18:05 GMT 10
Hi Richo, I've done about a 1/2 of one side before that was rotted out. You'll need to do it in sections - about a quarter at a time as once you pop the wall off the chassis rail, the wall will drop. One other thing to look at is what the chassis is like where the timber sits - if the timber is rotten, the chassis rail maybe rusted. Not a deal breaker but you'll need to be handy with metal fab to sort this at the same time - you'll need to get some plate folded up to match the cross section and cut out the old an in with the new at the same time - again, unless you want to do a chassis up rebuild - do it 1/4 at a time.
I think I have some pics and a bit of a rundown on how I did mine in a thread here somewhere - will see if I can dig that up.
The Franklins are a great caravan - worth the effort IMO.
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Post by snoops on Jan 18, 2019 12:29:13 GMT 10
Ok, found some pics on the other thread for reference. The bolts that run through the body and chassis will need cutting off from underneath so you don't damage the exterior. Once they are out - again, only do one half of one side at a time - if you undo all the bolts, the whole wall could slip off the chassis - dangerous and catastrophic to your renovation too. With the bolts out I basically found that the timber came out pretty easily - the glue had given up on both sides on mine. With the timber out, I used some hardwood and shaped it to fit the gap - making sure it went right up and touched the foam inside the wall. Once the test fit was done, I removed the timber again and glued it in on the top and both sides with high strength construction adhesive - the timber I used was a bit narrower than the bit that came out but this gave me plenty of room for adhesive on both sides - use plenty. Then, once the wall is back where I wanted it, I rebolted it to the chassis through the new timber - it's done 10's of thousands of KM since then without issue and is still going strong for the new owner.  image by Gavin Gregory, on Flickr  image by Gavin Gregory, on Flickr |
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Post by snoops on Jan 18, 2019 12:31:00 GMT 10
Here's the whole build thread on my Arrow - ditzygypsy.proboards.com/thread/2558/new-old-75-franklin - might give you some ideas. Apologies that some pics are missing - that was when Photbucket screwed things up for everyone - I deleted my account as I had no access to my pics when that happened - they held them hostage. If you start a thread in the 'Hall of Fame' and post some pics of your van and the damage, I may be able to help a bit more. Good luck! |
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Post by richo66 on Jan 18, 2019 17:16:49 GMT 10
Thanks snoops
that was the direction I was heading😉
lucky for me the chassis is very good just light surface rust with no scaling or rust thru anywhere 😄
I will fit acroprops when I remove the base bolts (I'm paranoid) I was planning on sellys water based contact adhesive to relaminate the interior ply to the foam but plenty of construction adhesive for the wood framing (surprisingly little wood in the walls)being a body builder in the past it looks to me that the walls achieve most of their strength from the alloy/foam/ply laminated sandwich so I will attempt to replicate this as well as I can.
I will post photos soon, I've taken "befores" and have just about completed the demo so will take photos of the damage tomorrow and work out the posting procedure as per instructions.
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Post by snoops on Jan 18, 2019 19:17:54 GMT 10
Yep, the only timber is at the base of the walls and a frame around each window. The strength comes from the sandwich panel which was all pressed together on a giant press which put the ribs in the aluminium siding at the same time. New caravans carry on about their composite construction but Franklin beat them to it by 40 years. They’ve stood the test of time well too - it is a very strong construction method.
