My Other Millard

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This is what my other Millard look like when I found it:









It had been rented out as an onsite van for the last 30 years. It did come with a faint aroma of cigarette smoke, which necessitated doing something that some of you guys probably won't approve of.

It's registered now, there was a slight hiccup in that process when I accidentally registered it as a Viscount.... I don't really understand the history but it seems possible they came out of the same factory. 

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The local RVMAA inspector (is it RVMA or RVMAA?) was quick to come around and point out some issues:















He expressed grave concern about a number of non standard features. I was more concerned about the fact he was not wearing safety boots on the worksite.

His concern was so great the next day he returned with an assistant:



Fortunately the assistant was a little more easy going and seemed to delight in the simple things in life.

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Since the RVMAA (I still don't know if it is RVMAA or RVMA??) inspector seemed to be a bloke with a bit of an eye for detail, I got him to come back the next day to help me grind the paint off a concrete slab parked next to the van.





As you can imagine my relief that he chose to turn up with slightly more appropriate footwear was palpable.

[Deleted]

Hi MM1600

To help you with how your "other Millard" has been registered as a Viscount is because it was built after 1979/80. In 1978 Millard lost almost all of it's stock in a large hail storm and along with a few other company issue's and it was sold to Viscount in 79/80. Viscount continued making some models of Millard's into the early 80's until they too hit hard times and sold out.

So this is why you have a caravan that looks like a Millard but was built by Viscount.

Love those inspector's work, fell off my chair laughing.

[Deleted]

Thanks Lockyer

If there are ever any disputes with the insurance company I might have to try and recruit you as the expert witness. The caravan park manager sold it to me as "van 85". My mechanic and I had to come up with a few more details for the blueslip (the NSW unregistered vehicle inspection). I added the "viscount" to the description cause I thought it had a slightly more upmarket ring to it than "Millard" (although I do seem to be becoming a bit of a Millard fan of late) and the RTA just copied that down and now thats what the rego papers say. I'm pretty sure the chassis no. didn't start with an M though...so your explanation may well be correct and I just fluked it. It's now registered as a 1985 Viscount, (the 85 was a bit of a nod to its former life). I suspect its older than that (and I'm sure the model pre-dates 1980 - don't kick me off!).

I've had some Viscount graphics made up but had been resisting putting them on because I thought I'd got it wrong, but with your encouragement I'll take the plunge.

Anyway back to the reno:

The RVMAA inspector recently received a promotion to "compliance auditor", but it seemed he had developed something of an affinity for the old van, and now I could barely keep him away:



I know there is a bit of an anti paint thing going on on this forum, and I have a lot of respect for that view, my justifications were:

-30 years of intense cigarette smoke had left the van with a distinctive yet somewhat unwelcome aroma.
- The original lining was very dark.
- There was a desire to get the van useable fairly quickly (with plenty of time for a full rebuild in a few years)

So we started undercoating it with one of those American "cover stain" type paints.

Ultimately it took about 12 litres of undercoat.

[tasmillard]

Great story of the build. Good to see the inspector not only fault finding but also fault repairer too   Your boy seems to be about the same age as mine who is 8.  Both my Millard and my fathers Franklin are white inside (he is currently painting his under the thread Gitano's Franklin Arrow).  I cant speak highly enough of having a white (more like a pearl) interior, it just makes the van seem bigger and of course a lot more brighter.

[snoops]

Yeah, don't stress it about painting it - I have started inside mine and will eventually finish the whole lot. It made the interior much liter and more livable that the dark paneling. I've got some nice 'Mission Brown'cupboard doors now to keep it feeling like the 70's...

[tasmillard]

Dec 7, 2015 14:12:38 GMT 10 snoops said:

Yeah, don't stress it about painting it - I have started inside mine and will eventually finish the whole lot. It made the interior much liter and more livable that the dark paneling. I've got some nice 'Mission Brown'cupboard doors now to keep it feeling like the 70's...

