Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2014 19:01:13 GMT 10
|
|
|
|
Post by ForumMod on Jun 17, 2014 20:30:08 GMT 10
G'day bridgetsmith, and welcome to the forum!  Yes...well...quite a tidy little van you've got there...  Can you take the plastic cap away from the chassis number, and tell me if the number is A4040 or R4040? Also take a close-up photo of the Viscount sticker above the rear window. That rear sticker seems to be a bit better than the one at the front. Now...what did you say you were going to start doing this weekend? Wire up some dynamite and blow the van up??  But seriously , you should keep the vent...and throw the rest of the van away. No, no, just kidding...throw the vent as well. No, wait...keep the lot. Every caravan should have someone who loves it, and this one certainly needs some loving. Tell Hannah she has to finish her half before you start on your half. That'll get you out of doing some of the hard work required to get the project started.  cheers, Al. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2014 16:54:26 GMT 10
Hahaha! Thanks Al, I think that is how most of my family feels about it... But very true, it needs the loving. It is definitely A4040 Here is a close up of the front Sticker (almost non existent) the back one is actually worse...  |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2014 18:40:35 GMT 10
Go girls!!
|
|
|
|
Post by ForumMod on Jun 18, 2014 21:04:26 GMT 10
Well, the mystery deepens about the age of this van.  Ordinarily, I would have said chassis number A4040 belongs either to a 1967 or a 1968 Viscount, but things are not adding up with your van. A 1967 Viscount has plain silver cladding with a painted design that looks like this one:  A 1968 Viscount has plain silver cladding with a painted design that looks like this one:  The Viscount Duralvan sticker looks like this:  What throws me for a loop is that your van looks like it has painted cladding that was applied in the factory, and it has the painted stripe along the side that is typical of a 1974 model. I think the darker blue stripe along the bottom has been added by someone after the van was built. If that stripe was done in the factory, it would have gone across the door as well. The Viscount Duralvan sticker should have long been discontinued by 1974, so that confuses me as well. The interior of the van is very typical of how Viscounts looked in the period 1968 to 1972, with the cupboard handles and the white laminated surfaces and walls. So, nothing adds up to give a clear decision about your van. If you ever clean the van with a pressure washer, and the white paint just peels away to reveal silver cladding with the 1968 pattern, then we're onto something. If the white paint holds fast, it'll mean your van might just be from 1974, and might just have been given some out-of-date Duralvan stickers, and might just be 40th Viscount built in 1974 on an Ambassador chassis (because the A4040 can decode to mean that, as well as decoding to being from 1968). Confused?? Join the club. Pending the discovery of further information, I'm going to rename this thread to say it's a 1974 Viscount Duralvan - A4040. One day we may find out we're right, or we may be way out of whack. We'll maybe know a bit more when you start cleaning the van and see what you discover with the paintwork. cheers, Al. |
|
|
|
Post by ForumMod on Jun 25, 2014 22:46:57 GMT 10
Sooo...wonder what happened to this van??
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2014 18:21:27 GMT 10
Van is going well!! We can only work on it one day a week. But we have now stripped quite a bit of the inside out. It is unbelievable how these were made. I swear everything is connected, we pull one thing out then we have to remove another! The next task we are doing is fixing all the leaks and the vent then the windows. So we have a nice sealed space to start working on the inside. We have so much to do!! I will post some photos shortly  |
|
|
|
Post by kharde on Jul 2, 2014 22:40:46 GMT 10
Good to hear. I was at your stage 5 months ago (fixing a complete peice of c*** I mean gem). They can brush up nicely [My van is VERY similiar to yours (dual axle 78 model 18 foot Viscount) and I'm about 50% complete].
Answering your first question: What to do with your hatches:
The hatch hole is too big to fit a modern 4 seasons hatch into, so I rebuilt mine using table lifting arms from Bunnings and 4 chest latches to keep them closed whilst driving. About $60 spent / hatch (excluding the ply and insulation that covers the frame). If you want pictures, let me know and I'll post them. Also, I chose to bolt the hatch plate down to the hatch frame (by drilling 6 bolts through the metal sheet) => that way I do not have to worry about them flying off whilst driving.
Note: When you are sealing the van => I recommend removing the roof rails (well all the rails) and scraping out the old Mastic rather then sealing over the existing rails. It is not much more work. Also I found my door frame needed to be removed and re-sealed. [windows were fine for some reason].
Note: The window glass can be dangerous. My van had very old glass that was extremely bittle and easily shattered. I replaced all window glass with 3mm (I think) perspex (perspex wholesalers are ALOT cheaper than hardware stores like bunnings).
At your stage [the post stripping stage], not much seems to get achieved for your effort, but once you have a sealed van, the sheeting can happen very quickly , so keep at it. It can be a very rewarding journey. [assuming you (and I) finish our projects one day]
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2014 6:57:19 GMT 10
Thanks kharde! I would love to see the photos of the venting if you can post we need an easy and cheap option and that sounds perfect. I will also have to look into that Perspex for the windows! It is going to be a long journey, but will definitely be rewarding at the end!! |
|
|
|
Post by kharde on Jul 7, 2014 13:52:28 GMT 10
Sorry for the delay (been away on holidays), here are photos of my hatch. I'll see if I can get a photo of the table arm that I used next time I am in bunnings. Feel free to ask me any questions on your journey (I think I've hit every snag possible with my Van [My original van was SO BAD [Door falling off, windows falling out, rust EVERYWHERE {sandblasted it}), but have overcome each obstacle thus far], and it all ooks pretty good now [Air con installed, flush toilet installed, kitchen mostly completed, etc]. / |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2014 10:23:23 GMT 10
Thanks for the photos kharde! I would really appreciate the photo of the table arms, the bunnings I went to had no idea! We re-made the hatch frame yesterday so we have to get this hatch all fixed up!  You can see that there is quite a bit stripped out.. we are trying to savor the overhead cupboards and some of the cupboards on the left... Depending on how everything goes .. they may still get ripped out |
|
|
|
Post by kharde on Jul 21, 2014 14:49:27 GMT 10
Here is the table arm I was talking about. It was in the cabinet hardware section of bunnings. Hope it helps. Attachments:
|
|
