Little York repair

[haim]

Hi 
We have a small York van that we picked up in exchange for a few hours work a few years ago.  It had sat in an open ended Shed for about 10 years and was used while they were house building. A couple of years before we got it the 2011 Qld storms happened blowing rain in the shed giving the van a drenching and some internal water damage.
When we got it home The only leak I could find was on the edge of the roof near the door, the other water damage was from open or broken windows and the top hatch being open. I used some paintable silicon to seal the leaks, replaced the broken windows, took out the worst of the dents and got a friend to respray the van changing the brown strip around the windows to blue to match the annex colours.  I replaced the chassis cross members behind the wheels as they were rusted, checked the brakes and got it registered without any gas lines as this would have cost more than the van.
We used it a few times on trips and decided the 2 of us didn’t fit on the little double bed and our 6 foot 2 son didn’t fit on the fold down table bed. So we decided to rip out the kitchen that we didn’t use, give the double bed to our son and I built a bench seat that slides out to a bigger bed for us.  The fridge is in a cupboard I have built beside the door in the front with the original sink above it, this only just fits. We now have a tiny van that comfortably fits 3 adults.
2 years ago we had a severe hail storm that damaged the roof, back and right hand side of the van, smashed windows and all the trailer lights. So we are looking to repaint and want to Improve the inside as we have not repaired any of the original water damage yet. 
I will learn how to post photos soon and will be asking lots of questions. My wife wants to start on the inside this weekend so I will be busy removing the beds and fridge cupboard. We want to re sheet the water damage, repaint the interior and recover the floor. The outside will just get a sand and a paint over the lumps and bumps for now.
cheers 

[haim]

Taken all of the beds and the fridge and cupboard. Pulled out the front end plywood. Trying to keep all of the beading and joiners intact for reuse. We are looking for some caravan plywood in Qld Bunnings in our town only stock 4mm ply and won’t order in anything thinner for us. Is there anything better out there. The young man at Bunnings showed me some 1.5mm ply in an ordering book but when I went back the older guy said they only stock the 4mm can’t get anything thinner.
What thickness is best?
The front panel in front of the door is next it is underneath the original leak and has the most damage. Work has slowed down today as we have our 20 month old grandson as my TA and I have been told he should not be running around holding screwdrivers.
Cheers
David

[twocutekelpies]

If you are anywhere near the Sunshine Coast, The Bunker at Doonan and Beerwah stock a range of caravan ply in 2.7mm-3.2mm thickness, poly or paper coated so no need to paint. Prices usually start at around $17 a sheet for 2440x1220.

We had our granddaughters with us for 6mths, 1 and 2 yrs olds so can totally relate to work slowing down. They were mid job transfer when covid hit and finally managed to continue the transfer a few weeks ago.

If you're taking photos with your phone, you can download the flickr app and share photos to it, then access your flickr account on the pc/laptop to copy the BB Code link into your post, if that helps

[haim]

Hi
We are about 2hrs west of the Sunshine Coast so that would be handy. I just spoke to the people at Bunnings this morning and was told they wouldn’t order anything thinner than 4mm as it always gets damaged on transport and they have to send it back. The roads around here are another reason for wanting to check and maintain this old van. Yesterday I found the piece of steel that is riveted to the alloy frame and to the floor near the door is not connected to the floor anymore so will rectify that. The floor still seams solid there but the steel brace has surface rust so will need cleaning up.
Would the 4mm ply be good enough or would it be worth it to try transporting thinner sheets in?
We have been following your work on your little York. We are not as adventurous as you yet and are amazed how you and others tackle such major rebuilds and the fantastic results you get. I have a deal with my wife that if I do a good job with this van There’s an old pop top that the roof is held up by folding out the solid sides as supports that is for sale but needs work, could this be the start of some sort of psychological compulsion......
The chassis number on my van is Y5554 and have signed on to Flickr and shall have photos soon

[twocutekelpies]

I haven't worked with 4mm ply so I'm not sure how flexible it is with the curves. What's the 4mm Bunnings has? I only know of bracing ply in that thickness. Comparing the weight of it with their 3mm project ply, there's a 2kg difference per sheet. Also, is it coated or are you looking at painting it? Just curious, hope you don't mind the questions.

I maintain the register of known numbers for the Millards and Yorks and based on what others have found in theirs, your number would be from 1973, hoping you're able to find the build date to confirm.

Good luck with your reno, I'm sure you'll do fine, there are plenty of others who have been there before and happy to share their knowledge. Without them, I would not have finished my first one.

[haim]

Thanks
The Bunnings ply is the bracing ply I think the main reason they only stock it is the sales to builders. They have small 1200mm sheets of project ply but won’t get the full size sheets. We grabbed a couple of 4mm sheets today and will give it a try. It has some flex to it but I don’t think it will be as easy as the good stuff of course.
To show how green I am I will bounce a really embarrassing question, where do you take the van measurements from? Our vans internal floor length is 9’10 the total length from tow hitch to tail lights is around 13’. I know the registered length is the total length but was just wondering in caravanning speak.
I am happy to answer any questions if people don’t laugh to hard at mine.
Cheers
David

[twocutekelpies]

Not an embarrassing question at all. Usually length for the older caravans is taken from 12" above floor height, measuring the body only. Doing that on mine, it measures almost 11ft but the model was 107-3 which was 10ft long, 7ft wide, layout 3. I haven't worked out where they measured for that but I roll with that anyway  

Weight is a big consideration when doing a reno as well as weight distribution, ie keeping heavy things low and over the axle and working outwards from there, light objects at the very front and back and up high.  I think I used 16 sheets of ply in mine for lining and skinning cabinetry, if using the bracing ply, that would've been an extra 32kg, just as a consideration. That many sheets strapped together should travel better than just a few.

Just offering thoughts, not telling you which way to go. I hate painting so went with the Bunker's ply, it was worth the 3 hr return trip for me at $17.50 a sheet, 2.7mm thick.  They have the pvc joiners, corners etc but they're different to the ones Bunnings has for the 3mm wet panels, the Bunker's are a little wider and more forgiving if your cuts are a little short, but if you run out, they're harder to match to Bunnings ones, not really a big deal unless you're like me and things have to match lol.  

Not sure if your York has it as well, but mine had channels in the aluminium frame for the ply to slide into at the top of the walls and under the front and back windows, 4mm would definitely be too big for them.

[haim]

HI
We are still working out how far we will go with the renovation at the moment we are happy with the ceiling ,overhead cupboards and wardrobe and most of the side where the kitchen was. So we won’t be using as many sheets as you did so the trip for the 3mm ply might not be as much of a saving, Might bribe my wife with a trip to IKEA looking for good storage ideas, might not be a cheap trip though. I want everything to match and look as if it is meant to be there so would really like the 3mm ply but we thankfully all work so are a bit time poor at the moment.....decisions decisions......
I have been worried about weight distribution when I pulled out the kitchen and put in the slide out double bed about 30kg all along that side. The fridge is in front of the door which I am not really happy about but had nowhere else for it. Our must haves for the van was comfortable beds and storage as our first couple of trips weren’t great, so we changed it a bit. Our last big run was out to Mitchell up to Carnarvon Gorge then Mount Morgan and back to the South Burnett and the van towed well and we slept well so I think the weight of the fridge and bed balance each other out ok and it is a small lite van behind the Pajero so the tow ball weight is not a problem