77 chesney pacemaker2

[Deleted]

Hi all
what a great forum! I have had a good look over the site last few days and decided to try and post my pics of my chesney but am not having any luck so maybe if i send link to my photos someone else can work out how to post them iam not good with computers kids look after it for me.
picasaweb.google.com.au/garyr1963/Caravan?feat=directlink
I hope this works our computer is a linux one so i think it works different to windows?
a bit about my van its a 77 model it was parked under a tree for about 10 years in the weather the tree sap did a lot of damage to the roof so it neads a new 4 seasons hatch anyone know were i can get one cheap? it also needs a coat of paint on the roof can I brush paint it or should i pay someone to spray it as i have no where to spray paint it I was going to brush paint it with a exterior house paint need to cover cushions also if anyone has any suggestions please let me know
Cheers Gary

[atouchofglass]

Greetings Garyr and Welcome
To upload your photos go through Photobucket
photobucket.com/

There is a listing on this site about how to do it
ditzygypsy.proboards107.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=7

The first time takes the longest...
After that it will be all plain sailing
^{He laughs to self.... took me about five goes to get it right}
I also use picasa3
works well

Happy hunting for bits
Try caravans plus
www.caravansplus.com.au/catalog/index.php
They carry a decent range of stuff
Not always the cheapest but sometimes....
It pays to explore a little with some items such as stoves and sinks

Cheers
Atog

[kiwijim]

G'Day garyr,

Welcome to the forum,

I have had a look at the photo's of your caravan....... looks great,
nice and roomy and should be great to rebuild.

A wee bit of advise....... unless you are a professional painter,
I wouldn't try to hand paint your van,
very rarely they come out O.K. especially after a couple of years when the paint starts to weather, all the brush marks start to stand out.
If I was you I would save my pennies and have the van properly re-sprayed.........not cheap I know but, the result will add a great deal to the value and appearance. ;D ;D ;D

All parts for your 4 season hatch are available at CAMEC,
it's a pity you don't live in the West, being in the Caravan repair business, we have heaps of bits and pieces lying around for these hatches, I am afraid the cost of freight to Brissie would prove rather expensive.

I hope you have some luck with posting your photos......... took me a fair while to master this trick, thanks to other members on this forum this old Coot finally suceeded...........

best of luck .kiwijim

[gary]

another shot at it
some more
i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn310/garyau1963/dsc_0011.jpg
[/IMG]

[gary]

the other end of my van bunks

[millard1399]

Hi gary and welcome to the forum. It certainly looks like you've got a well-kept and tidy van there! Should come up a real treat with a bit of spiff and polish. ;D ;D

I'm in the process of collecting information about 1970s vans for a new section on the forum about the history of Classic vans...coming soon! I have a few questions to ask you about your van so I can include it in the History section:
Q1: what is the cabin length of the van? 14ft, 15ft, etc?
Q2. what is the serial number on the drawbar? (or wherever else Chesney put the serial number on their vans)
Q3. how confident are you that the van is a 1977 model? (This will help me to have accurate info in the new section)
Thanks for any feedback you can give me.
-------------------------------

Now to the roof damage on your van...
What exactly is the extent of the damage to the roof and the hatch? Can you post a couple of photos to show what you are talking about? Hopefully the tree sap has only stained the white paint coating on the cladding, and hasn't actually corroded the aluminium metal.
Come back to us with a couple of photos and a bit more detail and we'll put our heads together to offer some further ideas for help.

cheers,
Al.

[Deleted]

Chassis no is QPQ5373 will get tape out and see how long it is inside I bought it of the original owner said he bought it in77 so does rego papers

[Deleted]

Hi garyr,
nice van,looks good inside & out. Re your roof, you could paint it with Therma shield, this is an insulation type coating available from Australian paints (on the web.) Just did the roof of my Franklin van, goes on with a roller or brush. Took a few days to do due to drying times but seems to make quite a difference to temperature inside the van. Total cost was $171.80 for all the materials ( primer, Therma shield coating and top coating). did the work myself, no dramas.

Denis.

[atouchofglass]

Greetings All
So Thermashield....
How much did you use to cover the roof of your 16? foot van?

