Truck, I've been studying your frame and axle set-up quite a bit, but didn't notice that angle on the shock mounts. Was your trailer originally equiped with leaf springs? Do you have any additional close up shots of the mounting system that shows the shocks?
Norm, I don't know what was originally on my trailer, I had these axles, and the mounting plates, installed at InlandRV before I picked her up, (it was a bit of a gamble that it was as described by the vendor and the photos!).
Attached are a couple of shots but I don't think they show the shock angle, FWIW I would not have installed them like that. If you'd like more images maybe drop me your email address in a pm and it'll save your thread from chassis image overload.
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preparing for the maiden voyage in 2010...
We've got a little over a month to get the trailer stripped down and ready to go into the shop. So, since I'm still on crutches for a couple more weeks, my dad pitched in and started pulling the fridge yesterday. He found someone named Harry Miller had scribed their name into the side of it which was kind of interesting. He also found that the fridge had been riveted to the side of the trailer with a piece of scrap aluminum. It did not look like an original part of the install, but who knows.
Finally, the vent set-up is pretty ugly. Based on this photo from RJ Dial's site below left, it appears the 59 through 62 Overlander fridges were simply vented through a small opening in the skin at the left side of the back of the fridge that passed the exhaust gasses up through the skin to the small eyebrow vent on the exterior.
Captain Wilson (who I have learned through a review of his receipts and correspondence was quite concerned about C02) modified this by installing a 64 style plastic flue to the right of that (see picture below right) and then cutting in a much larger vent through the roof that was caped with a 64 style plastic cover on the exterior.
Unfortunately, as part of this modification, he also capped the counter top over where the fridge tail pipe exits (apparently to redirect the gasses towards the new flue) and this resulted in the hot gasses exiting the pipe within half an inch of the plywood. We found the plywood was quite blackend by this so I'll be looking for a better solution.
For the teardown, we are going to work clockwise from the fridge, bagging and tagging everything that comes out. I've read a lot about how annoying all the slotted head screws are and how most people throw them away immediately, but I'm keeping everything for now. Ryan (r&k weber) found many of the screws that contact the skins were made from aluminum and polish up pretty nice
Glad the leg is on the mend and that your getting back to the trailer, Norm.
Make sure you've got a screwdriver that fits those darn slotted screws really well and put a bunch of downward (or upward as the case may be) pressure on your initial effort and turn them both ways to get them started. Once that slotted head gets messed up, it's no fun (I know ).
The teardown has been slow going this last month, but we are just about done. I got the black tank out this morning. Nothing like 50 year old poop goup dripping on you as you crawl around in the dirt. That was a full hazmat suit type of job. It's only 11:00 a.m., but I think a beer is in order following that part of the project. Hope to finish with the tear down by tomorrow afternoon and then I'll post some pics and an update on my blog.
Glad you're making good progress on those nasty jobs, Norm. You're not too far now from the bottom and things will start getting a lot better pretty soon.
Ah... petrafied poop.. and that which isn't... I too had fun with my black tank... where are you tossing yours? I'd like to take it too the dump.. think I'll wrap it in plastic first so it doesn't look too obvious when I toss it.
Great work! I too look forward to the grossness being done. I enjoy reading... keep up with the updates!
Marc
Thanks for the encouragement guys. Unfortunately I haven't hit bottom yet. I began today wresting with the bathtub and got hung up on that for several hours. I've read a lot about how difficult it can be to break the drain loose from the trap, so I knew this is where I could hit a wall. After trying heat, penetrating oil and lots of torque that simply started mangling the drain, I decided to give the tub a rest for a while and turned to the furnace and hot water heater. Those were stubborn too, but eventually came out without damaging anything.
As I pull back the layers on this poor old trailer, the insanity of my original hope to camp in it for a few years before beginning a restoration has become embarrassingly clear. The Captain was ridden hard, real hard, and was in pretty terrible condition. The water lines (which I fortunately never tried to run water through) are split in at least a dozen different places (despite the PO's claim that they were fine "and even the water filter works"). The hot water heater and furnace are both rusted hulks and the floor. . . well, it's pretty much what you might expect after 50 years.
Between family and work commitments, it's been tough to sting together more than an hour at a time on the tear down, but I'm down to the last few pieces now, so hopefully I can finish this week.
The tub drain was a bear, no doubt. The heat worked well for me, I'd try that again. As Frank always tells me, just go at it KNOWING it will come apart, and it will.
I turned back to the tub removal Friday and tried more heat to loosen up the p-trap/strainer connection. Unfortunately, I'd already damaged the strainer too badly and there was nothing left for the drain wrench to grab. Nonetheless, I was still able to save the low profile p-trap. Rather than cut it off from below, I took the sawzall and cut a couple vertical notches in the strainer and then collapsed it in on itself. Success was announced by the sound of the p-trap droping to the ground and the tub jumping up from the floor as the trap broke free from the strainer.
That was a defining moment. Everything started really moving from there and we now have an empty trailer with several interior panels out. I'm taking a couple days off this week to finish removing the interior panels. I also need to take the Armstrong AC down. That could probably slow me down again.
Norm
After reading this thread , and knowing that I had a drain to remove from a bathtub that I will be painting this weekend, I broke down and bought a porper drain wrench.
What's $15 to keep what's left of my sanity? Hey, I may want to take the tub out of the TT in the furutre, that will double the value of my investment!!
__________________ ♫ The road to a friend's house is never long. (Old Danish Saying)
After reading this thread , and knowing that I had a drain to remove from a bathtub that I will be painting this weekend, I broke down and bought a porper drain wrench.
What's $15 to keep what's left of my sanity? Hey, I may want to take the tub out of the TT in the furutre, that will double the value of my investment!!
I bought the $15 drain wrench (actually I think it might have been closer to $20), but unfortunately that was what led to the damage. I got the really nice one that accepts a 1/2 inch socket and proceeded to use a long handle breaker bar. It had such a good bite on the drain that it simply ripped the thing apart. My mistake was probably not heating it up enough before putting so much torque on the wrench. Frank explained that they used pipe dope on the threads that hardens after so many years. It seems to need a lot of heat to loosen it up. Lesson learned.
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, and knowing that I had a drain to remove from a bathtub that I will be painting this weekend, 
I broke down and bought a porper drain wrench.
I got the really nice one that accepts a 1/2 inch socket and proceeded to use a long handle breaker bar. It had such a good bite on the drain that it simply ripped the thing apart. 
My mistake was probably not heating it up enough before putting so much torque on the wrench. Frank explained that they used pipe dope on the threads that hardens after so many years. It seems to need a lot of heat to loosen it up. Lesson learned.
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