1971 Viscount Ambassador 16ft 176E

[Deleted]

Hi everyone

I've recently joined this wonderful forum and have read and learned soooo much, thank you for all the information.

Today I have taken ownership of my new 'classic' - Carly. I have been looking for an old van for over 7 months now after seeing a 'vintage van' at Splendour in the Grass music festival last year and fell in love with stepping back in time.

After lots of research, looking and missing out on 3 vans for various reasons over the past few months, I have finally found one that suits me. I was after something that didn't need much/any structural work (I'm a busy single mum without many tools), was in fairly original condition and one that was close to where I live ;D

I picked her up today and drove her straight to the mechanic for the relevant checks, and I had to reverse her into a laneway (haven't towed for 5 years and then it was only a camper trailer ) I did ok, no scratches although I did take a few goes at getting her in the lane straight... Safety cert and gas cert tomorrow, fingers crossed she passes and I can register her and our new journey can begin.

I can't wait to get her home, where I'm sure I'll be on a steep learning curve (I live on a hill and the van will have to take up residence in the concrete bay at the front of my house on the street) I'm sure I will need to learn how to level her and get her secure and safe... the kids think I'm batty (especially since she has a name) but are sooo excited too at the thought of the holidays she will give us.

I would really love to have a more accurate age for my new 'old' van as I don't think the year quoted to me is correct. The previous owner tells me it is approximately a 78-80 model but from reading this forum, I think it is more like a 71 model, can anyone help to confirm her age?

Here is a link to pictures of the van when it was advertised on on eBay:
cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&item=330705611081&nma=true&rt=nc&si=MbSlINK0T86e9H8WwY0hqxulFrA%253D&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

I will post some of my own pictures soon, once I get her home, cleaned up and I start to put my own touches on her...

Thanks for having me on this forum!

Regards
Lisa

[Deleted]

Oh I know you'll ask for the chassis number too :-) sorry I forgot it in my first post...

176E

[Deleted]

Here are some more photos of the van (others posted via eBay link):


The inside of the back visor shows what I think is the original feature colour of the van, I plan to repaint the 'flash' and the stripes on the back visor in the same blue...




I love the blue vinyl upholstery, I have bought some retro 1970’s fabric off eBay from the USA already, to make some curtains from the era…






The roof hatch has a little damage to the piece of timber near the winder, I am hoping I could repair this myself...




A chipboard shelf and rail has been installed above the window, I’m thinking this has to go as it is not original...

[millard1399]

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

Well, it was certainly worth the wait to find this van. What a beauty! Apart from what appears to be a little fading of the white paint on the sides (no big deal! ), the rest of the van appears to be in very good condition!

Love the "king size bed". What a whopper of a mattress too. The darn thing must be a foot thick!

Somebody has also saved you a lot of work by putting a pole holder tube and battery box on the drawbar. That's a few dollars you won't have to worry about.

All in all, I think you've got a great van for your family to enjoy. I tend to agree with you about the age being more like 1971 rather than the late '70s. The Ambassador chassis numbering system up to around 1970 was an "E" followed by consecutively increasing numbers, but then in about 1971 they changed the "E" to be at the end of the numbers. Your number of 176E means it would be near the start of that new numbering system.

I'll change the title of this thread, and shift you over into the "Hall Of Fame" section. Just keep adding any more posts about your van into this thread and it'll keep all the information about your van together.

Cheers,
Al.

[Deleted]

Hi Al

Thanks for your reply and for putting this thread in the right section. Even though I'm not going to do major renovation work on my van I will still keep a photo journal of what we do in keeping her as close to the early 70's theme as we can and I will post photos here as I know how great it is to look at others' van pictures and to see all the old classics in various ages/conditions.

Yes the bed is wonderful, it will be home away from home. And the cooker is brand new and the battery came with the van and everything works on 12v too!

Only negative is the fridge, it decided to stop working just before I bought it... I might have to have a go at turning it upside down again and then levelling the van right and trying it again, the previous owner thinks there might be shale? build up in the pipes?

I was considering repainting the van and have read through lots of posts about how you and others have gone about this but am not 100% yet, big job and I don't have a spray booth and would probably use a roller??? Anyway, that is a job for another day, have so many projects on the go (from my old squatters chair restoration to patchwork quilt to kids on school holidays so I'll leave the painting for now... and just be happy to have her in her new home - later today we pick her up from the mechanic.

