Hello, I think this is my first forum post here, although I've been mining for information for a while...
I just bought a 1964 Overlander having wanted an Airstream for 10 or 15 years now, even before I moved to the US from England about 7 years ago - they're pretty famous there too. I'm very happy to have it, and of course it needs some work, so here we go. I got it in Texas and drove it back to San Leandro, California last weekend - 1,500 miles or so - and right now it's parked at my friend's house down there, as I live about 20 miles away in Oakland (they are tolerant... for now). I'm planning to move to a place in San Leandro with a driveway & garage so I can work on it at home. I have a driveway at my current place in Oakland, but it's narrow, steeply-sloped, has low tree branches, and my street is also narrow, steeply-sloped, and a dead end. I still act like I live in San Francisco (lived there for 5 years), but as I move further & further from the city it's getting harder to pull that off...
Airstream in the dark:
Sunset clouds in California:
Red:
I towed it back with a 15' rental truck, which was cheap ($200) and worked out pretty well - the hitch was a little high, but I think I only scraped the tail of the trailer once and no permanent harm seems to have been done. There was a bit of a shock when my careful research had indicated that the trailer would have a 2" coupler (as the truck had a 2" ball) and then the seller said, oh no, it has a 1 7/8 coupler. I got as far as buying a new 2" coupler and finding somebody to weld it on - not all that easy on a Saturday afternoon in small-town Texas - before we got to the trailer and found out it was a 2" coupler after all. The seller was very apologetic but I was just glad we didn't have to do any cutting & welding before we left. I wired a 7-pin connector to the trailer lights connector on the back and a brake controller I temporarily installed and everything worked great. The wheels are split-rims still, I think, but the tires were pretty good, and the brakes worked fine.
Driving back was really fun, even though the trailer wasn't providing much in the way of amenities, there was no sway control, and we had some exciting moments in high winds on 58 coming across Southern California. Oh yeah, and there was that time we followed a bad sign trying to find a gas station and had to back the truck 1/4 mile down a curving hillside road. In the dark. Hey, it was good practice at backing - I'd never driven with a trailer before, but I think I got the hang of it pretty quickly. (The guy at the gas station said, "Yeah, that sign is confusing. I wonder why only people with big trailers come here and complain about it though?" - the idea that everyone else can just TURN AROUND when they hit the unpaved section had evidently not occurred to him, nor the idea that maybe the sign should be fixed...)
But anyway, every time we stopped for gas (which was regularly...) I got to admire the trailer, and I just loved parking it across 7 spaces at restaurants and so on - somehow everyone loves the Airstream, I think you could get away with murder with one.
The previous owner had it from his grandfather, and the trailer had been in Alamagordo, New Mexico until 2003. The grandfather had kept it polished at least until the 80s, and from what I can tell it was still being kept up until the 90s. The guy selling it was sad to see it go, but he needed to tow some kind of racecar or bike in a trailer and the Airstream wasn't really compatible. So, I'm pretty hopeful that being stored in NM and being kept up by a diligent owner means no serious rust or rot problems being left to get out of control. So far what I'm seeing seems to confirm that.
So, the details; it's a 1964 Overlander, double-bed layout. The interior is mostly original except that the back fold-out bed has been replaced with a fixed bed. The cooker and refrigerator have been replaced at some point (1970s or 1980s, it looks like to me). The tile floor had carpet laid over it. It had air conditioning either added or replacing the factory system at some point, and a circular TV antenna added on the roof. It has awnings but they're not Zip-Dee. The furnace seems to be gone (assuming there was one) and a gas fireplace put in instead. The water heater was replaced at some point. The rear window has been replaced with plexiglass, now clouded.
Everything else is pretty much original - the bathroom, the front bed/couch, the reading lights, ceiling vents, astradome, the outside TV and radio antenna on the front, all the high cabinets, the kitchen, pantry, wardrobe, dresser, and all of the storage trays are still there, although a few of them have some damage or fiberglass repairs.
The outside skin is near perfect:
There's one large patch behind the door on the curb side:
And another where the new water heater is:
Here's some overview photos of the inside:
I'll post a followup with what I think needs work and my plan for getting it the way I want it...
So the current state of the trailer is, I think, pretty good. There's obviously been some leaks over the years - some delamination of the cabinets over the back bed indicates that, and the duct tape around the fiberglass wheel well covers:
But the floor seems sound almost throughout - admittedly, it still has the tiles down over most of it, but where I have pulled them up it is dry and solid. The wheel well leaks I hope to address by cleaning the wells & patching or repainting or otherwise treating them to seal them.
