1973 Capricorn San Remo Deluxe 18ft

[glennv]

Well, after spending several days in and out of the rear of the fridge cavity on my '73 Capricorn early in the year to resolve some gas thermostat problems, I decided I would manufacture a door to allow easier access, rather than going through the whole process of resealing the vent panels each time.

The frame of the new door is made from 25mm x 25mm x 1.5mm alumimium angle, with the door made from 20mm x 20mm x 1.5mm angle. The infill of the door is made of the original vent panels, cleaned up and repainted.

I dry mounted the door frame on the van before applying sealant (Sika Lastomer 511), and masked everything up so I could minimise the mess. I also masked my newly manufactured door frame to minimise mess there too.



Having taken everything back off the van, applying lots of sealant, remounting everything, I started my clean up.

Using a finger moistened with soapy water, and lots and lots of kitchen towel, I started removing the masking tape from the van, taking off excess sealant and smoothing out the joints.

All looks good.

I now start to remove the masking tape from my newly manufactured door frame and CRAP !!! All the bloody paint has peeled off !!



So ... here are my questions.

I keyed the surface of the raw aluminium (although I must confess ... not greatly) with a bit of 800grit wet and dry.

Cleaned all surfaces with prep wash before painting.

Sprayed etch primer in nice light coats to build up a surface (on some reasonably warm days ... well ... as warm as Melbourne is in April).

Applied acrylic top coat - again in nice light coats.

And yet ... it peeled off.

I am wondering if I didnt key the surface of the nice fresh aluminium enough.

Any budding spray painters out there got any ideas ? My feeling is the raw surface of the aluminium was just not roughed up enough.


Now ... what really hacks me off is I have to pull the whole bloody thing off again including all the gooey sealant and start fresh.

Glenn.

[glennv]

Thought I would start a thread on my 18' Capricorn San Remo Deluxe ... an early inheritance from my parents who purchased it new in 1973 (as it happens - following an inheritance from my Grandmother).

She is still in pretty good condition. Dad was pretty good at maintaining her, particularly keeping water out as best as he could, and replacing any leaky seals. A little tired though. External paint (what is left) needs work. Internal bench trims and door trims are all starting to curl back.

First order of the day was to get her down to my parents local mechanic for the once over. Grease here and there, and a new pair of tyres and all was good to go (save for a leak in one of the new tubeless tyres ... oh well ... a couple of tubes fixes that problem).

Next, an electric brake controller - so up to Hardings in Bayswater ... tick.

Tow her home behind my SSV Commodore ... easy as you like. Start preparing for a trip away over Easter, and find the 2 way fridge isnt working on gas. Odd ... very odd. Turn on the gas stove, and hear a "tinkling" sound when the burners are lit. That can't be right can it ? I spent just about every christmas holidays of my childhood in this van (and a few mid year school holidays) ... can't remember that sound ... although it was 25+ years ago.

Decided to remove the gas line from the fridge, turn on the bottle, and woosh - a stream of water shoots out. Ahhhh ... that cant be good. Drain the line, pull off valves, thermostats, jets, etc. and give everything a good clean. Now she works as good as gold. In fact, on the first trip away (photo below), after a few days it started freezing the food when running on gas.

First trip away was Easter 2013 to Dargo.



Second trip was Anzac weekend to Daylesford - requiring the annexe this time, as my two sons were with us.



Phew ... not a bad effort considering I hadnt put it up in over 25 years. I know ... I know ... the canvass is a little slack in places, but it was put up in the dark.

If anyone hasn't been to this beautiful little hamlet ... I can't recommend it enough. What a most picturesque place ... absolutely stunning. My 2nd g-grandparents settled there in the late 1850s after arriving from Switzerland and England. (here is one of my arty photos of the lake... I know this is about caravans ... but couldnt resist)



But I digress ....

After being in the back of the fridge cavity repeatedly with my water issues, I figured I would make a door to allow easier access. Particularly when that pesky pilot light wont light on gas. Nothing worse than having to pull off the vent panels and then reseal for 30 seconds access.



Having posted this pic, I should state that I have had some problems ...
ditzygypsy.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=techno&thread=2322&page=1


I am now thinking about some other external doors to get easier access into those inside bins that are a bit painful. That way, all the outside stuff (jacks, jack handles, boards, electrical leads, hoses, small gas stove and bottle, etc) can be loaded into the "hard to reach" bins from the outside, leaving the easy to reach bins for the inside goodies.

Will post pics of those when (or if) I get there.

I also want to have a go at remodelling the bed. Both I and my partner are 5'11" tall, so the itty bitty bed is a little painful. My parents had an inner spring matress specially made to replace the crappy foam number, but my mum ... at a grand 5'3" was never worried about the length. My Dad is 5'10", but he could sleep on an angle using the lower half of the bed that mum didnt occupy.

