So this Overlander is turning into the best workout plan ever!

[59ORLander]

I've been working on the '59 diligently lately, mostly on cosmetic stuff since I'm still waiting on a welder to rebuild my frame under the main door.

Gas and microfiber to clean the smoke stains off the ceiling and interior walls..booya

This past week I've managed to get all of the 4 broken windows replaced and bought the new flashing strip from VTS. While we were at it, I pulled out all the other windows' flashing strips and replaced those too. Those channels and window frames are really crusty in the corners! I hope it's the right thing to do and I'm not damaging the aluminum framing, but I used Marvel Mystery Oil and some super fine steel wool to clean and polish the interior framework. It turns out great! MMO is a reductant so it reverses the years of oxidation and the little bit left in there will hopefully help keep things that way, I ran short of the flashing when it was time to do the central streetside window, so I decided to just take some of the old flashing from other windows, clean it up with BrakeKleen and re moisturize it with WD-40, cut it and fit it into that central window. Although it's a bit different, I kind of like the "centered" look of the windows. And the grey flashing is now grey and moist again.

Another arm-killing activity has been the removal of all the white DAP caulking all over the rear end's seams on the trailer. Good greif, what was somebody thinking!? I took a small sharp pick and just ran it right along the seams right in the corner, where it is hopefully hidden, as almost any tool to do this job is going to leave a mark. But this loosened the caulk just enough that I could just start rubbing the end and peel it up along the lines. Rub and rub some more with finger tips..all of it came off within a couple hours. Again, though, the arms! It is amazing how shiny and nice the aluminum is right in these seam areas. And if a scratch-mark is visible, my plan is to someday very carefully and lightly caulk the interior of these gaps with the proper aluminum colored caulk from VTS. I have a feeling that polishing some day is going to just end up leaving a bit of compound packed into these crevices anyway though..

Anyway, just trying to stay motivated and thought I'd share some little findings I've made and keep up on this board. The extra benefit of all this work, though, is I'm almost back down to my fighting weight, haha

[ALANSD]

I love MMO. It is a great additive. My dad introduced me to it when I was a teenager.
Might try yourmethod for using it

[59ORLander]

Originally Posted by ALANSD

I love MMO. It is a great additive. My dad introduced me to it when I was a teenager.
Might try yourmethod for using it

One trick I use is to transplant it into a spray-bottle. It's the kind of stuff that needs to have an applicator. I scrubbed a vent screen with water and soap and a brush, and for example, sprayed the oil onto the screen once it was all cleaned. I figured it'd be a nice coating for all those little metal fibers

[59ORLander]

Can somebody clarify a couple things for me? I've cleaned out the brown/yellow gunk from the main door jam and of course made the mistake of hastily applying a new seal to the door itself, also on top of a layer of that gunk. It looks terrible so I'll eventually re-do it.

But the Aircraft remover I had hoped would work well on the old glue was really struggling to work.

Is that yellow/brown glue a factory glue? Was there a gasket on both sides, originally? Does anybody have a suggestion for a better chemical to clean it off? With all the scraping and rubbing it took, that's gonna be murder on the door hinges.

Also, I took off the door "holder" (the clamp and bracket that holds it open against the trailer outside wall) and bead blasted them. Were those originally shiny like the trailer, or just bare steel? I'm going to try to polish them in my vibratory tumbler to see if I can match the gloss of a shined up trailer. Man was that work getting the old gunk and buildup polished behind them!

Again, all this is a great Fall/Winter workout. It's gonna be a long Winter, but this stuff sure is fun

Thanks,

[robwok]

the yellow brown is probably gasket sealant. It's going to react differently than paint to a stripper. You could try a chemical stripper. I used a wire wheel (DO NOT DO THAT). I would try a chemical stripper, and if that doesn't work, maybe a heat gun.