The one problem area is under the jalousie window next to the door, around the right edge of the couch. The floor there seems solid still, but the skin seems to have pulled away from it a bit, and been patched & screwed back on. For some reason that's the one thing I don't have any photos of right now, I'll get some... I'm thinking stresses from stepping into the trailer caused perhaps a bend in the frame.
The other symptom that I think is related is a crack in the interior and exterior skin going up from the doorframe. It's about 5 inches long - I have a feeling what's happened is that the floor is pulling the skin down by the door and cracking it. Perhaps the step is failing or the outrigger it's attached to is bending. I'll probably cut into the belly skin there to take a look, or else cut out that section of floor. I'm hopeful that's a minor problem.
The external parts of the frame have surface rust:
but I'm hoping that it's superficial and that using some POR-15 and repainting will take care of it.
The belly skin seems almost entirely sound and in great shape, so I am hoping too that the frame inside is in good shape. I guess when I look inside the step area I'll get a better idea of that. Hoping hoping hoping not to have to drop the belly skin to take care of the frame - I know it's probably full of wasp's nests & mice in there, but as long as it's structurally sound I operate under the principle of what you don't know, won't hurt you.
The awnings are not very good - the hardware may be salvageable, the fabric (actually more like tarp material) is not. And the street-side awning started coming unfurled in high winds on the highway - not good! So I think I'm going to remove them and patch the holes left, at least for now. To cut down on solar heating I think I'm going to have the windows tinted with R20 reflective film - I think it'll look good with the polished skin, and if not it can be removed anyway, or the glass replaced... If I desperately miss the awnings, I'll either get new fabric made for them and reinstall, or buy new Zip-Dee awnings.
Speaking of windows, the seals are completely shot on all of them except the front window, which was protected by the rockguard. That is job #1 before it starts raining again, and I have the stripping ordered from vintagetrailersupply. The window hardware though seems good. Needs greasing, but all the cranks work (some have been replaced) and all the screens are good, just dirty.
All the marker lights and the porch light lens need replacing - I have them on order too. The taillights are cracked, but workable. I'm not sure what kind they are: http://flickr.com/photos/jacob-davies/274427817/
Dunno about the axles. Here's what they look like:
I don't know enough to judge whether they're any good. The shock absorbers are antique and presumably need replacing, and I don't know whether doing that will improve the axle angle or what. The brakes work well, although the wiring needs some work - they're connected with bare wirenuts hanging under the frame, not sealed in any way, yikes. Some better connectors and heat-shrink tubing seem to be called for, or maybe all-new wiring.
I was thinking I would replace the wheels with new steel wheels when the tires need replacing. The current tires look okay to me for a while though. I think I'm going to get chrome moon hubcaps that presumably would have been original.
On the interior, cosmetic stuff will wait until all the serious work is done, except that the fixed bed is coming out forthwith as it is hugely in the way and I'm not going to use it.
The electrical stuff all seems to work well - all the 12V lights work. The electric hitch jack needs rewiring. The battery is either dead or something is causing it not to charge, I think. Haven't tried any of the 110V stuff except the power converter and the fridge, which work fine.
Haven't tried any of the plumbing. Haven't tried any of the gas appliances. They're supposed to work and I don't see why any of them wouldn't. The gas heater/fire is going to go though.
So, my worklist by priority:
1) Repair all windows & window seals. I have the parts on order. Don't know if I will need to have the window frames welded, I hope not. While I have the windows out, get R20 glass tint applied, and replace the back window with glass.
While out, grease & check all the window opening & fastening hardware.
2) Check exterior for any other leaks. Probably when it rains this important task will be performed for me. Repair any that I find.
3) Wirebrush, treat, and repaint all exterior steel parts (frame, step, axles). Clean wheel wells and look for leaks. Patch & seal as needed.
4) Remove the fixed bed & dump it.
5) Order replacement cushions for the front couch/bed and either make or order replacement covers for them. I've decided to use the front bed as my actual bed - it's much less in the way when folded out than the back bed, and all you lose is a couch. I never sit on my couches anyway and when I have company I can fold the bed up if need be. Or they can just sit on the bed. The bed doesn't block the fold-out table, which for now at least I can use as a desk.
6) Figure out what's going on with the step area floor & doorway cracks, and repair it. This might involve removing the couch from the front and replacing some of the subfloor around there or doing some welding on the frame.
8) Plan & install new electrical and plumbing layout. This probably involves having a new greywater and perhaps freshwater tank fabricated, installing them, installing a sump pump, and replacing all the copper water lines with PEX. The exterior water fill valve looks like crap too, I think it needs to be replaced. Probably replace the water pump, keep the old one to use for a transfer pump.
