Sorry for the lack of updates, but I've been working hard on her to get her finished, today is the first day that she has felt like a caravan for a while as I added some finishing touches, including throws and a stereo.

I picked up a gas cylinder at the beginning of the week and spent Monday connecting up the gas and fitting a new fridge as the original one didn't appear to work. I managed to check everything except the water heater on Monday and the cooker, hob, fire and new fridge all appear to work fine on gas.

On Tuesday I pulled the water heater out, its a Carver Cascade Mk 1 and gas it a clean, drained the old water from it and connected it up. I fired it up and after about 30s it went to fail, it did this about 5 times until gas had got to it and then hey presto, I could hear it ignite and then start to creak with the heat, woohoo!

I also spent most of Tuesday putting the new water pipes in, I opted for the John Guest speedfit, 15mm, its an absolute doddle to fit, unlike the 12mm flexible stuff it won't kink and I opted to run it inside the caravan to prevent and problems in winter with pipes freezing.

I spent a couple of days last week covering the walls in the bathroom with vinyl to create the wet room,  I need to seal all the edges with huge amounts of sealant, but apart from that its done, the Thetford C200 toilet is also fitted. Photos to follow.

For one reason or another I didn't manage to get as much done yesterday as I hoped, but today I have caught up. The Bed is now complete, bar a piece of Oak trim and screwing the ply that covers the supports down, I'll do that once I've put the plumbing in as it will run under the bed.

I had a scrap piece of Oak so I decided to have a go at making a light fitting to replace the fluorescent tube that used to be above the bed, the tubes consume 8 Watts of power, as opposed to the 1.8 Watts that the LED downlighter I used, the downlighter throws out a huge amount of light compared to the old tube.

I will get a couple of chrome dome headed screws to mount the lights just to add a touch of bling, I'm pleased  with the affect, they look contemporary (another will be made for the front), but don't look too modern so they don't change the character of the caravan. I have a piece of the plastic beading to cover the seam behind the light.

I finished making the cabinet for the fridge today, its oak supports with plywood side panel and the original lid.  I also managed to reused the old draw front for the access panel. To keep the weight down I remade it using the same methods as most things are made in a caravan, glue, strip wood and ply.

I decided mentally and also with some simple sketches how I would rebuild it, I then started assembling it, building the supports first, then the tray that the fridge sits on and making the rest of the cabinet around it.  The fridge just sits on some strip wood supports (12mm x 36mm), this will mean if there is a gas leak it will just vent through the floor.

I will cut an access panel through the wardrobe to access the gas pipe and 12V supply, which should make removing it a lot easier in the future.  I'll pop into B&Q at some stage and get some mesh to cover the air vents that you can see above and below the fridge.

I need to test the fridge over the next couple of days and give it a good clean down with some disinfectant before reinstalling it.

To be honest I'm very happy with how the cabinet has turned out.

I started papering the inside a couple of days ago, but following the recommendations online I have had to redo it. The advice appeared to be to seal the ply with PVA glue and then to use premix paste on the boards, I just ended up with too many air bubbles and ripples in it. I'm not the best at hanging wallpaper, but I normally do a better job.

So  I stripped it off this morning and redid it this afternoon, doing it the old way, bucket of water and make your own paste in a packet. Hey presto, a lot better looking

I looked for a paper that was similar to what was already up,  but there was nothing suitable so having looked at all the options, including blinds etc, we have decided on going for the pale browns that were already there, but accenting it with purple/aubergine. While looking through B&Q I came across the above paper that covers all the colours and also goes well with the oak of the cabinets.

While waiting for the paper to dry I decided to start work on the cabinet that holds the fridge, the original one was rotten and I couldn't salvage it. Looking at its construction though I appeared to be strip wood with a think oak plywood on the front, I couldn't get a thin oak faced ply but Beers sell oak strip wood the right width to make the cabinet with. This means that I don't need to worry about facing it with anything.

The cabinet is being held together using polyurethane glue, that way I don't need to worry about nail holes or screw heads.  For something like this, you really need a lot of clamps until the glue dries.

 

Its been a week since my last update, I was away for the weekend so lost a couple of days working on her, plus had man flu for a couple of days so progress was slow, however I've managed to reline the inside of the main door, built the new walls for the bathroom and starting construction on the bed. I've also striped half the wallpaper off ready for papering next week.

   

The door was a pain to dismantle and redo, but it looks a lot better than it was

Widget was keeping an eye on my work :)

Most of the cupboard that housed the fridge was rotten, you can see the only bit that remains, next weeks job is to rebuild it out of oak stripwood

One of the other tasks I've managed to complete was fitting new reading lights and down lighters, plus wiring them all in.  The down lighters are 1.8W based LEDs that throw a huge amount of light out, I'm going to use them in the bathroom and also the front room, bedroom and also the hall. I'll take some photos next week when its dark showing how much light they give out.

