Atog's 68 Olympic

[Deleted]

Hi Atog,

Geez mate dont let the cheese get tooooo carried away ya might have to throw another axle under the old girl. ;D ;D


Carl

p.s she's looking fine tho' mate.

[kiwijim]

G'day Atog,

Yer Mate, you have to watch the little extras that appear in all the storage spaces,

I think all the Cheese & spices are the same.....that could come in handy, I'll just bung in two in case one breaks.

"JEEZ" the extras I threw out after the last trip, including piles of those plastic containers, "Yer" the ones that never seem to be the right shape or size to fit into any space,
and usually end up in your lap as soon as you open any door.

Yes the the biggest expense we will have, will be the fuel but getting 11 km to the Lt out of the Nissan at present is pretty good although with the van in tow it is bound to drop,
still could be a lot worse,

came across a bloke out on the Nullabour once, towing a 25ft van with a Ford 150 he had ran out of fuel about 100 clicks out of Ceduna, he was going crook about the Ford and the Head wind
as the ford was only getting 3 clicks to the Lt.

Some-one had brought him out a 20 Lt Jerry can of fuel, but that still wasn't enough to get him out of strife, we left him mumbling something about the Ford and a wrecking yard.

Cheers kiwijim

[bobt]

Hi Atog

Best you watch carefully what goes in... You might end up needing a dodge truck to tow her instead of a drifter

Hey Kiwijim.... I would be real happy with 11k to the litre. I was averaging 5.5 on the last trip.... Petrol was my biggest expense.................... hmmmm cooking oil

bobt

[atouchofglass]

Hi Gents

Aug 3, 2009 8:17:11 GMT 10 @rwedearyet said:

Hi Atog,

Geez mate dont let the cheese get tooooo carried away ya might have to throw another axle under the old girl. ;D ;D


Carl

p.s she's looking fine tho' mate.

Are we still talking about the caravan ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Yes the Ball and chain has taken an interest in the van alright
This weekend gone - I spent $60 on bits and pieces and she spent $140

First time she's spent more on the van than I did ;D ;D ;D

More plastic and hanging bits going in and quitely disappearing into the carefully created voids

Hopefully we'll find something to tow it with soon

Cheers
Atog

[Deleted]

Gidday Atog.

Sorry mate I would never cast aspersions about anybody's lovely cheese and kisses but my own .

But it does seem that the nesting hormone takes over when a space becomes available and they seem to want to line it with feathers (or tupperware) as soon as it seems vacant and free of saw dust.

I hear ALKO do a good axle and Chev don't do a bad tug.

Carl ;D ;D

[atouchofglass]

Hey Kiwicarl

Had thought of a new axle and electric brakes but won't do anything until I have a tow car...... waiting, waiting, ..... still waiting



No point in having all those u beaut bits and pieces if I can't use em


Cheers
Atog

[Deleted]

Gidday Atog,

How are you mate, yeah a new axle and some electric brakes would be nice for sure. I'm starting to do some research on it myself but will probably wait until work picks up a bit before lookin too seriously at that. still trying to get the pennies together for the inside of the van first.

A good mate of mine reckons that I should make what is called "a sleeper" which is a van (or car, truck or whatever) that is old and a bit worse for wear on the outside but as soon as you get inside it is all super luxurious with all the mod cons i.e. plasma tv, surround sound, leather upholstery.flash fittings etc. told him he was mad, but it sure would be a laugh to see peoples faces when you invite them in for a cuppa and then a drinks cabinet slides automatically out from the wall at the touch of a remote control hahahahaha. ;D ;D

There are so many improvements that can be made to a van but they all take time and or money so the only limit is the back pocket which is pretty hard to keep topped up in this day and age.

Anyway mate dreams are still free at least they were last time I checked.

Carl

[atouchofglass]

Hi Gents

Here is a little bit of vanity
Cause I am pleased with the job done on the Olympic ;D ;D ;D ;D



Put it on a month or so ago and just got sprung by bobandjacqui so have come clean ;D ;D ;D

Cheers
Atog

[bobt]

well done.............. looks good... certainly suits the van.

_{I went back a couple of pages to p18 and looked a little more carefully...}

[atouchofglass]

Hey Gents
Well after slacking off for a couple of weekends it was time to do a bit more on the Olympic

Last weekend at the Mareeba Airshow
Week before at the Cairns Car and Bike Swap meet
This weekend was supposed to be at the Cultural Festival in Mareeba ..... but things didn't pan out
_{Also missed the Cairns Festival on Friday before the Mareeba Airshow}


Decided it was time to start on the list of things still to do
Have been trying to borrow a welder for about a month now and finally found a mate with a mig welder
Did a bit of welding today
Got dirty and did a bit of drilling, rivetting, painting and fitting

See if you can spot any difference


Something that was added originally but didn't work real well until being removed, revamped and refitted

Cheers
Atog

[kiwijim]

G'day Atog,

I would guess that the rear jack legs have just been welded into place and probably work a lot better now.

How many Brownie points for that ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[atouchofglass]

Arrrrr Jim
Your a clever bloke I've always said it

Top points...... But it's a trick question

Here's one of the front legs
Just to whet your interest
Actually its a dead give away



The bloke that sold the van to me said that she had been set up for the 1968 Brisbane caravan show

Hence a few extras were added

Cheers
Atog

[atouchofglass]

Arrrh What the H*ll

Have just refitted the hydraulics - All new lines
And bleed them so they work ...... well ...... FANTASTIC ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D



Not yet bolted down ...... no bolts that fit
So will bolt, paint and finish it off next week


Cheers
One happy Atog

[Deleted]

Something that was added originally but didn't work real well

Amazing! Is that really an original or a retro?