9) At this point it should be completely usable, just sort of untidy inside.
-
Non-priority items that'll get done as I go along:
* Clean clean clean
* New nameplates
* New external marker lights
* New porch light cover
* New curtains or blinds for the windows
* Replace the two sliding divider vinyl curtains
* Remove excess sealant and decayed remains of stickers from the outside
* Remove & sell original TV antenna
* Remove & throw away modern TV antenna
* Replace conventional interior electrical fittings with new ones & stainless steel or nickel plates
* Remove awnings & hardware, measure then throw away fabric, store hardware
* Patch exterior holes no longer used
* Replace air conditioner with low-profile unit, spray-painted silver
* Replace the fiberglass rock guard with perforated aluminium
* Polish!
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Things I hope I don't need to do but if I have to I will:
* Replace axles.
* More floor replacement than just around the door.
* Drop the belly skin & repair/repaint the frame inside, replace insulation.
* Remove the interior skin panels and replace.
* Remove interior cabinets to repair floor under them.
* Replace the toilet/black tank/sewer system. Ew.
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After all the priority stuff is the fun stuff where I get to do the interior.
But really no use starting on much of that until all the important things
are taken care of. But I am thinking: keep the front bed/couch. Keep
the fold-out kitchen table. Keep the bathroom pretty much as-is,
although replace the ugly box cover that goes over the toilet with something
nicer looking. Keep the closet & dresser that are currently facing the
back bed. Tear out the back bed and re-use that space, probably for a
desk & other things.
Keep the sink/cooker side of the kitchen but replace the cooker with a
smaller cooktop & microwave underneath, replace the sink with a smaller
one to free up some counter space for important things like my Dualit toaster
and an espresso machine. Replace the countertop too, probably with
a wooden one (I do like the formica, but I don't love it). On the other
side, replace the fridge with a taller one with a separate freezer; keep
the cabinets next to it, but extend it upwards and put a small built-in
dishwasher above it. That loses a bunch of counter space but I don't
care about that. It'll probably create some more cabinet space in the
process.
Probably sand & repaint the interior. The beige flecked Zolatone is all very
original & stuff, but it's also kind of hideous. Maybe replace some of the
nterior wall panels behind the sink & cooker with stainless steel or copper.
Next up, Mysterious Mysteries Of Things Installed By The Previous Owner That I Don't Understand...
Gas heater that was screwed onto hinges on the sink cabinet:
Water lines that go up on either side up to near the roof, inside the cabinets:
These are on both sides, about where the front vinyl curtain is separating the bedroom from the kitchen. There are holes drilled in the cabinets that would let them extend out towards either each other, or maybe the air conditioner (but there's nowhere for them to connect to the air conditioner). They both go down into the floor and I don't know where after that... I guess I'll find out if they're connected to the pressurized water system the first time I try to use it, huh?
Three vent pipes - one coming up from the black water tank, presumably, that kinks through the back closet in the bathroom:
One coming up on the other side, from the side of the shower tub:
And one coming up above the cooker, roughly:
Is that normal? They all seem to be made of fairly recent PVC pipe and none of them seem to have metal vent pipe covers.
And finally a vent in the belly skin under the fridge - is this original?
Oh yes, and you can also see there one of the two large PVC pipes with caps that are attached to the belly skin. I haven't actually managed to get either of the caps off, but I suspect they contain awning poles for an add-on awning.
I, like yourself, educated myself through the forums, purchased my trailer out of state (New Mexico), and towed it home to the Bay Area (currently resides in Alameda). What a sweet trip that was! You learn quite a bit about your trailer, towing dynamics, and have a hard time not looking in the mirror at your unit. I hope to, eventually, move my trailer to my driveway in the Berkeley Hills so I can look at it every day. Unfortunately, I am now limited to weekends only!
I appears you acquired a very nice trailer indeed. Best of luck, and keep us updated on the journey.
You may wish to check out the proposed Four Corners Unit of the WBCCI... good people and the right attitude.
__________________
'00 Safari 27' Rear Twin
'03 Ford F-250 7.3TD/CC/LB 4x2 Bio-Diesel
"Hmmm... Smells like French Fries!"
Prodigy/Enkay/Hensley/Solar/LED lighting AIR 4598 / WBCCI FCU 8579/ EAA 872814
Couple of other things - the front rockguard is fiberglass but very rough:
Lots of fibers coming off. The window underneath is flat, although the cover is ridged. I think I'm going to replace it with a sheet of perforated aluminium, although I'll probably sell the original on ebay if someone could use it for a restoration. The new one will be heavier but I can beef up the supports, I think.
