Is this white stuff asbestos?

[amandal]

IMG_7800 by Amanda Lowe, on Flickr

IMG_7801 (1) by Amanda Lowe, on Flickr

IMG_7803 by Amanda Lowe, on Flickr

IMG_7802 (1) by Amanda Lowe, on Flickr

IMG_7804 by Amanda Lowe, on Flickr

[pisces51]

G'day amandal, and welcome to the forum!

You should be suspicious of any floor coverings in these old vans. If that "white stuff" is the remains of the original vinyl floor tiles, then yes they will have contained a percentage of asbestos. So could the hessian backing on any carpet from that time period (I mention this because your photos show remnants of carpet fibres).

The stamped identity number showing in one photo is not the original chassis number. There would have been an embossed aluminium plate rivetted to the side of the drawbar, just in front of the jockey wheel clamp. That embossed plate would have had the chassis number letters MM followed by some numbers. Looking at your fibreglass poptop roof, your van is from late 1977 or early 1978, and would have had an MM number up somewhere around the 3500 mark. The letters MM stood for "Millard Mini" because the first of these poptops were only 12 foot. But then Millard started to build 14ft and eventually 16ft or 17ft poptops, however they continued to use the MM numbering system.

The RVMAA badge on the side just above the door handle is a "priceless" adornment for your van, so you should make sure that badge remains in position. The badge is another means of proving your van was built in 1977 or later. (See this thread for more details). The serial number stamped on the lower section of the badge is just the number of badges in circulation at the time it was fitted to your van. Badges were distributed in bulk to all the manufacturers that were members of the RVMAA at the time, so there's no rhyme or reason about which van got which badge number.

cheers,
Al.

[amandal]

IMG_7805 by Amanda Lowe, on Flickr

Hi Al
Thanks for the info. What can you tell me about this plate?
Cheers
Amanda

[pisces51]

Hi Amanda, that plate is your chassis number, which means your van is older than what I thought it might be. For some reason, Millard changed their chassis numbering system near the end of the 1970s, and started to use chassis numbers like 75xxx, 76xxx, 77xxx, 78xxx. I have no idea why the change was made, but it might have had something to do with the Millard business being in financial strife by 1979, and Viscount agreeing to take over the building of some of the Millard models (...or, it might have had nothing to do with that... ).

Your van must have been built more towards the end of 1978. It's possible it was built in early 1979, but I think Millard were already releasing the "new Series 80" vans by early 1979. The Millard empire collapsed by June 1979, and Viscount had taken over production of Millard vans by that time, so your van would have to have been built before that. The history is rather muddy around the collapse of the Millard empire, so nothing I say for that particular period can be taken as gospel.

Asbestos in building products started to be phased out in 1984, but it was around 1987 before products were widely distributed as "asbestos free". Any vans built before 1987 should be treated with the utmost suspicion.

cheers,
Al.