RocketRod's 1970's Viscount Reno

[Deleted]

thx Tassietiger

mate once you start renovating your girl, it is very addictive give her the breath of life... franklin a very nice van

[bobt]

Hi Rocketrod

I just gotta agree with the others and their sentiments, magnificant job you have done with your van. Certainly gives me inspiration for the next one I hope to do..

I will now go sit on the railing next to GC Hwy and wait to see it cruise past

bobt



_{(yeah atog I know.. gotta finish the one I started)} ;D

[Deleted]

haha thanx bobt. yeah cant wait to get away,lets say u cant miss the "OLD GIRL "

[scotty]

Hi R/Rod, love the job you've done on your van, it looks great. Should pull a crowd when you start getting out and about in it. All the best mate, Cheers Scotty

[Deleted]

hey Scotty...thanx mate yes she has come up trumps....and 2 weeks b4 we head down the GOLDIE for a break....yay

[scotty]

G'donya Rod, hope ya have a good time. I'm sure you'll have lots of lookers, when ya pull in and set up in a park. Cheers Scotty

[Deleted]

Hi RocketRod,

Wow , what a fantastic job you have done on your beautiful van. Now this has made me want to get my Husband outside and start working on ours!!

Tammy

[Deleted]

Hi Tammy....Thanx for your compliments, you should get hubby to make a start I had such an awesome time doing mine,was actually a stress relief my own space

[Deleted]

Hi guys....thought i would have trouble insuring my caravan after reading others on this forum, I insured my 1976 Viscount Royal with NRMA...I had to get a valuer (Accessor) to come value it....it cost me $150.00 for him. He gave me a valuation of $20,000.00 so my baby is all insured as of today, and we are off to the Goldie for a week to enjoy her YAY

[tassietiger]

Enjoy the trip and well done on the insurance valuation

[Deleted]

thanx Bud... Will do, i cant wait

[millard1399]

Wow!!...twenty...THOUSAND...dollars!!!!!!

Man-oh-man, I never thought I'd see the day when a Classic caravan was worth TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS!

I wouldn't be taking it out on the road. I'd be building a GLASS CASE for it! Put it in a museum!! ;D ;D

Rocketrod, you might wanna look into getting a police escort for your travels. Sort of keep the road ahead clear of other idiots likely to run into you. It's a wonder the NRMA doesn't give you a special escort vehicle to protect their risk!

Hope all goes well on your maiden voyage. Me?...I'd be a nervous wreck!

cheers,
Al.

[Deleted]

hahaha.. thanx Al yeah i have to admit I was very impressed with NRMA,after reading all the experiences everybody has had with insuring there classics i couldnt be happier...but at the end of the day if you do the sums on labour and materials,$20,000 doesnt really come close...but thats what we have to expect when we do up these old girls....

[Deleted]

Hi Rod,

Just caught up with this delicious thread. My head is still spinning.

Seems to me you turned everything I thought I thought I knew about van building and renovating out the window ... and re-built your Viscount thing from the inside out rather than the outside in (if that makes sense).

I'm a less of the tizz more of the technical type of guy.

Can you give us a bit of a blow by blow run down on the reno and how you achieved some things?

* How is the fixing of internal wall boards and ceiling done?

* What jointing system did you use for the internal wall boards, ceilings corners, windows etc?

* How did you fix the internal cupboards to walls?

* Are all cupboards simply 5 ply with no frame?

* How are the doors constructed (frame and ply)?

* Can you give a rough estimate of the material cost and breakdown?

* etc etc

Thanks

John k

[Deleted]

Hi John.

Thanks buddy for the rap we just come back from the Gold coast in the van had a week there was awesome...now some answers to your qyestions.

*internal wall boards (FIJIAN CEDAR) were glued and pop rivetted to the ally stud frame,the ceiling was glued and stapled to the wooden battens.

