The Door was warped and since I had some extra pieces for the delivery I welded them to help support the door and remove the warping. I stripped the old paint and primed the door and cabinet to get it ready for new paint.
During my research I found an Owner's Manual for another KREFFT, check the attachment.
Interesting enough I found that NORCOLD and KREFFT may be the same or at least NORCOLD made the KREFFT, check the Logos on this link; Norcold Gas Refrigerator Manual | Vintage Trailer Talk
The Refrigerator is painted and now waiting to color sand and polish prior to assembly.
The new Dexter Axle with Electric Brakes has been installed. The Axle was an easy install, just a few shots of WD40 and the old u-bolts came right off. Next will be the wiring
I changed the color of the wheels to be a closer match to the Pontiac while they were off and if you look close you can see the gray water discharge fitting (the black water isn't in yet).
Steve fantastic work! I'm jealous, I wasn't confident enough in my 50 year out refrigerator to build a new cabinet around it.......... Glad you got it working good.
Steve fantastic work! I'm jealous, I wasn't confident enough in my 50 year out refrigerator to build a new cabinet around it.......... Glad you got it working good.
Greg, thanks! I understand but mine is younger than I am. This took much more work than anyone (including myself!) would expect. I cannot believe how many hours of research, travel and work I have in it so far. It is however very satisfying to see it come out so well but still have many hours of work left fro the assembly and installation. Anyway very happy to be making progress again. I am hoping to start on the new cabinet in the next couple of days and didn't want to even start on it until I was sure that the refer would perform first.
We went to Hemet (drove in for the day) for their 1st Annual Vintage Trailer Rally last weekend. There was a wonderful Westcraft that made me ponder the future!
More progress since the snow melted and the weather warmed up. The final Cabinet is almost ready to be installed and glued. The original framework has been striped of the skin and mostly repaired. I am making sure that all is level prior to final assembly but here are a couple of pics.
I am back on the polishing as well, I typically try to get a couple of hours in before the sun rises and blinds me with the new shine. My Harbor Freight Polisher finally quit (actually caught fire!). I wasn't sure if it was worth the cost to buy a better one so I stopped by a few Pawn Shops until I found an older Makita for $50.00. Wow, what a difference! It is well worth the extra cost so I ordered a new one as well. It is coming from New Jersey (ebay seller) so the older one will be a great spare. New pics of the Traveler as well.
More polishing getting done, starting early with only 2-3 hours in the AM or just until the sun clears the trees. I should be able to start around the windows & doors soon, not looking forward to that but it is all part of it.
Working on the last cabinet. Framework has been stripped of the old skin and rebuilt.
The front brace for the refrigerator shelf had broken loose, possibly from the weight and age. I wanted some extra reinforcing so I used my biscuit cutter from the front, cut the biscuits, glued and then surfaced prior to applying the new skin. I like how this turned out and should help to keep the shelf in the cabinet better than the staples that were used back in the day.
Front bulkhead glued and now time for the rear bulkhead.
Ours was originally Oak veneered plywood so .... surely it must be Oak veneered plywood again. Biggest issue I have found is that the veneer is much thinner today so it takes allot of patience when working with it.
I am finishing it with Minwax Stain and then Danish Oil. I considered varnish but decided on the Oil just for the ease of maintenance. PS originally ours had a white wash appearance that just wouldn't do so all of the interior had to be re-skinned.
Today will be some more finish work and staining of the refrigerator cabinet. I will be building a platform for the refrigerator to help with the installation since the refer is so heavy and I will be installing it by
The exercise here is to maintain the original Airstream as best as possible since this is a restoration and not a renovation. If you look at my previous posts you would find that I stabilize the framework typically with 1/4" birch plywood prior to starting any work. Once stabilized I can remove the original plywood skin making sure that the original work is maintained. Hell most of my pieces have the notes from the guys who originally built 4092 with 4092 even still marked by those guys, one even had something negative about another worker and that piece still has those comments in his own hand, how cool is that? I have even saved and using the original fasteners and mounting the cabinetry in the original location.
Anyway if you see us at a campground please come by and have a beverage! PS I just ordered the base to make homemade Sarsaparilla so we will have more than beer & wine.
Productive day today!
Got the refer (not reefer!) cabinet installed. Also got the heater set and the refer shelf made (Home Cheapo Birch---will need to use as a template and replace with something better before installation!). Might get the Refer temporarily set tomorrow so that can make the ventilation holes before the final. Lastly glued up the platform to move the refer in place glued so tomorrow...................................
Progress has been slow due to the weather (1st Hot!?! and now having Thunderstorms with Rain!?!)
Anyway finished the final cabinet, little bugger took much more time than expected. Using the old framework was difficult but the cabinet is now in using the original fasteners in the original holes. It is now in for the final fit before the finish is applied.
Cabinet Doors are now started. I thought that I would share how these are being made since it may help someone else.
I milled the clear Douglas Fir to the correct thickness and cut to length. Next I put down some plastic sheeting to keep from gluing the work to my bench. Now I can tack the pieces down using small finishing nails making sure that it is square.
Next I use the biscuit cutter on the surface similar to how the originals were stapled. Now I can glue in the biscuits while the framework is still tacked down making sure they are held square and flat. I found it easier to do some cleanup with water to help with the final prep before gluing the skin.
After trimming the biscuits and sanding of any excess I can sandwich the frame with the new skin. I leave this clamped down overnight to ensure it stays flat.
I found a plastic putty knife with a serration helps spread the glue a help keep down excess glue.
I like to stain the new plywood skin before working with it to help show potential issues with the veneer and help with cleanup after gluing.
Greg, the frig is in for a dry fit and the final assembly. I was able to test it on 120 Volts overnight and found it functional, I wanted to stay on the woodwork but coming to the end of that soon. Polishing still but that is wearing on this old body.
I am looking forward to us having a beer at our Traveler and yours. We will have earned the rest!
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