Vintage Caravan Magazine Issue 37 | Page 28

where many were missing and reinforced the seating area and constructed a new permanent bed with storage underneath. Caroline paid someone to install the new lino over the existing floor that, although a bit broken in places, was still quite sturdy requiring only some minor patching and filling prior to installing the lino. With all of the construction phase complete, Caroline moved in with the paintbrushes, going through a lot of paint trying to cover over the dark blue that had been painted on the interior with a much more aesthetically pleasing and space-enhancing white. When it came to the safety factors, Caroline very wisely decided to call in professionals. She hired an electrician to come and rewire the whole caravan and install new interior and exterior lights and had an auto electrician check all the wiring to the brakes and exterior lights. Fortunately nothing major needed doing there apart from replacing a few globes and covers. “The best part of having the wiring redone was that I could have a fan heater going as I painted in winter and could also work into the evening with the lights on”, Caroline muses. As the weather began to warm up again and blue skies returned, Caroline moved her painting and repair efforts to the little Skyline’s exterior. Starting at the top, Caroline took off the hatch, treated it with Rust Kill, and repainted it. She also resealed the area around the hatch along and gave the entire roof of the caravan a good clean and resealing. She has also painted parts of the aluminum on each end that had been damaged and needed patching in places that she says she wouldn’t have been able to hide, and 26 | vintagetrailermagazine