DC3s` Teardrop

[DC3TD]

Here are some early pics of my Teardrop.

Believed to be taken decades ago in WA. cheers gordon

[DC3TD]

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

[reddo]

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

[Richard]

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.

[DC3TD]

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

[DC3TD]

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

[griffin]

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

[DC3TD]

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

[DC3TD]

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

[DC3TD]

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