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Post by snoops on Feb 14, 2015 19:07:54 GMT 10
Yep, the whole lot will be out tomorrow at some stage if I'm not too hung over - got some friends around at the moment and the beer is running freely  . Lots of cleaning of the old silicon to be done. The back windows have been sealed shut, so there is a lot of work to be done to make them usable again. |
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Post by snoops on Feb 17, 2015 5:19:42 GMT 10
Well, the back window didn't get done yet - it was too hot on Sunday and I had a bit of a hangover... That will have to wait for a bit now. Wish me luck - the van takes its maiden voyage on the new axle this morning - about 30KM to my mates workshop to get the draw bar done. See what it's like to tow around in peak hour traffic. |
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Post by snoops on Feb 17, 2015 5:49:52 GMT 10
Ok, bit of help needed fairly quickly if someone knows. I'm sure I've looked and found this info before, but I'll be stuffed if I can find it now...
What year is my Franklin Van? Chassis number is W3215. I've got in the back of my mind this is a '77, but not 100% sure. I need the year for Vicroads to get a permit to tow it. Was hoping to do that first thing this morning but I doubt that will happen now...
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Post by atefooterz on Feb 17, 2015 9:21:14 GMT 10
W should be 1975, according to the list, some have said they have X 1975 but mostly the X owners seem to agree on 1976. All V owners seem to agree on 1974 |
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Post by pisces51 on Feb 17, 2015 10:49:00 GMT 10
Yeah, I'm going with the "W" series being from 1975. One day we will get enough people coming on this forum with a range of "X" numbers to help prove the X is 1976. The key piece of evidence will be the RVMAA badge. I suspect vans with high numbers in the X range will have the badge, and vans with low numbers in the X range won't have the badge, because I think Franklin started to fit the badge in late 1976, a month or two before the RVMAA initiative was officially launched in Feb 1977. (Sorry if all of that sounds like a lot of gobble-de-gook. I know what I'm thinking...   ) cheers, Al. |
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Post by snoops on Feb 17, 2015 18:59:43 GMT 10
Thanks heaps guys. . Permit got. I doubt Vicroads or the Police would have any idea what year it is, but it is nice to have right on the permit. |
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Post by snoops on Feb 18, 2015 19:45:11 GMT 10
Travelled to my mates workshop without incident. In fact it towed very nicely behind my work car - a diesel Captiva. The van looks huge behind it though...  image by Gavin Gregory, on Flickr But it's all relative...  image by Gavin Gregory, on Flickr Draw bar is now in the scrap bin. It was worse than I thought.  image by Gavin Gregory, on Flickr Tomorrow I'll clean the chassis up and start fabrication of some new supports underneath. I don't want to add too much weight, but I need to add a couple of bits in so the new draw bar will be secured in 6 places, right back to the spring hangers. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2015 21:56:46 GMT 10
aha is that the permit tapped to the front window?  |
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Post by snoops on Feb 19, 2015 4:29:28 GMT 10
Yep, unregistered vehicle permit. For $22.50 it's cheap to do things the rights way. Trailer has has to be in a safe and roadworthy condition, so I was probably stretching that when I towed it home originally with no brakes, but now with new axle, brakes and tyres it's all good. |
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Post by snoops on Feb 21, 2015 17:12:33 GMT 10
So, after a big slog today, I have plenty to show for it. New drawbar is all tacked in ready to be fully welded on Monday by my mate. Thanks to Mr Marsh for a helping hand and ideas today - he really helped me finalise what was floating about in my brain. So, onto the pics. Here's an overview of everything. Twin gas bottle holders & spare wheel carrier. The new bar is 450mm longer than standard and welded right back to the spring hangers. Despite the size and weight of the steel, I can still easily lift the van from the front - my guess is it's not 40Kg as you see it here. With the spare and the gas bottles, not even 100. With the wet room finished inside and a battery and solar panel, then probably around 120 to 130 which is right where I want it. Jack stands are still there, but it is fully self supporting now.  image by Gavin Gregory, on Flickr Close up of the spare holder and the gas cylinder holders.  image by Gavin Gregory, on Flickr With the wheel mounted.  image by Gavin Gregory, on Flickr Tomorrow is the hitch, brake line, etc. should be mobile again early next week. |
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Post by snoops on Feb 22, 2015 15:14:27 GMT 10
No pics today, but the hitch is on, brake line back in, steps half made. Hopefully tomorrow night will see everything fully welded, wiring back in for the lights and camera, a coat of paint and it will be close to back on the road. After that - Rego... |
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Post by snoops on Feb 23, 2015 19:17:48 GMT 10
New drawbar finally all fully welded in. Mostly painted, but I ran out of paint, so a few bits underneath still need doing tomorrow night. So, a few more pics. A couple of shots of underneath - where the drawbar ties to the spring hangers and the extra crossmember welded between the main chassis rails. This also serves to stop the floor flexing above it - it was quite bad with me stepping on it, but now is rock solid. These pics are before it was fully welded.  image by Gavin Gregory, on Flickr  image by Gavin Gregory, on Flickr A bit of welding porn... My mate is a much better welder than me...  . The grotty bits at each end were my tack welds...  image by Gavin Gregory, on Flickr All painted and looking pretty.  image by Gavin Gregory, on Flickr |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2015 9:58:33 GMT 10
Wow "A" frame looks good, so are you going to get the wire brush and drill going on the chassis or get it sand blasted ?