Thanks again for the welcome.

Regards
Lisa

[Deleted]

Looks like a great van Lisa well done. Is that an RACV flag on the side near the door??

[Deleted]

Hi Lisa,

That's a great looking Viscount you have purchased, nice work on finding one in such good, honest condition. Love the blue vinyl couch cushions and the gorgeous fabric you purchased on ebay, they will look fantastic together. Might be a good idea to line the curtains with that rubber backed total block out lining to help keep the heat out in summer and cold out in winter, or if you live in Melbourne you would need both in one day

My sister and I purchased a Viscount in August last year and we've spent the last 4 months using it as a weekender down at the beach, but sadly she gets moved off-site at the end of the month.

I wish you and your family as much fun as we are having with our old van .... '70's vans rock !!!

Cheers

Subbie

[Deleted]

Hi cruisindoug yes it is an old RACV sticker - I'm wanting to paint the van white and restore the flash to original blue and wonder if I should strip these old stickers off or not???

Ok, so here is my update...

I've spent the past 2 weeks scrubbing inside and out and sewing and shopping for vintage/retro finds to make Carly feel more homey and from her era...

I'll post some updated photos now...

[Deleted]

Pick up day…


Her new home



Original inside



Annex


Red or blue?


Or pink?


Dinette bed


Kitchenette




Dinette



Retro wares

[Deleted]

I've tried to find items from the '70's to go in Carly, some are a lot older 'vintage' but they still look great...

I love the chenille bedspreads and got the queen sized one for a steal and wanted to dye it red but it came out dark pink... might have to get double the dye and do it again, maybe boil it to make the colour stay :-)

All in all she is ready for our first trip next week. We'll do more retro shopping on our journey and add some more things as we go - need a radio...

Oh and have got some gold anodised bed lamps coming too, to clip to the new shelf I made.

I've replaced the 12v light bulbs with LED as the van has a battery and I've been running the lights on and off since I've had the van for 2 weeks and there is still heaps of charge!

Unfortunately the fridge doesn't work... any tips on getting it going would be appreciated.

[millard1399]

G'day Lisa,

Ahhh, there'll be no stopping you now! ;D ;D

I can see many, many, miles of travel ahead of you. Mainly going from one Op Shop to the next, by the look of all that stuff you've collected so far.

We were travelling in Vic back in 2010, and called in to an Op Shop during our travels. I managed to find not one, but two matching chenille single bed spreads in white. Both in pretty good condition (very small hole in one) and were $3.50 each (bargain!!). I ended up cutting them up and joining them to make a doona cover for the caravan double bed. Nice and comfy and 'old' (...like me! ).


Does the fridge work on any of the gas/electric/12v settings?

donnymaree is our current forum expert on all things relating to fridges, so I'm sure she'll be able to give you good advice. ;D

cheers,
Al.

[Deleted]

Hi Al

I know! I think I've caught the bug... op shops and garage sales... it is all so interesting :-) I love it all!

Just popped out to get some saucepans to put in her then I think I'm pretty much set - just need our food and clothes and we can head off.

The fridge is not working on electric or gas as far as I can tell - I really don't know much about them though - I just turned the switch on the fridge panel to on and plugged the cord into 240v and expected it to make some kind of noise - nothing... Am I supposed to do something else or is there a trick?

With the gas, I don't know how to work this - any tips? Where do I light the pilot light? Sorry to sound dumb :-)

Also not sure how to use 12v - I have a great battery so any tips on how to get it plugged to 12v would be appreciated...

Thanks
Lisa

[barkpaint]

viscountcarly, love all your accessories in the van.... my pick was the pink quilt as the blue seems to clash with the teal vinyl, and the red a bit strong.
Also the dinner setting, is it melamine? Do check if is o.k. in the microwave. Some are not suitable, then again, there are not too many vintage microwaves... cheers, Heather p.s. sure my mum has the same tablecloth... they last forever.

[Rattles]

Apr 23, 2012 13:11:34 GMT 10 @viscountcarly said:

Hi Al


The fridge is not working on electric or gas as far as I can tell - I really don't know much about them though - I just turned the switch on the fridge panel to on and plugged the cord into 240v and expected it to make some kind of noise - nothing... Am I supposed to do something else or is there a trick?

