Please could I have the top 5 checks u would do when viewing a potential purchase? I have been reading up bits and pieces but its all a bit foreign at the mo.
Many thanks all - Meg
The 14th International Portafold & Ansfold Gathering) (i.e. 2023)
Our annual gathering will be returning to the Newbury Retrofestival.
So put the dates 11th, 12th & 13th of August 2023 in your diary now and get those dates booked off work early.
Show Address: Newbury Showground, Priors Court, Hermitage, Thatcham, West Berkshire, RG18 9QZ
Don't book direct with the show organisers it will cost you more money, just contact me (07771544419) to get your pitch saved.
Our annual gathering will be returning to the Newbury Retrofestival.
So put the dates 11th, 12th & 13th of August 2023 in your diary now and get those dates booked off work early.
Show Address: Newbury Showground, Priors Court, Hermitage, Thatcham, West Berkshire, RG18 9QZ
Don't book direct with the show organisers it will cost you more money, just contact me (07771544419) to get your pitch saved.
New member - top 5 checks?
New member - top 5 checks?
Ok - so now I am hooked
Please could I have the top 5 checks u would do when viewing a potential purchase? I have been reading up bits and pieces but its all a bit foreign at the mo.
Many thanks all - Meg
Please could I have the top 5 checks u would do when viewing a potential purchase? I have been reading up bits and pieces but its all a bit foreign at the mo.
Many thanks all - Meg
-
txfsealord
- Posts: 178
- Joined: Sat, 05 May 2007, 9:24 pm
- Location: Pulborough, West Sussex
Purchase checks
Hi Meg,
Quite a big question that one. Such a lot depends on what you're intending to do with it...... If I were looking one over now, my first concern would be roadworthiness. Are the tyres good? With it folded, roll it along & pull the handbrake up, does it stop? Is the hitch-locking (the handle you lift up to hook it on the car) seized? Are the springs in this & its safety-locking lever OK? Does the hitch slide in its housing? This last has to be deduced by looking at the wear-marks around the barrel & rotating the hitch in its housing at this stage. If there are things fixed to the drawbar i.e. bottle/battery boxes, is the drawbar, or any other part of the chassis, badly rusty? Are the corner-jacks not seized, nor bent/collapsed/loose/rusted?
Raise the van on the corner-jacks, trying to keep these from twisting the hull - you really want 2 winders for this, I've always thought, tho' I've only got one, just like everyone else. Look behind each wheel, where the metal axle-mountings are bolted to the hull. You may need to wipe the dirt & grease off. Is the hull cracked at the corners of the axle-mounts? Have the axle-mounts started to disappear up into the hull? If you can get it high enough, spin the wheels, are their bearings quiet & have both brakes released? With the handbrake pulled partially on, are both brakes on by a similar amount? Try the jockey; does it wind up & down, can it be released & slid up & down & is its wheel seized, worn-out or with flat patches on its tyre? Wind the jacks down again & have another look at the hull for further deformation with the van's weight on the wheels.
Erect it. How much damage is there on the outside? Look inside (don't go in, it'll tip up) & note where the tops of the side-panels line up with the end-panels, looking through the windows for the back ones. Now raise it on its jacks again. Do the ends appear to have moved up, relative to the sides? There will always be some change here unless it's had chassis additions; it ought to be negligible on a healthy hull, though. Go in & look at all 17 hinges, paying particular attention to those at each end of the sides, check for broken/loose/corroded ones. Make sure the roof-catches don't have broken springs in them & the side-latches work & aren't dropping off. Outside, check that the 12 belt-loops are present & secure, some models have 8 only.
If all that lot's alright, I suggest you buy it! In any case, relax a little & concentrate now on the fixtures & fittings, which very greatly between vans.
Lastly, enjoy yourself! You don't own any of its problems yet!!
Steve Lord
Quite a big question that one. Such a lot depends on what you're intending to do with it...... If I were looking one over now, my first concern would be roadworthiness. Are the tyres good? With it folded, roll it along & pull the handbrake up, does it stop? Is the hitch-locking (the handle you lift up to hook it on the car) seized? Are the springs in this & its safety-locking lever OK? Does the hitch slide in its housing? This last has to be deduced by looking at the wear-marks around the barrel & rotating the hitch in its housing at this stage. If there are things fixed to the drawbar i.e. bottle/battery boxes, is the drawbar, or any other part of the chassis, badly rusty? Are the corner-jacks not seized, nor bent/collapsed/loose/rusted?
