A '63 Overlander Followed us Home

[HiHoAgRV]

Originally Posted by goransons

... Lots of help from Reinergirl!!! If you end up short any small 63 pieces, particularly lighting let me know I ended up taking apart a totaled 63 ambassador shell a few years ago to get some parts for my 63 and to help out another guy with a 63 as well...!

Yeah, Reinergirl has been cool to be involved... I'm really looking forward to seeing what Colin does on her trailer...

I may ping ya as I get further into the build for little stuff, I really hope to be able to use some original stuff for the small details

MAJOR SCORE!!!!
Overlander and Sea had a R50 Dometic and I managed to score it off of him...the control hardware and propane stuff was used elsewhere but I have a cabinet, complete interior and...wait...a working cooling unit!!!!

The cooling section was removed so it would fit out the door and, well, it shows signs of life...I stuffed a heatgun up the tube, set it to Medium and waited a bit...TaDa! the inside shelf was COLD!!!!!

The best part...it matches the oven.

Now I get to retrofit a later model propane/control set... (now I gotta find a later model dead fridge...)

[Aage]

Good score! That exterior looks to be in amazing condition, too. Congrats!

[Overlander & Sea]

Vernon,

I'm glad that thing gets cold! I think the best part is you helped me clean out a couple of feet in my junk, huh, spare parts room!

It all looks great!

[HiHoAgRV]

Lets see...1 year ago I was mocking up cabinets...

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f109...tml#post939137

Today I started building the real ones...

I think this cherry is going to be nice...

[desertair27]

Originally Posted by HiHoAgRV

Lets see...1 year ago I was mocking up cabinets...

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f109...tml#post939137

Today I started building the real ones...

I think this cherry is going to be nice...

Can't wait to see the cabinets installed.It's going to look great!

[Strandsky]

All I can say is... WOW!!!

I feel wholly inadequate (and about 50 IQ points less than I thought) after reading this thread! With TWO looming projects in the pole shed, including one that needs to be historically reproduced, I am amazed and awed at your project.

This is a definite keeper and will give me really good direction for what lies ahead. Thank you so much!

[reinergirl]

Originally Posted by HiHoAgRV

Lets see...1 year ago I was mocking up cabinets...

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f109...tml#post939137

Today I started building the real ones...

I think this cherry is going to be nice...

Looking good Vernon! Its exciting to see you get to what I consider the good stuff!!! Just a caution cause I don't know how much experience you have with cherry (it's my favorite wood to work in) but make sure you research what finish you are doing as cherry can be hard to stain evenly and will darken significantly with sun exposure. My brother helped me put in cherry wood floors once and I was foolish enough to put a throw rug down and in a very short time the wood under the rug was significantly lighter than the rest of the floor. If you are building the wardrobes out of cherry, don't go putting up pictures or clocks on it for a while!

[HiHoAgRV]

I do appreciate the experenced advice on woodworking...hopefully my lack of skills can be masked by attention to detail...oops...I ain't no good at that either

Speaking of wood changing color...I built a kayak from luan (farm raised mohogany) and strapped to it the top of my truck. When I got to work that day...the entire boat had darkened EXCEPT the 2 places where the tie down straps were located

As far as staining...another friend who runs a very high end cabinet shop warned me of the same issue with stain being very inconsistant...I plan on using clear poly...letting Mother Nature shine in natural beauty, this wood is very, very light colored.

I hope to pickup some more cherry this weekend from my parents, Dad has a hobby sawmill...all of the cherry is going from tree to cabinet within our family, except the 100+ year old beams that may get resawn for Dolly.

[reinergirl]

I think your attention to detail is just fine Dolly is a worthy receipient of 100 year old timbers. And I forgot to mention that your new refrigerator is simply smashing . May the appliance gods smile on me like that one day

Uh oh 5 smilies in one page.... Stepping away from the keyboard now awwwwwk 6!!!!!!

[Steve Bryant]

Vernon,
Don't sell your self short when it comes to your skills. You do a superb job with everything that I've seen you do!

I've made kitchen cabinets out of cherry and it is a fine wood to work with. Has the wood from your dad's mill been stickered and air dried? Air drying is just as good as kiln drying, the wood just needs to reach an equilibrium moisture content with the humidity in the atmosphere. In your climate, I'd say that would happen within about eight months to a year if the wood is no more than 5/4 thick. Personally, I like the thought of resawing the old beams.

I don't think that you'll go wrong by just using a clear finish and waiting for the red color to intensify. I've used diluted Drano (sodium hydroxide) before instead of any stain on cherry and it works well. But no stain, assemble, finish and wait a couple of years will work just fine too.

[HiHoAgRV]

Shelly and Steve,
Thanks for the first hand feedback in the cherry...I'm pretty sure one of the things I have less skill at than plumbing is woodworking...BUT...onward and upward!

I did pickup some more 'raw' materials this weekend...these 1" cuts have been air drying for a year or so. I grabbed 6-8 or so pieces, there is plenty more where that came from.

The bath cabinet is getting close. I plan on building all of the structures then doing the doors/drawers. Right now the plan is to make all of them 1/2 thick. Of course...plans were made to be changed...

[HiHoAgRV]

I had one of those "HUH?" things happen today...

I clicked on the Overlander Forum and noticed how many 'visits' this thread has had...then the thing that made me stop...It's almost exactly matches Uwe's "A 63 for me"

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f109...-me-18914.html

which is one of the most inspiring threads on the entire forum IMHO.

If you have not looked at Uwe's work, I HIGHLY recommend taking the time to review the entire thread...I don't consider my efforts to hold a candle to his work.

Our regulary schedule ramblings will continue after a few moments of reflection...

[utee94]

Yup, Uwe's is my favorite thread in all the Forums. Followed closely by Carlos' and Jordan's threads.

But you're doing some fine work of your own, that's what I love most about these Forums-- the time and effort people put into sharing their work, to help and inspire others.

I know first-hand how time-consuming it is to document your work, so thanks again for taking the time to do so.

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by utee94

I know first-hand how time-consuming it is to document your work, so thanks again for taking the time to do so.

Agreed

[marzboy]

Ah yes Uwe hes such a great guy too! He has given me countless (unpaid) hours of his time to me. He is truly a lover of Airstream rennovation. Its nice to know how much others have learned from reading my rookie tales of the restoration process. Thanks to all that contribute!

[HiHoAgRV]

Here is a 'solution'...

When "somebody" orders a bunch of polishing stuff and buys a grinder...BUT...forgets to order the wheel adaptor

a 5/8 threaded rod coupler, a couple of washers and a bolt work just fine!

[reinergirl]

Guess polishing is on the "to do" list huh! Nice Yankee ingenuity as we call it!

[slowmover]

But they don't call it that in Mississippi. Still.

[HiHoAgRV]

I wanted to get this panel shined up so I can attach the plaques...

[BradS]

Wow does that ever look nice!