Carawagon cabinetry fastening

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welshwagoner
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Nov 03, 2012 10:59 am

Carawagon cabinetry fastening

Post by welshwagoner » Fri Aug 14, 2020 4:32 pm

Hi there

First post here - I've a 1971 Carawagon that I'm looking at beginning to restore, probably partly done by a shop and partly by me as my (fairly limited!) abilities allow.

One of the first things I thought to do was to remove as much of the interior as possible to generally give it a refurb and get it out of the not-terribly-weatherproof interior.

Mine is sink and hob on driver side and a tallish shelved cupboard on the other, next to the fridge. I've found two screws that seem to screw into batons that sit behind the chequerplate below the side windows (hope this all makes sense!) but they alone don't seem to free the cabinets. Are they also screwed into the floor in some way?

Any advice much appreciated!

Thanks
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Peaceand
Posts: 274
Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2012 11:00 pm
Location: Near Wakefield, West Yorkshire

Re: Carawagon cabinetry fastening

Post by Peaceand » Fri Aug 14, 2020 8:15 pm

Hello and welcome,
On the few original bits of mine (1972 5 door) that remained, there was another baton at the bottom, and screws through that into the 'front' panel. Can you see down the inside of the cabinet to see if there's anything down there? It'll be dark mahogany type wood and brass slotted screws probably.

I wouldn't expect any screws up through the floor from underneath, but you never know what a previous owner may have done.

Hob and sink on the drivers side sounds interesting and different, any chance of some photos before you dismantle the interior?

Thanks,
Patrick
  • Holly - 1972 Searle Carawagon Continental Ultimate (200 TDi)
  • Basil - 1969 Searle SWB (Prima TD)
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RMS
Posts: 2236
Joined: Wed Feb 15, 2012 12:02 am
Location: Near Wakefield, UK, in God's own Country!

Re: Carawagon cabinetry fastening

Post by RMS » Sun Aug 16, 2020 1:48 pm

As Patrick says, there's usually a length of timber screwed to the floor, then screws through that to the base of the cabinets from behind.

On one of mine, the under-bed woodwork is fixed to the side wing with screws through from the outside, but I'm not sure that was original and there's no evidence of screws through the wing on the taller cabinet/wardrobe side.

Cheers,
Robin.
1967 109" Carawagon 200TDi
1972 109" SW Carawagon 2.5NA
1958 109" Carawagon 2.25P (project)
1972 109" Carawagon 200 or 300TDi (project)
1974 Dormobile 2.25D (project)
(Robin on S2C forum)
welshwagoner
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Nov 03, 2012 10:59 am

Re: Carawagon cabinetry fastening

Post by welshwagoner » Sun Aug 16, 2020 2:00 pm

Cheers guys - this is really useful info. Next time I’m up at the carawagon I’ll take some pics (it’s at my folks’ place as they’ve the space).

The setup is two opposing benches which turn into a double bed on the driver side, a double cabinet with sink (electric pump) and stove behind, and then fridge on a little raised plinth next to the aforementioned tall cupboard. Little chance of any modification - it’s been with the family since new! I’ll try and do a members motors post before too long to introduce myself and the car

Cheers for your advice so far
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