Look forward to some pics - it sounds like you have the required skills to sort this, good news about the chassis too. 👍
They are a great van - I still regret selling mine just a bit but at least the new owners of mine are out using it and loving it too which makes me happy. 😊
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Post by richo66 on Jan 20, 2019 20:54:13 GMT 10
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Post by richo66 on Jan 20, 2019 21:08:31 GMT 10
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Post by richo66 on Jan 20, 2019 21:17:34 GMT 10
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Post by richo66 on Jan 20, 2019 21:27:27 GMT 10
ok now that I've figured out what I was doing wrong I will put the photos here lol  20190115_124700 by richard albert, on Flickr  20190115_124629 by richard albert, on Flickr  20190115_124655 by richard albert, on Flickr  20190115_124845 by richard albert, on Flickr  20190115_124715 by richard albert, on Flickr  20190115_124848 by richard albert, on Flickr  20190115_124852 by richard albert, on Flickr  20190118_122102 by richard albert, on Flickr  20190118_122058 by richard albert, on Flickr  20190118_122109 by richard albert, on Flickr  20190118_122112 by richard albert, on Flickr |
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Post by richo66 on Jan 20, 2019 21:32:03 GMT 10
gotta love the original clock and it still works even the alarm! its definitely staying..
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Post by richo66 on Jan 21, 2019 7:05:25 GMT 10
oh joy.... indeed I have found the sill rot extends full length both sides of the old girl  I am approaching my local timber mill( lucky to have a small one locally ) to see if they will run me off a couple of 25x100boards in a 5meter length! I would like to replace them with single boards otherwise I will laminate them up using 12x140 clear pine planks and rip them to spec on the table saw...Let the fun begin!! |
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Post by richo66 on Jan 21, 2019 8:56:45 GMT 10
great news!
local mill happy to make them up and cheap as chips at 4.80 linial meter so 48 bucks home and hosed!!😁 was going to cost me over 150 from the greenB mob so great savings $$$$$!
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Post by snoops on Jan 21, 2019 10:21:01 GMT 10
Nice work! Wish we had a local Mill here - grew up living across the road from one - we used to play around the yards as kids - the old guy that owned it was fine as long as we didn't get to close to the saws when in operation - can you imagine letting kids run around a sawmill these days...
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Post by richo66 on Jan 21, 2019 11:51:32 GMT 10
lol work cover would crucify you, not to mention being sued by the parents if the kid got a splinter or saw/heard something not absolutely PC.🤣😂
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Post by richo66 on Jan 21, 2019 14:31:23 GMT 10
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Post by richo66 on Jan 27, 2019 17:17:46 GMT 10
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Post by richo66 on Jan 28, 2019 16:47:13 GMT 10
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Post by richo66 on Jan 30, 2019 19:56:04 GMT 10
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Post by richo66 on Jan 30, 2019 20:08:34 GMT 10
so far its ben sills rotted out full length both sides of the van but each section is getting easier with practice I'm sticking with snoops advice of doing 1/2 a wall at a time and its working well( Thanks Mate ) I honestly don't know how it survived the tow home without collapsing lol. today I made the discovery that the idiot who "converted" it to electric breaks didn't weld the mounting flanges to the axles so they spun and ripped out the wiring and damaged the brakes so a new 1.6 tonne axle has been ordered, oh well better ground clearance and more carry capacity so win win any way  |
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Post by pisces51 on Jan 30, 2019 20:37:47 GMT 10
G'day richo66,
Great work you are doing on your van!  Your attention to detail and quality of repair will ensure this van lasts for many more years, so well done!
Yes, it's amazing how robust these old vans are, particularly if the internal cupboards/fixtures are still in place. These fixtures seem to be the important bits to stop the van from collapsing when the floor framework is falling apart. Given the amount of woodrot showing in the timber pieces you've removed, I'm surprised you haven't discovered a heap of rusted-out sections in the chassis.
One of the advantages of doing a project such as yours, is that you become an experienced "caravan consultant" for other restorers. You can also chuckle when you read Gumtree/Ebay adverts for caravans with problems, and the seller says they'll be an "easy fix" (...which makes me wonder why they haven't done them already...).
Keep up the good work. You may not necessarily get replies to your individual posts, but there'll be lots of people following your story with much interest.
cheers, Al.
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Post by snoops on Jan 31, 2019 19:22:39 GMT 10
Yeah, the new straight axel will bring it up to where it needs to be - it was the best thing I did to mine. 👍
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Your attention to detail and quality of repair will ensure this van lasts for many more years, so well done!