ACT CRUISER CAMPER TRAILER - Newby questions

[bambang]

Hi people, I just bought a 1977 Australian Camper Trailers (ACT) Cruiser fibreglass camper trailer....exactly the same as "Hooligan's" one featured last year. Have a few questions (and it seems Hooligan hasn't logged on for a while)....hoping someone may be familiar with these campers. Firstly -- did they ever come out with a compliance plate ? all I can find on the exterior is a small welded plate on the draw bar which has some digits stamped into it ( maybe some sort of aftermarket chassis ID ).....but can't find any specification info anywhere. Is it possible the actual compliance/spec plate may be located inside the camper ? Really hard to find any information on these.....der... suppose it's the norm for you guys !! I have searched this site and found a couple of references to the ACT campers. Anyways, would really appreciate if anyone's got some info on these units. Cheers...Steve

[atouchofglass]

Hey BB
Welcome to the forum


Hooligan is a casual visitor these days.
He is also known as Gristy on Vintage Vans.

As for id plates....
Not real sure if many vans came with such.
Most of the vans just had a serial number for registration purposes.

That should give you an idea of when it was made.... IF
Someone has the information about what the numbers mean.
Millard1399 and Boblor are our numbers men

Not sure if either had a lot to do with ACT campers

All the best and hope to see some photos soon


Cheers
Atog
^{Fibreglass nutter}

[millard1399]

G'day bambang,

I haven't been able to find much information about these campers either. There was an amazing number of various brands and models of these things being sold in the mid-1970s. I could never find out in my research who was building them all. In Sydney, which is where my research was based, they were all being sold from the one sales outlet ("Camperland").

My 1977 Millard doesn't have any VIN plate fixed to it either, so I agree it's probably because VIN plates didn't exist for caravans/trailers back then. It's hard to say whether the welded chassis number plate on your van is original or not. All the other examples of chassis numbers I've come across on vans and trailers from the '70s have been applied directly to the drawbar metal itself, either welded numbers or stamped numbers.

All I know from my collection of newspaper advertisements from the '70s is that the different ACT models appear to be the Cruiser, the Consort, the Comet, and maybe the Hobo, but the adverts aren't very clear on any of that.

You've certainly come to the right place to find out nothing more than you already knew! ;D ;D

cheers,
Al.

[malrv1]

Hi bambang

My daughter in Canberra has an ACT Camper. We had a bit of trouble finding the chassis number when swapping the rego from SA reg. Ended up on the top of passenger side of the drawbar very close to the towing hitch. We had to scrape quite a few coats of paint off to find it. It is stamped into the rail with letter stamps.

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[bambang]

Thanks guys, yep mine looks the same as the photo above ( except the writing on the side has been covered by who-knows-how-many coats of paint....looks like waterbased Solagard or such ! ). I have to blue-slip the camper...and I remember the RTA wasn't too worried about lack of tags on old rigs last time I resurrected an old box-trailer - but will probably need to get a weighbridge slip then just go with the stamped numbers on the drawbar. Mine has army-green canvas ( not blue as above pic )....and previously belonged to the Dept of Defense ( the annex comes in a matching canvas bag with "Department of Defense" stencilled on it ). The rig is in amazing condition inside & out considering it's 30-odd years old.......will try and get some pics up soon ( need to paint the wheels and put new tyres on - so it's up on blocks at present. Thanks again for the welcome and the info guys. Will update asap. Cheers - Steve.

[andrewl]

G'day Guys, We've also purchased an old ACT camper, although ours is a Cabana. It looks similar to what I have seen listed elsewhere as a Consort. Ours has hydraulic lifters, but I'm not sure if these are original equipment. Anyway, our roof is colapsing and needs replacement. The ply insides have rotted and the fibreglass inner and outer skins are delaminating. Has anyone managed to work out how/where replacements can be found/manufactured?

Cheers, Andrew

[millard1399]

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

I think somebody must have mixed up the names for your camper. ACT and Cabana are two different 'vans', made by two different companies. If you think it looks more like a Consort, then that's probably what it actually is.

As I've said above in this thread, we don't have a great deal of info about these campers, and even less about how to go about getting repairs done.

I guess the best thing you could try is to ask around any caravan repairers in your region, and see if somebody knows somebody that might know something. Sorry I can't be of more help.

cheers,
Al.

[Deleted]

I bought an ACT Cruiser new in October 1976. It was a great little vehicle for towing. I used a Valiant to tow it with, but I intended towing it with one of my vintage cars (never happened as I never fitted a tow bar!)
It was very heavy to lift the ends up as there were no spring struts to help. It really needed two people to erect easily. However, once erected we had no problems, even in severe winds. We had four young kids in those days and we all bunked comfortably inside it!
I don't remember about a compliance plate, although there must have been something to get it licenced.
We sold it about ten years ago, still in very good condition.

Keith

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[heeythere]

Hi, I have just purchased act camper. The only numbers I can find are AC 175. Once welded and once stamped. Does any one know if these chassis numbers or model numbers?

Thanks Jamie

[millard1399]

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

I think you'll find that number is most likely the chassis number. These campers had different names for the model...Cruiser, Consort, etc.

cheers,
Al.

[heeythere]

Thanks Al,

Ill see how I go with that.
Time to start renovating

Jamie

[bambang]

Hi Jamie, my ACT CRUISER model has the ID number "CR4424" stamped onto a welded plate on the upper face of the drawbar (driver side) opposite the jockey-wheel. I'm guessing that the "CR" bit signifies the model "CRUISER" . Look in the ACT CAMPER TRAILER thread in the "Classic Caravan Chronicles" subforum. cheers - Steve

[STEPHEN]

CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHAT STUD PATTERN WAS FITTED TO THE CRUISER MODEL. I KNOW THERE 4 STUD 10 INCH, BUT UNSURE OF THE PATTERN.

[thatfamousguy]

Hey all i just had the same problem getting rego passed as the guy couldnt find the compliance plate.
The only thing on there is welded ACC077 on the drawbar.

[snoops]

Welcome to the forum. 😊 There is no compliance plate on vans this old - what state are you in? There's a different process depending on where you live.

[78466noM]

In NSW I needed a bill of sale stating the year of manufacture the chassis number price sold for and description of van then I needed a weigh bridge ticket then off for inspection and blue slip then off to fill in more paperwork at nsw services. Make sure that the gvm is written down on the paperwork the blue slip mechanic fills out as that can turn into a giant headache if it isn't done.