Raise the van on the corner-jacks, trying to keep these from twisting the hull - you really want 2 winders for this, I've always thought, tho' I've only got one, just like everyone else. Look behind each wheel, where the metal axle-mountings are bolted to the hull. You may need to wipe the dirt & grease off. Is the hull cracked at the corners of the axle-mounts? Have the axle-mounts started to disappear up into the hull? If you can get it high enough, spin the wheels, are their bearings quiet & have both brakes released? With the handbrake pulled partially on, are both brakes on by a similar amount? Try the jockey; does it wind up & down, can it be released & slid up & down & is its wheel seized, worn-out or with flat patches on its tyre? Wind the jacks down again & have another look at the hull for further deformation with the van's weight on the wheels.
Erect it. How much damage is there on the outside? Look inside (don't go in, it'll tip up) & note where the tops of the side-panels line up with the end-panels, looking through the windows for the back ones. Now raise it on its jacks again. Do the ends appear to have moved up, relative to the sides? There will always be some change here unless it's had chassis additions; it ought to be negligible on a healthy hull, though. Go in & look at all 17 hinges, paying particular attention to those at each end of the sides, check for broken/loose/corroded ones. Make sure the roof-catches don't have broken springs in them & the side-latches work & aren't dropping off. Outside, check that the 12 belt-loops are present & secure, some models have 8 only.
If all that lot's alright, I suggest you buy it! In any case, relax a little & concentrate now on the fixtures & fittings, which very greatly between vans.
Lastly, enjoy yourself! You don't own any of its problems yet!!
Steve Lord
cushions
Hi Misty Meg,
And welcome to the love of Portafolds
Its very easy to get hooked on them i have to say. I have owned mine for quite a few years now and had so much fun at the shows with it.
I would say it is cheaper to find a Portafold with all it's cushions included as the foam and covering can be very expensive to buy.
I was going to change all of mine until i found the price out
Good luck !!
Snorbs
And welcome to the love of Portafolds
Its very easy to get hooked on them i have to say. I have owned mine for quite a few years now and had so much fun at the shows with it.
I would say it is cheaper to find a Portafold with all it's cushions included as the foam and covering can be very expensive to buy.
I was going to change all of mine until i found the price out
Good luck !!
Snorbs
ooo yes, I second that, I've had to pay out upwards of £150 for the most basic of foam cushions. The long seat ones I made up out of a redundant caravans sprung cushions. The fabric to cover them all, I managed to get for 6.99 a metre, but even at that price it cost over £100 to do all the cushions....so yes...check the cushions!!! 
You need to go to a caravan park and see if they are dismantling any of their vans. We ended up cutting the cushions up and removing springs etc., before I covered them...but it did end up cheaper...Oooooorrr, find someone who is chucking out their old sofa...plenty of foam in those, although whether it is flame retardant remains to be seen..Good luck!! Also, I probably overbought on the fabric, because I have about 4m left over in my hall!! So....don't do what I did, and measure it accurately to start with...he he..
Perhaps I should add that the reason my fabric was expensive (although it isn't in general) is that it was heavy grade upholstery fabric. My 'Matilda' is going to get a lot of wear and tear, so in my case this type of fabric was definitely the better option. Looks like it's a case of cut your cloth according to your circumstances...he he, pardon the pun! Also, I was fortunate enough to get some good advice from an upholsterer on another forum. He said, be careful what foam you buy because some of it appears great on first appearance. Then, as you use it more, it rapidly loses it's 'bounce back' and ends up very flat, very quickly. Yellow foam is cheaper, but the best stuff, or so I am led to believe is the grey 'rebound' foam. There is a blue foam, but I can't remember if that is better or worse than the yellow?! Sorry, can't be more help. 
Also, I was fortunate enough to get some good advice from an upholsterer on another forum. He said, be careful what foam you buy because some of it appears great on first appearance. Then, as you use it more, it rapidly loses it's 'bounce back' and ends up very flat, very quickly. Yellow foam is cheaper, but the best stuff, or so I am led to believe is the grey 'rebound' foam. There is a blue foam, but I can't remember if that is better or worse than the yellow?! Sorry, can't be more help.
Last edited by bigbird on Mon, 13 Jul 2009, 12:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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