Eccles Elan 12- Wall dropped slightly from wheel arch/door ?

[OdS]

Hello- my partner and I bought an old (possibly late 70's?) Eccles Elan 12 caravan.

We unfortunately have found various issues having got it home which weren't apparent in the listing.

One I am particularly worried about is the gap from the floor to the bottom of the door frame. It's about an inch or so and appears as if the outer wall has dropped or the floor has lifted in that area.
There is also a gap between the floor and the wall, about an inch again where the wheel arch is and appears to have come away.

getting underneath, the rest of the wall seems OK- it's not detached and no gaps. It's just this area, about a meter in length.

Have shared images, hopefully these make it more obvious what I am trying to explain!

Any advice/knowledge would be greatly appreciated, thank you

 

[Mr Plodd]

Looks like the joint twixt the wall and the floor has failed, and the sidewall has dropped (the floor cannot fall upwards) probably due to rot in the timber frame caused by water ingress over an extended period
It looks like you have a pretty major repair job to do to both the sidewall and the floor. Unless you are very competent at DIY the repair costs will almost certainly vastly exceed the value of a 40+ year old caravan.
Sorry!

 

[Dustydog]

Is that daylight through the crack in the second photo?
What’s the floor and chassis mounting points like underneath?
I’m with Mr Plodd. This is a long term deterioration of the structure resulting in the floor moving away from the walls .Is the floor level without humps bumps?
There is a possibility the floor may have delaminated , moving upwards. But it is a very large gap!
Was this a private buy?

 

[Hutch]

Sad to say unless your into restoration, and what you are going to use the caravan for. Kids to play in at the bottom of the garden, I would be trying to get my money back.

 

[toad a caravan]

Anyone remember what type of floor was used in the type of caravan mention above..IE was it one piece of ply or composite? Gary

 

[GaryB]

Anyone remember what type of floor was used in the type of caravan mention above..IE was it one piece of ply or composite? Gary

I had a late 70’s Mustang Pony and that had a “proper” chassis with outriggers and a plywood floor (not composite). The outriggers reached the outer walls, it was quite a robust construction BUT lots of body seams and plated steel rather than stainless screws so lots of opportunities for leaks!

 

[OdS]

Thanks everyone for your replies.

It was bought on an Ebay auction, for £500 in cash on collection. We thought for the age it was in an OK condition and was about the going rate for a caravan with kitchen, toilet etc. It looked great, but am now worried the lick of paint is to hide something and have also found a broken window which was taped over, we thought due to a crack, but actually is just broken off at the bottom.

My partner and I are both handy people, we are makers by trade, can weld/do some woodwork. But we don't have huge amounts of time or the experience with caravans.. If it was a straight forward job we can have a go.

We are working at festivals over the summer and van hire each time is costly. Our son is only 3.5 so we wanted something he can get rest in when coming with us and for transporting our performance kit on site. The plan was either to keep it if we can afford it and can do the upkeep or to sell it on at the end of the season.

What I don't want is the walls falling off en route (something someone we know had happen years back due to damp!) or for us to be left with something we cannot fix/is not sellable at the end of the season.. I did wonder about messaging the seller, but am not sure what we will get out of it. Even a part refund would be nice!

 

[Mr Plodd]

You can but try, contacting the seller, but I wouldnt hold my breath on getting anything back.
I fear you have bought a pile of (potentially very expensive) grief here. Caravans from 40 years ago had a pretty limited life span, 20 years being exceedingly optimistic, especially when you consider the materials used back then.
Personally I wouldn't consider towing it anywhere until I identified, and rectified what appears to me to be a VERY serious structural failure. It looks like it could indeed fall apart on you.

 

[ProfJohnL]

If the caravan is not structurally sound, then it would in fact be illegal to tow it, as it represents an unsafe load.

 

[Buckman]

Also if there is damp present, there will be mould and mould spores are dangerous to the human respiratory system especially a 3 1/2 year old.

 

[OdS]

Thanks guys. Ooooohmph what a mare, lesson most certainly learnt.

My partner is planning on looking at the floor and wall and access the damage. Then we will begin to look into how we can repair/restore the walls if we can and in the time frame we have before we are due to go away. We can't afford to take it to a professional. If it is too much we will have to see if anyone else would take it on and re-sell for much less if possible.

I am going to contact the seller and see if there is anything we can do, as this is not ready to holiday in as advertised, illegal and unsafe. Fingers crossed he is understanding.

Any useful restoration/repair sites you can share would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

 

[Deejuk]

Hiya, total bummer that issue. Having bought a 1993 Sprite for little money and got it back to looking and working great again I do understand that these problems are a total pain in the backside especially when money is tight.

However, I personally would give it a go because unlike a lot of folk I HATE to see things thrown away or scrapped. Incidentally, you could sell many bits as spares and recoup a lot of the cost if you deem the caravan a right off.

Anyhoo I'd have a go, first I would work back long the timber of the floor underneath to find somewhere sound, then get some really strong ply sheets and and effectively make a new secondary floor piece underneath. Then I would get some angled aluminium decent gauge stuff with holes in to begin the process of bringing the wall up back to the floor. After that using some aluminium sheet and sealant apply a new water-tight edge to places it has rotted through.

The problem I can see is that if one side has dropped then the other side may be close to going too or of course all the closures etc will be out of plumb so likely points of water ingress.

I noooo loads will say I wouldn't do that I'd do this and maybe they are right or wrong but that's how I would have a go and learn along the way.

Irrespective of all of that it's true about the mould spores that could be in the walls, all the same, hmm if I were you I'd have a go, air it all out and properly clean it down inside and see how you get on. To be fair my biggest concern would be the structural integrity when towing more than anything else, but once you get started you'll probably get a feel for that too.

I look at it this way if the buyer won't take it back you can either learn loads and have the chance of a nice van done up for loads of cheap holidays and invaluable memories with the kids, or it's all too much and too far gone, you sell the bits for spares and you make a bit back plus you learn about restoring/repairing caravans - every day is a school day.

On a final note from my experiences, one problem will lead to another and another and another but it can be done, just keep going and then keep maintaining. Good luck with it all and well done we need more people who have a go, making do and mending in this world.

 

[Mel]

People can and do renovate or rebuild vintage caravans. If you have the time, skills, money and inclination then why not go for it.
There are other forums and groups that might be able to give you extra information about your generation of caravan.
Like these folks:

The Retro Camping Club | Home

www.retrocampingclub.co.uk

Good luck.
BTW if you do take it on as a project then we would love to see photos of your progress.
Mel

 

[toad a caravan]

Looking at the above images I'd suggest checking the surrounding floor near the door frame..it may be a simpler fix if it is a one piece of plywood rather than a composite Good luck Gary

 

[Mandarin]

Oddly we had a similar issue on a 2 year old elddis, but not quite so extreme movement, but 2 metres of one side separated from the floor. We could also see daylight.

The solution was very similar to the process Deejuk described with use of heavy aluminium angle, lots of screws / bolts and mastic/glue after they jacked the side up level with the floor again.

However the repairer was working with sound materials, it was the SoLiD construction joint that failed. I can't say if it lasted as we traded it in as soon as the repair was done.