With both of us being tall - that doesnt work.

I am considering tossing the steel spring bed and replacing with a timber box and gas struts under the mattress slats for better storage. I also want to see if I can find a way to lengthen it ... even if just a little (but possibly at the expense of a little cupboard at the end of the bed). Perhaps some high density foam blocks at the head end might do the trick.

Has anyone had any experience doing this type of bed ? And particularly, any recommended gas struts ?

Anyway, thanks for reading, and more importantly, thanks for posting. It makes great reading on lazy days.

Glenn.

[ForumMod]

G'day Glenn,

I've shifted your post about the door hatch painting problem back into this thread, which keeps all the information about your van together in the one thread. There's no hard and fast rules about where you can and can't post stuff, but it sure makes the story of your van easier to follow when everything is in the one thread.


I'm surprised the paint peeled off when removing the masking tape, considering you say you used an etch primer, which is supposed to roughen the surface chemically to improve adhesion of the paint layers.

I'd be inclined to repaint the frame with the door in place as it is, and mask around the outside of the door frame (which means putting the masking tape on the van cladding around the frame). If you use that blue painter's tape that has low adhesion, you wouldn't interfere with the original acrylic paintwork that's on the van cladding (not that you would anyway...it's been there for 40 years and is not about to be ripped off by any crummy masking tape ). From memory, the SikaLastomer 511 is paintable, so you could paint both the frame and the sealant in one go. What do you reckon?

cheers,
Al.

[annieoakley]

Can we see a photo of the current bed layout?

[glennv]

Hi Al,

No problems moving my original post.

I am still wondering about painting the frame where it is, because I have to clean off all the old paint - and with the Sika still exceptionally tacky, I fear all the chips of old paint will stick like the proverbial does to a blanket.

You are correct - the paint on the van, while decayed, seems to have excellent adhesion, as removing the masking tape from the van walls didn't have any impact. It was only my freshly painted frame that suffered. :-(

Nice to hear that you think the lastomer 511 is paintable. I have a test bead on a piece of timber in the garage that once skinned, I was going to paint over with a fine brush. If nothing else, it might help stop dirt and grit sticking over the years.


Hi Annieoakley,

Below you can see the bed(room?) layout, and the small cupboard at the end of the bed that may need to be sacrificed should I elect to extend it. There is a good amount of storage underneath the bed, but its always been a little painful to get at. The bed frame is actually a traditional steel sprung frame that is bolted through the floor, with a cleat on the back wall I believe (although I havent looked that hard.

We tend to store things like small foldaway tables, camp chairs etc. under the bed. My other reason for thinking about changing it is the noise. Any time one of us moves, its a little noisy.

I must say, my parents should be pretty proud of the up keep on their van ... as all the cupboard doors you can see are all original, and the vinyl on the seats is also original (and horribly sticky in the warmer months ;-) ).



Cheers,

Glenn.

[glennv]

I guess its a little early to worry about the paintwork. It seems my door is a little less than water tight anyway. The water is running back from the top lip inside the door.

I knew I should have had the door finish outside the damn frame rather than inside !

Hmmm ... time for some navel gazing ...

Glenn.

[annieoakley]

We added an extension to our bed last Christmas but found the seam/gap around the join too irritating for long-term use. I have tried 3 different solutions to our bed and finally am happy with the current position which allows our feet to hang off the end a little and allows for some standing room still at the end of the bed.

If you think you need to remove the cabinet anyway then I would trial the new space before purchasing a made to order mattress and making a new bed frame. After the cabinet was removed I would try extending the mattress slightly by stuffing a couple of thin pillows between the mattress and the wall at the head end.

We have some ply on top of our metal frame spring bed. It stops the noise and makes the bed firmer. Also you might want to consider swapping where the top /bottom of the bed is. If you put your pillow near the power point you will cover most of the mess left from removing the cupboard.

[glennv]

Thanks Annieoakley,

What a fine idea !! If I was to remove the cabinet - I could just adjust the ply board under the mattress and test it out.

[Caprinut]

Glennv, Re your question about making external access to the internal space under the seats, this is what worried me , and I resolved the problem simply by cutting an outside hatch door and fixing the seat base securely inside so the security and cold proofing isn't compromised. You may have to add some timber bracing vertical frames as you will be weakening the exterior frame by cutting a hatch opening.
My hatch is really handy as that is where I store the barbie and smelly stuff such as muddy shoes etc. without stinking the interior out. I made my hatch door using the old main door frame and lock and hinges and also hinged it at the top so it lifts up to become a picnic table. Some minor issues with waterproofing due to the hinges being at the top were resolved with extra rubber beading.
Pete

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[glennv]

Hi Caprinut,

Those are the exact reasons I was looking to add some external hatches .. To make better use of what is essentially dead space that is a bugger to get to from inside.