After a couple of days hard graft the rear of Kitty is now complete and all glued, all the new panels are in and everything is screwed/glued together.

I had to take the rear window out to put the new panel in and I'm glad I did as it would appear that there is no sealant around the window, I suspect this is the case for all the windows, so I'll add that to my list of things to do when I seal her back up.

I won't be able to work on her for a couple of days, but the first task next week will be to prepare the walls by striping the wallpaper off, then while she is drying out as I'll use the steamer, I'll build the new walls for the bathroom and remount the door and assemble the frame for the bed.

My goal by the end of next week is to have the bathroom built and her redecorated inside. I'll be visiting the chandlers tomorrow and will hopefully pick up 7 new LED downlighters, they are only 1.8w but put out a huge amount of light, way more than the 8w fluorescent tubes that were installed on her. I'll also take a look at their reading/spot lights and see if there is anything that would be better than the 10w ones that she already has. 

I finished the front off yesterday and today, you can see the 4 new panels that I put in, I'll also insulated behind the front panel using the proper insulation and the new floor section is bonded in place.

I reglued the furniture yesterday and clamped it together allowing it to dry overnight, an hour or so this morning and hey-presto, the front is back together ready for decorating. I'll be papering the walls sometime next week and replacing the plastic edging strips with some oak ones that I picked up from Beers they were only a couple of quid for an 8ft length, bargain.

Now that the furniture is back in at the front I can finish off the rear and start building the new bathroom and bed.  As you know I've already replaced the floor in the rear so all that is left is to do is fix the last of the rotten timbers and then cover the foam with new ply, then I can build the bathroom and remake the cupboard for the fridge.

One of the side timbers at the rear was further gone than I had realised, I poked it with a screwdriver and it felt spongy all the way up. I decided to take off the edging strip and remove all the staples etc so I could replace the timber easier.  You can see day light in the seam in the following photos where the seam has been separated:

 

In the following photo the black stuff you can see is the timber or what is left of it, all I had to do was split the seam and poke a screwdriver in and it all fell out, completely rotten.

I've cut the new timber to go in and I'll fit it tomorrow as I'll need to get some more sealant/adhesive from the Caravan shop.

I decided to work on the front of the caravan now that the floor in the rear is fixed, I haven't repanelled the rear yet as I'll do that once I've finished the front as it gives me somewhere to store the furniture from the front.

The furniture came out more or less in one piece, some of the glue has perished over the years and also some of the smaller support timbers have rotted where they have been in contact with the damp so I'll replace those and also glue them when I reinstall them.

You can see from the photo that the right had side has suffered the worst, it appears that a repair has been made in the past, but as the leak wasn't fixed it just rotted the repair, also the repair that was done to the floor was done incorrectly, they had use wood between the upper and lower pieces of plywood. The foam is there for three reasons, the main reason is its lighter than wood, it also acts as insulation and finally it acts as a vapour barrier stopping water bridging the two layers of ply.

Below is a diagram showing the floor construction

Looking at the water stains on the ply I suspect one of the windows is leaking. I'm going to fix all the interior problems before resealing the roof and rails, the reason I've decided to do it this way is because the support timbers have rotted and I don't want the structure to fail,

I ordered some more glue for the floor and while waiting for it to arrive I decided to strip the inside of the door, below shows the amount of rot in the bottom of each panel.

The new floor is laid in the rear and bonded in place. You can also see the new door frame is in and the aluminium frame is remounted.

I decided to replace the edging for the floor with hardwood as opposed to softwood, I know that if the caravan is sealed properly then the softwood shouldn't get damp etc, but having used hardwood on the boat I saw it as a no brainer.

I picked up the hardwood and also the plywood from Beers Timber, where I always get my timber. I couldn't have rebuilt Sabrina without them due to the cost that some timber merchants charge for hardwood.

If you are in the Northwest and are looking for timber then pop in, they have several branches:

Beers Timber & Building Supplies, 
Darlingtons Industrial Estate, 
Chester Road, 
Gayton, 
Wirral, 

You can see the first section of floor in place, the ply is glued to the support timber using Gorilla Glue, a waterproof wood glue.

