Hi All

[caroline]

I bought a little 1986 windrush 11/2 last year on ebay for £350, I have to admit I did haggle it down from £400, it was the 1st caravan we have ever bought so went in blind really.
There was some obvious water damage to the inside of the roof by the skylight, the woman said she had left the skylight open when it rained and that was what did the damage, well to cut a long story short I very soon discovered it was sealant missing from one side of the outside of the skylight, I had quite a job of repairing the damage to the inside which also involved removing the cupboard above the kitchen to enable me to remove and replace all the rotten wall board, fortuantely the timbers seemed ok, but as the wall board is an interior ply as against marine ply it doesn't take much to make it disintegrate, I decided that as I had removed the cupboard to make the repairs I wanted to make that cupboard a little deeper so it can then be a more usable size cupboard, which I did manage to do, I did have to make a new cupboard front as the one I removed was rather damaged by me and it was too small, after all that I replaced all the wall paper on the whole ceiling as I couldn't find a paper to match.

I had to make new curtains for it as there weren't any in the front window and when I washed the side curtains they fell to bits, there wasn't a blind on the rear window so I fitted a venetian blind on there.

My most recent project was to replace the hob and sink as the 2 burners were too close together to use at the same time and the grill didn't work, I also wanted a sink and drainer in 1 not seperate, after I finished that I removed everything from the bathroom and fitted a bench type toilet, which was 1 heck of a job as I found out the toilet was 30mm wider than the bathroom, but cut a hole in each wall and in it went lol, the wallpaper in there was already in a very sorry state so that was replaced as well, my final job was to fit new carpet.

My next jobs are to check and re-grease the wheel bearings, clean off and lubricate the corner steadies and remove all the rails from the outside and replace all the seam sealant.

My son has re-done a lot of the 240v side of the electrics as someone had used instaltion cable in there which shouldn't be used in anything that can move, he also replaced the consumer unit as he has fitted a small inverter so we can watch tv and charge our phones when we don't have a 240v supply.

Yes the caravan was cheap to buy and we have spent a fair bit on it, but most of what I have done is because I wanted those changes, we like going to BTCC, BSB and when we can afford to we like F1, in the past we have only gone for race day, now we go for the whole weekend, apart from no dishwasher or washing machine we now have a little home from home.

All I need to do now is find a replacement front window as mine has cracks all along the bottom, and yes all the work other than the electics was carried out by me NOT my hubby ............ I don't know yet how I'm going to fill my time once I have finished work on it lol.

I hope my changes meet with the approval of other members here, for me they're perfect.

I love my windrush.

[Administrator]

Well Done keeping these trusty old vans going is what we all like to hear.
Cheers
Stuart

[caroline]

Thanks Stuart.

Due to serious ill health from early July last year I was unable to do any more work, fortunately my health is now improving so i'm now able to do work on my little van again, I recently managed to find a replacement front window, it's not perfect but 100% better than the old window, I think I went about fitting the window all wrong and managed to crack it right at the top near the corner near to where the 2 halves meet up and join, some resin from my fiber glass kit and some seriously strong black sealant have sorted it all out, it's a massive transformation to the front, it seems strange being able to see out of the front window, when I removed the old window I found some really bad rot going on due to water ingress so I had to completely rebuild the bottom half of the window surround, all is good on that window now and no water getting in now, I have only checked from the inside as I don't want to waste that tube of messy sealant I used lol.

The other day my hubby said when I have finished sorting out the caravan he's going to sell it and get me another project to keep me busy ........... there was a 2 word reply and the 2nd word was off lol

[cortinamatt]

Sounds like you have been busy on it. Fair play for having the confidence to tackle such big jobs and as Stuart says Well done repairing it and keeping it going. There's not that many left now.

The one job you mentioned is ringing a few bells with me. The front window. Not so much the window but the frame work. I took my van out for the first time in early April and guess what after a bit of poking around I found a bit of damp. I knew I would eventually as I usually do with my vans but fingers crossed it's the only damp area on it. It doesn't look an easy job to do as there's no access from the gas locker and I've no idea how you get the furniture out of the front of the van without destroying it all.

