Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Brian M]

As promised for James and anyone else who may be thinking of restoring an old caravan, I have put together a schedule of how I did the work on the front of my 1978 Safari, and tried to add general comments that will help anyone else.

I am a keen amateur car restorer with a good set of tools and equipment, and enjoy DIY so have reasonable woodworking skills, but by no means up to professional standards. I have a large garage, but the doors are not high enough to let me keep my caravan under cover. So I had to do my restoration outside, but by covering the front half of the caravan every night with polythene sheets and a tarpaulin, I managed to stop any water getting in while the panels were off.

This was the first time I have ever worked on a Caravan, but found that a lot of the techniques used are similar to those used in classic car restoration. Plan the work carefully, take lots of pictures before you start, label bits that you take off, identify all wiring, trial fit all woodwork and panels before cutting or drilling (remember the old rule - measure three times, trial fit twice and cut or drill once).

Almost all caravans have the same basic construction. On top of a metal chassis, there is a flat floor, on this is built a wooden framework that includes all the interior cupboards and walls with the outer framework added last of all before it is covered with plywood (prior to the 1950’s) or aluminium panels after that date. On some there are one or more fibreglass panels, to the front or rear or even the roof. The outer frame includes all the openings for doors and windows.

Caravan manufacturers go to great lengths to cover any joins in the paneling with, in the early days, wooden and later metal trim strips. All such joins are sealed with a mastic sealant that dries out over the years and needs replacing to prevent water getting in.

Most restoration is required due to the ingress of water owing to the failure of the mastic, the first sign of which is wall paper lifting or dis-colouration of internal woodwork. It is likely that the damp will have spread far beyond the area that is visible, so be prepared for surprises. If the water is getting in above the area you are replacing it is essential to re-seal the offending joins before you start.

Start by clearing the interior, remove mattresses, curtains, curtain rails, if working behind cupboards and units, remove the contents, doors and drawers, but do not take out any framework even if it might need replacing later.

On the outside take off the gas locker, grab handles, any lights, number plates etc.

Next remove the screws in the joint cappings, awning rail, gutters and, those under the trim on the window frames, and the trim between any panels. It is a lot of screws! Some come out ok but others have to be forced a bit. I found I couldn't drill the heads off, no matter what size of drill I used. A tip here is to try to screw the stubborn ones in half a turn first, this breaks any hold between the screws and panels or trim and makes them much easier to screw out.

Put all the trim bits and awning rails carefully to one side for cleaning or wire brushing and painting later. Now you can take off the outer panels, get the windows out and reveal the full horrors!

From previous prodding and poking I knew I had to replace the timbers all around the front window, the panels to either side, and wanted to replace the big ally panel under the window as mine was in a bit of a mess. But I could not see any damp below the window line from the inside.

Unfortunately I was wrong on this last point and when the big panel came off, the cross members and the curved supports for it were sodden, as was a bit of the inner wall behind it. Also the curved bits either side of the ally splash panel were also wet through. So I need a few more bits of hardwood framing, an extra sheet of hardboard, and some new polystyrene insulation sheets. Not too much cash, but a bit more work.

Having got all the panels off and the window out, you need to carefully measure the timbers and visit a timber merchant for lengths of mahogany, but any similar hard wood would do the job. At this point you can take out existing bits of the frame to cut and make mortice joints to match exactly.

The drop to the front side windows may make Safaris more stylish but it means there is a horrible jigsaw of little bits of shaped wood to the front corner sides. I managed to replicate all of them, but it took longer then expected.

I ran into a snag with the wall board at the foot of the beds. The offcut I got was too short to reach from one side to the other, so I had to cut along the line of the chest of drawers and replace each side making a three piece section.

I had previously made contact with a one-man-band caravan repairer, who offered to provide the panels. It seems that such repairers have to buy ally sheets in very large sizes and even when replacing a whole roof have very big offcuts up to 20ft by 3-4ft. Take any panels you need to them and see what they can do. Also ask them if they have any wallboard offcuts for any interior panels you need to replace.

On the Safari, the front panel is “S” shaped and the repairer even offered to roll the sheet to shape. So I went to the Caravan Repairer with the original curved front panel, expecting to have to wait a week or so, he pulled out a large offcut and started to roll the panel there and then! I told him it wasn't that urgent as I also wanted some offcuts made, for the top side panels and the thin horizontal strip along the top above the window.

On their advice I went for IFA sealant rather than Sikaflex. Sikaflex is an adhesive that goes hard and is a b***** to remove later. IFA remains tacky and is messy to remove but will enable cappings to be removed every 2-3 years without damage.

Another was tenner spent on 1200 stainless screws in various sizes, and a good selection of brass screws, so I will have plenty of spares. From a wholesaler rather than the hardware shop!

Having cut all the wood, got the aluminium shaped and cut to approximate sizes, the cappings and gutters had been painted, and my workshop was full of timber bits, ally sheets, hardboard, polystyrene sheets, bits of the Safari, all waiting for a sunny day for it all to go back on.

In one day, I made good progress, getting the top wood work installed, glued and screwed. I trial fitted all the panels but delayed fixing them as I wanted to do all the sealant in one go. The big curved panel was not going to be easy to fix. The roll section was not quite right but when fixed at the bottom I was able to force it to the correct shape.

The next day I started with the sealant. If I never see any more non setting sealant I will be a happy bunny - the damn stuff got everywhere. Every tool in my garage was covered in it, and I washed in white spirit every time I went near the Safari.

The large curved front panel is a real b****** to work with if you are doing the job single handed. You need a helper to watch one end while you fix the other. Anyway I got it looking about right and fixed at the bottom and sides. I cut out the hole for the window, fitted the two side panels and dry fitted the window - perfect. I decided I needed a lot of sealant and applied it liberally all round the window, and guess what - it wouldn't go in the hole. Another job for which you need a helper or eight foot long arms.

The joint cappings are easy to fix and screw but yet more sealant to clear up afterwards.

Then it is simply a matter of replacing the lights, gas locker, internal bits and so on.

I had predicted 4 or 5 days to complete the job but in the end it took 6 full days. Total cost was just over £170.00.

I hope some of this helps anyone thinking of restoring a caravan, and if you have any other hints and tips please add them to this message.

[James_N]

Thanks Very much for this post. I'll be printing it out and keeping it

[Uncle Joe]

Out of curiosity, was there a particular reason that you chose mahogany?

[admin]

Thanks for that Brian, if its ok with you I might put a page on the main website and put this on there too, in the classic caravan section, just in case people miss it here! would that be ok?? credited to you naturally

Rick

[Brian M]

UJ

Mahogany was chosen for me by the timber yard as they had it in profiles that matched my requirements, or could cut wider planks into the widths I needed. Safaris were originally made of a hardwood called obeche that is very light in weight, until water gets into it when it weighs more than cast iron! As mahogany is used in the boating world I thought it might have better water resistance that other hardwoods.

Rick

I would be delighted for this to be used in the main website, and to illustrate the article, you can find photos of the work in my album at

http://rides.webshots.com/album/550745591apQZvX

If you have any problems downloading the pictures let me know and I will email them to you.