1976 ? Millard - M46466

[Deleted]

First post - Like many others I have just purchased an elderly Millard and also like others as I dig further I am finding more things to fix but I am enjoying the experience so far. I am soon to embark on the Millard window fix debacle and am not looking forward to it. I have 2 windows that have had dodgy hinge fixes done in the past. As you can't buy the hinge plates I am going to remove one good one to use as a template and make new ones out of an old aluminium road sign I got from the tip shop. ;D

millard1399 - I am enjoying reading your post on the rebuild of your Millard - it looks great and your article has a lot of useful info.

Please add my serial number - M46466 to your database. I dont have any proof of the year bar the rego sticker. I cant find any gas certificate label - Where is it located ?

Anyway hello to all and enjoy the pics on the link and below.

s126.photobucket.com/albums/p118/186565/1976%20Millard%20Caravan/

[millard1399]

G'day 186565, and welcome to the forum! ;D

I had a look at all your photos in your Photobucket album, and on the face of it you have a pretty good looking van! ;D

You've got the dreaded louvre windows, but everything in life can't be perfect, ay?!

Good thinking on your plan to fix the windows. It sure helps if you can come up with some unique ideas to fix these ol' darlings, because parts are never easy to come by.

That Millard chassis numbering system has got to be the biggest pain we've come across. I still haven't got a good handle on which range of numbers belongs to which year, so we'll say yours is a 1976 model until we know better.

The gas labels were usually a small rectangular aluminium plate pop-rivetted either to the front cladding on the van, or to the gas bottle holder framework. It seems that new regulations introduced in 1984 required all caravan gas systems to be inspected and 'tagged', so most of the old plates you see are date stamped 1984 (and which leads a lot of ebay sellers to claim the van they're selling is a 1980s model because the only date they can find is the gas date ).

Have a look around the gas bottle holder, or on the ali cladding just near the gas bottles. You might find a couple of rivet holes where the original tag used to be.

Apart from the windows, what other problems did you find with the van? Your pictures show a pretty tidy van overall, so it must have been kept in pretty good condition over the years.

cheers,
Al.

[Deleted]

Sorry for the late reply - work interferes with my caravan resto schedule - but does help pay for it. Not too many problems - just a lot of little issues.
- surface rust on chassis
- uv fading of all the external lights - have now replaced with LED lights all round.
- all internal GPO's and light switches are single pole - I have ordered new double pole switches.
- a lot of old holes externally from various things riveted on in the past.
- a few cracked glass window panes (in the corners)
- hardened and cracked seals on the windows (have started to replace)
- missing front window protector struts and anti rattle clips (on order) (caravan plus - great site with excellent service)
- 2 way stove electric heater element cactus - new one ordered - gas works great.

I had a great day today - went to the tip shop to do some "picking" and spotted these at the tip shop $ 2 each:




They are the right size (14 ") and said ford rim (which are the same as mine) on the back -
Does any one know what year they are from ??

I also got this for $ 10 :





It is an old canvas awning of some kind - about 10 ft long and has a timber pole with a pulley wheel and a rope at on end and a thin full width rod at the other end. I may be able to make a pull out awning out of it.

I was really happy about the hubcaps as I was only discussing with the wife this week how good it would be to have the right hubcaps for the van and then to actually find some.

[millard1399]

G'day 186565,

You sound like you're a member of the same Scrounger's Club that I belong to! ;D

Nice find with the awning. I'm sure you'll be able to adapt it to be useful on the van.

I'm not sure about the Millard hubcaps at all. They look like they are from a more recent van. There aren't a lot of Millard vans from the 1970s still carrying the original hubcaps, but the ones I've seen are pressed aluminium. I think they started making them out of plastic in the 1980s, when Viscount were making both the Viscount and Millard brands after the takeover.

These Millard hubcaps seem to fit in with the '80s colours...




cheers,
Al.

[kylarama]

Welcome 186565, Another Millard!
With the same layout as mine too.

Looks in excellent condition.

As for the date, I found mine on the original fridge. Remove the inspection plate underneath the door and check the build date on the id tag.
Providing yours still has the original fridge.

[Deleted]

Fridge looks original but has the data plate inside with no date:

[millard1399]

G'day again, 186565

I came across another Millard with your hubcaps on it. The van looks like it's from the 1977-79 time period...






The seller claims the van is original in all respects, so I'm assuming the hubcaps are original as well. I've asked for the chassis number, so that may give us an idea of the year of manufacture. If the hubcaps are genuinely original, then at least we know they were being fitted prior to 1980.

cheers,
Al.

[Deleted]

millard1399,

I saw that one as well - looks like a pretty nice van. I have been plodding along with mine. It passed the gas inspection with flying colours thanks to some of my handi work fitting the regulator and new pigtails and tidying up the gas bottle holders ( I had to cut one off and reweld as it had been welded on poorly not level) I fitted a Marshal 250 regulator.




Next week I have the electrician coming to do the electrical inspection.