Hi, we are after any advice on restoration of caravans, or any further information on this van.
We went to look at a 1972 Monza today, with the ambition to 'restore'. There was some evidence of damp as expected. There was some staining to parts of walls, and a few areas on cupboards.
It had been raining yesterday, but no signs of wetness today which I thought was a good sign. We are very realistic, and expect to strip and replace some panels. I assuming this van is sandwich wall design?
My one area of concern and surprise was the floor. There was no major evidence of rot or delamination when walking around. When I looked underneath, the floor appeared to be one piece, bolted straight to the chassis. Does anyone know if I am right in this assumption? I would also like to know, if I did need to replace part of the floor, how easy would this be to do with the sides of the van still attached?
Lastly, the rear corner steadies did have a fair bit of rot and will need to be replaced pretty soon. I noticed these older models were welded to the chassis. Could I grind the old ones off and replace with more modern bolt on steadies?
1972 i would think the floor maybe wooden boards not a ply sandwich?
It will be a steel chassis so grinding the legs off and welding or bolting new ones on wont be a problem. Providing the chassis is sound. If its rusty you may need to add strength.
Sandwich wall? Again 1972 probably an outer skin,Interior boards and fibreglass insulation which maybe a right state by now. A black and mouldy mess.
It may turn out to be a full rebuild job. Are you upto the task? Your going to spend far more fixing it than its going to be worth.
Hi we recently got a 1200 ct 1976 ish knowing it had damp. I have now rebuilt the front end and doing a bit on the rear corners. It's didn't take more than a couple of days to do the front including taking window out and once I had opened it up was amazed at how little these old vans are made of! I would say if you relatively competent at DIY the go for it. The only thing I found a little tricky was that there built from the outside before the aluminium body goes on so accessing corners is tricky. Good luck
:D thanks for the replies. Much appreciated!
I am pleased to say we towed it home on Saturday. Have since spent some time stripping areas I know that are of concern. Reading your post bassett, we are in a similar situation. The door side has suffered a fair amount of ingress. The door frame needs rebuilding on the one side, and we need to rebuild the roof corners, both front and rear on this side. ( I would be interested to her more of how you did this...) Due to the way the van was positioned, it seems that it's only this side that has suffered. Seams all covered at the moment. First job is to tackle frame work, and pull aluminium back into frame. Then onto taking all rails off and sealing!....
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Topic: Abi Monza 1400ct
