As Ugly As Sin

[atouchofglass]

Hey Bobt
This is the turning point from de-struction to Construction

Once the paint is slapped on the chassis you will start to get a real thirst for fixing the ol dear up

Congrats and looking forward to the next stage

Cheers
Atog

[bobt]

Hey Kiwicarl...

Sorry cannot hear a thing..... something to do with the big bang that happened in "my shed" ;D ;D

Atog.... I bit the "proverbial"

Aint it fun lying under caravans wire brushing the chassis. getting dirt in your eyes, up ya nose, in ya ears and in ya hair _{(if ya have some)}

Now if I didn't know betta, I would have thought it was you hanging from the top of the gum tree out the back yelling "Y A M I S S E D A S P O T"





now if you think I crawled under this chassis... your as crazy as me. I lifted it up onto its side and took to it with a wire brush, and a sanding disc on an angle grinder... Tilted it onto its other side and tackled all the bits I couldn't get to the first time. After I got it to a satisfactory look I ratted through the cupboard found some chassis black stood well back and slapped a coat on use a brush with a 6 foot handle.... ;D ;D. _{How nice would it be to be able to put a caravan on a rottiesery to paint the chassis...}

The springs look ok, the wheels need replacing, no doubt the bearings will too. They will have to wait till the cash flow improves..........................

Atog I love working on this thing

the mexican called Bobt

[atouchofglass]

Hey Bobt
Glad to see you are making significant progress
It is addictive once you get stuck into it

Currently having withdrawal syptoms in regards to my project....
Best get back to doing something as well

Cheers and keep at it mate

Atog

[bobt]

aint it great being home on holidays

I have managed a fair amount of progress. But that is about to change. Got all the run the family around obligations tomorrow, help the sun on sonday, back to the slave house on munday.

But I did get to cut out the floor... Test fit it....



Then turn it upside down and undercoat the bottom. Watched the paint dry...aint that fun

After I put it back in position I stuck a wall up and discovered, _{well I already worked it out}... the chassis of this loverly thing is a little bowed.

So right now I am figuring furniture built square will require some modifications to fit properly. Cannot change the chassis.

its all fun

[atouchofglass]

Hey Bobt
Looks like you have the beginnings of something great there
Or a really, really small dance floor

Give the sone the old..... not today I'm not feeling the best
And get back into that shed..... ;D ;D ;D ;D

Cheers
Atog

[bobt]

GREAT... ! ;D hmmmmm.... lets see what turns out at the end of the day.............

Well I attached the walls in a rather temporary manner As I wanted to make sure I had done no wrong with the floor.



Then I discovered I had got the floor length wrong. Bit late to go check the measurements from the original body. Ya can see the remnants in the little blue trailer...

SWMBO said "You never ever measure it right" "Now what are you going to do?" "Cut it shorter dear" she walked away looking a little stunned....

Measured the floor on the original it came to 90" long... measured it twice infact and wrote it down. Cut it to 90" and once I put the walls up I discovered it was 2" tooo long. So I measured the walls, both the new and the old. No did not get that wrong... Checked the height of the wall in relation to the floor... Cannot fathom how I got it wrong...

So I implemented my solution to the problem ....cut 2" off the end

Tomorrow we might use some glue

[kiwijim]

Hey Bobt,

You didn't use a left handed measuring tape in your right hand did you,

[atouchofglass]

Sounds like you've got the bug reeeeeeelllll bad

Have you thought about insulation for the floor and walls?
Keeping it original is one thing - but freezing your janglies off cause it is not insulated........
Weeeeeell .... it might dampen the classic/vintage experience at 2am on a winters morning in the Blue Mountains ;D ;D ;D

Two inches extra aye ...... ya never know when that could come in handy ......
And the missus was complaining ?
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Cheers
Atog

[bobt]

Hey Kwijim

Nope did not do the left handed thing... Just lucky I had to cut off rather then try and add...

