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Post by Caprinut on Aug 14, 2012 17:03:03 GMT 10
Mausie
Did your van have a compliance plate with any weights noted. Will give me a basis to relate to my van which had no details on rego papers. South Australia is very lax about those sort of things. Dont even have to have any vehicles inspected with change of ownership. Vehicles go thru rego inspection once in their lifetime. Convenient sometimes, but lots of bombs on the road.
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Post by mausie on Aug 14, 2012 17:15:03 GMT 10
Hi Peter The only number on our van is the chassis number. No complience plate. The van came from Victoria where "anything goes". The previous owner was given a brand new VIN number because the Motor Registry could find no record of the van's original Chassis number  Have you been over the weighbridge yet? I guess you will be a tad over the original 750 kgs  Mausie |
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Post by mausie on Aug 17, 2012 15:42:17 GMT 10
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Post by mausie on Aug 19, 2012 19:47:10 GMT 10
Great weather yesterday and today - so out came the tools. ;D ;D ;D The job for this weekend was to replace the hydraulic override brakes with new ALCO electric brakes. The axle is now reinstalled ready to take the brakes. Here is Joe fitting the LH side brake  RH side done   New 13" rims with new tyres fitted and looking great  We will be putting dress rims on the wheels so Birdie Deluxe doesn't look modern  We like things to look as they were originally made but had no option but to get new rims. Originals are hard to find  More pics as we get more done TTFN Mausie |
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Post by millard1399 on Aug 19, 2012 21:46:15 GMT 10
G'day mausie, Looking great!! Did you particularly want 13" wheels on the van? I keep getting told that 13" tyres are becoming harder and harder to source (they are on the Millard). I had to hunt around a few places when I wanted replacements back in May. Seems that 14" wheels allow for much easier sourcing of tyre replacements. cheers, Al. |
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Post by mausie on Aug 20, 2012 21:53:27 GMT 10
Hi Al Had no problem picking up either 165 or 175 x13" light truck tyres. They had them at our local tyre shop in Dunlop and other brands. Costco also had them in Michelin and Bridgestone. We found the 14" that came with the van very hard to get off   Mausie |
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Post by mausie on Aug 28, 2012 18:16:29 GMT 10
Progress report Handbrake and new tow hitch for electric brakes now fitted ;D ;D ;D New water tank and water tank stone guard fitted New floor treated underneath and ready to install. Joe's knee must be improving Mausie |
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Post by Caprinut on Aug 30, 2012 17:58:57 GMT 10
Mausie, The weather should be improving soon so your progress will catch up. Nice to hear Joe is on his kness! Obedience is sooo hard to teach! ;D Well I've finally been to a weighbridge and the results are in. Not as lean as I was hoping, despite my watching the kilos all the way. The van weighs 1340 kilos with a ball weight of 134 kgs so a net towing weight of 1200 kgs. This is without any contents or water in the tanks, but as I moved the tanks to ahead of the axle, and will probably only fill one tank that will give me 55 litres extra weight on the towball which is a better balance. So its time to stock up on bikkies and Lite Milk and Lite-an-Easy meals, paper plates and plastic cutlery and Tim-Tams, which weight nothing, to keep it towable.  Not much else I can lose to lighten it, so I wait anxiously for your van completion so I can compare. Attachments:
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Post by mausie on Aug 30, 2012 21:55:31 GMT 10
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Post by Caprinut on Aug 31, 2012 17:21:14 GMT 10
Mausie, good progress, got to beat the Xmas rush ! I noticed you have a cross frame member just behind the tank that sits under the other chassis members whereas mine has all frame butt welded on the same plane. Did you add that brace? I used two small 55 l tanks which I fitted length wise between the chassis frames as my old tank looked a bit dodgy and I did not like the way it hung so low behind the axle  Try to do as much plumbing as possible now as it is a exhausting to push hose onto those spigots whilst lying on your back. I used a hair dryer to warm up pipes to get them on easier. My stone guard was one of those nasty signs that businesses hang everywhere and forget. Hee Hee |
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Post by mausie on Aug 31, 2012 20:55:52 GMT 10
Hi Peter The cross member was there originally we have 2, one in front of and one behind the axle. The tank we have is the same size as the original - 59 ltr. The old signs work just as good as a stone guard - sorry we didn't think of it. We went to the Working with Wood Show today here in the ACT today. Joe was eyeing off the Gifkin Dovetail Jig to make the draws in the caravan. He didn't get it Cheers Mausie |
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Post by Caprinut on Sept 1, 2012 19:42:22 GMT 10
Mausie, I do a fair bit of woodwork but decided that ply is lighter and more resilient and flexible plus more tolerant of moisture than solid wood. Ply is a bit too thin to join using dovetail joints so I routed rebates in the front and back ply and glued and screwed the side rails into the rebates. Side rails are a thicker 12mm ply to give bite to the screws. I also glued a piece of laminex onto the inside face of the drawers to make them easier to keep clean.  Pot drawer was a wire basket from Howards Storage as per pic. nice and light and tough for bouncing pots  Just some ideas to share with you, Regards, Peter |