You can see the first piece of foam dry fitted:

I had problems finding replacement foam locally but managed to find some on Ebay, you can't use the normal insulation from places like B&Q, you need the close tolerance stuff. I picked mine up from Coleshill from a firm that seem to do insulation for everything. I can thoroughly recommend them if you are stuck for foam for your own project:

DAWN CARROLL

Unit 2 Roman Way Coleshill West Midlands B46 1HG United Kingdom  carroll.d@btinternet.com    http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/eatingrose789rugby/ Once I'd cut the side piece out it was time to start striping the rear, I planned to remove 31cms of lower ply, 45 of foam and 60 of the upper ply so the laminate created has an over hang of at least 6"

Once I'd chopped the floor and cut the foam it was time to bond it in place, I bought my resin from The Glue People and spoke to the Managing Director Richard who suggested I use their EM400 resin, I ordered 6.5KG of it which as it turns out is about half of what I needed.  They can be located at

http://www.thegluepeople.co.uk

The EM400 mixes like most 2 pack products, but as opposed to Epoxy resin that I'm used to it is more like a cream, very easy to apply, although if you were mixing by hand it will take some time. I bought a cheap food mixer from Tescos and used that, then threw it out, the completed lower layers of the floor is looking good:

Tomorrow I'll cut the top pieces of ply and dry fit those while I wait for the next batch of glue to arrive and I'll also rebuild the door frame and seal it back in place. The rear of the caravan has its strength back so I can sort the cracked aluminium above the door out at the same time.

I'd been thinking about what what to do about the rot in the floor, I the problem was mainly with the top layer of 9mm ply, but some of the lower ply also had rot in the end grain.

After much uming and ahing I decided just to chop it out, its what I did with the boat so decided it would be the best option.  I've chopped it all back to good timber and where possible to a chassis support, I then plan to cut the foam back at least 6 inches to create and overlap for the bonding.

I had a couple of hours spare today so decided it was time to clean the roof of Kitty, the wind got up and temperature dropped so I gave up after doing half of it. You can see the difference below, I'd done 1/4 by this time, I'll finish it off early next week if the weather improves.

First afternoon of striping, the whole of the rear end appears to be suffering from damp and rot, so much so that some of the timbers are actually sodden. I'm amazed she didn't fall apart on the way home to be honest, it does explain the cracks above the door as the rear support timbers that hold the side to the chassis and the chassis end timbers have rotted to nothing.

You can see the rear of the caravan below, where the bathroom was, I'll have to replace about 1/4 of the top layer of the floor and about a 30 cm strip of the lower floor.  Looking at the cost of exterior ply compared to marine ply I may as well get a sheet of marine ply and use that.

I still haven't worked out where she is leaking from, I have a feeling its something to do with the roof and/or the side rails. I need to figure it out and seal it before I fully fix the interior for obvious reasons, however she needs to dry out before I can start work on the rebuild.

The door frame had rotted to almost nothing:

You can see through the floor here where the door frame was:

I'm hoping to have the back end sorted by the end of the week, fingers crossed!

Woohoo, I picked Kitty up today and brought her home.  What a trip. I went to Halfords first thing to get some towing mirrors and a breakaway cable for the brakes. While heading to Grindleford I realised that I had forgotten the double sided tape to hold the number plate on so stopped off at Glossop Caravans.

I hooked her up, fitted the breakaway cable and headed off, absolutely terrified to be honest, having never towed anything  before it was an adventure. I'd planned my route, avoiding the A6, basically going over Snake Pass (A57) and through Glossop, I'm glad I did, don't think I could have coped with the A6.

I got home without incident and then 30 mins or so of man handling she is now on the drive, over the weekend I'll start striping her out and getting reading to fix the damp.  From what I have seen most of the internal screws have rusted, I assume from the general damp in her so I'll WD40 them to aid their removal and then replace them with Stainless ones so it won't be a problem going forward. I'm hoping to have her finished by the end of March.

I spent the morning going over Kitty with a fine tooth comb, looking at her damp problems and checking her out ready for the trip home.

The floor near the door has de-laminated and might actually have some rot, although I won't know until I have a good look at her on the drive, the door frame is completely shot, rotted in most places to nothing, the damp appears to be coming in from a couple of cracks above the door, having done some reading it appears to be a common fault on early caravans as there is no support behind the aluminium. When I repair her, I'll bond a new piece of aluminium over the cracks and then a piece of timber over that to create some strength.

The damp in the front right corner is very bad, but I'm hoping its just damp and rot hasn't had a chance to set in. There also appears to be mould on the inside of some of the roof panels, this just could be because she is damp or because the roof is leaking. The roof trim has been screwed in place using normal steel screws so I'll remove the trim, reseal it and replace the screws with stainless steel ones.

All the running gear all seems to be in great condition, no damage to the chassis etc all the rear lights etc work although they will need to be dismantled and fully cleaned, I'll probably replace the actual bulbs with leds or if I can find a suitable led light cluster replace the whole cluster as they appear to be fully sealed so could be bonded the the body and prevent any future leaks.

I've removed the awning and other items in the storage lockers to make her lighter when I tow her home and have planned a route that avoids the A6 as it can be a bit of a nightmare when you approach Stockport.

Below are some current photos of her inside, the wood is a light oak colour which makes her very light and spacious.

