1963 Overlander Complete Renovation

[Cardinal283]

Hey gang. I did see the post by Zep where he made the steam punk looking light out of his scare light. Pretty cool looking. While I think I'll leave mine I do want something up higher. I am considering taking a license plate light and mounting it above the door. As in the pic. Thoughts?

[Cardinal283]

Also I thought I'd try a little polishing just to see how the aluminum will look. I used NuVite F7. It seemed to do ok but there's a lot that it doesn't seem to be getting. Maybe go to an F9? Will this pits and scratches come out? The seem a little too deep to come out to me.

[dbj216]

Nuvite method is the best for us guys polishing are vintage Airstreams. You may need to compound with F9 or one of the other more course compounds. You won't get rock or hail dents out, and you won't get deep scratches out. It takes hours and hours of polishing away until you can "heal" the surface of the aluminum. With time spent, your trailer can look pretty good with the Nuvite process.

David

[Cardinal283]

Should I stay away from F10?

[Atomic_13]

I opted to install a light below my door, shining on the step landing and ground around the step.



Shines less in our eyes and attracts less bugs to the doorway.

Also, I’ve found lower angle light helps improve depth perception (falls entering/exiting the trailer are no fun). We use this low light angle tactic during “alpine starts” while hiking in mountain terrain (headlamp at waist level, rather than head). Works well.

[Cardinal283]

Atomic. I just ran the wires for an under step light today. What kind of light fixture did you use and have you had any issues with water from the road?

[Atomic_13]

Still restoring the trailer so I have limited road experience. I purchased the light on amazon. It’s marketed as waterproof and resistant to vibration.

2 LONG HAUL BRIGHT CLEAR/WHITE LED SLIM LINE LED 12V 12 VOLT UTILITY STRIP LIGHTS 6 LEDS 4"x1" RVS MARINE BOATS

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013XBRY7O..._OkDUAb8NYMKYB

[Cardinal283]

Got my Overlander emblem rechromed by a local shop. They did a great job! Nearly filled in all the old pits.

[dbj216]

My 86 Limited came from the factory with a step light that goes on with the porch light. Adding one during the renovation is a good idea in my view.

I've never used F10. Pick a grade that seems to cut the corrosion. A very course grade will scratch the aluminum making the F7 compounding take longer and the Cyclo process take longer yet. It amounts to just hours and hours of polishing away. Like my wife says, a guy can enjoy polishing an old Airstream if his IQ is low enough. Likely true.

David

[Cardinal283]

Smart lady!

[Cardinal283]

I had an interesting mishap. All of the new wiring was neatly bundled up where it goes to the control panel and hanging from a rib so that it was out of my way. I was cutting the hole for a window with my circular saw and didn't realize that they were in the cutting path. :/ I chopped about 6 feet off of all my wires. Luckily I was able to switch everything around and rerun the wires so that I only have to replace two of them. Unfortunately they are the biggest and longest two wires. About $50 worth. Live and learn.

[dbj216]

Well the next thing is drilling holes in your fresh water tank. I have marked the subfloor where the tanks reside to try to remind me they are located just below. More than one vintage Airstreamer has poked a tank.

Actually, the wire harness from those resistive sensors molded into the tanks isn't worth that much. Consider a $200 SeeLevel monitoring system. It is much more accurate and more reliable to boot.

David

[Cardinal283]

I've been working on the air handler for the evaporator side of the AC unit. Have the basic shell done and the plates that he evap core mount to. I'm working on the squirrel cage and how I'm going to attach it to the duct system after that. I'm also building a housing for the compressor and condenser. I can't do too much on that until I get my interior skins back in.

[Cardinal283]

I got the next window riveted in. Only two more to go. The one that goes a few feet back and the rear window.

[Cardinal283]

In hindsight though I would have designed the frames different. These all have a 1" flange around the edge. If I could do it again I would do a 1 1/4" or 1 1/2" flange. 1 1/2" might be a little too much.

Also the flange deformed during riveting a little more than I would have liked. I think going with a thicker aluminum or a stiffer alloy would have helped with this. Maybe both. Other than that they installed and work beautifully.

[Cardinal283]

I snapped this yesterday right before a rain storm came through.