Airstream Forums - 1972 Overlander http://www.airforums.com/forums/ en Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:07:26 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.airforums.com/ugala/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg Airstream Forums - 1972 Overlander http://www.airforums.com/forums/ <![CDATA[Zep's 72 Overlander]]> http://www.airforums.com/forums/f169/zeps-72-overlander-58452.html Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:35:20 GMT Not much new here, just a thread for my 'private' record of what the heck I've been doing on this one. And to provide any potential future PO with some idea of how the redesigned systems work.

History: Saw the Overlander in an RV storage area in Acton, CA, back in early 1999 and bought it a few months later. PO had just inherited a Sovereign from his folks and was moving up. For two years not much happened--the Caravel that fell into my hands soon after acquiring the Overlander was taking up most of my refurbishment efforts. But in 2002 a new job in Vegas popped up and I decided to make the Overlander the traveling, working, living Airstream.

The first job, in April 2002, was to convert it from a twin to a double and make provisions for a desk. A little more kitchen counter space was also high on the list. So the first big modification, done over a single weekend, was to cut the tub in half, move the bath and kitchen partitions aft about 14", install a double bed, and make a new countertop. Unbelievable, but I was back to work on Monday with a double Overlander.

The initial work was done at the Edwards AFB hobby shop. You can see someof the old bed components in front of the Overlander.

Attachment 90822

The original interior was unremarkable, standard stuff. One of the interesting items was the cabinet over the toe end of the street side bed. It was matched by the oven over the toe end of the curb bed.

Attachment 90823 Attachment 90824

Once I got going on Saturday morning, it became a complete trash pile. The tub was cut using a saber saw and a hand held hack saw blade for those corners where the saber saw didn't reach. It was extremely critical to get the edge exactly flat, since the seal to the new partion was going to be a simple butt joint using silicone. The side of the partition facing the tub was faced with FRP. I wish now I could have seen into the future and moved the Univolt. More on that later.

Attachment 90825 Attachment 90826

The old overhead shelves are still in place as the rear partition goes in.

Attachment 90827

The bed was designed with a vertical support the length of the bed, approximately 1/3 of the distance from the wall to the inner bed edge. This allowed for a nice long storage area that could be accessed from the outside through the access door that originally provided access to the Univolt. The inner part of the bed was supported with vertical dividers. These storage spaces are big enough for the large plastic bins that are widely available today. They were covered with 'doors' held on with velcro, so they can be completely removed for access.

Attachment 90828

A new shelf over the bed provided headroom toward the head of the bed and additional storage space at the toe end.

Attachment 90829 Attachment 90830

Final bed and shelf. The shelf was actually made some time after this frantic weekend. But all the bed and partition pieces were done in two days. Why can't I be that productive now? Oh, I know, I found the Forums and you know what that means....

Attachment 90831

The bed components were later removed several times for varnishing, but that bath partition went in and was permanent from the git go.

Zep wait, wait, more coming...
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