Before the days of wandering the country in a 2015 Jayco Starcraft, we started with an old vintage 1979 Chesney caravan. And when I say vintage, I mean vintage! Think orange and brown pinstripes with a pea-green kitchen!
We bought it back in 2013 with the full intention of doing a DIY caravan renovation, as a way of being able to get away for weekend trips on the cheap, since we didn’t have a lazy $20,000 to spend.
Here’s a rundown, with photos, of our 1970s Chesney DIY vintage caravan renovation.
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DIY Vintage Caravan Renovation – Before
Our Chesney was a 6-berth caravan with a pull-out double bed up the front and four bunks in the rear. It had an L-shaped dinette with a simple kitchen. The sink had a cold water tap for use when connected to mains water.
Given the age of the van, there was no water tank or solar power, so it was only good for caravan park-style travel or back-to-basics camping.
We didn’t want to change anything about the structure or layout of the caravan, but just went with a modern facelift on the cheap in the backyard.
What it looked like ‘before…’
Unfortunately, I don’t have too many ‘before’ photos. Either I forgot to take them (rookie mistake!), or they’re long gone on an ancient phone somewhere.
You can see below the lovely brown and orange fabrics with old linoleum/vinyl flooring.
The entire interior of the caravan was covered in wood panelling, from the fridge to the walls, drawers cupboards and inside all of the cabinets.
DIY Vintage Caravan Renovation – Steps
For the DIY caravan renovation on the cheap, we decided to:
- Cover the exterior pinstripes with checker plate
- Repaint the drawbar
- Add a swing-up jockey wheel
- Add a pump tap and water tank (for off-grid use)
- Lay new flooring
- Paint over the old brown walls & cabinetry
- Reupholster the fabrics
- Add a kitchen splashback
Added Checker Plate to the Exterior
To avoid a full sandblast and respray of the caravan’s exterior, we decided to simply cover the old orange-and-brown pinstriping with custom-cut sheets of checkerplate.
We took all of the measurements to a local fabricator who was able to cut the sheets to size for us. Then it was a matter of lining them up perfectly and siliconing them into place.
To finish off, we added strips of checker plate around the external fridge vent like a frame, just to help cover the edges.
We also added a custom number plate frame and added some checker plate edgings around the taillights.
Added a Swing-up Jockey Wheel
The Chesney caravan had its original jockey wheel, which needed to be added and removed every time we wanted to use it, then stored away somewhere.
To make life more convenient, we added a simple swing-up jockey wheel instead, which can be picked up from Supercheap, eBay and Caravan RV Camping.
(eBay)
While we were there, a quick respray of the drawbar area brought it up nice and fresh.
Added a Water Tank & Pump Tap
The caravan had a single tap inside at the sink, which only worked when connected to mains water.
So, we added a small water tank underneath the caravan (around 50L from memory) and a hose with a tap fitting so that we were able to fill up the tank externally. Then we added a simple pump tap inside at the sink (next to the existing tap), which connected up to the tank water.
That way, we could have water both when connected up at caravan parks, or while roughing it in the bush.
Repainted the Interior
The most painstaking task throughout the entire DIY vintage caravan renovation was repainting the interior.
The biggest mistake we made was buying the cheap white paint, which meant that we needed 97 coats (okay… that’s a slight exaggeration), to get proper coverage.
If you look closely at the photos below, you may notice that the walls have a vertical grooved line every 15cm or so, which just added to my nightmare. Add in sweltering hot 40℃ summer days, and you can safely say I was glad to see the back of that task!
Anyhow, it turned out well in the end and lightened up the whole interior, giving it a fresh and clean feel.
We went with crisp white for the walls and overhead cabinets, with an accent of turquoise for the benchtop, plus the cupboard doors and drawers. The fridge was covered with a thin sheet of matte stainless steel.
Laid New Flooring
The easiest way to deal with the old lino/ vinyl flooring was to cover it up with floorboards.
We headed to Bunnings and got some light-coloured click-clack floorboards that we could easily cut to size and install ourselves at home. The matching edging pieces finished it off nicely.
Reupholstered the Fabrics
Luckily for us, the previous owner had already reupholstered most of the fabrics throughout the caravan, including the front bed, the four bunks and the dinette seats.
We really liked the pop of green and blue, so we decided to keep it, which is why we chose a turquoise feature for the drawers and cupboards.
The only fabric that was still in its original retro colours was the dinette backrest. So, we used a salvaged off-cut of white vinyl (found at my ex’s work at the time) to re-trim the dinette backrest.
Added a Kitchen Splashback
To finish off the kitchen, we called in a favour from a glazier mate who whipped up a glass splashback for us (in black). If I had my time again, I probably would have gone for a mirrored or white splashback instead.
DIY Vintage Caravan Renovation – AFTER
Okay, so now that you’ve seen the whole DIY caravan renovation in progress, here are the final ‘after’ photos.
‘After’ Photos
How Much Profit Did We Make On Our Caravan Renovation?
We originally bought the Chesney caravan for around $3,500 (from memory), which was in 2013. By the time we got around to renovating it, we were already starting to plan to sell the house to hit the road.
Once the caravan was fully renovated, we sold it for $7,500, which helped us raise money for the Patrol (our tow vehicle for the Starcraft).
So, the profit was somewhere around $3,000 after the cost of materials. Our labour was free since it was a labour of love!
You can read more about the planning journey below.
Caravan Packing List
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Bloody expensive way to rid the pin stripes!
Next time, get out the hairdryer, heat the vinyl and peel off. Finish off with a good rub of turps to remove any lingering glue residue.