Hey Atog

Thought you would have worked out I had the bug sometime back.... ITS ALL YOUR FAULT.... ;D

I did give insulation some thought but I want to keep it as close to original as possible. With a twist or two. I plan to line the roof with 3ply to reduce the amount of condensation I would get from the Aluminum roof. I need to keep the weight down as I will be towing it behind the MG. I will have to give some very careful thought into where I place things like a water tank, spare wheel, battery.

And at the end of the day it is a big step up from a tent... definitely not a Thompson, Olympic, Millard or Could you imagine an MG with a Stardust or a Royal hooked on the back


Today I raced home from work jumped out of the giggle suit bolted out to "the shed" and glued the floor to the chassis .....


Back to the walls tomorrow...

[Deleted]

Gidday bobt,

Don't take this the wrong way mate this is merely an outside opinion.

Just a thought but did you account for the possibility that the 2'' might be where the back wall sits on the floor instead of butting up to the end of the floor.

Don't quote me mate just a suggestion of a potential reason for your measurement descrepency, A bit hard to see from the photos though. Lookin' good though mate even if ya have made it a bit longer

Carl

[bobt]

Hey Kiwicarl

No offence taken...... ;D ;D

If you take a peek at the second picture on the previous page you will notice a somewhat naked floor . I think I measured from the outside of the rear chassis rail to the front most forward edge of what was left of the floor.

Now there may have been a conversion issue somewhere between the tape measure which shows both imperial and metric. and the hand scribing the numbers on the blackboard!!!

I must confess I was not wearing glasses at the time so I was reading off imperial measurements. _{(The numbers are larger)} hence the 2" bit. I did check it twice. NOt that it matters now. I have cut it down and I think I got it right ;D

I have started attaching bits more permanently ;D ;D _{ooooh this is exciting}

[bobt]

just a little bit of activity happening over 'ere... despite the cold chills in the evening I am getting the wood glue to stick and it is all coming together..................

[kiwijim]

Hey there Bobt,

Keep the pic's coming Mate.......

"Ya know", stickey glue, stuck bits, the measureing tape, Cold nights ;D ;D ;D

[bobt]

photos.... forgot my photo bucket log-in... had to go hunting to see where I had stored it... Bit of a trap when you rely upon the features of your web browser to remember these things for you and all of a sudden it decided to have a "dump "

anyhow I eventually found it ;D

Then I became reliant on the dear beloved cheese and kisses to take the photos for me.....

Yep... your right you think I would have learnt from our trip away Just goes to prove you cannot teach an old dog new tricks ;D ;D




the walls are up... had a party to celebrate.... major turn up to the event. Then had to cancel it as I could not find a telephone box to hold it in............ damm...... they don't exist in the street anymore...

Well progress is occurring. Think I might have to re do a coupla bits... but that is ok... this is for fun not profit...

The Chassis is not square.... surprise surprise not .... and floor is not exactly flat either, it has a bit of a bow Looked carefully at how I could get the bow out of it and decided I would just have to suffer

The frames I made square don't look that way now that they are fitted. If time permits .. tomorrow I will open the other door and stand back to get a better view of it all... Yep and I will run the trusty square over these things too..

Next I will "Rebuild" the Ice Chest and fit that. Hope fully I will not have to totally dismantle it..



till the next installment...


bobt

[Deleted]

Ice chest?

[bobt]

my sincere apologies wahroonga I showed you the rear end of it...

this is the other side...

before it was un ceremoniously removed ;D



I have not got around to starting on it yet...

[Deleted]

Gidday bobt,
Sorry been outa circulation for a while

Lookin great mate keep those piccies happening.

Carl ;D

[bobt]

Hi Kiwicarl

Progress over ere has slooowed considerably. I now have to stop and give some serious thought to some bits I need to do next. You know some of those little fiddly bits. Most of which will never be seen.

Trying to work out how I will hinge the roof and what sort of bracing I will need to support it.

