|
|
Post by viscount6116 on Jan 7, 2015 10:59:13 GMT 10
Gday Carl Nice van mate ,should see you out for many years Cheers Andy  |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2015 11:08:19 GMT 10
That's great news Carl, I had a read yesterday of the safety certificate that had to be supplied when I brought my van and unlike the gentleman who inspected your van, whoever inspected mined bloody needs glasses. So where is the first trip too ?
Cheers Lawrence
|
|
|
|
Post by atefooterz on Jan 7, 2015 13:53:12 GMT 10
Hi guys, I finally got the old girl registered yesterday and encountered a small problem with the weight rating of the hitch. It still reads in CWT instead of Kg and because it had been painted a few times the rego guy thought it read 10 CWT. When he scratched his head and dived into his books to find out what that meant, he came up with a figure of 500Kg. 'This is not good' he said, 'it should be about 2000kg for a caravan that will weigh about 1200kg when fully loaded' (760kg Tare). He told me I'd need a new 2000kg rated hitch before he would pass it for a Blue Slip (NSW rego). I was all ready to go to a trailer place a couple of suburbs over when I noticed what looked like 40 CWT, not 10 CWT cast into the hitch. I called the guy over and he rubbed the number a bit and conceded that it was indeed 40 CWT, which means it's about 2000Kg and did not need replacing after all. Phew....
Anyway, all the lights worked great, the override brakes worked perfectly, the axel measured in at 1.5 inches which he said, with a wink, is about 40mm, so that'll do. Now I have rego and will hit the road for our first trip in Feb some time. Can't wait !!! Super news Carl! Enjoy your travels  |
|
Carl
In Training
Posts: 44 
|
Post by Carl on Jan 7, 2015 20:44:10 GMT 10
That's great news Carl, I had a read yesterday of the safety certificate that had to be supplied when I brought my van and unlike the gentleman who inspected your van, whoever inspected mined bloody needs glasses. So where is the first trip too ? Cheers Lawrence Not sure where we'll head to first, we might go down the coast to Merry Beach or maybe Tuross Heads, or we might head inland a bit to see the Japanese gardens at Cowra.
... And one last thing about rego, the blue slip guy and I had a discussion about what year our van was made. He reckoned it was a 1969 model because the chassis number started with '9'. I know this isn't actually the case, and that the first number system of dating Viscounts started in the early 70's (not 100% sure when) but who cares, my rego cert says it was built in 1969.
He also had a laugh remembering when he once spent $1000 on triple carbies for an old EH Holden he did up as a young mechanic. When he told his boss that he'd spent $1000 on his EH, his boss said 'how? did you buy a Viscount for the towbar?'
Cheers, Carl |
|
|
|
Post by awbeattie381 on Jan 8, 2015 21:54:23 GMT 10
great looking van! That looks to be a 13ft, pretty rare in the condition yours is in. well done on the purchase!
I could be wrong but it looks like in your avatar you have changed the hubcaps back to original? Much better! Who on earth decides to paint over a nice blue stripe with mission brown?? I like the sound of what you intend on doing with your van - same as me. keep it as original as possible with a few little tasteful upgrades along the way. I will also be installing a battery and solar panels as we intend on free camping with ours.
Keep the photos/updates coming!
|
|
Carl
In Training
Posts: 44
|
Post by Carl on Jan 9, 2015 9:08:48 GMT 10
Hi Andrew, she's a 15 ft beauty and I painted and swapped over my Holden trailer wheels and polished up the chrome EK hubcaps. They're not the original Viscount hubcaps but still look great. I also spent yesterday rubbing back and painting over the purple/brown side flashes. I took six cans of Duplicolour Blaze Blue but looks heaps better. Now I'll have to change my avatar photo......
Today I'm going in to town to see the canvas bloke to get sized up for an awning. Hope they're not too exxy!!! |
|
|
|
Post by awbeattie381 on Jan 9, 2015 12:58:18 GMT 10
Such a difference a bit of paint and wheels make! When you finally get around to some stickers its going to look amazing! Same size as mine - dont know why I thought it was 13ft...mine is the valiant model with the flat rear end. Cant wait to repaint the side stripe and change my wheels over.
|
|
|
|
Post by atefooterz on Jan 9, 2015 14:29:52 GMT 10
That blue looks so much better!