*Jointing system used on the walls was the normal pvc joints (TAN COLOUR). The ceiling the same but in (WHITE) to go with ceiling colour. Ceiling corners i mitre cut all round the ceiling with MERANTE quad timber to give the wooden stained classic look also in all internal corners around all the cabinets looks absolutely awesome. as for the windows i used the (TAN PVC window sills standard)

*Affixing all internal cupboards to walls i glued screwed the tops of cupboards to the ceiling battens, pop rivetted the backs to the ally stud frame, and also stapled from the outside in through the frames of the cupboards, and at each end of the overhead cupboards i put an internal ceiling to floor wall also stapled this to cupboards for extra strength the system is so strong and self supporting u could actually swing off these babies and they wont move....I also added under each overhead cupboard a nice supporting post hand crafted piece of 45x45mm Merante timber from the underside of overheads to the top of the cabinet bench-tops. I even cut merante quad for where it joins the underside of overheads and the tops of bench- tops looks mad It is impossible for any overheads to move is all self supported

*All internal cupboards and overheads are made from 5 ply cedar sheets they are very light weight and a lot quicker to build and in my opinion look better than the frame technique.

*the doors are constructed from Fijian cedar ply, and i mitre cut the frame with merante skirting timber very light very quick to construct and looks amazing

*Material cost and breakdown....good question i just had to do this for the N.R.M.A for my insurance, building the van i started to save and collect all reciepts but in the end got sloppy and misplaced or just didnt bother so i sat down for hours and wrote a list of everything down from memory...including brand new (ORIGINAL) cladding being the 2nd most expensive, by far the most expensive was the amount of FIJIAN cedar ply internal,all Merante quad, architrieve,skirting timber,steel for chassis,staples,sikaflex,bench tops,LCD,microwave,amplifier,speakers all electrical products,ply floor,vinyl floor,new external door,window,brakes,wheel bearings,draw bar,couplings etc,roll out awning that i totally rebuilt to brand new,window stays locks etc,pink batts,rebuild hatch and mechanisms,window mechanisms,sheers ,curtains, lounge upholstered,sinks,plumbing copper,waste etc,taps,hinges, and all odds and sodds came to approx $10,000 the rest was all labour....... evrything in this van is brand spanking new and when i went to the last caravan expo there was nothing at all that could replicate or replace my design i was so HAPPY and anything that was close was round the $50,000 and up mark. I imagine that a caravan dealer or repairer that was working on $80 per hour would have charged me round $45,000 to do the work that i have done probably more. At the end of the day was never about buying a new van i just love the old classics from caravans to cars....I now am looking at doing another van, or a 1962 split window kombi van or an old classic.........

hope this helps buddy

[Deleted]

Hi AL

mate just to let you know you were not wrong about the rubberneckers on my recent trip to the Gold Coast, it was the truckies who were the most intimidating flying up behind to view the van, and sitting beside the van looking at it i got to a point where i had been sandwiched in between a B-double semi and a 22 wheeler how did i know it was a 22 wheeler i just about touched each wheel. mate time i got to the Gold Coast it was certainly time for quite a few bourbons let me tell-ya. How good it was just to pull me roll out awning out and i was done took one minute, was awesome

[Deleted]

Excellent.

Thanks Rod, answers all my questions.

[Deleted]

no worries champ

[bobt]

Thanks... me bum is still sore from sitting on the fence waiting.. ;D


How about some photos..

[Deleted]

Hi bobt.

Will load some pics shortly....i am heading off for 5 days to summerset dam waterskiing and camping in the van on wednesday....will load some pics when i get return...YAY:)

[Deleted]

worked in the factory whom john carr was associated with whom rolled out the first sheets of log cabin profile

[Deleted]

HI GUYS

I have not been on here for a while, but as you all might have seen i had to sell my AWESOME VISCOUNT ROYAL for a very greedy ex-wife lol....She almost got my 1981 fxe Harley shovelhead i built from the ground up. That is regarded as the best Shovelhead in Australia valued after i finished building around $100,000.00... but all good I am now back and looking for another van to do up, and let me tell you it will leave my last van for dead im on a mission ;D

[millard1399]

Hey rocketrod, welcome back!! ;D

Yep, I saw your awesome Viscount listed on ebay sometime last year, and wondered what had happened for you to sell it. Bit of a bummer, hey?!! Damn fine van that, and no doubt your next project will be a beauty!!

Look forward to seeing what you come up with. ;D

cheers,
Al.

[Deleted]

I second that.

Welcome back and keep up the great work.

[Deleted]

Hey thanks guys.....So glad to be back ;D ;D ;D