A trip to the caravan hospital :(

Off we trundled to to the nice Caravan Medic to get a quote for Dolly's repair work. Money we hadn't planned to spend but we have no option because she is unusable in her current state and probably worth £500 less than we paid for her now. The only way forward is to get the jobs done and move on.

So we decided to unscrew all the cupboard doors off and bring them home with us so we could at least crack on with some of the renovation work. It took us AGES! 

Once home I cracked on with the fridge door which had been wall papered! 

It turns out that by unscrewing the bottom plinth it's possible to pull the wall paper backed plywood out which is great, now I can get rid of all the yucky wallpaper and get it ready to paint up a more fitting colour rather than the combination of peach and maroon red that we have started to uncover from previous make over attempts.

I've started something now! Groan.

So the roof of the caravan is only half clean, it's a beautiful sunny day and I should be back up on the roof. But no, what do I do instead? I strip the cushion covers and curtains to pop in the washing machine, and whilst I'm at it I get a bit carried away with stripping the dodgy wall paper off. Now I am fully aware that this paper is hiding something, and I'm about to find out what.

It's obvious that the original walling on the right hand side of the caravan has been removed and replaced with ply wood. It's not the best job in the world, so I am suspecting that the last owner ripped the original stuff out to fix a damp problem. A guess a bit of filler and more thick lining paper freshly applied and painted will make a neat finish from an amature job. It feels tinder dry so I suspect it will look pretty good once it's all done.

Oh.

That'll be damp then!

(Not so much luck on the left hand side of Dolly)

It looks like the vent in the top right hand quarter of the photo below has let damp in, and water is obviously getting in along the entire length of the metal detailing across the van. The timber frame is so rotten it's just flaking out as I scrape it. This is NOT good! I think next weeks first planned outing in her is on hold! 

Caravan hospital in Runcorn phoned, appointment made for tomorrow afternoon to have the full extent of the damaged assessed, oh and the quote for the repair job as well? Gulp. So I guess tomorrow we will know once and for all exactly what is wrong with it, I hope Mr nice caravan medic doesn't uncover much more than this!

Fingers crossed :(

Poorly girl

Turns out that those brown spots weren't paint after all!

.... They were just lichen! Yay. I can't tell you how delighted I was when I started to scrub the first one off, and it actually did! I'd resigned myself to a freckly a Dainty Dolly, but now there is hope!

So the big clean up begins. Soap and water, flash with bleach spray (leave for 1-5 minutes), scrub with a tooth brush, soap and water again. Jobs a goodun!

Day 1!

Day 2 ( and yes it was in the rain!)

Can't quite reach the middle, even on the last rug of the ladders. Will have to come up with a plan B.

Silverline Pegasus 12/2 Information Resource

Surprisingly there is not a lot of information out there on either Silverline the Manufacturers, or this model. What little I have scrapped together is mostly anecdotal but is referenced so feel free to link to these other sparce information sources to check them out for yourself.

Silverline was based in Yorkshire, UK, but ceased trading in 1992, leaving very little information behind, I guess this was a fair time before t'internet really got going. Silverline specialised in smaller light weight caravans, their other models consisted of the teeny-weeny Silverline Nova Princess (designed to be towed by a Nova - blast from the past; my Grandad had one of these) and they also produced their middle range model the Silverline Silvercrest (bigger than the Nova Princess but smaller than the Pegasus). It's hard to believe, but Dainty Dolly was top of the range in her heyday! Silverline managed to cram everything that was expected from a much bigger, heavier caravan, into their range making them extremely well kitted out for their weight and size which was a first, and considered to be impressive at the time.

Silverline Pegasus 12/2

Size (Approx)
External width - 6'4" (193cm) although another source suggests it is 6'6"
Length (not including A-frame) - 13'4" (406cm)
Length of A-frame and hitch - 3'3" (99cm)
Height - ? I must measure this.

Weight* (*note; all taken from anecdotal sources)
Un laden weight - 500kg (I have not been able to verify this officially yet)
Maximum weight of - 900kg

Features
Factory fitted internal blinds and curtains
Slimline and Ultra light weight
Internal and external water pumps
Internal on board water tank with crystal filtration water system
Thretford cassette toilet with electric flush
Shower room and fold-away hand basin with mirrored storage cabinet.
Hot and cold water heater by Carver cascade (powered by gas, 12volts or 24volts)
Carver/ Trumavent air blown central heating (Powered by gas, 12volt or 24volts)
3-way Fridge (can be powered by gas canister, electric hook up or by car battery when towing) , described by another source as Electrolux RM229 (gas, 12volt, 24volt)
Hob and Grill ( some models, but unfortunately not mine, also have an oven).

I am desperately trying to source a copy of the original handbook, I will link to it here as soon as I can locate one)

Where it all began...

Dainty Dolly in waiting Click here to see her eBay listing and the beginnings of a new adventure.