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2015 21:10:25 GMT 10
I like it. I like it a lot!
Good job.
|
|
|
|
Post by camper2van on Jan 10, 2015 0:04:44 GMT 10
I like it too , looking good Karl |
|
Carl
In Training
Posts: 44
|
Post by Carl on Jan 18, 2015 11:44:44 GMT 10
This weekend I put the 3mm gold pin stripe around the blue side flash to finish the sides off. The gold and blue is a theme we carried over from the buttons on the seats from inside the van. Because half the original plastic buttons were missing we got some small (13mm) gold buttons and re-buttoned all the seats and back cushions (both sides). So, if anyone wants some of the original plastic Viscount buttons to redo their cushions with the original plastic buttons, I have a handful of them you can have.
The gold pin stripe around the side flash is very subtle, but neatly covers the over spray and bits of the purple that the new blue paint job failed to cover.
Next post - the shake down trip to Tarago. |
|
Carl
In Training
Posts: 44
|
Post by Carl on Jan 18, 2015 12:35:31 GMT 10
With all the work I've been doing on the van now virtually complete, it was time to do a bit of work on the car that will tow this baby. My 1962 Chevrolet SS Impala has a 327V8 (5.4L) and a two speed Powerglide transmission. This drive train is original to the car and I had the engine rebuilt last year so it has about 300hp. The Powerglide was rebuilt in 1987, but I was a bit worried that it might not handle the extra load of a van. To help it along I fitted a large transmission cooler with a thermo fan. I also installed a temp sensor for the trans fluid so the fan would kick in if the fluid temp goes above 82 degrees C.
Today was the day I hooked the van on and went for a 44 mile (72 or so km) shake down trip to Tarago NSW. I only live about 30km from Tarago so it was a nice round trip with a slight diversion up a very steep hill to see how the Chevy went going up it and also how the brakes went coming back down. The temp rose from 90 to 95 going up but cooled back to 85 coming back down. I'm not sure if it'll get even hotter coming up the Clyde mountain, but I'll have to try it some day wait and see. The brakes appeared to work fine (power assisted drum brakes and the van's over-ride drum system) and pulled up steadily at the sharp corner on the way down without any issues.
Here's me hooking up the Hayman Reece WDS bars. You'll note that I also had to add some chrome dumper exhaust tips. The noise of the exhaust echoing off front of the van was deafening before I fitted these. I only fit them for towing the van and take them off at all other times. They work well and the car is heaps quieter when towing the van.
The trip to Tarago was absolutely uneventful - no issues whatsoever. The Chevy sat comfortably on 55-60 MPH and the temp ranged between 80-90 degrees depending on hills. The first stop was at the Tarago train station. A nice back drop for the old girls.
Then on to the Tarago pub - The Loaded Dog.
The trip home from Tarago was equally uneventful and the only time the transmission thermo fan kicked in was when I was backing the van back up the slight hill of our driveway in my back yard. Everything worked absolutely fine. We checked inside the van expecting stuff to be thrown all around the place, but the only things that moved was the cushion back rests fell over, and the pepper shaker in one of the cupboards fell over. Can't wait for the first real trip now! |
|
|
|
Post by awbeattie381 on Jan 21, 2015 12:55:10 GMT 10
Such a great pair! Both the chev and van look mint together. Can't wait for our first proper trip away. Interesting that you has to install temporary dump pipes to keep the noise down!
|
|
|
|
Post by snoops on Jan 24, 2015 20:59:37 GMT 10
What a great combination! Awesome looking setup. |
|
Carl
In Training
Posts: 44
|
Post by Carl on Jan 28, 2015 18:17:36 GMT 10
Woo Hoo! New front and rear Viscount stickers came in the post today. They applied easily in accordance with the RVStickers application guide and I'm very happy with how they turned out.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2015 8:26:43 GMT 10
Carl, with your mains water set up do you have a pressure regulator behind it? Or have you found its not messes start when connected to the mains
|
|
|
|
Post by viscount6116 on Jan 29, 2015 14:36:56 GMT 10
Very nice rig Carl  Cheers Andy |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2015 16:16:52 GMT 10
The colours all compliment nicely. Where those stickers come from mate? There's a couple on Ebay as well.