My dead spots are in the two front corners low down, and the off side just forward of the wheel arch (which is under the day nighter on the inside)

Storing buckets, clothes lines, sullage hoses, jacks, planks, annexe pegs and hammers etc. in those new bins is my goal.

I understand your comments about water. It's a really sneaky bugger and manages to find its way in through the most unlikely places (well .. Unlikely to me anyway).

I note you used checker plate on the bottom third of your van. How did you transition from that to the white cladding and maintain water proofing ? Did you simply overlap the cladding by half inch or so over the top lip of the checker plate ?


Glenn..

[Caprinut]

GlenV. I decided to clad the bottom of the van using two sheets of 2400 x 1200 alu checker plate which actually was cheaper and better bracing than contoured strips. I had a lip 40mm wide bent on one long edge and cut each sheet in half length wise so arriving at my height. So as to eliminate piercing these sheets more than necessary I fixed the base from under the van using the bent lip and tec screws into the chassis, so the bottom has a nice curl to it and this also braces it . The top edge goes over the wall sheets but under it all I draped wall wrap completely over the van including roof and sides, my logic being that condensation and any water that does penetrate will run down the outwards side of this barrier much like modern eco sealed houses are built. All overlaps were taped and the only penetrations would be screws and edge beading. Even the windows were taped with foil seal under the frames. Hopefully this will create a permanent barrier but if water does leak in some where it should drip down this barrier and drain out at the bottom.
The joint between checker plate and wall strips was measured carefully and wood frame strips glued along the wall before cladding. I used J-molding strips to cover this lip (There is a small lip molding available at better caravan spares shops that tucks tightly over the treadplate, silicone sealed and concealed screws much like roof edge strips with a plastic cover strip to finish it all off.
Cheers, Pete

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[glennv]

OK - back to my paint challenge.

Called an automotive paint supply outfit today ... and as I suspected ... I hadnt roughed up the surface anywhere near enough. His recommendation was to use about 180grit dry ... rather than 800grit wet. "give a nice rough surface, then a nice light coat of etch primer".

(as it happens, he told me he recently resprayed his old van with two pack).

Lets see what happens ...

Glenn.

[glennv]

Hi everybody !

Well, it seems I have developed one of those dreaded water leaks around the front hatch in my van. I have draped plastic over the roof for the moment until the weather improves a little. Isn't it amazing ... all of a sudden things can just start leaking ... considering I have been in posession of the van now for 6 months and not a drop.

Anyway, while up on the roof putting the plastic sheet up the other day, I noticed something I thought was odd, and would love to hear from Mausie, Caprinut or KiwiJim ... or anyone else !

The roof panels are made from a lightly contoured sheet aluminium, running full length side to side (ie. no joins) with front to back spans of say 3 or so feet. I guess there are no surprises there.

However, I noticed something odd in the seams ... in that they appear to be put on back to front. Refer the following image.




I am guessing about the construct of the seam, and figured it might be a Pittsburg Seam ... but having not disassembled anything I can't be sure. Over the years my father has filled the seams with sealant in an effort to prevent any water getting into the seams. He too is of the view they are back to front. He was considering ignoring any asthetic impact, and laying lines of flashtack across the whole thing ... but had managed to keep the water at bay so never bothered.

However, I can see a case for having the seams this way to prevent water being "driven" in when on the road, where I suspect there would be a reasonable amount of force pushing water into the seams.

Capricorn owners ... is this consistent with what you have seen on your vans ?

Kiwijim ... sorry to bother ... but is there a scientific reason behind this ?

Cheers !

Glenn.

[Caprinut]

GlennV'
The seams on my van were tightly crimped so direction was not really noticeable but as there were flex cracks I ran a seam of paintable Selleys polyurethane sealant over it and smoothed it flush so it was not even noticeable. The roof also had 2 coats of Heatshield paint plus 2 coats of Weathershield so nothing is going to leak there ( touch wood)

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[mausie]

Hi Glenn

These seams are common to almost all vans. We haven't had a problem at this stage

I would suggest giving the seam a thorough clean with a non ferrous brush. If you use a metal wire brush particals can lodge in the seam and start corrosion ( dissimilar metal electrolysis). Boy that's a mouthful for this time of night

Seal up the joint using a good quality sealant that will allow you paint over it. Perhaps the stuff Caprinut used.

You certainly must stop that leak it will ruin the timber frame eventually not to mention the stain on the ceiling.

