Vintage Caravan Restoration: 1972 Pacific pop top.

Here at RV Daily, we love to see your vintage caravan restoration projects. Today we’re looking at our reader, Brett Teasdale’s, 1972 Pacific pop-top to caravan conversion. Brett wrote to our editor, and vintage caravan tragic, Tim Scott after reading…


December 8, 2020

Here at RV Daily, we love to see your vintage caravan restoration projects. Today we’re looking at our reader, Brett Teasdale’s, 1972 Pacific pop-top to caravan conversion.

Brett wrote to our editor, and vintage caravan tragic, Tim Scott after reading his article about his own Millard caravan restoration project.  Brett thought he would send Tim a couple of the many pictures that he took during his restoration.

Brett told us “We purchased the 1972 Pacific pop-top approximately four years ago. We found it to have plenty of rotten timber and learnt ‘on the fly’.  We completed our project early this year (just before the Virus) and have been able to have it out three times since completion”.

pacific rebuild
The frame had a significant amount of wood rot. The new frame looks awesome.

The frame of the old Pacific is now all KD structural hardwood.  The walls are insulated and painted plywood with stucco aluminium sheeting covering the roof and both ends.

Even with the abundance of storage space in the draws and cupboards, Brett still managed to end up with 1.2 metres between cupboards in the centre of the van. As a result, there’s quite a surprising amount of living space inside this small van.

vintage Pacific renovation floor
Brett stipped the old girl right down to the chassis.

The TV and radio are concealed away from view near the bed as it would otherwise detract from “old caravan look” of the Pacific that Brett and his wife were after.

Ducted air conditioning and heating are mounted under the bed. Two 100ah batteries are mounted under the seats. The seat cushions were repurposed from a $100 leather lounge purchased from the local op shop!

Vintage Pacific restoration interior
The completed interior offers a lot of storage yet retains plenty of living space.

Much of the build was inspired by 1970’s styling. Inspiration also came to Brett and his wife by their attending vintage caravan group weekend gatherings, during which they decided that the bond wood sides were a good look.  Brett explained, “We built things ourselves to be original. We wanted the final look of the Pacific to be a one-off as it were.”

A mechanic by trade, Brett completed all the welding, carpentry and 12v electrics, however, the LPG & 240v were outsourced to professional tradespeople.

Vintage Pacific rebuild before and after
The before and after shots reveal the amazing transformation

All up, the Pacific project has cost Brett approximately $11,000 including the original purchase price of $2500. It certainly is one of the more thorough and unusual restorations we’ve seen. We particularly like the way Brett incorporated the original door and windows into the build.

If you have a caravan restoration project that you think Australia would like to see, we would love to hear from you. Drop us a line at sayhello@rvdaily.com.au

Safe travels.

Read more: Fancy a caravan restoration? Here’s what I’ve learnt.

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Marty Ledwich
Marty Ledwich

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