Olympic 19' Styleleader TravelTrailer
Jun 17, 2015 14:11:43 GMT 10
bobandjacqui, matt, and 1 more like this
Post by suem on Jun 17, 2015 14:11:43 GMT 10
Because we have to get this van done as quickly as possible - we have spent a lot of time assessing each job and ordering the parts.
Sam has cleaned the roof ready to paint it with Thermoshield, but we have had constant rain and the new hatch is still not ready - so the van is still tarped and the painting is on hold.
We have instead been spending our time on the windows. The 6 double hoppers from the sides have been removed - they were filthy & grotty after sitting in a shed for over 20 years.
Sam pulled each window apart completely, cleaned, polished, re-riveted. We cleaned all the original butyl mastic from around the frame - my fun job!! And observed that it was squeezed down the centre of the 180o corner of each frame - so it squeezes out on both ledges when placed into the van frame. (Must remember that when we go to put them in place). All the plastic fittings exterior parts have been removed and soaked in Napisan - they came up like new - we were hugely pleased with the result. And as they feel very sound, we are re-using them.
This picture is the winders before cleaning and after. They didn't work when we took them off the windows, but Sam opened them up and they were full of western plains dirt and spider's nests! Once they were soaked and dried, they work perfectly. I forgot to take a before & after of the insides of each winder, so will do that when he gets the next couple open.
We were considering perspex, but our local glazier advised that we stick to glass. The old 3mm glass was fragile, so we have used a 4mm tinted glass and it looks fantastic and should give a little more insulation. He gave us the necessary window seal to fit the job. We had no great difficulty pulling out the weather seal around the edges - just put it beside the fire to soften and used a pair of plyers.
We got the new weather seal from the Camec range, but have found an excellent supplier, whose prices & service are amazing! Andy at Big Red Caravan Parts.
After he sprayed the channel and seal with glycerine, the first couple slid straight onto the windows without any trouble - although it is a 2 man job! Then we ran into problems and it was sticking at the corners. We noticed that there was some residue gunk in those corners, really got in and cleaned them, sprayed in more glycerine and the seals slid straight on. So if you have problems putting the weather seal in, make sure the channel is really, really clean.
End result is this excellent looking finish!
Now the window cutouts in the van needed some work too. The fibreglass had pulled away in some parts and although they appear to have been painted, the paint had long gone. So the body was re-glued to the window frame and they have been undercoated, and have 3 layers of enamel to seal them. The colour we matched to the fibreglass was British Paints Tiger White. There was some crazing and chipping around the interior fibreglass edges, so Sam painted them to seal them too.
undercoated
As most of the fly screens were damaged or missing, we thought we would have to replace the mesh and re-weld it to the rubber frames. Consequently we bought a screen for the kitchen window to practice and it actually fitted the window! How fantastic! Turns out we had been measuring wrongly, measuring the space rather than the whole window.
So a quick re-measurement of the rest of the windows, has meant we have now ordered ALL the screens we need new, which will save hours of work. The end result with the new black screens and tinted windows will make the interior of the van quite 'protected' visually, which is what we want, as we will be living in it for some time.
We have also observed that the top window fly screens (which have square cornered bases) have warped in the frames. As the window itself has round edges, it appears that nothing pins the screen in place, so it 'draws up'. We will put a touch of glue in place to hold each square corner down, so that doesn't happen again.
As we have been concentrating on getting the van weather proof, he has also been fixing any exterior damage, which is minimal thankfully.
There was damage around the fridge vent, the towel railed had been pulled off the rear, and a couple of dings along the bottom. Our fibreglass man told Sam how to fix them easily.
These repairs are still a 'work in progress', but Sam had to drill into the damage, then screw a brace into place from underneath, then begin to repair the damage from the outside using an epoxy glue - bringing the broken body back into place and strengthening the area.
The fibreglasser does a lot of vans, jet skies and etc and has had no issues with water leakage after the area is finally completed, and it worked very well to fix the damage.
Apart from these jobs, we have just been trying to track down the materials for the kitchen. Despite this being a 'luxury' van for 1972, they are built fairly simply.
The timber is crap pressed 1/2" with a veneer on one or both sides, depending on where it goes. To keep space, what they have done is staple fenderwelt around the edges of each piece and then when they butt against another piece, the fenderwelt seals the join. Same stuff that is used on cars around the mudguards, etc.
We have found and bought that, but the huge issue we are having difficulty with is the gold edge trim. That is T-mould and it can't be bought in Australia! Only USA or England. A similar item is the metallic mould used on cars as a trim BUT - that is rigid and the van features curved edges as a timber feature, so needs the soft plastic mould. T-mould is now used mainly in the cabinetry of arcade games, so I am hoping that if I buy some, I can sell the left-overs to the gamers.
Yes I know we are being purist, but we have gotten quite determined to restore her to as near original as possible. If we just can't do that then we move to plan B.
That being paint the edges gold - which I have yet to investigate but is probably the simplest solution.
