1959 Overlander Restoration

[Lothlorian]

I used F9 polish first then went to F7. I still was not happy and did a third polish using a clay bar. Wow did that make a difference. It came out like a mirror on my 1960. Another thing I did was used a dremel with this very very fine grit on the sanding bit. It took out scratches and imperfections, then used the clay bar polish on those areas and it took any scratches from the dremel out. It looked awesome. We took it on our maiden voyage to see the eclipse brought it home and parked it in the back yard. Hurricane Irma came the next week and dropped a massive tree on it and really damaged it really bad. Now I am gutting it again and rebuilding all the wood work. Then I will take the skins off fix the frame under the skins and put new skins on the damaged parts. big job

[65CV]

Oh No!!!

Sorry to hear that!

I hope the rebuild of the rebuild goes well.

Originally Posted by Lothlorian

I used F9 polish first then went to F7. I still was not happy and did a third polish using a clay bar. Wow did that make a difference. It came out like a mirror on my 1960. Another thing I did was used a dremel with this very very fine grit on the sanding bit. It took out scratches and imperfections, then used the clay bar polish on those areas and it took any scratches from the dremel out. It looked awesome. We took it on our maiden voyage to see the eclipse brought it home and parked it in the back yard. Hurricane Irma came the next week and dropped a massive tree on it and really damaged it really bad. Now I am gutting it again and rebuilding all the wood work. Then I will take the skins off fix the frame under the skins and put new skins on the damaged parts. big job

[65CV]

We have well over 10,000 miles on the Overlander and only managed to mis-lock the door once -- that's all it takes with a suicide door. Last job before heading west is to fix it.

We tried the quick fix method, putting a 2x4 in the middle and forcing, banging and swearing to try to get it to take back and keep the original bend. Didn't work.

As usual, there are multiple threads on this forum to solve everything. Here are the two best I found:
- Cry me a river
- Another Sprung Door

Both methods rely on the removal of rivets, adding new ones and finally filling the old holes with more bucked rivets. Hopefully my before, during and after repairs with help someone else.

We won't ever forget the deadbolt and rope tie again!

[65CV]

After 5 years of dealing with an impractical dump valve location, I modified it. For those who don't have a pre-1960 trailer, the toilet and dump location are on the street side, the opposite of any modern trailer. Colin's design makes it almost disappear below the bellypan, but it is a PITA to attach the stinky slinky. If the person ahead in the dump line was sloppy, it requires a one-armed pushup to support yourself above wet ground while attaching the slinky.

No more!

I added an elbow and extension to our dump valve, supported by a 3" pipe support. Since we have the 32 degree down-axle, we can get away with it. When roads are bad, it can be removed with 2 screws and a quarter turn of the Valterra elbow fitting. Why didn't I do this years ago?

Now it looks like a 3" exhaust pipe in the back of the trailer.

[65CV]

We added solar this year. The goal was to extend our stay in various locations, not to replace every watt used. We camped with good friends last year who used their 200 watt panel every other day and said they wished they had a smaller one.

So, we bought a 100 Watt Renogy suitcase, 30 feet of extension cable and wired it via an SC-2030 Charge Controller. I didn't like the looks of commercial wire inlets, so I bought a used Marinco 120V inlet, gutted it and made my own inlet with two MC4 connectors. Here's a pic of the 120V and Solar inlets, followed by a closeup of the homemade solar inlet.

We've used the solar panel once -- in Vermont -- where we had to use all 30 feet of extension to get a few hours of sunlight. Look carefully in the last pic and you'll see the panel way off to the left. And, that is a TV antenna on the Overlander, connected through a third Marinco inlet.

[65CV]

Finally.

After a full month of maintenance and detailing, this restoration is FINISHED!!!

I looked back at the first post in this thread and it was 5 1/2 years ago. Yes, it was a lot of work, but we've already had many months of good living in this Airstream and hope for many years more.

It's heading west in a week.