Rob

[Al Uminum]

I was able to clean all of the residue from my'59 door gaskets by using Goof Off from the orange box store. Buy a wash bottle to make application easier. Trickle some onto the residue and work it off with a BRASS wire brush. Kinda like a tooth brush. In spots it was necessary to use a plastic scraper. It seems like someone put on a layer of contact cement then the door gaskets.

Wash bottles came from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Tattoo-Cleanin...ds=wash+bottle

[Frank's Trailer Works]

Steel wool, even ultra fine, is going to get it right now, but it is also going to create even more oxidation later on. Instead of one surface to oxidize, you make thousands of surfaces with all the fine scratches your eye perceives as polished.

[59ORLander]

Originally Posted by Frank's Trailer Works

Steel wool, even ultra fine, is going to get it right now, but it is also going to create even more oxidation later on. Instead of one surface to oxidize, you make thousands of surfaces with all the fine scratches your eye perceives as polished.

Yeah I've been thinking that in the back of my mind every time, so I've tried to keep that activity to a minimum and only where oxidation and buildup was heavy. I will have to go over these window channels with some pretty good elbow grease and heavy duty rag/polish activity.

On the seams where I used stripper and caulk remover/softener, I'm keeping it limited to plastic putty knife scraping.

The opportunities for elbow grease application are just endless with these things

[59ORLander]

So I've got another cleaning/refinishing question..

What is the best way to remove the black cruddation from under window and door rainguards? As has been mentioned, steel wool is not a good option, nor is brushing with anything metal. It is a very tight fit, obviously, and I've tried using aircraft remover and strippers, but this is not glue or adhesive. It is just old dirty oxidized aluminum buildup.

Any good suggestions? Is the hope to just get a tiny cone and polish jammed up in there?

Thanks!

[59ORLander]

Here are a couple pics of our progress from yesterday..things are happening on a bigger scale, now

One question-Does anybody know what the green 12v wire on the right hand wall in the first pic might be for? It is a dead end and there aren't any lights or appliances over there. It is strange, but it is a factory wire. Is that for an option of some sort??

[robwok]

I found only a couple green wires in my 64 and they both looked original and they grounded to the trailer skin.

[59ORLander]

Now I've gone and done it..couldn't help myself, the polishing began, accidentally, about 10 days ago. Now it is a real workout..hoi!

The good news is that I've found very few dents so far. In fact, just about 4, total, and I'm about 60% done with the heavy cut as of last night (pictured was last weekend, everything in this pic that was rough is now shiny )

This is really fun work.

[dbj216]

Working on these old trailers is a good workout. Up and down the scaffolding while lugging the heavy polisher. That's been my workout of late.

Here is what I think is a 59 Overlander I nearly purchased. Yours has dual axles. If this one had dual axles, I may have purchased it. It was in reasonable condition and used very summer, but more like an "aluminum tent".

David

[59ORLander]

David,

Yeah, I just could not imagine feeling comfortable with one axle on a trailer this big! But then again, they are pretty light. If nothing else, I'd be thinking about that hugely long frame stretching over such long spans.

I have been doing this without scaffolding, so I've had to be extremely careful with the reaching up at the top. I have gotten quite the finger/hand workout. I just now have a 5' swath at the very top on just one side..so the danger level is gonna come down real soon.

I was really not "into it" last night but forced myself out and worked on the top front..so I was standing on the propane tank platform. Suddenly, the whole front end went down. The wheel under the jack had come out, so the jack pipe simply fell down, but right smack dab onto my power cord. It was done. It was a sign that I was done for the night too, and got some much needed rest, haha..

[Frank's Trailer Works]

I have often wondered why people are afraid of one axle. I really have devoted a good bit of time contemplating this phobia. It has not taken as much time as bellypanitis, but I have spent considerable time wondering why people are afraid. I do not really understand the worry and think it ill conceived. When you have a blow out, the drop down of the tire does not cause the damage, the shredding rubber and belts of the tire does. With four tires you increase the chances of damage by 100%. I think many have not thought this out fully. On a 1959, even if the spindle snapped and the hub came completely off, the trailer body would still not make contact with the road, it would drop down on the plate that mounts the axle to the springs. With one axle you can back into much tighter spaces than a dual axle trailer. No, you cannot run down the road on the remaining three tires, but doubt anyone who worries about having a single axle would run down the road on three tires anyhow.

