Refurbishing old caravans

[kleinman98]

I plan to refurbish my 70s 4 berth Millard van and put it back on the road. It is a bigish job but better than spending a fortune on a newer one. A necessary accessory that my wife insists on is a small wet room for toilet, shower and hot and cold running water. I can see myself having fun with this job already.

 

[kleinman98]

Has anyone else done this sort of job before. Any pointers are appreciated.

 

[Ben78]

Post some pics up

Are you leaving it a 4 berth or going to ditch the bunks(?) and put the wet room there?

 

[Ramjet]

Hi John.
We have a 75 Millard pop top we are fixing up.
It had been gutted and half ass fitted out. We are gutting it again to build it how we want it.
No tips for you but I'll share anything of interest I find.
Oh I can give you the place to get the window seals for a milliard.

Thanks for the link Ben.

Rod

 

[Ag Man]

Prolly not what you want but someone else might get some use out of what a friend of mine has done.

He's got a small van with only a double bed at the back, kitchenette on one side & couch at the front.

Once he's parked up at a bush camp, he hangs a (Like ones people have on their house walls) instant hot water unit(Bottle gas) on the outside of the van, next to it puts up a generous sized canvas shower/toilet inclosure with a shower head & taps & a 12V pump takes water from the creek, to the hot water unit & gets unlimited hot showers (as long as you got gas ).
Fairly basic but very effective - the hot water unit supplies water for the kitchen too.
I like a bit of elbow room in a shower & most caravan showers are quite pokey.

 

[Ben78]

ANother thing to think of to increase inside room is to build a slide out kitchen cartridge like seen in the camper trailers to remove having a kitchen inside (where you don't really want to be cooking anyway...

 

[axeman]

I've got a 16ft van the due for a reno. Not sure were the shower is going but I'll be using a coleman gas hot water system. I'll put a second tank under the van for water. The shower itself may be in the annexe itself with the shower head and tap will have a removable mounting on the wall. Drainage maybe the next thing to sort out.
Mick

 

[axeman]

ANother thing to think of to increase inside room is to build a slide out kitchen cartridge like seen in the camper trailers to remove having a kitchen inside (where you don't really want to be cooking anyway...

I was thinking of doing this using the drifter style of kitchen and fridge slide. Hate cooking in vans.
Mick

 

[thesmithy]

Those hot water systems are great.
Horse people mount them on a cheap bunnings furniture trolley.
Hot water system on top 9kg gas bottle underneath.
just hook it up to a tap and instant hot water to wash their horses with. Totally portable unit, also good for washing the dogs outside in winter.
TheSmithy

 

[trenchfighter]

My tip for re-furbishing old caravans is Dont.

 

[kawman]

Yep it is usually a much bigger job than you think.. All parts are available to repair caravans thru the dealers.. can get expensive... Used to be a caravan wrecker at Gosford nsw he was great for cheaper bits and pieces..

My tip for re-furbishing old caravans is Dont.

 

[kawman]

When you cut the new ply don't use a saw.... The best way to cut it is to use a straight edge clamped to the finished side and cut it with a sharp stanley knife.. joins can be made that are perfect because the edge comes out so neat... don't butter up windows or doors with sealant and refit them because you will never be able to remove them again... All the old sealant should be removed right down to the bare alum about 20mm wide and then high qual sealant reapplied to the seams and out over the edges of the paint.. .

Hi John.
We have a 75 Millard pop top we are fixing up.
It had been gutted and half ass fitted out. We are gutting it again to build it how we want it.
No tips for you but I'll share anything of interest I find.
Oh I can give you the place to get the window seals for a milliard.

Thanks for the link Ben.

Rod

 

[kleinman98]

At this stage, we will be doing some research as to layout and design before getting too enthusiastic, but it looks like we will lose some storage to fit the wet room. Wet room dimensions look like around 850mm x 1200 (or 1400 if I give up on some walkway space) and full height. I should have enough room in there for the shower, wall basin and portapotty.
Hoping to use pvc interlocking panels for the inside walls and ceiling to make things waterproof and lightweight and possible a small roof vent (wirlybird style) for ventilation and dual voltage lighting.

 

[Ramjet]

don't butter up windows or doors with sealant and refit them because you will never be able to remove them again... All the old sealant should be removed right down to the bare alum about 20mm wide and then high qual sealant reapplied to the seams and out over the edges of the paint..

Good advice kawman. NEVER use silicon based sealants on a van. Horrible stuff to remove.
Use Sikaflex or something similar which never hardens and windows etc can be removed if needed.

 

[Chimpy]

G'day

Places like Manheim auction statutory write-offs fairly frequently. Nothing wrong with the interiors and go for a song

Cheers

Chimpy

 

[kleinman98]

Hi John.
We have a 75 Millard pop top we are fixing up.
It had been gutted and half ass fitted out. We are gutting it again to build it how we want it.
No tips for you but I'll share anything of interest I find.
Oh I can give you the place to get the window seals for a milliard.

Thanks for the link Ben.

Rod

Thanks Rod. At this stage I am thinking to just make it functional. There is one ceiling panel that needs replacing but as usual there are cupboards mounted there as well so may need to rip them out too. Or not for now. I can fit the wet room and replace some wall panels and maybe touch the kitchen area next time.
I ran the action cam under the van to see how the basic structure is and mostly it looks good. The drawbar needs some work and really I would like a longer drawbar.
New bearings, brakes and tyres should just about get it on the road. And there are no water tanks under there so will need a couple of them. The wire wheels will get a bit of use around the outside and then a bit of painting.

 

[belladonna]

Hi John,
We have purchased some items from www.caravansplus.com.au they are an online shop in Queanbeyan and were extremely quick with their service. We have no connections with them apart from being a happy customer. I think you can pick things up if you arrange it with them if you don't want things posted.
What we thought might interest you on their web site is that they have articles about installing toilets, hot water systems etc.
There is a section called articles and FAQ which has lots of info and diagrams as well.
We have not done up a van, just buying bits and pieces which seems never ending.
Hope this helps
Donna

 

[silver]

Hello John, long time ago I did up a big old 28 foot van, gutted out al the accessory bits in the middle, spray painted the walls, revynled the floor in middle and kitchen, recarpeted bedroom right up the side of the double island bed n all, spray-painted all the cupboard doors, added a wooden louver door cupboard, new cupboard handles all round, and used wood panelling screwed to the ceiling, even in the square roof vents. Open plan living. Oh.... and I got the right sized aluminium angle and cut all the internal window areas to have square corners so that even with curved windows it had a modern square look throughout the van, even had new curtains throughout.
Hope that helps you some.

 

[kleinman98]

I have noticed that there is a caravan place at Wandandian on the highway. Looks like where old vans go to die. Might go there when I get a chance and check it out for parts.