[dgerler]

Originally Posted by 65CV

. Does anyone know if replacing the old cast trap with a Hepvo Valve will eliminate the problem?

Mileage was very close to the Caravel. The 9 foot longer Overlander made very little, if any difference in mileage. This time it was loaded with everything but the finished dinette. We got 15.2 mpg on the highway and 17.1 on the back roads, despite all the hills.

I know this is an old thread, but I have enjoyed reading it and have two questions about this post.
First, what was your experience with the Hepvo Valve?
Second, What is your tow vehicle that you are getting 15.9 mpg pulling this trailer?

[65CV]

Originally Posted by dgerler

I know this is an old thread, but I have enjoyed reading it and have two questions about this post.
First, what was your experience with the Hepvo Valve?
Second, What is your tow vehicle that you are getting 15.9 mpg pulling this trailer?

Glad you enjoyed the thread.
I never did install the Hepvo valve.
We used to tow with a 2007 Mercedes Diesel SUV -- before the emissions change in 2008. I do not recommend this vehicle, IMHO the transmission is inadequate for towing. We now have a Tundra.

[dgerler]

I'm towing my 31' International Sovereign with a 2016 RAM 1500 5.7 Hemi. Getting a whopping 10 mpg.

[55AS]

I installed Hepvo valves on the kitchen and bathroom sinks as well as shower trap on my 55 Cloud. Sink valves were vertical and worked fine. Shower valve was horizontal and failed to function properly. Ended up going back with a conventional p trap.

[dgerler]

Originally Posted by BambiTex

I installed Hepvo valves on the kitchen and bathroom sinks as well as shower trap on my 55 Cloud. Sink valves were vertical and worked fine. Shower valve was horizontal and failed to function properly. Ended up going back with a conventional p trap.

Thank you. That's very helpful. I am renovating my 1975 31' International Sovereign to make it more functional for my disabled wife. I was thinking of using the Hepvo valves in the shower to reduce the height of the shower floor. What problems did you see in the horizontal installation?

[utee94]

Originally Posted by 65CV

Now that we're settled into the new-to-us house, it was time to finish off a few key items.

This photo shows some of the details. Since our last update, we've rescreened all the windows, cleaned and hillbilly chromed all the operators, installed overhead locker sliders and installed a 1/2" mini-blind in the bath. Not sure if we'll do any others, but the bath needs the ability to quickly go to privacy mode.

Best of all, there's SuperBed!

How did I miss this in the last year????

You gotta love Superbed, it's like a King*1.25 or so. Only problem for us, is that the kids now have to crawl OVER us from the front salon, if they need to use the restroom in the middle of the night (they used to be able to crawl UNDER but those days are long past).

I suppose, if I were to complete the front half reno with a queen-sized drop-down dinette bed as I planned about 8 years ago, I wouldn't have this problem but well, where does the time go???

Hope all is well with you and yours my friend. Lemme know if you're coming near Austin again anytime soon. I know, you keep trying, and please continue!

-Marcus

[66Overlander]

Originally Posted by dgerler

Thank you. That's very helpful. I am renovating my 1975 31' International Sovereign to make it more functional for my disabled wife. I was thinking of using the Hepvo valves in the shower to reduce the height of the shower floor. What problems did you see in the horizontal installation?

We have Hepvos as original equipment from Airstream in our 2016 Classic, at least for the kitchen and bath sinks. Not sure about the shower. The sink Hepvos are mounted horizontally. When de-winterizing last spring, the bath one was stuck closed for a little while. We let a little water sit in the sink for a few minutes and it unstuck. Maybe the issue was putting a little rv antifreeze down the sink drain when winterizing the previous fall and it eventually got sticky as it evaporated. Hope we don't have a repeat this spring.

[Dingo Girl]

Overlander please let us know what happens in the spring.
I have one purchased & have planned to use it horizontally for the kitchen sink in the spring.

[Becky B.]

I have a hepvo in both the galley sink and the shower in my Bambi II. No issues with either one since installed in 2011! We were hepvo pioneers :-)