[Deleted]

Gidday Atog,

NICE LEGS MATE

You should put a bullseye bubble net to the pump Atog

carl ;D

[atouchofglass]

Hey Guys
The Hydraulics are original and according to Boblor on V V - Olympic regularly used them
Seems I'm not the only lazy bloke out there

One of the things I hated when caravaning as a twelve year old was winding down the legs on the ol man's 21' Olympic

When I originally heard that this van had hydraulics I had to have a look at her

The rams have brass bodies and galvanized steel rams
All lovingly painted a horrid grey when bought.

The reservoir was a plastic washer bottle from a car of some type
Changed that to an aluminium purpose made tank, changed the bracket and welded it further forward

Possibly will add a tube for annex poles to the front of the van later

Turned out well considering I had the rams repaired about 9 months ago...... OK so it takes me a bit of time to fit these things

Cheers
Atog

[millard1399]

Crikey atog, this van is gonna be far too classy to travel with us other commoners!

I reckon with a bit more engineering work, you could also use the corner stabilisers to lift the van when a tyre needs changing!

atouchofclassyglass ;D ;D

cheers,
Al.

[bobt]

I dream of the day I can afford to put hydraulic rams on my van

[atouchofglass]

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Thanks Guys
I dream of the day I can tow it.... somewhere...... ANY WHERE ;D ;D ;D

Then the stabilizers can be used.....
The van can be used.....
Currently she's ...... just quitely waiting for me to remove the digit and get a tow car ;D ;D

Cheers
Atog

[bobt]

well Atog.. if you were not so particular about wanting a drifter in the right colour then perhaps you would have a tow car already.

guess you will just have to wait a little longer till the right one comes along.. I am sure it will

[Deleted]

Hi Atog,

My Olympic originally came from the factory with the same hydraulic leg system as yours.

As Millard 1399, suggested I did use the system once to change a flat tyre but it put a lot of strain on everything. I now use a bottle jack under the axle AND put the legs down as a safety measure.

The pipe runs were/are single flared copper and the reservoir was white plastic. My reservoir suffered from UV breakdown but I was able to replace it with a black plastic one from Dunford Engineering which fitted, no problems.

I believe they still make and sell a hydraulic leg system which appears to be very similar to the Olympic original.

What did you use as a hydraulic fluid in yours?

As far as I can work out mine used a soluble oil solution which I still use now.

Cheers, techron

[atouchofglass]

Hey Techron
Mate that is such good news..... Dunford engineering still being in operation.
Took my rams and the operating pump to a local hydraulic specialists and they supplied the semi-rigid pipe and automatic transmission fluid to run in them

Had an aluminium reservoir purpose made because the plastic bottle had years of sludge in it.
Looked like a windscreen washer bottle..... bit of a dodgy set up for my
Also was oversized holes in the top for the three tubes that lead into it..... not really sealed well
That allowed dust and who knows what to enter the system

Will add a cover over the whole lot later for added protection from the elements .... in fibreglass of course

They work like a charm and I can highly recommend continuing to use them

Do you still have Dunfords address?

Cheers
Atog

[Deleted]

Hi Atog,

I ordered my replacement fluid container from our local caravan parts supplier "Cara-rest" but that was quite a few years ago.

Had a look through my old brochures (thats why this reply has been a bit slow) ;D ;D ;D,and found a poor copy of an original Dunford Brochure. I will see if I can scan it to the forum for you.

I had a look on the web and Dunford Engineering were listed in 2004 as operating out of Cedarvale, Qld. Dont know if they are still going but Camec list a "Dunford" bolt on spare wheel carrier which may be by the same company.

I also found 2 other Hydraulic Stabilising jacking systems by Stabilmate/Seatra International P/L and Happy Wanderer caravan Accessories which could substitute if needed. The pump mechanism is reasonably similar to the Dunford but the corner jacks look identical.

Hope this helps,

Cheers, techron

[atouchofglass]

Hey Techron
Any chance of posting their addresses or websites?
Both Dunford and the others that sell similar hydraulics

The reason is that these things aren't all that hard to fit
If the rams and pump are off the shelf, the hardest bit to do would be the stabilisers themselves

The ones on the Olympic are quite sturdy, a good welder would be able to knock them up.
Possibly the return springs would take some getting hold of.... but they are just springs after all.


Just a post script for the hydraulic reservoir - thought it might take up heaps of fluid. The young bloke that sold me the lines and reservoir also sold me two one litre bottles of Automatic transmission fluid.....
Used just a tad over a litre.
So the set up was not really as thirsty as I had first thought

Cheers
Atog

[Deleted]

Hi Atog,

Had another go on the Web chasing the hydraulic stabilisers.

Have a look at 'www.happywanderer.net.au' and also 'ozvan. com au'
and go to 'Stabil-mate'. You can see the brochure at both.

Hardings in Tasmania also talk about it but their web page seems to have a 2006 date on it so dont know how current it is?

I have the manufacturer for the 'Stabil-Mate' listed as Seatra International Pty Ltd, 233 Shepards Hill Rd, Eden Hills SA.

Unfortunately I have a nagging suspicion that all this info may not be current?
Still you never know your luck in the big city!!!

Cheers, techron

www.happywanderer.net.au/page.asp?parentid=19&parent2id=50&parent3id=29

ozvan.com.au/category85_1.htm#903

_{Just added these to your post for future reference
Thanks
Atog}