1976 Millard 19" questions before I buy

[camandjaiden]

Greetings all,

I was on here about 5 years ago after buying a 14ft Golf, which then started a 18 month life changing adventure for both myself and my then 3 year old ASD son. 

Fast forward 5 years, and we're ready to go again! This time in something a little bigger. You were all a wealth of information back then, so I'm back for some more info, hopefully! 

I am looking at a 1976 19ft Millard, partially gutted. Now for the questions..

These came with electric brakes I believe, Obviously very old technology, but how do they perform? Do they just connect to a brake controller as per more modern electric bakes? Is there anything I should look out for?

I have searched high and low for the ATM and GVM online and have had no luck, can anybody shed some light?

The owner said he was told it's a 76, which seems to match other photos I have found online. M50820
is stamped on the drawbar, does this help in identifying it at all?

Is $3000 for a partially gutted, slightly water damaged van about right? I know there's no promises as to what I will find underneath the wall/roof panels, so I am preparing for the worst!

I have been through the archives and have not been able to get much info on these specifically in 19ft, so any advice / assistance is appreciated! 

As for the Tug. I am looking at towing this with an AU 5L V8 Falcon wagon with a 2.5T Hayman Reece tow kit, will be using some appropriate swaybars / levelers. Car already has a large trans cooler, an oil cooler, upgraded radiator and I will be custom tuning it to allow the Torque converter to stay locked up in 3rd on acceleration and deceleration to negate the constant engage / disengage that the factory ECU does that can lead to premature gearbox failure.

Thanks in advance,

Cam

[snoops]

Hi Cam, I'll throw my 2 cents in, I'm sure others will too.

Price wise I would haggle a bit if they are open to it, but at the end of the day, if you're happy with what's on offer, then all good. Do the brakes actually work? If it's been sitting for years there's a good chance they will be cactus anyway.

Is the van a tandem axle? I'm guessing so based on the length. My guess on weight would be around the 1,600 to 1,700Kg tare.

Whatever it turns out to be, the Falcon will tow it easily - tow dramas with the tug.

If you've got any pics, all the better and if you're planning to share the build with us, then great news!

[camandjaiden]

The owner has $3.5k on it, which I wont pay. But at $3k or a bit below, I'll consider it. The owner believes it was 'about' 1600kg tare, what kind of weight it can carry on top of that is my primary concern. After all, we'll be living in it full time with 300ah / 350w of solar, I don't want to use the entire payload on batteries and solar alone..

Yep it's dual axle with electric brakes. I was factoring in a electric brake conversion on whatever I bought, so if these will work well when repaired / serviced, then that's a bonus..

It has been sitting for some time, so I suspect they will need work considering they'd be drums, but compared to the $$$$ for an electric brake conversion it may not be a big deal considering I am fairly mechanically minded.

I do have a heap of pics, I'll get to uploading them over the next day or 2.

Thanks for the 2 cents, appreciated!

[camandjaiden]

Also, if the TARE / AGM is not on the drawbar, and not something I can find, does this affect rego / insurance / legalities?

I have heard about the crackdown on overweight vans, pretty hard to prove it to be overweight if the weight is not known!?

Pretty big purchase for myself, just wanting to be sure I am not going to end up with something I cannot rego / insure etc...

[captivenut]

Hello Cam, going from Shelley's spreadsheet (Millard York fb page,) which is the most comprehensive and scientific list that I can access, your M50820 is circa mid '77.
As for the weights, the tare will be determined by the compliant weighbridge docket. You may be able to use the old chassis or rego number to request a rego office archive search - in Vic this costs around $25. The AGM is often 200 - 400kgms above the tare on many vintage/classic vans but there may be several other limiting factors that your state rego office may consider such as axle ratings, historical reference data, etc. I didn't notice what state you are in but there is one rego office in Vic that I know of that, when registering vintage/classic caravans, the attendants often ask "what gross weight would you like me to enter?".
Good luck with your project!
Cheers, Arthur

[atefooterz]

^Arthur i think part of your post would be better as a private message, remember nowdays all posters identity can be accessed by authorities, random searching by bots ( programms used to gather data using key words like r e g o etc) may result in someones wanting to know what and who you know about "things"!

[captivenut]

May 6, 2017 2:27:37 GMT 10 atefooterz said:

.....random searching by bots....someones wanting to know what and who you know about "things"!

The bots are reading this?
Oh no!

[atefooterz]

May 6, 2017 9:11:08 GMT 10 captivenut said:

May 6, 2017 2:27:37 GMT 10 atefooterz said:

.....random searching by bots....someones wanting to know what and who you know about "things"!

The bots are reading this?
Oh no!

And spiders!!!!!!!!!!!
Example from another board off peak...
www.imagebam.com/gallery/84tykzq48lg0dtmxfl86t1l6frjltc71