Here are some early pics of my Teardrop.
Believed to be taken decades ago in WA. cheers gordon
DC3s` Teardrop
DC3s` Teardrop
Last edited by DC3TD on Mon Apr 25, 2011 7:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: DC3s` Teardrop
Some recent times pictures. They show it with the extended axle,different types of wheels & with plastic guards. Being refitted with underbody axle & original type Austin 16" x 3 stud wheels. cheers gordon
Re: DC3s` Teardrop
Hi Gordon
Pleased to finally see some photos of your TD up here.
You have a rare old van there with a very unique history.
She will look sweet with the original wheels.
Regards
Reddo
Pleased to finally see some photos of your TD up here.
You have a rare old van there with a very unique history.
She will look sweet with the original wheels.
Regards
Reddo
Re: DC3s` Teardrop
Hi Gordon.
Not your average looking teardrop is it, and it looks great. Do you know any of the history of who built it etc.
Cheers.
Richard.
Not your average looking teardrop is it, and it looks great. Do you know any of the history of who built it etc.
Cheers.
Richard.
ourtouringpast.com THE vintage caravan restoration website
and home of The National Caravan Museum.
and home of The National Caravan Museum.
Re: DC3s` Teardrop
Hello Richard. Was built by Mercury Caravans,Carlisle WA in 1952. Main body frame is 1/2" x 5/8" x 1/2" "U" channel aluminium.The galley area & hatch door is timber framed though. Smooth finish cladding (albeit 2pak`d o/a sometime ago) from front over to rear.Small diamond patterned side cladding.Eventually i will have the paint removed & body polished.According to a long ago former owner it was fitted with Austin 16" x 3 stud wheels sitting under the arches.I now have a pair to replace current wheels.It was apparently shown & displayed at The Whiteman Park Museum many moons ago. I am awaiting other not seen before pics from that time by that owner. A theme akin to its WA/DC3/Teardrop heritage/style is in the makings.This includes WA timber planking in the galley.Period nick nacks,fixtures & some trick stuff in the cabin area.I`ll add some other more recent pics soon. As for current pics,they`ll have to wait until i either get my damaged camera back if repairable or a new one.This refurb which started out basically as a reasonable time turnover has taken me longer as there were things which i innitially did as a (quick) lead up to Motorfest but then decided i wasn`t going to be happy unless i spent more time & revision of how it should be done. All part of the journey. cheers gordon
Re: DC3s` Teardrop
Stripped out galley:
Left inner rear:
Right inner rear:
Galley tap before:
Quick clean:
With its base plate:
Mock up of sink/tap:
Alternative base plate which i prefer:
And mock fitted:
A40 guards that will eventually be fitted:
I let these guards go the first time i saw them as i didn`t have specific info of dimensions of them.Kinda kicked myself for doing so.But then a couple of weeks later they came up for sale again.Ridiculously low price i thought so grabbed them.And they fit & suit as if made for the Td.Look pretty shabby but are in fact better looking than in the pictures. gordon
Left inner rear:
Right inner rear:
Galley tap before:
Quick clean:
With its base plate:
Mock up of sink/tap:
Alternative base plate which i prefer:
And mock fitted:
A40 guards that will eventually be fitted:
I let these guards go the first time i saw them as i didn`t have specific info of dimensions of them.Kinda kicked myself for doing so.But then a couple of weeks later they came up for sale again.Ridiculously low price i thought so grabbed them.And they fit & suit as if made for the Td.Look pretty shabby but are in fact better looking than in the pictures. gordon
Re: DC3s` Teardrop
Hi Gordon
All looking good, I like the A40 idea for guards, they should look a treat in the end, look forward to seeing the finished product.
George
All looking good, I like the A40 idea for guards, they should look a treat in the end, look forward to seeing the finished product.
George
Re: DC3s` Teardrop
Hi George. So do i. Things just happen inbetween these projects which end up taking longer to finalise.But it`s all good as some of the ideas i originally came up with changed along the way which now that i`ve spent more time working on & refining should only make for a better finished product. gordon
Re: DC3s` Teardrop
Removal of the "A" frame & associated hardware:
The chalk line spat design i did some time ago when i was considering making my own from 1/8" sheet aluminium:
gordon
The chalk line spat design i did some time ago when i was considering making my own from 1/8" sheet aluminium:
gordon
Last edited by DC3TD on Tue Nov 13, 2012 10:41 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Re: DC3s` Teardrop
OK,on to some interior updates/repairs:This area always intrigued me i figured there were shelves/cupboards here originally.It had been blanked over & painted through the years:
These timber pieces propped up a couple of fleck painted mdf sheets blanking the front off on an angle as can be seen by paint lines.
I decided upon wanting a set of shelves right & left side with a centre fitted cupboard such like this:
But before all that there was the need to replace front floor section which you`ll see was a rather interesing piece of demolition as well as replacing both left/right door frames as just a wee bit of rot & splitting through the years:
Now to sort out the front inner cross beam which bolts through floor to under:
Some nasty repair work carried out through the years.This & another piece of mdf were screwed through front by unscrewing J mould,lifting skin away & screwing directly through ali rib into the mdf & then into the cross beam:
So the beam is out & by the looks it has an original J Bolt still attached. Plus some flooring! Ha.
Under side of beam showing notch-outs were it recessed against the ali ribs:
Looking through literally to where the floor rot is:
Mock set-up for where shelving should be:
Here i`ve laid in place a length or two of 5 3/8" x 2 1/4" beam which not only serves as the main cross beam but also the base of the shelves/cupboard:
A couple of sticks about where the tops of shelving will locate which is in line with front window:
After some more thought i figured two of those cross beams were one too many:
One looks just right:
So now what will i gain in space? Shelving each side of 28"H x 16" W & a centre cupboard of 28"H x 26 1/2"W without losing any floor area where one would usually sleep.Week end coming i`m hopeful of replacing both side door frames,installing the cabinetry & of course the new floor section. gordon
These timber pieces propped up a couple of fleck painted mdf sheets blanking the front off on an angle as can be seen by paint lines.
I decided upon wanting a set of shelves right & left side with a centre fitted cupboard such like this:
But before all that there was the need to replace front floor section which you`ll see was a rather interesing piece of demolition as well as replacing both left/right door frames as just a wee bit of rot & splitting through the years:
Now to sort out the front inner cross beam which bolts through floor to under:
Some nasty repair work carried out through the years.This & another piece of mdf were screwed through front by unscrewing J mould,lifting skin away & screwing directly through ali rib into the mdf & then into the cross beam:
So the beam is out & by the looks it has an original J Bolt still attached. Plus some flooring! Ha.
Under side of beam showing notch-outs were it recessed against the ali ribs:
Looking through literally to where the floor rot is:
Mock set-up for where shelving should be:
Here i`ve laid in place a length or two of 5 3/8" x 2 1/4" beam which not only serves as the main cross beam but also the base of the shelves/cupboard:
A couple of sticks about where the tops of shelving will locate which is in line with front window:
After some more thought i figured two of those cross beams were one too many:
One looks just right:
So now what will i gain in space? Shelving each side of 28"H x 16" W & a centre cupboard of 28"H x 26 1/2"W without losing any floor area where one would usually sleep.Week end coming i`m hopeful of replacing both side door frames,installing the cabinetry & of course the new floor section. gordon