Cheers
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Post by snoops on Feb 24, 2015 16:40:12 GMT 10
Hi Lockyer, I had a bit of a play with the chassis last night while painting the A frame. Found that a quick once over with a wire brush - by hand - to get the really loose crap off (and the spiders) then a coat of rust kill paint laid on with a brush, and it looks the goods. That won't happen any time soon though as I gave too much other stuff to do before the Military swim in at Corowa in a few weeks, which will be its first outing.
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Post by glennv on Feb 25, 2015 9:16:29 GMT 10
Oh .. if only I could weld just half as good as that !! It makes one realise what a skill it must be ...
On my circa 73 van with original draw bar, the ends of the channel at the hitch are capped with a solid piece of steel covering both pieces.
Have you considered this ?
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Post by snoops on Feb 25, 2015 16:28:01 GMT 10
I too would love to weld like that, but at least I've got a mate that can. Not sure yet what I'm going to cap the ends with. One side has the taillight wiring and the brake line running down it, and the other will have a 50amp supply running to the house battery. I didn't want to put holes in the side of the drawbar like the original, so everything comes out the end. I may paint the insides of them yet, or at least spray some lanotec down them. A small 360 degree nozzle on a hose would do the trick... |
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Post by atefooterz on Feb 25, 2015 21:17:13 GMT 10
For 4 years i lived with two boiler makers, who were old school trained. Miss having them at disposal. Best mate from school went on to be marine engineer & spent 10 years doind land based work for maxi yachts etc, what he could not do in alloy or 316 did not bear thinking about. His fave thing was to teach folks to weld alloy cans to get a handle on using the welder... sado much! However most who persivered could happily weld a coke can back together with no burn holes! ( not me i just admire from affar hahah!)
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Post by snoops on Feb 26, 2015 20:08:59 GMT 10
Well, it's back home. What a difference! It towed beautifully. Before it was quite twitchy at 85KPH on the highway, but now it's rock solid. Tested it up to 100 and it is fine. Backing off the throttle suddenly doesn't upset it, and treading on the brakes brings the whole show up straight. It tracks well, tows straight and doesn't crab at all. One very happy chappy. Will finish off a few bits and pieces early next week when I get a chance and should have it in for rego sometime mid week. |
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Post by atefooterz on Feb 26, 2015 20:19:52 GMT 10
Congreats, well worth the adventure to have something you can just drive without fussing!