The bathroom needs to most work as its just an empty room at the moment, I'll fit a shower tray, a cassette toilet. I'll probably extend the wall to create more of a square room and provide a little extra space. The room is a little dark so I might fit a roof light, but we'll see.

A couple of photos of the outside, I'll repaint the green stripe and replace the front running lights as they have rusted beyond repair, the gas locker seems a little fragile, but it could just be that the lock is broken, worse case I'll get another one from a caravan breakers, or reinforce it using some fibre glass "battons".

Hopefully I should pick up Kitty early next week, I plan to pop over on Wednesday and give her a good going over and making sure she is ready for towing, need to check all the lights etc, plus one of the tyres looks a little low. Once I'm happy she is good to tow I'll bring her home and pop her on the drive and start the work.

I noticed she has a couple of soft spots in the floor, some rot by the door and also some damp at the front, on Wednesday I'll check it out in greater detail. I have some marine ply left over from doing up my boat (see sabrinaswan.blogspot.com) so the floor shouldn't cause me too many problems.

Currently Kitty has 5 berths, with part of those being a converting rear seated area into bunk beds, I plan to convert that to a fixed 3/4 double as at most only Karen and myself will be staying on her.

I might be contracting again soon so the idea is to use her instead of staying in faceless hotels, somewhere to call home as it were. Karen made the point that I would be better getting a larger caravan so that I could have a proper bed, as opposed to having to keep making a bed each night. Kitty currently has a bathroom with a sink and room for a porta-potti, I plan to move the wall slightly as the room have an angled door to make a slightly larger space and have a cassette toilet, with a full shower as the newer Lunars have.

Below is a mock up of what the layout will be once she is done:

More details once I've spent the day on Wednesday drawing up lists.

The daydream will become a reality for our dear Kitty.

Well, a lot has changed since my last post. Big news regarding the delightful Kitty VanDerCamp - 

She has been adopted and re-homed! Yes you read that right, I am sad to have lost her from my life and what I had planned for her but its for the best.

I have a new job working weekends and am unavailable during the week so this seemed the only option as I would not have the time to invest in her as I had at the time of taking her on. But wait there is good news!

She has been taken on by a lovely couple who plan to also renovate her and give a little TLC to get her up to the beauty that she once was, they even decided to keep her name so thats a sign that this was meant to be! Keen on vintage and things that aren't mass produced they seem like the perfect new parents : )

I would like to thank you all for reading the blog and subscribing by email, its been a pleasure. The new owners of the van may well be keeping this blog on so watch this space as the daydream will become a reality for our dear Kitty!

Vintage kisses and farewell,

Dolly xx

Until then the tea, cakes and merriment are on hold.

All quiet on the caravan front so a little reminder of the fabrics, soft furnishings and kitsch style ornaments I have planned for Kitty when she is done (below). I plan on having lots of ice cream 1950s colours with everything having a fresh lick of paint, retaining of course some of the original features, my favourite the tiny blind in the kitchen area!

I am doing some detailed sketches of the colours and where they will go along with any structural changes, I hope to get a graphic designer involved (you know who you are! lol) to maybe do a computer image of the ideas so it can be previewed as a finished thing.

I am planning a lovely tea party for friends and family when the move is complete to celebrate and to raise awareness about her vintage greatness!

Until then the tea, cakes and merriment are on hold.

Dolly xx

Not bad for a van of the 80's.

Below are some new photos of Kitty and my is she starting to look simply divine! (Thanks to Antony for the photos x)


I drove up to see her today and, as you do with this kind of thing, thought on the way, 'ooh..Why am I doing this again?' there seems so much to do but, as with most visits, once we reached her - stood under her tree in her usual spot, those feelings soon lifted and it didn't take me long to be pottering about while humming merrily.


I had taken back a lot of the interior seating pads but was a tad ambitious in bringing them all home to sew at once, having less at a time means I can work away steadily but have done enough to see how the changes will look (See below) Kitty has a new neighbour so of course I had to go for a nosey! It looked small as Kitty is a larger lady housing/sleeping 5 people - Yes folks she even has bunk beds! Same sort of age and very cute, Im sure they will get along.


I was so pleased to see that even with the lashing wind and rain we've had recently she seemed unaffected by it, windows still gleaming, sides still white and inside still dry, not bad for a van of the 80's, she had also been treated to an exterior cleanup in the way of a hedge trimming, racking of leaves and branches cut back, after all that work done by the site manager she seemed so small but very pretty.


So a few bits done and a chance to take photos of the bits that are changing, view older posts for what she looked like before even a clean and already the difference is clear, this however is a smidge of what she will look like when she is done so stay tuned as I have big plans for this little lady!


Dolly xx

Kitty VanDerCamp says hello.