It use to look like this


It worked but it is a design I do not intend to copy.... using a bit of poetic licence... ;D ;D _{It s mine I will do what I want} ;D ;D



Must admit I am hoping like all.... that I have not upset the lines of the body when the roof is down. It will be awhile before I get to the stage where I can test sit the roof on the body to make sure I have not created a new disaster..........

[Deleted]

Hi bobt,
Geez mate she was a bit worse for wear wasn't she, no doubt it will be beautiful when completed. hmmmmmm that hinge, what about piano hinge across the full width with a rubber weather seal over the top that will work with the roof up or down to stop water ingress made out of a strip of rubber attached over both sides of the hinge and onto the body of the van probably approximately about 100 mm wide 2-3 mm thick and flexible enough to work with roof up or down.

maybe ... just a thought.

Carl

[bobt]

Hi Kiwicarl

Thanks for the suggestion. I did not think of using piano hinge. I will added it to my collection of thoughts.

I will have to draw up and post what I have in mind and seek some thoughts on it.

Based on the condition of the inside I don't think the original leaked. Certainly no signs of water getting in around that area. It spent a long time sitting out in the open.

bobt

[bobt]

well hellloo there folks

I is plodding along slooowly with "Ugly"

Doing a little bit 'ere and a little bit there

Today I got my act into gear and carefully removed the ply from the Ice Chest...



The minuscule frame is in OK condition, so I will finish removing the nails. give it a bit of a clean.

Aaaahh the question what will I use to insulate it ?

It had a little bit of polystyrene insulating the top half.... and a heavy 5mil green felt type material around the bottom half


Aint these things fun.................. ;D

[kiwijim]

Hey there Bobt,

That frame looks in very good condition,

I would suggest line it on the inside with Aluminum foil then fill in the frame with Polystyrene sheets the same thickness as the frame, then clad the whole lot with Aluminum sheeting.

Second choice........Buy some sandwich panel, Aluminum one side (use inside) and light metal outside, it is available in 18mm thick sheets, then copy the measurements (using your 50mm plus tape) of the ice box and build a complete new one.

Have fun....kiwijim ;D

[bobt]

hmmm

man with plenty wisdom worth listening to.


Kiwijim. I like the sound of option 1.

Did not give a thought to using Aluminum foil. Son has promised to drop some polystrene sheets off. It comes in some of the packaging that arrives at his work. Gotta wait till saturday for when swmbo is out so I can acquire the Aluminum foil ;D


option 2. ! Well I considered it. Took into account the 50mm issue Then thought about my metal folding experience Add the two together and I would end up with a pile of..................



besides I did make a commitment to me to try and retain as much as I could

[bobt]

aaaah kids.... ever so helpful...

After son's promise.. he disappeared into the ether.. never to be seen again.. ;D

I was crawling around under the house the other day. It aint a "queenslander" So I had to do this crawl on my knees

Loow and behold... what have I got stashed over here in the corner ;D ;D ;D ;D 4 yep... 4 sheets of 20mil thick polystrene sheets ......... hey hey christmas is here............. So I dragged it out and made a sprint to the shed...


Suddenly found my self cutting the sheets to size and fitting them...

hey kiwijim does it matter if I use "No Brand" Aluminum foil? Found it in the other caravan. (_{reminds me must put it back before swmbo notices it gone})


So now the Ice chest has new insulation and a new covering of ply. Next to undercoat it and fit it to the inside...




My inspiration ;D

_{damm didn't do what I was gunna do when I went under the house..................ooooh am I gunna be in trouble}

[atouchofglass]

Hey Bob
Mate .... I was waiting for some more progress photos
Was that one taken from the kitchen area of U.A.S?
Or ... WILL it be taken from the kitchen area of U.A.S

Keep plodding away at it mate ......
she will look great when you've finished
Now get that paint brush out and start working on her

^{P.S: Congrats on 300 posts}

Cheers
Atog