New Trim or the Art of Lateral Thinking!

When we acquired Eleanor the various lengths of side trim were either pretty rough or completely missing

It soon became clear that the coated plastic trim was no longer available, so that left a bit of a quandry as we needed something.
I considered using a curved aluminium extrusion screwed to the side of the van or even a modern rubbing strip that took a rubber insert which was available from a motor home parts supplier on Humberside, but neither of these were remotely authentic so I was scraching my head a bit for an alternative.
Much "Googling"then ensued using a whole variety of search phrases, until  found an image that actually seemed to match the profile I was after, but it was nothing to do with caravans.....
This is the ultimate piece of lateral thinking! The product I found was called "Genesis Listello" which is an aluminium extrusion which is used in ceramic tiling when you want to put a decorative metal insert into a section of tiling. See the link below

http://www.trimtraders.co.uk/other-trim-types-18/listellos.html

One of the these, the slightly curved aluminium one came as an exact size match to the original plastic stuff and it was not frighteningly expensive

So the requisite amount was duly ordered and arrived next day, great service from Trim traders.
The next problem was how to fix it on. The original plastic clips, which are also no longer available, would not be man enough for the job and where the trim was missing they had been cut off and filled over. So more Googling ensued focusing on car trim clips
I came across a small business in Loughborough called Bresco ( www.bresco.com) who specialise in just about any form of clip you can think of for classic cars especially. Their unit is literally floor to ceiling boxes of clips and fastenings a real Aladdin's cave, and Howard could not have been more helpful when I headed down with a sample of trim. After trying several alternatives we found a metal clip designed to hold mouldings on old Vauxhall cars! so money changed hands and I left with a bag of goodies

Now the side trim will have to wait until I have painted the side stripe between them but the front I could do now as this was missing

The clips are a rivet fixing so 3 mm holes were drilled taking care to ensure they were in exactly a straight line!
Before each clip was riveted on a small amount of sealant was put over the hole

This photo also shows the old clips filled in on the right.
After that it was simply  a case of clipping the new trim in place and job done

I have to say I am well chuffed and think the finished job when the sides are done will look great

It's a Gas!

When we bought the Lady Eleanor (aka The Star) the gas cylinder was located inside the van on a shelf under the sink connected to the appliances by flexible pipes one of which needed replacing by 1989! In addition there were remnants of gas piping underneath indicating its original location was outside.
Now I know that gas inside is not unusual in caravans of this era but I am not comfortable sleeping in a van next to a gas cylinder powering a fridge when "off grid", indeed one the requirements for the Puck we bought was that it should be a model with the outside gas cylinder.
So the gas needed to go outside. Additionally Eleanor had  a hideous contemporary but not original storage box on the front that needed to go, picture below

So a plan was hatched . First the old box was removed along with the rotten wooden battens that held it in place.
Sourcing a suitable replacement was more problematical. Gone are the days where aftermarket caravan boxes are available so moving onto "white Boxes" in general a motor cycle top box came to mind but few were big enough. I found one made  a guy called Keith Gold (www.keithgold.co.uk)who kindly tried various gas bottles inside in varying orientations before selling it to me. Below is how it arrived with me

The space into which it had to fit was made tighter with the fact that the handbrake comes up pretty vertical. So it was pretty clear it would not fit lid up as on a bike, which was what I suspected before I bought it so it had to sit on its back and needed raising of the fairing to allow the lid to open.
So I made a frame out of stainless steel cut to size courtesy of my daughters fiance. The box was then fixed on top and bolted in place

Inside I cut two drop vents and used the mounting frame from inside along with a fixing strap. Meantime a local caravan service engineer moved to gas point to a suitale point outside.
Overall I am pretty pleased with the result.