So many Caravan holidays so little money: A caravan restoration project

My friend Gary has just bought a 1980's touring caravan.
The fancy badge on the front is a bit worn but you can just make out that it was built by Cotswold Coach Craft - Caravan of Distinction in Grimsby and the model is a Windrush 4.
From now on it is called 'Windy'.
Named by Gary's daughter.
My wife suggested calling it Wendy, but it's not ours, so 'Windy' it is.

This is a project that Gary is undertaking to firstly go caravanning in it and then maybe sell it, it all depends.
So onto the first set of photos, which are the establishing shots to show you and remind us of how it used to look.
Gary has owned it for a few weeks and has already begun the restore by sealing it from the water ingress and removing some obviously damp and rotten interior wood from the front and back corners.

My first experience of towing a caravan that I couldn't feel the weight behind me. Very light.

Cotswold Coach Craft - Caravan of Distinction in Grimsby in case you can't read the plate

My firs experience of towing without a Alko stabiliser, I was nervous, thinking it would fall off!

The round thing isn't a toilet, just assorted junk in the interior of the van

A friend that I work with has asked me about the use of asbestos in caravans and because I had no idea that there could be any asbestos in old caravans I decided to investigate.
My only knowledge about the use of asbestos in old equipment is that it was widely used in every industry because it is heat proof and hard wearing.
So I think we now need to examine the flooring to see if there are any tiles under the floorboards which we may drill into and cause an asbestos dust that we may then inhale, not good.
Also the heat shield behind the oven and behind the fire are very likely to contain asbestos and not the good kind, it will be in sheet form and be fibrous asbestos.
If we are looking really hard we should also look at the brake linings in the brake shoes because they are definitely going to contain asbestos, but with it being on the outside, the risk is minimised. I don't want to be a scare monger to Gary but the risk of mesothelioma from asbestos has got to be considered. This is a lung disease that workers have contracted by working with the asbestos dust that is given off when the sheets are drilled or sanded. There are lots of cases of compensation from asbestos exposure going through the courts at the moment and it is always better to be safe than sorry. So we need to get some dust masks when we are working on Windy the Windrush 4.