Hi there,
what was your insulation like when you took the panels off? Could you tell that there had been damage throughout the years by water? Also, was there mice dirt/ mice trails in the sides and ceiling insulation?
I am planning to get my belly pan removed and cleaned, have been playing with the idea to remove mor of the interior but a, not really fond of that idea...
Hard to make a decision when you have no idea what might be going on behind the walls.
Thank you and best of luck for your reno!
Caroline
Thanks John, is the product you used tintable? We used tile doc on our tradewind, very clean bright white, but think I'm going to try to stay real close to stock color on the safari which is more a bone white color than pure white.
Caroline - on our restoration, yes to all those, water (mold) mouse tunnels, tons of poop.. glad I dropped it down (mind you, its not too bad if you drop one side at a time (street side, then put it back up, then curbside. Much easier than trying to lift up that thing in one big piece.
There was a good bit of evidence of water leakage in the insulation, but I didn't see any mouse tracks. Still, I'm glad I took the panels off.
How about this? If you remove a cabinet or gaucho, you should be able to remove about 2 feet along the bottom of a panel and 2 feet up the side. You can then carefully bend it back to sneak a peek. I have a feeling it will convince you.
On the bellypan -- it was gone when we bought the trailer -- along with all the stuff in it. Thank you PO!
I don't know about tint. In the last few days of your thread, it looks like you're heading towards PPG.
There are several close colors, but no matches.
John
PPG Automotive urethane paints are available in 3000 stock formulas or they can custom match anything that goes behind that magic eyeball machine that comes up with the formula for that color.
__________________
Frank Yensan The Airstreamer's Club MD-1 founding member "we're dead serious about having fun"
After 3 weeks with the flu, I finally finished the plumbing and bellypan. What a long, miserable job -- trying to finish before the weather turned really cold.
Here's a pic of the valving. I went with Valterra cable-actuated valves. It's all tied in with no drips, no runs, and hopefully no errors.
We were able to salvage some of the original mahogany from the trailer and it was the inspiration for the new cabinets. Here's the first test fit, the side of the refer cabinet.
The frame is 1 1/2", with a dado on all 4 pieces so that the panels can float. The frames are mahogany and the plywood is sapele. Luckily, they let me climb on the racks to pick a good match.
It feels so good to get off that cold driveway and out from under the trailer. Cabinetmaking is much more fun!
This looks awesome! Great work!
Where did you get the wood? I have mahogany on my 65 Safari as well and would need to repair some areas, espeially towards the floor...
It took about 3 weekends to get the kitchen finished. The sides of the cabinet were really easy, but the amount of mechanical and electrical work that has to be finished before the cabinet face is put on was surprising.
Here's a picture of the cabinet just after the face was put on. It was pocket screwed in place top, bottom and sides -- just in case access is needed to the mechanicals inside.
Before fastening the front, we had to:
-- insulate the wheel well, hopefully enough with Reflectix
-- install the battery
-- plumb pex in place so that the battery can be removed
-- install the stove with propane lines run and leak checked
-- run 110v power that I forgot to run for the propane/110v fridge
-- install the sink
-- run drain and vent lines
-- leak check
Here's the galley from another direction. We used the stainless sink that came with the trailer, supplied with a pile of other parts. It polished well and fit, so hopefully we're keeping a bit of the past.
The surface is formica, trimmed with VTS edge molding. We used the same stove that Colin Hyde used in the restoration of the Caravel in the early VAP episodes -- the Seaward Princess. It really kicks out heat! I was pleasantly surprised that there were no leaks in the new propane lines. (OK, I did forget to tighten one of the flares, but we get a Mulligan if we just tighten, not remake, don't we?)
Drawer slides are installed, ready for 4 drawers. One will be pretty short to accommodate the sink trap, but the others are full length. We didn't want the wide open storage used originally and, by removing the heater, opened up a lot of room beneath the cabinet. Drawers will be a little heavier, but I've mocked up the overhead cabinet design and will save all that weight overhead.
To keep the weight light, the cabinet frames will be frame and panel construction. Years ago, I found a good technique in Woodsmith magazine.
Run a full length dado in the stiles and rails. Make a tongue on the end of the stiles where they insert into the railss. The panels will slide right into the groove. Quick, simple -- and very light if 1/4 inch plywood is used.
The first picture is a panel ready for glueing, inset into the frame. The rail is folded back -- note the panel and tongue are the same dimension.
The second picture is a panel with 1 1/2 inch stiles and rails in mahogany along with 1/4" rails in sapele mahogany. It weighs about half as much as the old doors we had.
These are a little washed out. The ones in the trailer are a little dark. Wish I was better at photography!
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