Viscount Valiant - Re-purposed

[reddo]

Hi
Some time back i advertised in "wanted to buy" here on the forum an old van chassis..
Looked at a few pop top camper chassis that where advertised locally.. but all to heavy .
A few weeks back an alloy Viscount Valiant 10'6" van that had been sitting around the corner from here became available and i purchased it...

I wanted to build another bike hauler .. only this time instead of a Teardrop .. something that would accommodate both me and the bike when travelling and staying at Motorcycle rallies etc.

This old van is in reasonable condition on the outside but had suffered badly from the age old problem of water leaks .. hence lots of rotted plywood on the inside..
After repairing the front left corner of the van which had suffered a hard knock at some stage

I moved inside to assess just how much of the inside would need to be stripped out...
First thing i noticed was that the floor looked fairly new?/.. turns out the previuos owner had cut out 3 new floor panels ... but hadnt screwed them down??.. Further inspection revealed he hadnt removed the existing ply floor.. which is in good condition??... so ... out came the 3 new sheets.. . So that saved me a few days work .... and a few dollars All that is need on the old floor is refixing to the chassis in a few places with teck screws...
Happy about that !!
I started at the front of the van and worked my way along .. further i went ... the more water damage i found.. eneded up almost an entire strip out .. exposing all the aluminium studs/framework..


Here is the front wall stripped bare..

Reddo

[reddo]

From the front , i moved onto the left and right sides..

Then the rear..

I know by now you are thinking .. was it necessary to totally strip it out??..
Given that there was no internal fixtures like cupboards / sinks/ bed frames etc.. and the entire insides is going to be rebuilt to be redsigned to suit what i intend using the van for, i figured i may as well do away with trying to save half rotted sheets and just clean the entire contents out. I can now mark all the wall stud locations on the floor and ceiling so that when it comes time to resheet i will not be drilling holes and missing the stud fixings..

I still have the roof sheets to remove,,, once thats donei will either wait for a rainy day or set up a garden sprinker to soak the roof and stand inside checking where the water leaks are stemming from.. a LOT easier than trying to detect them with roof sheets still in place.

I am sure i will find many hours of non enjoyment up on the roof gouging out old sealant and replacing with new

More later...

[Strugglebrook]

Good to see mate, giving agutted van that would have more than likely ended up at the tip another life.

JD PSK.

[reddo]

I took moulds off all 4 sides this morning... all made out of ice!!!
I better start filling the crockery pig with coins to pay for wall insulation.. wouldnt wanna have slept in it last nightin sub zero temps.!!!

Reddo

[reddo]

Spent a few hours on saturday unpicking the aluminium off the rear of the van.
Then cut through the c section ready to remove the frame..so that it has a straight vertical rear end.. This will make the job of building the rear access door much easier than working with curves to form a tailgate.

The 10ft 6 inches will soon be no more than 10ft.

Reddo

[Strugglebrook]

Coming along nicely.

[reddo]

After another 0 degree start to the day ....came bewt sunny day .. So out with the grinder and continue the rear end demolition. cut all the c section out and removed the rest of the framework..

Then cut a section of 30mm x 30mm heavy walled steel square section and fitted across the rear at floor level to take a 200 mm wide section of 10mm floor ply. Used heavy section as it will need to take the weight of me and a bike as the bike is being loaded into the van... strength will be added when i fit the uprights and fit 30mm x 30mm heavy section ( X 2) across the top to form a header.

Cut and screwed the ply in to give a level floor through to the 30 X 30.

Left enough length on the aluminium cladding underneath to roll up and rivet to the 30 x 30. The rear wall sheets will come down over that to make it waterproof. The pipe you can see in the second photo coming out from under the rear of the van is part of a spare wheel rack that one of the owners had cut off at some stage. There is 2 of em under the back of the van. ..ideal mounting points for the loading ramp later on.

All progress stopped mid arvo, and i took one of the clunker bikes for a run... too nice a day to be workin'.. came home and lit a backyard campfire.. knocked the lid of a stubby or 2.....and spent 2 hours burning off all the 3 ply i had stripped out of the van.

Off to the steel merchants tomorrow .. and also Alspec Aluminium to get some 20 x 20mm heavy wall square section for the uprights. Could use the c sect i cut out of the old frame but a bit flimsy for the job of holding a swing down tailgate/ rear door.... might try using some of those press together "T" sections in the rear framework too... only about $2 ea...worth having a play with i reckon ??. neat joins and stronger than just cutting sections out of the box section and riveting together.

All fun and games here in the shed of invention.

[Strugglebrook]

Coming along nicely Master.

[jennison]

I posted earlier on the wrong thread. Looking forward to the thread unfolding Reddo..another bike carrier I take it?
Jenno

[reddo]

Hi Jeff..
Yes mate.. another bike transporter , only this time with enough room to have a front bunk, storage cupboards and basic stove, fridge kitchen . .. and be able to stand up / move around and sleep in there while the bike is still in the van.

Plus if i ever decide to sell it ( you know me.. nothing is cemented in my shed) it would appeal to the foody van mob with the hinge open rear end .. sans the motorcycle.

Managed to get a bit more done on Tuesday...finished the door jam area off. trimmed off the edging, cut the 2 pipes under the back of the van that where attacking my legs with thier sharp edges while i was working. Made the door frame up using 4 of the plastic corner "Lego" pieces.. these things are great and only a couple of dollars each. makes everything strong and nice and square. i use 1 rivet on each corner to keep the join from seperating. but once the sheet is on it cant come apart anyway. Also have used 6 mm thick steel brackets in some of the right angles of the frame to help stiffen things up/ keep it square...

Once the framework was finished i used what cladding i managed to unpick while demolishing the rear end.... and re-sheeted the back.

A lady from Singleton on facebook has offered me some sheets ofAluminium they pulled off a van a while back. so will be able to retain the same "3 ribs /dappled alloy" sheet pattern. Going to buy a length of piano hinge and a locking mechanism today so i can swing the rear door from the top edge.. this can double up as a roof over the party zone at the rear of the van when hinged fully up. Might get the original rear window cut down to size and fit it back into the upper section of the rear door too...I could go one step further and make it a hinge open window so i can open it when the bike is out of the van and i am using the van as a "normal" caravan??

While i was up working along the roof edge of the van i noticed just how badly rotted the hatch frame is... what a bloody mess !!!! .. and i suspect a major source of the roof leaks...Just another project to tackle once i have the rear to the lock up stage...cant believe i am working on bauxite after all those years of affection .. bloodletting.. working on Bondwoods... what next .. Fobbergross??. .. No... I dont think so

Reddo