Viscount Valiant - Re-purposed

[Strugglebrook]

Those windows, the King would have said "thank you very much"
PSK Strugglbrook.

[reddo]

Later in the week i moved onto the front window. Previuos owner had gone beserk with the plywood and sealed up the front window with a stack of silastic.

So i cut the silastic out with a stanely knife and removed about a dozen self tapers to get the wood out.
I wemt ovewr to hodgson caravan repairs and had a scrounge around tro see if they had a window the same size??.. No luck so i bought 2 that where slightly smaller in width but about 45 mm deeper.. $50 for the pair.
Came home and ripped out the old frame and then fitted two new uprights to suit the narrower window. There was 2 X 25mm rails below the window. so had to cut the first one out hoping the frame would fit... no luck.. so had to drill out the rivets holding the bottom rail and lower it 5mm to get the window to fit.

Made up to infill sections for the sides and loaded the frame flange up with a heap of silastic , then screwed the new window in place.. it'll do me.. and bonus .. it hinges open , the old window was fixed glass .

Moved on to the roof hatch...Its a bit of a mess up there .. but not as bad as i thought it was....more later

[reddo]

Here is the hatch and the highly technical latching down system...

Done a bit on it yesterday and removed the offending apparatus.. The hatch has been insulated , and the insulation is held in place by a sheet of ply.which is secured by those bolts you can see sticking up through the top side of the hatch lid.. what a bloody mess......
Will remove all that and hopeful;l set it up with a hinge on the front side of the hatch so it will at least open from back edge.

Reddo
.

[reddo]

Progress is good..
Built a complete new lid for the hatch...
After replacing the 75 x 25 timber frame around the hatch and sheeting with aluminium,
Finished it off yesterday with 2 stays , a handle .. yet to fit 2 barrel bolts to secure it shut.

Then moved on to the door which didnt shut properly due to sagging hinges and loose lock. Also had to remove a dozen screws that previous owner had bunged into the frame of the flyscreen door..simply because the mesh screen was ripped... ???

Once i priesed the door open i removed the aluminium surrounds and replaced ripped flyscreen also replaced flyscreen door lock... riveted the weather strip back above the door...replace loose rivets in the door hinges. Everything works again .

[reddo]

Would have liked to save the old brass gauze but a bit too much damage..

so..New gauze.. locks etc...

Not too sure what to tackle next..??
I thought i had enough rivets in stock to last me 20 years when i left work,,, i am down to a small jar full... hmmmm.... migt have to start buying stuff....oooooohhh... noooooo !!

[reddo]

The missus came home the other day with 2 rolls of sponge rubber carpet underlay.. Thought it was insulation.. ??.. i thought about it for a few seconds and said.... "Why not". So once i had finished running the 12v and 240 v wiring i spent a couple of days cutting and fitting the sponge between the studs..
You can feel the difference between the panels with the sponge and those without.. .. and i would imagine it will work well as sound proofing as well.
I only have the tailgate to do now and still have near a full roll of what i estimate to be around 8 metres x 2 metres wide.

What a clever little wifey she is.

Also have done a bit of cleaning up around the drawbar.. still plenty to do here.. but will wait till i have the van up on stumps .. at least waist high so i can sit under there and remove the axle and springs....and give the chassis a good scrub and paint

Also been fiddling with sheets of offcut ply on the front wall.. you wont see any of this once the bedframe / bottom cupboards are built..
Hope to be onto lining the walls and fitting the ceiling sheets over the next few weeks.

[Strugglebrook]

Toy hauler, looking goooooooood.

[reddo]

Bit more done in the Visccount variant...the past 2 days.....

2 sides and most of the front wall sheeted with genuine authentic replica MDF Colourboard " Tibetan Oak"
As soon as i finished up yesterday i got this incredible urge to crack a stubby.. and sit on the floor with my legs crossed.. eyes closed.. arms outstretched with palms facing upward..... and started making ....oooooooooooooooommmmmmmm... ooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmm noises...????

That Tibetan Oak has a profound effect on me.. might run off and join a buddist temple .....??
Do they have XXXX Gold at thier temples ??... NO !!!... Hmmmmmm.. looks like i will just stay where i am for now then !!!

[Strugglebrook]

When the gentlmen come and put a nice white jacket on you, please remain calm, they will be taking you to a nice place.

[reddo]

Before i discovered the lord ..
I was all messed up on vintage caravans..
But since i discovered the Lord..
I'm all messed up on the Lord.
I decide to meditate to keep my Ying and Yang in balance.....
and now i get told someone is coming to take me away....

Perhaps a BEX and a good lay down might be in order..???