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Jewel65 · 10-15-2013, 03:07 PM

A little restoration update here. I have been working behind the scenes a little. I have been working with VTS on a black tank option that all Caravel owners will want to hear about. Steve Hingtgen of Vintage Trailer Supply is going to produce a black tank in polyethylene that will fit in the original location but will be a little bigger than stock. We are finalizing the design now. There is more discussion about this in the plumbing section of the forum here...

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f444...ml#post1367613

RM66caravel · 10-15-2013, 05:16 PM

I was looking at your photos and wanted to know if you replaced your wheel wells? Curb side on mine was destroyed by a broken spindle street side was minorly rusted so for 40 bucks I had to made to replace both. They are mounted with tabs that sit between the floor and frame.
Cliff

Jewel65 · 10-15-2013, 06:36 PM

Cliff,
I did not replace my wheel wells. One was mangled some. I cut out the bad area and pieced in some galvanized steel in that spot and riveted it into place. I then painted the underside with black por15 and filled the gaps with some rubberized undercoating. I hope it holds up. It should if I don't have any more blowouts. Otherwise some of the wheels wells were dented and I tried to straighten the best I could with a hammer. The covers will go back on to cover everything and you won't know anything was ever wrong.

RM66caravel · 10-15-2013, 07:14 PM

This is true but on mine the spindle thing mangled the wheel well and I do like the ones the fabricator made. Looks real good so far (yours that is) as for ours the weather is making me crazy!! Got the whole floor cut and coated with 2 coats of water seal but has rained for the past week and a half! The flipping yoke that I have is working great and should make putting it back together fast and easy if and when the weather ever clears! In the mean time I will lurk here on the forums and read!
Cliff

Jewel65 · 11-18-2013, 08:36 PM

Progress is a little slower this time of year as bad weather comes and goes, and night comes sooner now. However, I get an hour or two in every few days. I am getting the belly pan back on with new aluminum. The front banana wrap is mostly on now. I am doing the belly pan in sections, so I can remove sections if needed later. I have been able to reinstall the inner skin in the back, now and will reinstall the inner skin in the front as soon as the belly pan is complete in the front. I am trying to get the outside and inner skins back together before the weather turns cold. I want to be able to work on the inside some this winter. Hopefully paint the walls and put floor down if it doesn't get too cold.

Jewel65 · 11-19-2013, 09:53 PM

The original Zolatone finish is warn thin in some places and it would need to be resprayed to look right. I don't think I'll be redoing the Zolotone and am thinking of other options. At first I was leaning toward Martha Stewart's Precious Metals paint. I like some of the aluminum colors and like the textures that you can get with the special rollers. However, I was reading that it is an interior paint and was not recommended for aluminum trailers because of the temperature fluctuations. I am now thinking about using Rustoleum Hammered Silver. It should be much more durable. Anybody used this for the inside of their Airstream?

Jewel65 · 03-13-2014, 10:05 AM

It's been a while since I have updated my progress. Actually I haven't worked too much on the trailer this winter as the temperatures, even here in the south, have been unusually cold. It has stalled my desire to work on the trailer much. However the past few weeks have shown some improvement in the weather, so I am slowly getting back to work. The interior skin is painted now using Benjamin Moore Oil Based Alcyd paint. It looks great and brightened up the dingy worn original Zolotone finish. I decided to stay away from the fancy metal finishes and use a tint of white. I'll save the metallics for the accents like light fixtures and wall plates. I am now prepping the fiberglass bathroom components for painting with WhiteCoat from POR15. I have to do some sanding and patching of holes before I can start painting. Hopefully in a few days I'll have this in progress.

I received the new black tank from VTS this winter and it is waiting to be plumbed. This will happen as I get closer to finishing the bathroom. That tank looks great with all the fittings just as ordered! Steve at VTS worked hard to get this right and it looks like it is going to fit like a glove. I'll get photos of the progress and add them to my gallery as things progress.

