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Post by rachie263 on Sept 11, 2018 3:39:26 GMT 10
Hi everyone! Newbie here. My brother and I recently purchased this camper for $500 with the intention of renovating it for our parent to fulfill their dream of traveling around Australia. I have a billion questions but I'll just start with 2. 1. Is it a Chesney (which is what we think) 2. Is there a way the make the lift system easier to use? (Its currently discounted but we were wanting to make it as little work as possible for our 4.5ft mum!) Maybe Macgyver a boat winch or something? Look forward to the replies! Cheers Rach flic.kr/p/2aSCK8Cflic.kr/p/29RwS75 20180911_031007 , |
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Post by hughdeany on Sept 11, 2018 8:58:11 GMT 10
Hi rachie263,
Your van is one of the last built Trailblazers from Holiday Equipment in Victoria in the late 70s.
They have a steel chassis and body frame,and the windup system is very simple using steel clothesline cable and a centre mounted winch,which was quite hard to use as it lifted and rolled out everything at once!
Yours looks to have withstood the test of time!
Good luck with your Reno,
Cheers
hughdeani
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Post by Mustang on Sept 11, 2018 17:23:52 GMT 10
Hi Rach,
Welcome to the forum & thank you hughdeany for identifying.
Rach if you are sending Mum off to a big lap she might want some thing easier like a poptop or a full size classic, so she can pull up with little effort.
Any wind up apparatus is going to need effort.
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Post by bobt on Sept 11, 2018 22:25:51 GMT 10
Hi rachie263
I tampered with your post to show your project.
Mighty nice of you to take it on for your parents. Do share your progress.
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Post by rachie263 on Sept 11, 2018 23:02:35 GMT 10
Thanks everyone for the replies so far.
I'm in the search for a user manual for the Trailblazer right now. My brother works for Jayco (spare parts) and has some of his workmates have been building caravans for the last 30 years so they're helping us Macgyver a new lift system.
I will keep you up to date with the progress of this little guy.
Cheers
Rach
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Post by rachie263 on Sept 11, 2018 23:07:19 GMT 10
Hi Rach, Welcome to the forum & thank you hughdeany for identifying. Rach if you are sending Mum off to a big lap she might want some thing easier like a poptop or a full size classic, so she can pull up with little effort. Any wind up apparatus is going to need effort. That was the original plan but this little guy fell into our lap. I've seen a few modifications floating around so hoping we can work something out.😊 |
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Post by Husky on Sept 20, 2018 22:34:05 GMT 10
the first van i was given was a wind up pop top like this. it was pretty far gone and i was quoted about $3k for all new canvas. it ended up being stripped for parts.
Good luck with yours. i'll watch on with interest
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Post by rachie263 on Sept 21, 2018 20:48:46 GMT 10
the first van i was given was a wind up pop top like this. it was pretty far gone and i was quoted about $3k for all new canvas. it ended up being stripped for parts. Good luck with yours. i'll watch on with interest Husky We we're lucky that the guy we bought it from had already gotten the canvas redone. Just needs one fly replaced and a zip. I'm still in search of a manual or at the very least a wiring diagram to redo the lift system (we're gonna try and sort that out tomorrow) I'm wondering if anyone on here would have a guide or at the very least could give me a close idea of how to wire it up? But if not im sure trail and error will win the day 😂 |
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Post by hughdeany on Sept 21, 2018 22:25:38 GMT 10
Hi Rach,
From memory the cable wound in both directions towards the ends around the bar that came out of the side that you attached a winder handle too,as both beds slide out as the roof goes up.
There was a man called Trevor Eastman in Melbourne in the 80s and 90s who was the camper trailer guru.He wrote manuals on all campers,maybe you could google him or find a manual somewhere?
Cheers
hughdeani
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Post by pisces51 on Sept 21, 2018 22:28:12 GMT 10
Might be lucky... 
cheers, Al.
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Post by rachie263 on Sept 22, 2018 16:09:34 GMT 10
Thanks again everyone. We've worked out the cable lift system so that's a win! Its actually a super simple design. We are going to put an electric winch on once it's all rigged up. We've also pulled up most of the old vinyl and will be relaying new stuff either today or tomorrow. We have some good weather ahead so hopefully we can get most of it done over the next week.
Hints on how to spruce up the exterior paint work?
I'll add more photos once we get the hard yards done..
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Post by rachie263 on Sept 22, 2018 19:42:12 GMT 10
Ok so we rigged the lift up. It holds well but we can't wind it back down? I'm thinking maybe one bed end needs to go clockwise on the bar underneath and the other bed end go around the bar the opposite way? My brother thought it was perhaps 1 cable running the length of the camper to the other bed end (which was how we rigged it up.) But I always though it would be 4 individual cables? Anywho, as I said before trail and error. However lifting it up wasn't really that difficult with the weight... just having the ability to pull the beds out while still having the roof up high enough was difficult. Once the lift system is up rigged up properly we've decided a feared boat winch will just make it a whole lot easier on our parents.
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Post by bobt on Sept 22, 2018 21:13:58 GMT 10
Sounds like a lot of fun happening at your place.
Good luck on working it out and finding better ways to operate it all.
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Post by rachie263 on Sept 24, 2018 0:35:12 GMT 10
Good news! We (I mean my brother... I was in falls creek with my little ones for the day) sorted out the lift! She moves up and down fairly easily however one pulley on the bottom needs to be realigned. And the tension needs to be sorted. But once that's done (hopefully by Wednesday) we can fix up the floor and start doing the interior. Shes moving along nicely 😉
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Post by rachie263 on Sept 24, 2018 18:47:51 GMT 10
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Post by bobt on Sept 25, 2018 23:24:18 GMT 10
Hi rachie263
Looking Good
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Post by rachie263 on Nov 19, 2018 5:36:36 GMT 10
Sooooooo We had the great idea about 2 weeks ago to switch campers.... I'm going to keep the Trailblazer for myself (as the lift system is proving to be very... particular) and we found this old 80s Jayco Swan out back She's seen something's in her lifetime (so much red dust throughout the ENTIRE cabin) but we can rig an electric winch no worries in her and the beds are simple for the folks to pull out. This baby is going to be easier to 'renovate' as she doesn't need much. I've already started to reupholster the cushions and have got foam to make the missing ones. This unit has good most of her electrics sorted already and has all the plumbing done and working too. Just a face lift and she'll be good to go. What do you guys think? Oh and any tips on how to best go about a quick paint job? Cheers www.flickr.com/photos/159313506@N03/shares/J2Cv60 |
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Post by bobt on Nov 23, 2018 11:16:47 GMT 10
 ,  ,  ,  , Nice van.. its the 'BBCCode' you need for your post. I did edit the text in the link. |
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Post by Mustang on Nov 26, 2018 17:44:19 GMT 10
More bench space than an 18 footer!!
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Post by snoops on Nov 26, 2018 19:55:42 GMT 10
Yep, cracking little van - easy to tow, tonnes of room once setup. A good friend of mine has one very similar - great little van. 👍
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