Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[James_N]

Evening.

I bought this caravan a few days ago. Always been a fan of caravaning in general since my parents have done it all my life. It needs a respray, few bits of damp sorting. A general clean up interior wise (new carpet / cushions recovering), but its a work in progress.

The car ive had since January. A 1989 Volvo 740GLE. Pretty bomb proof and has so far provided me with 8k trouble free miles.

Car AND caravan cost me £500 (Car = £100, Caravan = £400).

Heres some pictures from when i picked up the caravan from the other day:



































Not going to do much outside wise untill the summer days. Im just going to tidy up the inside, then get the damp issues sorted when the weather allows, then get it re-sprayed

[buzzy bee]

Hi

Just like to say welcome to the forum, hope to have many interesting discusions with you!

Cheers

Dave

[James_N]

Thank you Likewise

[Stuchamp]

Welcome to the forum!
That's one classy camper!

[admin]

Hi James

Yeah see you've already been welcomed over, but to repeat the others - Welcome!! great outfit you've got there, I've always had a liking for the Carlights vans - classy caravan indeed!!

Make sure you keep us updated on progress!

cheers
Rick

[buzzy bee]

Hi

Just seen the pictures, before my last post they weren't working for some reason! Looks good to me!

Cheers

Dave

[James_N]

Bad News Folks

We took it down the local caravan place today, who is very good. I know a few people that use him, so he wasn't trying to fob me off.

The caravan needs the front and rear stripped fix some problems etc.

Ive been quoted £5,500 - £6,000 to fix!!

so it looks like my caravaning days have come to an end before they got started

Luckily i only paid £400 for the van, and i should be able to get some of that back (even if i have to break for parts)

But ive been told carlight buy back old vans, restore them and then re-sell them so i'll have to contact them next week and see whats what.

It is a real shame, because they are a rare breed, and the one i have, is one of the slightly bigger ones. i REALLY dont want to part with it. I may well take it elsewhere for a second opinion but i fear the news will just be as bad.

A few mates have said "can you not do the work yourself?"

Well i guess you could if you knew where to start, but unfortunatly i dont. I also dont have the room, or a garage i can store the van in, nor do i have £6k to get the van repaired professionally, so to say im ****ed off, is a bit of an understatement, as i was looking to getting out in it in the summer months. Also was looking forward to le mans 2007.

Guess it wasnt meant to be.

[admin]

Is it so bad that it can't at least be used??

Ok it might not be in super-mint A1 dealer condition, but perhaps with some localised repair work, even if just a temporary job to keep things ok for a while longer, would at least mean you'd get some use out of it. Spring is only 3 months away after all!!

Whatever you do, don't do anything drastic and regret it later!!!!!!!!

cheers, Rick

[buzzy bee]

Hi

Don't think you should break it, if you really want it you should find a way to do it! like rick says do nothing you will regret, sit on it a while and have a good think!

Cheers

Dave

[James_N]

[James_N]

I guess the problems against me are:

- Lack of garage (its sitting on the drive atm and the neighbours are not best impressed]

- Lack of knowledge (my knowledge of mechanics/restoration in general is zero - and im not exaggerating!)

- Lack of spares / bits (bits for carlights are not easy to come by without going back to the factory, and it costing you an arm and a leg)

[cornish_lass]

Hi James

Can sympathize with you. One thing I can say is that if you really want something bad enough, usually things can be worked out. Now if you really want to see a van with loads of work needed, watch this space......

If you want inspiration for your van look at this site http://www.carlight.co.uk/index.html It has all sorts of useful information which may be of some help.

I can only concur with others on this forum, think long and hard before you scrap it.

If you need any further inspiration look at http://vintagecaravans.proboards30.com/index.cgi which is a vintage van site in Australia. I know they have the weather, and the space, but if you look at some of the posts you will see vans that look a lot worse than yours, and a lot of information on how to go about sorting out your 'opportunities yet to be discovered' (note I haven't used the word problems). If you do go over to the other side though to have a look though, don't you stay there. We need this forum in the UK, there is nothing else like it.!!!

Good luck and best wishes


Cornish Lass

[admin]

If I were you I'd be thinking about how to get a DIY joiner involved in any structural work - might be worth approaching a local college, see if they have any nightschool courses in framing/ash work etc?? or put an ad in the local paper, see if any timeserved joiners could be roped in to help you, for a nominal sum etc!!

Don't worry about the neighbours, so long as you're not making a noise or really ****ing them off, they should mind their own

I've still not see anything bad enough that would stop you using it at some point in the new year though!! just let it breath, maybe leave a few windows ajar a bit to let the breeze through, while pondering the next steps

Rick

[James_N]

Thanks for that, it may come in helpfull.

Another few problems are:

- I spent most time working (inc weekends)

- My dad is a long distance trucker, so hes hardly ever around to help either!

Its not looking good, but i'll sleep on it, speak to the folks tomorrow, and see what we can come up with,

[James_N]