I am beginning to think about the water plumbing now and will be searching through the threads here to wrap my brain around that. I think I want a way to winterize and bypass the hot water heater, so I'll have to think things through pretty well here.

More to come...

TouringDan · 03-17-2014, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jewel65

I am now prepping the fiberglass bathroom components for painting with WhiteCoat from POR15. I have to do some sanding and patching of holes before I can start painting. Hopefully in a few days I'll have this in progress.

I am beginning to think about the water plumbing now and will be searching through the threads here to wrap my brain around that. I think I want a way to winterize and bypass the hot water heater, so I'll have to think things through pretty well here.

More to come...

I tried to paint my vanity sink with POR15 whitecoat and it did not turn out very well. Part of the problem was my inexperience when using it. The first coat ran easily. I tried painting the second coat with less paint so it would not run and it dried too quickly. If you use it, practice first. If I had it to do over again, I think that I would use Fusion paint. It seems to be made to use with plastic. Skatiero has used it and been very pleased with the results (see his thread titled "Our 1986 32' Excella rehab..."

I don't see any reason to complicate the plumbing with a wh bypass. Just drain all the lines to the rear and lift the front of the trailer up as high as possible. I don't find a need to blow the lines out or use antifreeze (except in the traps).

I have a 66 Tradewind, but would love to have a 66 Caravel!

BTW, we have a 2002 Miata, BRG and a special addition model. We hardly ever drive it, but hopefully that will change soon.

Dan

Jewel65 · 03-18-2014, 08:26 AM

Dan,
Thanks for the advise. I have already purchased the WhiteCoat but have not started to use it yet. I will definitely practice first as you suggest. Do you think the second coat should go on after the first is completely dry or while it is still tacky? I think the literature states that once you mix the two parts it is good for about 8 hours. Did you mix two separate batches, one for the base coat and another batch for the top coat? Maybe a new batch for the top coat would be best? I haven't gotten into the plumbing yet, so I will probably take your advise on that one. I don't want it to be too complicated either.

My friend has a 91 BRG with low mileage. We love our Miatas! My wife and I use ours as daily drivers and I sometimes track the '93 on the weekends. No other car I can think of that is so much fun and has so many uses. I only wish it would pull an Airstream!

TouringDan · 03-19-2014, 08:44 AM

I used one batch for both coats.

Jewel65 · 04-03-2014, 10:31 PM

The White Coat is tricky. I have got some advise for anybody using this stuff. It is tough and I don't know of any other paint quite like it. When it is completed I think it's going to be hard to beat. So, here is my experience so far. I painted the first coat with a brush on the top section of the bath. I think it was a little too cool, below 60 degrees, and I think I put it on a little thick, so I got some runs. I waited for the first coat to dry and was not happy with the runs, so I sanded it the best I could to minimize the runs. I sanded it all, but concentrated on the runs. The all over sanding was needed since the paint was dry and I needed additional coats. This stuff needs to be thinned with Xylene and that is what I did for the next coat. It helped as I have found thinner coats, but more of them do not run. I used a 6" thin roller for the later coats. I did some with a 3/4 nap and some with a foam roller. I have found that the foam roller gives the best results. With all the experimenting, I think I have a pretty good finish. Now I have 3 coats on the top half and two coats on the bottom half. I think I will put one more coat on the bottom and it will be finished. As it is now, it looks 100% better than the original bone color, and no more holes in the fiberglass. I may not have mentioned all the fiberglass repair I had to do before painting. Two large holes had to be filled in front of the shower pan where previous owner cut out to do plumbing repairs. There were lots of holes where I removed snaps that were there for shower curtains. I may put a few back in, but I will decide this later as needed. Lots of fiberglass matt, resin, and filler before paint. I think the results will be well worth the work.