Yes, but unlike many of us, youre enjoying your van during the build

[snoops]

Dec 7, 2015 15:05:34 GMT 10 tasmillard said:

Dec 7, 2015 14:12:38 GMT 10 snoops said:

Yeah, don't stress it about painting it - I have started inside mine and will eventually finish the whole lot. It made the interior much liter and more livable that the dark paneling. I've got some nice 'Mission Brown'cupboard doors now to keep it feeling like the 70's...

Yes, but unlike many of us, youre enjoying your van during the build

It's a double edged sword doing this as I don't seem to finish anything properly as we are always heading out in it.  I will keep plugging away and one day I'll have a finished van I hope.

[Mustang]

That vinyl looks good I would be protecting it from splashes!!

Re ...no paint,
I didn't paint as I tried to preserve the original features, we even saved a fair amount of ply from the original fitout.

BUT,
it was a lot of work, matching, fitting & blending. My next van will be small one & I will possibly paint if all the ply is dark.

At a recent show I viewed a new van with a beautiful wooden fitout & it didn't appeal?? so the wheel has done the full circle from painted bondwoods to new white internal moderns.

[Deleted]

Dec 8, 2015 10:07:55 GMT 10 Mustang said:

That vinyl looks good I would be protecting it from splashes!!

Re ...no paint,
I didn't paint as I tried to preserve the original features, we even saved a fair amount of ply from the original fitout.

BUT,
it was a lot of work, matching, fitting & blending. My next van will be small one & I will possibly paint if all the ply is dark.

At a recent show I viewed a new van with a beautiful wooden fitout & it didn't appeal?? so the wheel has done the full circle from painted bondwoods to new white internal moderns.

You know your a real classic caravan aficionado when you look at orange/brown 70's vinyl...and say "that vinyl looks good..."

I pulled it all out for the painting. The seats have been recovered now, but the original vinyl is still underneath.

I'll put some photos up later.

[Deleted]

Nice story, keep posting with photos of the progress.
I hope that I will finish painting the interior today and next will be making new doors.

[Deleted]

The painting was getting there, the vinyl was still there but thoroughly protected from splashes! and the floor was coming along. I don't really recommend sticking these vinyl tyres over the old vinyl, but it will be ok for a year or two and reno markII is under way.

[Deleted]

but... as some of it starts to look quite good, you quickly realise the bits that don't. So we pulled the front wall off. I took the opportunity to put in some 12v wiring for future outlets.

[Deleted]

How you managed to use 12 lt of undercoat?
I have done the same job in my Arrow and only used 2 1/2 lts.

[Mustang]

Dec 9, 2015 14:22:56 GMT 10 @mm1600 said:

but... as some of it starts to look quite good, you quickly realise the bits that don't. So we pulled the front wall off. I took the opportunity to put in some 12v wiring for future outlets.

If you want to insulate, the green shed has a roll of insulation wool for $30.00, more than enough for both ends.

[Deleted]

Dec 9, 2015 14:52:54 GMT 10 @gitano said:

How you managed to use 12 lt of undercoat?
I have done the same job in my Arrow and only used 2 1/2 lts.

Because of the smell and questionable substances absorbed into the lining we used zinsser Cover stain, which is a pretty thick, gloopy paint. And we really did pretty much paint everything, walls, ceiling, inside cupboards, inside wardrobes, bunks, under bunks etc. Thirdly I suspect my painting crew may not have been quite as methodical as you are! It did surprise me, but there is absolutely no hint of the smell issues anymore.

[Deleted]

Ok, I used Zinsser BIN

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Not really finished, but we're out and about. Got the annex off gumtree. Still a few mods required, but it does the basics.

[tasmillard]

damn that was quick! Great to see your out enjoying.

[atefooterz]

The real bonus of getting out there is that fine tuning or confirmation of what has been done, did not even dream about it during the pondering stage.