Fenderwelt stapled to the top of the chair back from the previous pic. Quite ingenious way of making simple joins look tidy eh! The builder's daughter in me goes 'yeah' - the carpenter's daughter goes 'hmm' !
Sam has cleaned the roof ready to paint it with Thermoshield, but we have had constant rain and the new hatch is still not ready - so the van is still tarped and the painting is on hold.
We have instead been spending our time on the windows. The 6 double hoppers from the sides have been removed - they were filthy & grotty after sitting in a shed for over 20 years.
Sam pulled each window apart completely, cleaned, polished, re-riveted. We cleaned all the original butyl mastic from around the frame - my fun job!! And observed that it was squeezed down the centre of the 180o corner of each frame - so it squeezes out on both ledges when placed into the van frame. (Must remember that when we go to put them in place). All the plastic fittings exterior parts have been removed and soaked in Napisan - they came up like new - we were hugely pleased with the result. And as they feel very sound, we are re-using them.
This picture is the winders before cleaning and after. They didn't work when we took them off the windows, but Sam opened them up and they were full of western plains dirt and spider's nests! Once they were soaked and dried, they work perfectly. I forgot to take a before & after of the insides of each winder, so will do that when he gets the next couple open.
We were considering perspex, but our local glazier advised that we stick to glass. The old 3mm glass was fragile, so we have used a 4mm tinted glass and it looks fantastic and should give a little more insulation. He gave us the necessary window seal to fit the job. We had no great difficulty pulling out the weather seal around the edges - just put it beside the fire to soften and used a pair of plyers.
We got the new weather seal from the Camec range, but have found an excellent supplier, whose prices & service are amazing! Andy at Big Red Caravan Parts.
After he sprayed the channel and seal with glycerine, the first couple slid straight onto the windows without any trouble - although it is a 2 man job! Then we ran into problems and it was sticking at the corners. We noticed that there was some residue gunk in those corners, really got in and cleaned them, sprayed in more glycerine and the seals slid straight on. So if you have problems putting the weather seal in, make sure the channel is really, really clean.
End result is this excellent looking finish!
Now the window cutouts in the van needed some work too. The fibreglass had pulled away in some parts and although they appear to have been painted, the paint had long gone. So the body was re-glued to the window frame and they have been undercoated, and have 3 layers of enamel to seal them. The colour we matched to the fibreglass was British Paints Tiger White. There was some crazing and chipping around the interior fibreglass edges, so Sam painted them to seal them too.
undercoatedAs most of the fly screens were damaged or missing, we thought we would have to replace the mesh and re-weld it to the rubber frames. Consequently we bought a screen for the kitchen window to practice and it actually fitted the window! How fantastic! Turns out we had been measuring wrongly, measuring the space rather than the whole window.
So a quick re-measurement of the rest of the windows, has meant we have now ordered ALL the screens we need new, which will save hours of work. The end result with the new black screens and tinted windows will make the interior of the van quite 'protected' visually, which is what we want, as we will be living in it for some time.
We have also observed that the top window fly screens (which have square cornered bases) have warped in the frames. As the window itself has round edges, it appears that nothing pins the screen in place, so it 'draws up'. We will put a touch of glue in place to hold each square corner down, so that doesn't happen again.
As we have been concentrating on getting the van weather proof, he has also been fixing any exterior damage, which is minimal thankfully.
There was damage around the fridge vent, the towel railed had been pulled off the rear, and a couple of dings along the bottom. Our fibreglass man told Sam how to fix them easily.
These repairs are still a 'work in progress', but Sam had to drill into the damage, then screw a brace into place from underneath, then begin to repair the damage from the outside using an epoxy glue - bringing the broken body back into place and strengthening the area.
The fibreglasser does a lot of vans, jet skies and etc and has had no issues with water leakage after the area is finally completed, and it worked very well to fix the damage.
Apart from these jobs, we have just been trying to track down the materials for the kitchen. Despite this being a 'luxury' van for 1972, they are built fairly simply.
The timber is crap pressed 1/2" with a veneer on one or both sides, depending on where it goes. To keep space, what they have done is staple fenderwelt around the edges of each piece and then when they butt against another piece, the fenderwelt seals the join. Same stuff that is used on cars around the mudguards, etc.
We have found and bought that, but the huge issue we are having difficulty with is the gold edge trim. That is T-mould and it can't be bought in Australia! Only USA or England. A similar item is the metallic mould used on cars as a trim BUT - that is rigid and the van features curved edges as a timber feature, so needs the soft plastic mould. T-mould is now used mainly in the cabinetry of arcade games, so I am hoping that if I buy some, I can sell the left-overs to the gamers.
Yes I know we are being purist, but we have gotten quite determined to restore her to as near original as possible. If we just can't do that then we move to plan B.
That being paint the edges gold - which I have yet to investigate but is probably the simplest solution.
Fenderwelt stapled to the top of the chair back from the previous pic. Quite ingenious way of making simple joins look tidy eh! The builder's daughter in me goes 'yeah' - the carpenter's daughter goes 'hmm' ! 