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Post by mausie on Sept 2, 2012 1:07:13 GMT 10
Hi Peter Thanks for the tips Well worth exploring - we may get a chance to check out Howards during the week. We went to Bunnings & Magnet Mart today and drew a blank.  Mausie |
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Post by mausie on Sept 9, 2012 21:19:55 GMT 10
Well this weekend was exhausting  Joe decided he had enough of working on the van in the back yard. Soooo ! Son's car is out of the carport and in goes the Capricorn. ;D ;D Today we started rebuilding the walls. Yay! ;D ;D Mausie |
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Post by millard1399 on Sept 9, 2012 21:55:23 GMT 10
G'day mausie, Tell Joe...bad decision! Now he's got no excuses left for why he can't work on it. At least before he could blame the weather, but now.... Will now be done before Xmas then, eh? cheers, Al. |
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Post by mausie on Sept 10, 2012 21:54:12 GMT 10
Ha! Ha! Al Well it was his idea ;D ;D No. Joe is good and is happy now because he is doing interesting bits. He loves working with wood and there are lots of rotten bits. Joe will be rebuilding the frame. We are finding it difficult finding straight Meranti. Why the hell do Bunnings bothere stocking curved wood  This arvo he came home from work and put in an hour and half on building bits for the left wall. We will have to take some pics and post them Mausie |
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Post by mausie on Sept 16, 2012 19:40:20 GMT 10
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Post by millard1399 on Sept 17, 2012 22:49:38 GMT 10
Struth mausie, Is there anything left in your local Bunnings store for other people to buy?? I reckon you'll be getting a special invite to this year's Bunnings Xmas party, for sure!! [Customer of the Year presentation ] The framework looks great! I gather you finally found some decent straight timber to work with? Looks like it's been built by professionals! cheers, Al. |
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Post by mausie on Sept 19, 2012 13:08:29 GMT 10
Ha ha Yes we visit Bunnings frequently. We should buy shares in it We found the straight Meranti at would you believe at the new Master Builders in Canberra. But if we ever deside to build a boat or a dogs hind leg we will get our wood from Bunnings LOL Mausie |
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Post by mausie on Oct 2, 2012 19:00:31 GMT 10
Progress report The ACT weather has taken a turn for the better lately ;D ;D So we are out playing with the van again. We are just about ready to put the lining on the walls, then noticed something didn't quite look right - the wall frame was not on the level The sheetmetal shop made the new supports for the wall different, they didn't fold them as per the sample (what was left of it) this resulted in the front Z shaped supports being different heights That put the frame a slight angle when looking at it horizontally. We will get around to make the frame fit right by putting packing between the timber frame and the support.  Anyway we are happy with the progress. Cheers Mausie (& Joe) |
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Post by mausie on Oct 5, 2012 19:02:11 GMT 10
Yippee!!!! This weekend is a Loooong weekend in the ACT - "Family & Community Day" - sounds like a load of BS but we don't knock it - hey it's another day we can spend on the Birdie Deluxe ;D ;D ;D We wanted to go to Tathra NSW with the old vans but Joe has a Pipe Band competition late tomorrow morning and is working in the arvo, so it's not worth going for just 2 days. The forecast is rain but now we have the van under the carport ;D good move Joe!! We should have some progress pics on Monday night Cheers Mausie |
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Post by millard1399 on Oct 5, 2012 19:20:15 GMT 10
G'day mausie, Tell Joe I said if there's ever a major earthquake in Canberra, the one thing that will be left standing is that van! Gosh, that framework would stand up to anything! Also tell him to put plenty of sound insulation in the walls so he can practice the bagpipes while you're travelling around! You guys are doing a fantastic job. Enjoy your long weekend getting stuck into more of it! ;D ;D cheers, Al. |
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Post by mausie on Oct 8, 2012 20:11:43 GMT 10
Update report The weather was great yesterday and today so a bit more got done on the Birdie Deluxe We will let the pics tell the story Interior lining on the frame and windows holes being cut out  Window cut outs done  Checking that windows fit - all good  What the inside wall looks like  Close up of caravan ply wall panelling pattern – called ILLUSION by Gunnersen  All in all a good couple of days work ;D ;D ;D ;D Cheers Mausie (& Joe) |
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Post by millard1399 on Oct 8, 2012 21:23:52 GMT 10
Don'cha hate it when 3 panels of ply lining just miss out on covering the full length of the wall. You'd swear that wall was built by a professional caravan company. cheers, Al. |
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Post by mausie on Oct 8, 2012 21:42:36 GMT 10
Yes Al Well spotted !! Especially when this is caravan ply and we are told caravan ply and aluminium is all still in imperial sizes. Never mind, we have a plan. We think we can fill without it being too obvious. There isn't that much seen except for next to the rear window On the other side we are going to have the fixed bit inside the wardrobe so it can't be seen Joe said the good job is directly related to all the great tools we had to buy for the resto LOL ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D Cheers Mausie |
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