[59ORLander]

Originally Posted by Frank's Trailer Works

I have often wondered why people are afraid of one axle. I really have devoted a good bit of time contemplating this phobia. It has not taken as much time as bellypanitis, but I have spent considerable time wondering why people are afraid. I do not really understand the worry and think it ill conceived. When you have a blow out, the drop down of the tire does not cause the damage, the shredding rubber and belts of the tire does. With four tires you increase the chances of damage by 100%. I think many have not thought this out fully. On a 1959, even if the spindle snapped and the hub came completely off, the trailer body would still not make contact with the road, it would drop down on the plate that mounts the axle to the springs. With one axle you can back into much tighter spaces than a dual axle trailer. No, you cannot run down the road on the remaining three tires, but doubt anyone who worries about having a single axle would run down the road on three tires anyhow.

I can see those points, Frank. I'm not afraid, I'm just ignorant. It's just a "feel" I guess, of security. But if I had a trailer offered to me at a good price (well, before I already got this one) I'd probably have researched the advantages either way more fully. It does just feel like one can limp around a bit longer with a double axle, but yeah, it's not exactly set up so that if you have a blowout you just keep flyin' down the road. You're gonna fix it immediately, just as you would with one tire per side

[59ORLander]

OK I was just kidding about the "getting in shape" part a few weeks ago..but it turned out to be a great workout plan. Hoi, my arms! And legs..and back..

But now I'm really glad I took the plunge and started a coarse cut. This will have been, by far, the most tedious and hardest part of the entire project. Everything else is gonna feel like a snap Plus, it is just plain motivating and makes us want to push harder to get other stuff finished!

A lot of areas are far from "done" but we will now pause for a while on polishing and work on the interior. Sanding sanding sanding..

[amysemmens]

Wow! What a transformation!! Mine looks much like yours before, but hoping it shines up as beautifully as this!!

[dbj216]

Did you complete both a "course" grit and then a "fine" grit pass? Your trailer looks like it has good reflectivity and minimal swirl marks. Good job.

I'm about 65% done with the first pass. I've got about 65 hours in it so far. And I have a second pass to make. Polishing takes a lot of labor. No wonder it cost over $100 a foot to do professionally. Do I get to add $2500 to the price of my Trade Wind?

David

[59ORLander]

Originally Posted by dbj216

Did you complete both a "course" grit and then a "fine" grit pass? Your trailer looks like it has good reflectivity and minimal swirl marks. Good job.

I'm about 65% done with the first pass. I've got about 65 hours in it so far. And I have a second pass to make. Polishing takes a lot of labor. No wonder it cost over $100 a foot to do professionally. Do I get to add $2500 to the price of my Trade Wind?

David

My work so far has been about 90 hrs and just with coarse grit. I used "Real Brite", a product recommended by an aircraft polishing site that compared it very similarly to NuVite Coarse, as they also sell NuVite but out of stock for quite a while. I bought the fine also, for some reason, but realized quickly that the fine is not going to remove swirl marks. It just sort of glazes over them. But the Medium with more wool pads is next on the exterior-docket. I have gone through 7 pads and counting.

Frankly after this pass, the 2nd pass is going to seem like a cakewalk. But it's also funny how the more you go and learn, the slower things go. You get better and better at "seeing" what is going on and what has to be removed. It's endless, isn't it!?

Yes I'd say you can easily add 2500 to the value of your Trade Wind. At least that is the opinion of a guy that I have met who regularly buys and sells Airstreams. In fact, he says you can usually count on at least 5,000 more resale value on a $2,500.00 polish job. They just attract so much more attention and appear "finished" to prospective buyers. We aren't in this to re-sell, but at least it's nice to think that the hard work is well worth it