Anyway, that's my two bob's worth

Let us know how you go

By the way should you come across cupboard handles like you have in your van can you let us know - our van has most of them missing

Joe ( & Mausie)

[glennv]

Hi Caprinut & Mausie,

Thanks for the tips - although I am still of the view the seams are back to front. But anyways ... I cant change that now.

My endeavours to find the leak are proving difficult - as each time I try with a hose in a specific area - I cant find it. Yet - if it rains ... in it pours !!

Although - I think I may have had a breakthrough yesterday. It would seem (no pun intended) the water takes quite some time to present itself on the inside of the ceiling panels ... so the leak is not an instant one ... if that makes any sense. I suspect its finding its way in through some dry sealant in one of the seams, and running either along the roof panels or along a batten in the cavity ... before trickling onto the ceiling panel. The batten is certainly very wet.

So - I shall clean out the offending seam (or the one I think is offending) - and I plan to reseal with Sellys Butyl Mastic.

Mausie,

I wish I could tell you where to find the cupboard handles ... but I don't see too many Capricorn vans on the road or in forums like this !! If I ever see any, I will be sure to let you know.

Maybe we are two of the privileged few !!

Cheers ...

Glenn.

[Deleted]

Jun 17, 2013 11:52:53 GMT 10 glennv said:

My endeavours to find the leak are proving difficult - as each time I try with a hose in a specific area - I cant find it. Yet - if it rains ... in it pours !!

Leak Sealant Spray

I used this stuff on the roof to stop my leaks, it worked great. I think the holes letting the water in are too small to see visually, so the spray takes care of that. Two cans will do the job.

Can also get the stuff in clear spray, not just the black as seen on link above.

[mausie]

Nathanboxa

Thanks for the tip on spray - it might come in handy so we will check it out

Mausie

[glennv]

Jun 17, 2013 19:44:11 GMT 10 @nathanboxa said:

Jun 17, 2013 11:52:53 GMT 10 glennv said:

My endeavours to find the leak are proving difficult - as each time I try with a hose in a specific area - I cant find it. Yet - if it rains ... in it pours !!

Leak Sealant Spray

I used this stuff on the roof to stop my leaks, it worked great. I think the holes letting the water in are too small to see visually, so the spray takes care of that. Two cans will do the job.

Can also get the stuff in clear spray, not just the black as seen on link above.

Nice !!!

Thanks for the tip !

[youngdazza]

The leak sealant sounds like something to keep handy under the seat in case you get a leak while youre on the road.
Has anyone had experience with this as a long term solution? I know that "caravan stop leak" stuff doesnt stand up well in the sun - I had some on my 70's viscount that cracked up an peeled off exposing the cracks once again.
I spent the time to reseal the van's roof with roof & gutter silicone which seemed to stand up well to the sunlight & heat. On my early 80's viscount I used sikaflex which is good but tends to collect dirt easily as it never seems to fully dry.

Cheers

[annieoakley]

Thanks for this great tip. Does anyone have any advice about spraying this sealant near the 4 seasons hatches? I don't want the sealant to make it difficult to open or close the hatches but I will need to spray close as my leak drips from the corner of a hatch.

[glennv]

Hi all,

Well, I decided I would have a bit of a play around with Photoshop to see if I could recreate the Capricorn Logo. I managed to find a logo on the WWW that was in far better condition that the one on my van. Although, I must say, the colors I have chosen are something of a guess.  The top is the original I sourced off the net, the bottom is my photoshopped version.  I also elected to jazz it up just a little with some highlights.



I have sent a copy of the image to a local digital printer to get a cost for priting on vinyl - and I believe they are going to analyse it to ensure its suitable.

Capricorn owners - comments are welcome.  If you think the colors are wrong - or something missing - by all means let me know - as any prior logos I had to work with were well and truly passed their used by date. 

Or if you would like a highres copy (170MB TIF File) - please PM me with your email address - and I will gladly send through.

Glenn.

[murray]

Glenn,
Don't forget to photoshop in that little island down the bottom
Melbourne's not too big is it ?

[mausie]

Murray - Ha Ha!

The original logo forgot the little island as well.

Glenn
We had a pair of these vinyl stickers made last year for our Capricorn, it came in two parts - the Australia bit and the Capricorn overlay.
We haven't used it yet because the vans not ready for it.

We also had the "Fully Insulated" and the "Birdie Deluxe" stickers made at the same time.

Let us know

Mausie & Joe

[glennv]

Murray,

Well done . I did make the Melbourne text marginally larger than the original .. I guess I erred to a larger size as a proud Melbournian.

On the topic of Tassie, Mausie is right .. the original didn't have it ... So do I stay traditional ? Or make it anatomically correct ? What do you think ?