|
|
Carl
In Training
Posts: 44
|
Post by Carl on Jan 29, 2015 17:56:42 GMT 10
Carl, with your mains water set up do you have a pressure regulator behind it? Or have you found its not messes start when connected to the mains I don't have a pressure regulator. It doesn't appear to be necessary as the tap, poly pipe and fittings are all designed for household mains pressure. |
|
Carl
In Training
Posts: 44
|
Post by Carl on Jan 29, 2015 18:02:35 GMT 10
The colours all compliment nicely. Where those stickers come from mate? There's a couple on Ebay as well. I got the stickers from www.RVstickers.com.au There are a couple of sticker sellers on Ebay, but only RV stickers had exactly the right one for my van. |
|
|
|
Post by tedalley on Jan 29, 2015 20:02:28 GMT 10
I've got the same fittings throughout the whole van ie. to the hot & cold water taps in the shower & kitchen. Connected for about 6 months now and no leaks - although I have put an inline tap to prevent the mains pressure going through the 12v pump.   |
|
Carl
In Training
Posts: 44
|
Post by Carl on Feb 20, 2015 16:32:07 GMT 10
Finally on our first trip away and we decided to go to Tuross Heads. Pretty uneventful trip down Clyde Mtn, but with 4 wheel drum brakes, they were fading pretty bad, especially when we came up behind a semi going 10 km/h. He had gears to help slow him down, but with the old Powerglide in my Chevy, I had to use pretty much all the brakes I had to stay behind him. Once past him the brakes were ok.
Anyway, we're all set up and we're kicking back having a cold beer. Does it get any better than this? |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2015 11:26:11 GMT 10
Half your luck, just waiting for what's left of ex tropical cyclone Marcia, to go out to sea, windy and showery here
Enjoy your trip
Cheers
|
|
Carl
In Training
Posts: 44
|
Post by Carl on Feb 22, 2015 15:26:48 GMT 10
It was only two nights, but it was great fun. The van was great and the only thing that went wrong was the outside hook that holds the door open fell off. Don't know when, but it wasn't there when we got to Tuross. Caravans Plus sells them for $11.60 so I've ordered a new one online. The Impala went really well towing the old van and never missed a beat going back up Clyde Mountain. The engine ran pretty hot (just over 100 Deg C) on the steepest bit, but didn't boil or over heat, and was back down to 85 degrees (where it usually sits all the time) by the time we got to the top. We used about 1/2 a tank from Tuross back to Bungendore (just over 100 miles), so the economy wasn't too bad either, considering the van, the 327 V8 and the gearbox is a two speed Powerglide. We even passed a Ford XY Falcon ute towing an 80's van on an overtaking lane just out of Braidwood. Chevy POWER!!!
The van all set up.
For those that know Tuross Beach Caravan Park, the place to set up is right on the beach, but all those sites were taken so we had to set up on one of the sites near the entry. Still a great site and closer to the ablutions.
This is the view from one of the beach front sites. We managed to book this site for 5 nights - December 19-24. It was the last site available before Xmas and I think we were very lucky to get it as the Xmas period up until the end of Jan next year is all booked.
The last thing of note on this trip was the Impala clocking over 100,000 miles - 52 years old and only just gone round the clock the first time.
Now to plan the next trip, maybe we'll go to Cowra for a look this time. |
|
|
|
Post by pisces51 on Feb 22, 2015 18:57:39 GMT 10
G'day Carl, Looks like you had a great time! I'll be putting Tathra down on my list of places to visit - a great place for a bit of R&R by the looks. Glad to hear the car and van combination worked well for you. Nothing like a trouble-free run to generate enthusiasm for another trip.  The Vintage Caravan Nationals were held in Cowra back in 2012, and we attended in the '77 Millard poptop I had at the time. Nice place to spend a week or so. Would be good in Autumn when the trees are changing colour. Lots to see and do in the region around Cowra. cheers, Al. |
|