I'd be interested to know how you went about your repair.

Also, Are your grab handles nice and secure at the front ? The previous owner of my van had some trouble with one coming off and yes you guessed it it's off again ! Seems like there's no timber left behind the front panel to screw it to. Another job I need to sort.

Matt.

[caroline]

Thanks Matt.

Believe it or not, I never actually noticed any damp around the front window, I needed to replace the front window as it had a lot of cracks up the front of the window and a lot of condensation in the window, taking the window out was a pig of a job and as I was replacing I didn't need to take care not to damage the window, so I didn't lol.

Once I had got the window out I was shocked at just how much rot there was in there, I had to remove all the wood downwards from where the small external lights are and all along the bottom of the window, for the repair I used wood down the sides sandwiched between ply to get the right thickness and glued them all together with pva and clamped them until the glue dried, the bottom was tricky as that part as you know is curved, so I used a layer of ply against the fiber glass shell and made a wall for the inside with more ply, I then cut small blocks of wood to get the wall to the correct thickness and glued and screwed them all together then clamped it all into position, then I used expanding foam to fill any gaps down the sides and all the way along the front, once set I trimmed it all down.

The 1st time we took the van out after we got it 1 of the grab handles came off when we were moving it into place, after my repair job they're completely solid, If you're having that same problem with your grab handles then I would think your problems could be as bad as mine, although in your situation I would start by removing the curtains and curtain track, then take some of the wall board off at the sides of the windows 1st to see just how bad it is.

It seems people spend good hard earned money on caravans and then they don't maintain them properly, I paid £350 for mine and have probably spent the same again in repairs and alterations to suit me, I'm not worried if I have now spent more on it than it may be worth, we love the van as it's perfect for us to go away for long weekends to motor racing events in.

[cortinamatt]

Hi Caroline.

I never noticed any damp on mine either around the window, I obviously didn't look hard enough. It might sound silly but in a way it's a good job I didn't because I wouldn't have bought the van if I'd seen that. The only problem now is I have to try and sort it out. It wasn't until I moved the curtain out of the way that I noticed the rail screw had pulled out and then I thought Oh no here we go ! I think it's worth a repair though as it seems sound otherwise unlike some I've seen and really like it.

Lifting the rubber back I can see the wood is damp and the wallboard is soft. That plus the handle coming off tells me it's all connected like you have said.

The problems I have are time and confidence.I'm OK with DIY and working with timber. I have tackled a damp repair on a Sprite van I owned but I think the Celeste will be a lot more involved. With the sprite I could at least get to the repair through the gas locker.

Did you find the front shelf inside the van was in the way ? I've looked but I can't see if it's possible to remove all of that.

Thanks for the info,

Matt

[caroline]

Matt
The best way to access the damp around the window is to take the window out then pick all the rotten wood out, the edge of the shelf below the window on my van wasn't soft so I didn't poke around any further, I don't think there's much wood below the shelf other than the back of where the draws are, I would avoid removing that shelf unless it's rotten, I don't know how to post pics on here but if you message me your email then I will send you a few pics I took, unfortuantely I only took some once I had started the rebuild, but they will show how I did some of the repairs.

[cortinamatt]

I don't think the shelf has been affected. It's mainly on the corner where the window rubber is, the further you go up the better the wood is. It seems ok along the bottom of the window rubber in the centre so hopefully it's just the corners and part of the sides but I won't find out for sure until I fetch the window out !

PM sent anyway.

[caroline]

Mine seemed ok until after taking the window out and I started poking it to see if it was any good or not, just about all the wood from halfway down the window and below was really rotten even though most of it was dry it wasn't solid, but like you said you won't know for sure until you get the window out, the biggest problem with water is it will track along and do more damage, if possible get someone to help with the window because they aren't easy and 4 hands will be better than 2.

email sent, hope the pics help you.