Because the Olympic is up for a paint in a few short months and it just may be the ticket for it as well.

Cheers
Atog

[Deleted]

Thanks franki
Could you post some pictures of youre paint job as a few people have warned against hand painting and advise to get it spray painted though I don,t think to many people will see the roof of my van
Thanks Gary

[Deleted]

Hi all,
Therma shield is a thick acrylic type paint containing small spheres of an insulating material, after priming you paint the first coat of therma shield by brush, then roll on the next 1 or 2 coats , this is the insulating part, it leaves a gritty or sandy like finish which you then over coat with the top coat (coats), this smooths out the finish but it still looks and feels slightly textured. the manufacturer says the more top coats you use the smoother the finish, they recommend min. of 2 coats.

My Franklin is 14ft 6 by 7ft, the total roof though would be more like 15ft 6 as I did around the curved parts down to the front and back window level. my roof was in very poor condition before I started and I am quite pleased with the finish now.
Have a look at www.australianpaints.com for more info, If you contact them they will send out info, and price your job for you if you tell them the size of your van.
My order contained 500mil of primer, 4ltrs therma shield and 2 ltrs of top coat, I still have about 1/2 the tin of primer left to use elsewhere.
I have no association with Australian paints other than being a satisfied customer.

Denis. (Frankidownunder)

[Darren]

Hi guys, this looks like a good place to start my enquiries. I have a 76 Mod Chesney Playmate poptop van. Just wondering if any of you guys have heard of one before as i have never before i got mine. I love it as it`s so unique and nothing can compare to it. I`ll post up some pics so you can have a look at it.









Tell me what you think :-)

[millard1399]

Hi Darren, and welcome to the forum. That Chesney Playmate sure is a very unique-looking van!! I hadn't seen one of these before, and I can't find any advertisements for them in the newspaper archives. Ya gotta hand it to Chesney, they sure put out some innovative vans over the years.

How confident are you that the van is a 1976 model, and is there a chassis number welded on the front drawbar somewhere? Also, can you give us the dimensions of the van? It would be good to have that info so I can add your van into our new History/Chronicles section in the near future.

I wouldn't be letting that van get too far out of sight, if I were you. Can't have been too many made like it, so I reckon you've got quite a rarity on your hands.

cheers,
Al.

[Deleted]

Nice. Any internal shots? It's certainly mid to late 70's going by the door.

[keelz]

That is one COOL lookin' van.

Start a new thread for it in the hall of fame

cheers

Keelz

[bobt]

Hi Darren

Sorry garyr.. with the continue to barge in...

Darren I do recall seeing these around when I was a teenager, really early 70's late 60's. I my eyes they were a real rarity as all ya ever saw back then were full height vans.

I am with millard1399. don't let that thing out of your sight...

Gary

the interior of your chesney is very impressive... looks to me like you are a lucky fella.. The cupboards look as though they have not suffered from a hard life. These vans use to be popular in caravan parks as onsiters for rent..

Has the floor been recovered recently?

bobt

[darren]

After reading this post, i`ve just realised that i`ve rudely butted in on Gary`s post/ topic. Many apologies Gary, i`ll jump outta this and start my own. Sorry again. I like your van, looks to be in great condition!

[Deleted]

sorry to take a while to reply yes the floor has been re covered with lino tiles from crazy clarkes and i am mid way through re doing them as the glue that was on them is rubbish so I am gluing them down again hope it works this time otherwise it will be ripped up and replaced with something else anyone got any suggestions? was going to use click type timber veneer flooring from bunnings but was told that the movement of the van would cause it to lift

Cheers Gary

[Deleted]

HI all sorry its taken a while to post pics of my roof and hatch no ladder DOH but here is a few would love to hear some of your ideas

that one shows the hatch i think 2 new flaps will fix it

this is the damage done to the roof from tree it was under

my temp repair

[Deleted]

Hi all
I am about to attempt to seal a suspect leaking molding edge using sika technique marine from bunnings as written about on silicon thread previously by keelz I plan on putting the sealant on the cladding side rather than on the corner molding as the molding is narrow and flat were as the cladding is molded I think i will get a better seal this way.