With the gas, I don't know how to work this - any tips? Where do I light the pilot light? Sorry to sound dumb :-)

Also not sure how to use 12v - I have a great battery so any tips on how to get it plugged to 12v would be appreciated...

Thanks
Lisa

The fridge is an absorption type fridge so no compressor, no noise and can take some time to get cool.

Checks you can do:

1. Switch on 240v wait 30min the check top vent outside and see if there is heat, if Heat the element is working.
2. Then check the freezer after 4 hours and the heat exchanger in the freezer should be quite cold, if cold the the fridge is starting to work.
3. Then check the Fridge section in 24 hours if it is also cold the the fridge works.

For Gas Operation Read the user manual see link below.

Then do the same test on gas.

Then check the 12v, The tow vehicle will need to have 12v extended via battery isolator to the caravan, again check for heat at the top vent.
The 12v element only just maintains the under ideal conditions.

12v volts is only when traveling along the road and the 12v is supplied from the tow vehicle Alternator.
The 12v will not function from a battery as the current drain is too high, 10 - 15 Amps dpending on the 12v element.

Get the model number either on the front or rear of the fridge then go to the site below and download the user manual, that is assuming the fridge is an Electrolux/Dometec fridge.

www.dometicmanuals.com/PROD/MASTERDometic.nsf?Opendatabase

PM me if you have trouble getting the User Manual, make and model would help..

Hope this helps.

Rattles

[Deleted]

Hi Rattles

Thanks for all the information. Fortunately on our first trip, we plugged the fridge in to 240v and it worked! We froze our mince and also made ice - it ran for 6 days no problem!

I think the gas works fine as well, we had it working when we were on our way back and stopped at the beach for a surf but it had been cold from 240v so I'm not 100% but feel the gas works fine.

I have no idea how/where the 12v (if the wiring exists) would be? I don't have 12v from my tow vehicle anyway at this stage, would like to though so any tips on where the wiring might be for this would be appreciated?

I have a deep cycle battery on the front which powers the 12v lights internally and externally but I can't see any other connection/wires for the fridge for 12v but could be looking in the wrong place...

Also, I've had a look on the link you supplied, for the user manual but have no luck in finding it.

The details from the plate on the fridge are:

Electrolux
made in Sweeden
Model: 28d
Product No: 9261037
Serial No: 004-0707
Propane
600 btu/h
240v
115A

If you could help locate the manual I would be most appreciative :-)

Thanks
Lisa

[Deleted]

Here are some pics of Carly in action – our first trip away – 3 nights at Cape Byron and 3 at Lennox Head… wonderful break and sooooo comfortable in our new home away from home… I don’t think we’ll ever go back to camping in tents 

[millard1399]

How good is that!!

Great to see you enjoying the fruits of all your hard labour. ;D ;D

Another Viscount saved, and ready for many more happy times!

cheers,
Al.

[Deleted]

Here are some more pics of recent retro finds...

Awesome pom pom cushions from a garage sale $3!


This radio was $2 and it works!


I got a tow bar for my Mitsubishi 380 last week too, 1600kg heavy duty one with a flat removable tongue... I towed Carly with my car down to the Gold Coast for the long weekend and she towed perfectly... used double the fuel, but it was a good trip, felt very safe towing her.

Need to replace the window rubbers and the felt around the windows and doors as they are all starting to come loose :-) I'm probably using her a bit much hehehe

I am in love, this is the best life caravaning... I loved camping but Carly is so cool, all set up and ready to go in an instant, just need food and clothes :-)

Most people who look at her fall in love too and want to buy their own classic van!

[Deleted]

Oh I'm wondering if there might be any advice, direction on how to get the water tank pump tap to work better? When we pump it there doesn't seem to be much vaccum for a while and you have to pump it 10 or so times before you can feel wanter in the pipe... if anyone has any tips on what I need to do to get it working better that would be most appreciated.

The mains pressure tap is great but on the weekend I forgot the hose and had to use the pump/tank for the first day :-) oh how painful :-P

[Deleted]

Maybe the seals are worn in the pump tap, and not providing the necessary vacuum to get the water up quick enough? I haven't tried our tap yet but I'm going to install a 12v Whale pump or similar the same as we did for our camper trailer, makes it so much easier to flick a switch and get water. Very fast flow from these little pumps as well.

[Damo76]

Or even try a one way valve in the water line, just below the hand pump. That Wa it will keep the water up at the pump instead of it running back down the line and into te tank.