Jewel65 · 04-10-2014, 10:56 AM

Here is a picture of the bathroom that shows the White Coat paint and also the fitting of the new black tank from VTS. The tank lines up great! Not in the picture will be 5/8 plywood between the tank and fiberglass. This will add rigidity and give something to attach the toilet ring screws to. The new tank is a little larger than original and will stick out in the closet a little more than original. That is dead space anyway, so this is going to work out perfectly. I'll photograph again when the closet is back together. I am not bolting things down until the grey tank is under the sink and flooring is in.

**Stefrobrts** · 04-10-2014, 11:08 AM

I can't wait to see the grey tank under the sink. that is the one modification I wish I had done to mine while I had the kitchen out. I just didn't want to go ahead and remove the closet too! A grey tank would be such a nice addition.

What is with all the Miata's on this thread?

My daily driver is a black '90, which I have been adding red interior pieces to because I never got the '93 LE I wanted. This is my 4th first-gen Miata. If I could find a way to tow my Airstream and take my Miata along, life would be perfect

Jewel65 · 04-10-2014, 12:52 PM

Steph,
I think you were the first to mention this and made me think of this option. I am planning to use the 18" x 18" x 10" tank from VTS under the sink. It will have to be placed there when the bathroom is loose. It might have fit if the water heater was out, but with it in place now I will have to stuff it in, then reassemble the bathroom. I certainly hope I don't have any problems later on with the tank or the whole thing will have to be torn back out. I don't want to think about that though! Attached here is a picture of a cardboard mockup I did to make sure it fits.

I love the 93LE too. It amazes me that some others are as strange as I am! There was a low mileage LE for sale on the East coast recently that I was drooling over. I think it sold for 11k or so. I think the 1st gen Miatas are going to be classics pretty soon. You might also be interested in the 25 anniversary celebrations going on in September at Laguna Seca. Its going to be a long drive, but I am planning to go and am signed up for track time on that legendary track. I also wish I could pull the Caravel, with the Miata out to California. I will be pulling our utility trailer with a tent instead.

Jewel65 · 04-10-2014, 03:16 PM

I have been working with VTS on the grey tank. I was asking if I needed to vent the tank if the plumbing already had a vent. I had to do a quick sketch to be able to get my point across. Steve H. said what I have will work. The vent is in the pipe before it enters the tank. So only two connections will be needed to the plumbing. Here is the sketch.

Jewel65 · 04-23-2014, 10:12 AM

I have more photos and have gotten more progress to report. The floor is down and the bathroom is in the process of coming back together! I was going to use Allure flooring from HD. I had picked out Sawcut Arazona, but it had to be ordered and was going to take 7 to 10 days. I was ok with that until I got a call from them saying it would be mid May before it would be here! I had been looking at VCT as an option, previously, but thought the wood look would complement the original mahogany. I wanted to do the job over the 3 day weekend, so I cancelled the Allure order and got the VCT instead. I think it was the better choice. It just has a more vintage look and turned out great! Here are some photos of the finished floor with 5 coats of wax.

Jewel65 · 04-23-2014, 10:21 AM

Here is the bath during prep, before Hardnose. Also included here is a shot of the trap door I built into the floor to access the water and electric hookups. I installed a stainless Furrion inlet in the same hole that the original pipe inlet was. I got rid of the old pipe and added this access door. The water will be beside the electric using the other notch in the door. I will add more photos of this later, when it is complete.

**Stefrobrts** · 04-23-2014, 10:41 AM

Re: Miatas - I heard about the Laguna gathering. Wish I could make it. Since my other great love is Mustangs, it's a big year - 50 year celebrations for the Mustang, 25 year celebrations for the Miatas!

On your grey water tank, will you have a valve on it that you will open to drain it? I have been thinking about how that would work.

Floor looks great! Your trailer looks so bright and clean inside!

Jewel65 · 04-23-2014, 11:00 AM

Well, it will drain at the dump valve. I will be using this Valterra that has two valves, one for grey and one for black. Should I consider anything else?

Thanks for the complement. I sometimes look back at the old photos when we dragged it home and realize that it is going to look much cleaner than before.

I used to have a 66 Mustang and love those cars too!