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Post by Rattles on Feb 26, 2015 20:57:48 GMT 10
I too would love to weld like that, but at least I've got a mate that can. Not sure yet what I'm going to cap the ends with. One side has the taillight wiring and the brake line running down it, and the other will have a 50amp supply running to the house battery. I didn't want to put holes in the side of the drawbar like the original, so everything comes out the end. I may paint the insides of them yet, or at least spray some lanotec down them. A small 360 degree nozzle on a hose would do the trick... It is possible on a very tight turn to Cut the cables if they feed out the ends of the A frame ad also for dust and mud to enter the rails, It would be better to weld the ends and run the cables saddled on the inside of the A Frame encased in a cheap 1/2 " Garden Hose, I say cheap as the cheapies are very flexible and yes you will need one for the Anderson plug if you are running one for the fridge/house battery, Yes they would not be over attractive, but easy to identify any problems, also easier to repair. I also do not like to drill large holes in the side of the A frame due to dirt/mud ingress and weakening of the A frame structure. When Wiring the 7/12 pin plug and the Anderson plug take all -ve wires (earth) to a single stud (not the 240v AC Earth Stud) to the Caravan Chassis and Paint with a good coat of silver frost (Conductive Paint) to seal and as a locktite, the same goes for the tug -ve Wires. Rattles |
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Post by snoops on Feb 27, 2015 16:39:33 GMT 10
Thanks, but not going to run anything through any hose - it wouldn't look like I wanted it to. I agree though that it should probably be done a bit differently though, and I would like to seal the ends up, time will tell what I do here, I'll think about it in a couple of weeks during its first outing while I sit there doing nothing for 5 days but drinking... Wiring is the easy bit for me, I'm a Sparky by trade and I specialise in DC control systems and engine management,. |
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Post by snoops on Mar 3, 2015 19:37:31 GMT 10
Ok, a couple of steps further. It is now ready for rego! Tomorrow night it goes over the weighbridge, Thursday morning in for Registration... Also got the 12 volt electrics sorted - a bit of a bodge at the moment, but it works like a treat. Basically, I've got a 1000 watt pure sine wave inverter connected to 200 amp hours of deep cycle batteries. Lead from the inverter runs out the window and plugs into the side of the van.... Yes, I know, but I won't have time to put a changeover switch in before we go away for the first time. With 2 lights on (that have 6 watt LED globes each), the pedestal fan running on low and the TV on, I'm drawing just under 5 amps on the 12 volt side - pretty happy with that. The fridge will have to wait until we get to site and the gas lit. I'll use the engel in the back of the 101 in the meantime. I will eventually get a decent 12 volt supply run from the 101 so I can run the fridge through the inverter while driving. All in good time. The downside of running a cheap inverter is that it draws .6 amp while doing nothing! I'll turn it off when not using it at night, so all good. During the day, the 150 watt solar panel will keep thinks happy. Given that I don't need to run the engel while parked up, I doubt I'll run short of power. Will just have to keep an eye on the gas though, not sure how long a gas fridge will take to suck a 9kg bottle dry - any ideas on that? cheers. |
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Post by snoops on Mar 9, 2015 20:34:15 GMT 10
So, been running a few systems checks on everything before heading off on Thursday with it. One thing I've noticed is how much heat the fridge puts out the top. There are vents along the top of the sink, and vents outside - both of which are dispersing the heat, but things are still quite warm. I've had a good look around with the sink removed, and I'm happy there is no chance of a fire - all the timber is well out of the way from the chimneys opening at the top and is barely warm to the touch, but you could use the draining board of the sink as a plate warmer! Not much fun in Summer, but I bet it's nice on a cool night...
Anyway, looking over a friends much newer van today I noticed it had something akin to a chimney running outside to a more modern vent with a steel insert in it that is connected to the fridge chimney with a length of flexible metal pipe - about 2" in diameter.
Anyone done a mod similar to this on there classic vans? Is the heat generated by the fridge normal? It's using bugger all gas - I've had it running for 3 days and I can't tell the difference in the gas bottle level, and the test beers I put in it are nice and cold and aren't freezing, so I'm guessing it's all ok and the thermostat is working correctly. When I first lit it, you could hear it running - like it was cranking quite hard as you would expect, but now it's down to temp, it's totally silent.
Any suggestions or comments appreciated - I heading off Thursday morning for a 4 night getaway.
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Post by pisces51 on Mar 9, 2015 21:19:16 GMT 10
G'day snoops, Sounds pretty normal to me. I wouldn't worry about it - just go and enjoy your first trip away. Down the track if you want to look at it a bit further, there are some ideas on this forum that we can dig out for you. Usually we find the top vent is not high enough. You can see in Joe and Mausie's Capricorn project how they were lucky to be able to position the vent higher on their van because they re-cladded it. That's not easy to do if you're stuck with the cladding already there. However, there are some other tips and tricks that can provide some benefit if you're determined to do something about it. Enjoy your trip! Make sure you take plenty of piccies for us to drool over.  cheers, Al. |
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Post by snoops on Mar 11, 2015 20:23:08 GMT 10
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. Lots of cleaning of the old silicon to be done. The back windows have been sealed shut, so there is a lot of work to be done to make them usable again.
)
. The grotty bits at each end were my tack welds...
