LRCC

[quoteRMS: ]The Carawagons were aimed more at the wealthy aristocrats like Robin! I like that thought [/quote]

Being descended from William of Normandy, I've always liked the idea of having Yorkshire servants. To heel Robin!!

Hi Robin

Great pictures and lots of ideas for the rebuild on my Carawagon.

As for running water, my Dormobile has always has running water. It runs in through the windscreen and through the door seals.

As for the weight difference between the Carawagons and the Dormobiles. I guess there is not that much difference in the weight of the units, but the seat and the Dormobile roof add a lot of weight to the vehicle. I have never weighed Barney, but I know from driving her, she is a lot heavier than a standard 109" Station Wagon.

I enjoyed making the steel units for Barney and am looking forward to making the wooden units for the Carawagon.

Cheers Mick

This reinforces my belief that there are still a lot of peasants in Yorkshire!

Le Duc de Grunwalde - aka - fourmisvolant.

There's always Hunters Boat Yard on the Broads - they still rent out 30's style wooden sailing cruisers. Wonder if they'd knock up a roof?

Interesting to see the Carawagon vs Dormobile 'arguments' here. Only the other day I was looking on the internet and found what seems to be a patent for the Dormatic style seats in the name of a certain Russell John Searle... Unless that is, 5 door Carawagons have the same/similar setup?

Now that is interesting Callum - I haven't seen any Carawagons with Dormatic or any sort of folding seat mechanism.

All the Carawagons I've seen, 2 and 5 door, have had the wood box bases with reinforced base cushions and backs.

I'd be interested in seeing the patent for those Callum - I did find several other patents (started a new thread ).

Cheers,
Robin.

Very interesting - perhaps Searle acquired the Dormatic patent when Martin Walter Dormobile went into liquidation? This could explain why SHB/Dormobile wanted the rights to Carawagon.

DanC wrote:Y
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What is the purpose of the aluminium side panels btw?
Dan

Sorry Dan, I was going to reply to this but forgot.

I think their only purpose is to act as a second skin, so when you are in bed you don't make contact with the cold outer skin of the tub.

On my early one they used steamed shaped ply instead, but I suppose that was more labour intensive so they went to pressed aluminium.

Personally though, I would rather roll over and make contact with varnished ply than aluminium in the middle of a winter camp, brrrrrr!

Cheers,
Robin.

I'd assumed it was a cheap cladding and had wondered about removing it (the aluminium). Will have to take a more careful look once I've got her on the road & up to Robin's for a look at his latest (as far as we know!) purchase!

You could easily cover that aluminium with Vinyl... This would have several benefits, reduce the risk of condensation, stop you hitting the roof when you roll on to it in the night and make it look more like a Dormobile interior I would actually be tempted to pack some foil insulation behind it (something like this http://www.superfoil.co.uk/sf19/) whilst you have them off. I thought about doing something similar with the Dormi, but cannot currently face removing all the interior trim, especially as I am doing some major engine upgrades to make the 2.25 more efficient.