Any advise as to how to atack this would be appreciated . Have some pics of the poor state of silicon below

[millard1399]

Hi garyr, it's been a few days since you asked your question, so I hope this advice is not too late

Resealing the cover strips can be a time-consuming job from start to finish, so be prepared to give it the time to ensure you don't have problems with leaks down the track.

The stuff already in the joint is the old caulking sealant or mastic sealant that was used back in the 1970s. The edge of the sealant that was exposed to the air will be rock hard. As you go further into the joint, some of the sealant may still be a bit pliable.

You will have to try and remove as much of the old sealant as possible. The hard bit here is the line of sealant that is rock hard. Use a chisel to try and chip it off the painted aluminium surface. ALWAYS use the chisel so you are chipping towards the outer cut edge of the cladding. Any other direction will see the chisel slip on occasions and scratch the painted cladding that is not in the sealed joint.



You won't get all the old stuff off completely, but you do need to try and get as much off as possible. After you've removed as much as you can, rub the joint down with a finger cloth dipped in turps. The turps will remove any of the softer mastic residue that you haven't chiselled off. It will have NO effect on the rock hard stuff.
(If you have a look at Repy #159 in my Millard thread, you'll get an idea of how much of the old sealant you'll be able to get off.)

Wipe the joint down with metho to remove the greasy residue of any turps.

Fit the cover strip in position. Hold it in place with a couple of screws spaced along the length. Doesn't need to be many...just need to hold it while you do the next step.

Run masking tape (50mm wide is good, 25mm wide may not give you enough room to move) alongside both edges of the cover strip, one run on the roof, and one run around the side wall, sticking the tape to the aluminium cladding.

Take the cover strip back off. Run new sealant along joint beside edges of masking tape. If you are confident you can do a good seal with just one run of sealant on the roof, then just do one run. Better to do one run alongside the masking tape, and a second run next to the outer cut edge of the cladding. For the wall joint, you will only have enough room to do one run of sealant, so make sure you pump enough along the edge of the masking tape to seal this side of the joint well.

Put the cover strip over the sealant and press down into position. Excess sealant will squeeze out onto the masking tape. Put screws back into the cover strip and screw into position, but NOT overtight. Don't screw the life out of the cover strip. It is only there for weather protection, so the less sealant you squeeze out the better. Run finger along edge of masking tape, trying to push as much excess back into the joint as possible, and also to make smooth looking joint edges. Peel masking tape off. Clean up any residual sealant on the cover strip before it sets. Use recommended sealant remover for cleanup. Work with light fingers here, trying not to disturb the sealed joint too much.

Sit back with well-earned beer in hand, and admire handywork ;D ;D ;D

cheers,
Al.

[Deleted]

Thanks Al
Thats top advice will be doing it this Sunday have cleaned most of the sealant off. I used dry cleaning fluid as it was good fri and all shops were closed thats what we had in the shed so a gave it a go worked a treat I still have some more to do so will use turps on that and do a comparo will post pics when finish then its seal hatch and exhaust vent up
Cheers Gary

[lisa]

Pacemaker II hey?
Mines a Pacemaker I so I guess yours is kinda like my old girls younger sister
Done any more work on it since thse posts?

[Deleted]

Hi Lisa
I have done some work to her I have removed and resealed windows sealed the roof corners (not happy with how it came out to inpatient) and now in slow proccess of a spray can exterior paint much like millard 1399 style super cheap spray can stuff looks ok will try to post pics on weekend but not as good as the work some of the other forum members have done on there vans I work 6 days 10 hours aday so time and patience is short but I do enjoy looking at others work in here
Gary

[lisa]

Oh geez tell me about it - i will update the ongoing saga of my restoration attempts in my 1971 Chesney thread... it's becoming bigger than Ben Hur with a cast of hundreds
Of course I know that I'll end up spending what I could have bought one already done up for, but the difference is
1) I didn't have $3,000 plus to spend in one hit and I wanted a van NOW. This way I is more like my dream van on a payment plan but without taking out credit. (credit = )
2) I get more satisfaction personalising it to my tastes and seeing it come together - like a work of art.... in pink!
Did you find the chassis number on the draw bar?
Are you registered yet?