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Kempy's Caravan restore/ rebuild


kempy

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Here's another project on the go, its a Chevron Lightweight 20ft Caravan.

 

It was sitting on the family section (Bro in Law) when they mentioned they wanted to dump it, I was there in a shot to collect.

Sadly, I didn't have room for it but as any enthusiastic DIYer (AKA Hoarder) knows, it was too good to miss, so off it went to one of the family farms where it sat for 3 years under a tree, seals popped, a horse kicked it and broke the rear window, the list goes on.

 

Time to make good for all the abuse it's had.

Intention is to seal up all the leaks, new interior, new draw bar, respray with new colours, 500w of solar panels and battery/inverter, replace all 230v lights with 12v LED, replace water foot pumps with 12v electric, replace 230v hot water heater with gas califont and a general tidy up.

 

For stage 1 I'm going to use most of the original cabinetry and replace that later

 

Here's some photos that I prepared earlier in the show.

 

This is before the roof popped it's rivets at both ends and the horse kicked it.

 

 

bxqedadn.jiy.jpg

 

I think the wheels are 4x108 13" escort rims which are too rusty to use, I did buy a galvanised set of four but someone thought they needed 3 of them more than I did...

 

Typical interior, again prior to the great flood

 

 

bks0fbqz.3k3.jpg

 

Tandem axle quad disc brake goodness!

 

p3w3fsi3.ee1.jpg

 

Stubs are in good condition thankfully.

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At first I thought it was the outside power junction leaking but it turns out to be the join where the roof meets the sides.

At some parts theres no overlap and the water just pours in despite someone attempting to glue it up some time ago.

Lots of water damage

mebp3yyv.onl.jpg

 

Most of the water damage was disguised with the cabinetry hiding it, the caravan always had that damp smell and no wonder, the wood was sodden.

 

rj0x5jrb.5zw.jpg

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almost there....

 

That left guard is completely borked and almost rusted completely through, will replace it.

 

Smelly old carpet ripped up pretty easy as the glue was stuffed, will need to sand off the remaining glue/carpet

 

mflfgysu.3wm.jpg

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Naked Caravan

 

Interior stripped back to bare metal as I keep finding areas that are suspect.

 

Spent the day waterblasting inside and out trying to flush out any weak spots that could leak, a couple of areas I hadnt spotted before blew through.

More work but better to fix it now before the new insulation and plywood goes in.

 

My only real moan would be about silicone sealant.... damn stuff!  it may have seemed like a good thing to use sealing up leaks/drips but all the real damage has been done by using it with corrosion underneath where it's been used.

 

 

 

svlt2xpo.evm.jpg

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Cheers, feels like it's turning into a nightmare...

 

Blasted another hole through the front section above the windscreen so decided that part of the front will need to be replaced too.

 

Luckily I have a bit of scrap Aluminum that will suffice.

 

Removed the windscreen today, as expected the rubber has shrunk around it so I'll need to find replacement rubber seals from somewhere.?

 

If the bottom section of the window surround is separate from the bottom cowl I'll replace that too.

 

I have another thread running asking for advice on repair tips here > //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/46919-cutting-aluminium-treatment-suggestions-pls/

 

 

cnrui20u.k1g.jpg

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I hope you're putting those porno green glass panels back in.    <<< LOL,  I thought they looked dodgy too.

 

 

 

I'm kind of unsure at the moment, I have a bunch of NOS formica sheets in storage, colours like candy apple red, greens, blues etc..

 

I was thinking white or slightly cream and candy apple red stripe to replace the brown stripe.

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