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Matthew's
FJ
PROJECT PANELVAN (OR
SHOULD I SAY CARAVAN)
Crazy ideas often come into my head, but this one takes the cake. I
was literally just looking at some FJ’s at the Ballarat State Titles in
2000 and thought to myself, wouldn’t it be awesome to convert an FJ
Panelvan into a full-bodied camper trailer, especially as I already had
the ute to tow it with. But this was to be no ordinary camper. It had
to be a show rig as well. So the hunt was on for an FJ panel van.
At the time I didn’t quite realize the challenge I was setting myself.
Some blokes search for 30 years for some makes and models of cars but I
am pretty lucky when it comes to
these sorts of things and within 4 months I had myself a Panel van. The
story of how I came across this panel van is long so to cut it short, I
was sent photo’s of the van from someone who was going to buy it but
couldn’t for family reasons, and he was kind enough to send the photo’s
on to me. After looking them over with my father (Hans), we decided it
was worth a look, so on a stinking hot day we drove to Dimboola or
‘Antwerp’ to be precise.
Once there Dad and I had a very thorough look and both agreed it was
salvageable. After we had agreed on a price we started to dig it out of
the ground and load her onto the car trailer which I took up ‘just in
case’ (Ha, Ha).
The drive home was just as hot, but also interesting. The roof had
sustained a huge dent over the years and as we had loaded it onto the
trailer bum first without tailgates, it pressurized at speed and the
dent took itself out – well almost anyway! Once home I stripped it to a
bare shell to store easier, and it remained in that state for 3 ½ years.
In mid 2004 Dad and I took on the mammoth task of resurrecting this old
girl, and girl in a very sad and sorry state. The first goal was to get
some strength back into the forward chassis, enough so as to be able to
tow it to a suitable sandblasting site. This meant the outer chassis
rails and partial floor work needed to be done. Having done that (after
6 weeks of hard work) we took the van to a place just outside of Point
Lonsdale where we hired someone to blast the van clean. This I assure
you is money very well spent. This gives you clean metal to work with
everywhere, meaning cleaner handling and easier welding.
Any areas that didn’t need repair were then undercoated ready for
painting down the track. You need to see certain areas squared off to
keep inspired. A major hurdle was overcome by the end of August when
the entire floor was not only back in place, but structurally fit. This
was quite an achievement in itself.
The month of September saw us do everything from outer sills and
pillars, seam sealing the floor, fitting and lining up the doors to
painting the entire floor.
October saw both rear quarters completed using wheel arch panels we made
by hand, the completion of the entire tailgate support member and the
lining up and fitting of both the upper and lower tailgates. (The lower
we re-skinned by hand). This section was more delicate and intricate
than anyone could imagine, or could have foreseen.
The original rear springs were used and a trailer axle was ordered and
made to our specifications ready to accommodate the 12 slot rims to
match the ute.
By the end of November, we had the van mounted on a rotisserie. This
allowed us to finalise any welding seam sealing and painting to the
under body areas. This also gave us a great chance to work out a drawbar
set up in order for the ute to tow this unusual van.
The start of December saw a new dimension of the restoration – panel and
paint. Over the month of December we body filled, sanded, primed,
sanded, filed, sanded, puttied, sanded and undercoated. Did I mention
we sanded? Believe me it’s all you remember!
The inner cargo area was painted early January and by the end of that
month the drawbar was finalized and guess what? We had it painted – who
would have thought?
February saw us fit windscreens and windows plug up and cover the
firewall, work on lights and wiring etc. and by the 23rd Feb.
had the van registered as a homemade custom trailer. It didn’t quite fit
into any of the Vicroads trailer categories. (Surprise, Surprise!).
This entire rig certainly catches the eye, and is a great talking point
whether on holidays, or at shows which is great if you’re not in a
hurry.
A
project like this is not for the faint hearted and many thanks must go
to my father Hans, for if not for his skills, expertise and help, this
van would still be sitting in my garage, in an unfinished state. Again,
we have proved that with motivation, discipline and just plain bloody
hard work, we can conquer any motor vehicle challenge we set our minds
to. Although I think I’d better quell some of these crazy ideas I get –
it always means too much work for Dad!
The true FJ enthusiast will be pleased to learn that this ‘caravan’ idea
will wear off over the next few years and the transformation back to an
original, genuine FJ Panel van vehicle will take place.
People will also be pleased to know this van gets used. Since its
completion it has been to Alice Springs, the Otways for camping, and may
car shows also. So before we see it return to a real car lets have some
fun first!
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