Caravan Rebuild - Part 3

So everything had been glued at the front right hand quarter, the ply that had been removed came off in one piece but it had been too small for the area it covered so when we used it as a template we needed to measure carefully in certain areas to ensure we made it a little bigger to ensure a good fit - not an easy task.

Ply nicely fitted, you can also see we've taken a look at the right hand corner, replacing wooden timber, now the  insulation will be glued to the ply then glued and stapled to the wooden corner frame

We were really chuffed with the outcome of cutting the ply, there were so many angles to get right the likelihood of it fitting wasn't good but it did!  To get the wires through the ply we used some electrical tape to secure garden string to wires and used it to pull the wires through the small hole made in the ply.  Tigerseal was added to the back of the ply before pushing into position.  To get the ply tucked nicely under the window seal without having to remove it, I used a trick found on the Wizards Caravan Repair Site, I put garden string under the seal and gently pulled it up, lifting the seal over the ply whilst pushing the ply down at the same time.  Worked a treat.  We then stapled the ply in place along the struts that we had marked out on the ply before fitting, and stapled the ply down underneath the window seal.


Now this was in place we could but the wooden down struts in on the front window section, as we needed the ply in on right before we could secure one of the down struts on at the side.  The down struts were Tigersealed, stapled to the across struts at top and corner braces were used as well for good measure.  Whilst the tiger seal was setting the down struts were held in place with clamps.  When removed this is what it looked like, at this point there are no windows in the van.

Here you can see the additional ply section that was fitted just above the window, so all right side covered..  You can also see the new down strut on the right hand side.

The top struts were screwed into the wooden plinth above.  This pushes right back into the front of the caravan and awning rail screws mount in this.  When removing it for rebuild we noticed that the caravan guy hadn't managed to get it back  into position properly so the awning rail at front hadn't been screwed into anything!

Here you can see exactly how we pulled the wires through, and the corner repair with ply on.  The staples will be removed before painting once the glue has set.

Caravan Rebuild - Part 2

With a fresh head on part two of the rebuild, we decided to unveil the bathroom a little more.  Now to remove the ply from the insulation I used a claw hammer and the ply came away in lovely large pieces.  This allowed us too see the full extend of any rebuild we needed to do.

some of the down struts have been removed as they were rotten



Leaving the outside awning rail in place I've started to gently remove the rot/wet timber inside, once that's done I'll remove the screws outside to release the last remaining bits.



I might have been a bit excessive here, I probably didn't need to claw hammer all of the wall covering off, but thought it might be easier to replace in one piece.



Here the water damage is clearly evident with the water marks, the grab handle had been removed and most of the rotten timber, the area to the left hand side still needs to be tackled.

That done, we decided to move to the front right hand corner of the van, we knew there had been damp in the upper right cupboards that the caravan guy had started to repair, but we were concerned about the wooden struts under the bottom right where we could visibly see some work to do as detailed in part one.  There was only one thing for it, rip the ply off and just see how things stood - you can't be half hearted in this rebuild and repair game.  What we found was rotten struts to the bottom left hand corner and we noticed that timber support running from the side window was non-existing yet there were screws visible??  (have to say, since unveiling the other side, this would appear to be the same, so maybe this is the Swift frame structure).  This didn't seem right, so you will see below the new struts that we Tigersealed/stapled and in place

Here you can see the two struts running from the side window that weren't there before.
Nice new wooden frame in the window recess.



although the wooden strut below looks rotten, it's not, it's just discoloured and nice and solid - phew!

So now glued in place have to wait before we can put the ply back on, so until Part Three....

Caravan Rebuild - Part 1

Caravan purchased, my Dad very kindly offered to tow it home for us whilst visiting for the weekend.  It was a nervous drive home, not for Dad but for me.  I had visions of getting home only to find the caravan had disintegrated on the way there.  Fortunately it hadn't and there was no smell of burning rubber either, so the chassis suspension appeared okay.  Dad and Dan Forman my brother, positioned it expertly on the drive and then promptly began to gasp at the amount of work to be done internally and externally.


Unfortunately I didn't take any photo's before I started ripping out the caravan guys handy work at the front of the caravan, unfortunately when we had got it home and in the light we found a large wet patch above the front window behind the curtain - so if I was going to do this job properly I needed to unveil and take a look at the damage.  It was easy removing the window seals as he had put them back in after his attempt at repair without any mastic or silicone sealant, was this the reason the windows had leaked and there was a visible wet mark on the replacement ply!  Ripping out the ply was easy, he had tacked it in place without adhesive.  The wooden struts I found were new in parts with older ones in others and caravan guy had used expanding foam as insulation which was very difficult to remove and my hands suffered as a consequence.  The following photos are a sequence of the strip down....



A combination of new, old and rotten struts!

 In the last photograph you can see all of the struts removed and a couple of old wood struts that are used to keep the windows in place and shut.

At the same time we started to unveil the damp in the shower room/toilet in the back quarter of the van...

 In fairness this looks quite tame compared to the window section at the front.  Also just below the front window section on the right hand side there is some work to do.

So with the unveiling complete after the strip down we were certainly in need of a stiff drink....luckily the drinks cabinet was fully stocked.

Rebuild Part Two to follow shortly

Caravan Purchase

Laptop in hand I started my search on the Preloved website by entering in 2 berth caravan within 50 mile radius.  The Swift Challenger 470/2Se popped up and we believed it was an absolute steal!!  There had to be a reason for such a good deal, and there was, DAMP.  The guy selling the van explained he had bought the caravan just over a year ago and had been stitched up - he had bought it in good faith only to discover after a couple of trips that there were a number of damp issues within the van.  When I queried how bad, his response was that he had already started on the repairs and there was just a couple of unfinished jobs, but if the right person had some good DIY skills, the work wasn't too much.  The guy had just had enough and lost heart with the project, and the caravan just needed some TLC.

Off we went, myself, my mother and her husband Rob to take a look at the little beauty close to Cleveland Potash.  It wasn't the best time of day to arrive, it was January at 4pm so pretty dark and natural light was fading - however, at this price my main concern was that it was now or never as I was certain someone would possibly say they'd take it without even seeing it if only for the chassis!  

First impressions were very good, looked tidy on the outside without any nasty dents or bangs.  Then we entered the van....and things weren't so good...floor was spongy, or so I thought!  Rob and caravan guy tried to convince me this was normal...mmmm....wasn't convinced but it didn't deter me.  Caravan guy swiftly (no pun intended) showed me his handy work.  He had done a lot of work on the front section and had done some unveiling in the cupboard and in shower room.  Seeing what there was to do didn't put me off and I was more than confident I could do the job (with the help of my brother Lee Forman).

Within one of the many storage drawers was a folder with all of the appliance manuals, the caravan handbook and a couple of lovely photo's of it in it's hey day, which you can see below.

The awning was included with the purchase and had only been used a couple of times....my mind was made up.  £50 deposit and just had to organise a way to get it home.  Would worry about that later.  Now had to tell the hubby we had just bought a caravan.  Whey Hey!