I think for the electrical system, I will install one or two large AGM batteries (at the front or over the wheels, not in the back compartment) and probably a Xantrex Prosine 2.0 inverter/charger.
There's no grey water tank, and since I hopefully am not going to need to pull up the floor I was thinking I would have one fabricated that may go over the left-side wheel wells - possibly inside the cabinets next to the fridge, replacing the storage there, or behind the pantry where the fixed bed is now. To get the water into it, I was thinking an automatic marine sump pump at the back end would work, so the sinks & shower would get pumped right back to the grey tank. I may move or replace the freshwater tank too, as it's currently taking up some prime flat-floor real estate under the fixed bed that I may want for a desk.
Oh yeah, and at some point I probably need a tow vehicle, huh? I think initially I will buy a 10-ish year old F150 or RAM 1500. If I wind up towing a lot, I think I'll get a new truck - I haven't actually driven any yet, but the Nissan Titan seems like it could be a good match, or the new Tundra that's coming out next year. On the other hand if I need something bigger, either a RAM 2500 or the new F250 that's coming next year seem like they would work. The hybrid Sierra/Silverado seems pretty cool for the built-in generator function, but they don't seem to be making new ones, and I'm not a fan of the old GM interior. But a second alternator connected only to the trailer charging system would give some of the same functions (not the auto-engine start, nor the same efficiency I bet). No rush - for now I can borrow or rent a truck to move it, I think.
Thanks for the welcome - I initially thought those PVC pipes were sewer-hose related, but the sewer hose is in the bumper compartment, and there's a big tarp made of the same kind of material as the awnings in the trailer, which is why I suspect that there are poles in there. I guess I could just take off the caps, huh?
Catalytic heater, that makes sense. Well, that's slightly more reassuring than an open fireplace. It's connected by rubber hoses which I thought was not okay in trailers, but maybe I can use it in the end. I confess to being pretty afraid of CO from dysfunctional gas appliances - got my CO & smoke detectors already there in the trailer though. I was thinking I would put a furnace back in, or maybe a new catalytic heater.
Where do you keep the trailer in Alameda, BeBop? The alternative to moving to someplace I can keep the trailer is to rent somewhere I can work on it, maybe a big storage unit, but I wasn't able to find any nearby that were economical (well, I found one that was $150/month in Alameda, but they didn't have any 10x30 units available). I don't really need storage for anything but the trailer, but I do need tolerance for working on it...
The window seals arrived from Vintage Trailer Supply, along with a lot of other stuff, but I haven't had time yet to really work on them. So far what I've been doing has been mostly investigating the current state of everything and removing, well, junk.
I took up the old carpet first thing, and removed the original vinyl tiles, which were in pretty poor shape. The floor underneath seems very sound though.
I removed the fixed bed that had been installed in the back. Underneath was the freshwater tank, which had apparently been installed in the 70s or 80s. Unfortunately, the soldered joints on the copper pipe had broken in several places, which was what was causing the water on the floor - the water tank was also sitting on a nice piece of shag carpet that had soaked up a lot of water. Luckily the floor damage there is minimal - mostly just stains, nothing serious in terms of bulging or rot. Here's a photo of the back without the bed, water tank, carpet, or vinyl flooring:
Lots of space there for me to work with since I intend to have only one bed in this!
I removed one of the windows from the frame to see how it was done (pretty straightforward) and removed the original window stripping. There didn't seem to be any bedding tape behind the glass - maybe it completely disintegrated over 40 years. I just taped the glass back in the frame, I'll replace the seals this weekend.
Now, on the bulb seal that sits behind the windows themselves (in the frame that's fixed to the trailer), it really looked to me as if what was there was MUCH smaller than the replacement I got from V.T.S. Is that right? Hoping that the new one will work anyway, although the bulb seals look to be in much better shape than the exterior stripping.
For a less important task, I replaced all the teardrop marker lenses. I went as far as drilling out one of the original marker-light bases & replacing it, but although the others are corroded, they still work, so for them I just replaced the bulb & lens. I'll come back and clean up (maybe paint) the steel pieces in the bulb base later and use some contact cleaner to get rid of corrosion on the copper, maybe. The new ones didn't have any rubber seals - just a gap between the lens and the base. On the one hand, the old seals didn't seem to actually keep much water or gunk out anyway, and I'm wondering if the water just washing through won't matter. On the other, well maybe I'll try sealing them with vulkem or something after I replace the bulbs with LEDs (which won't burn out for a long time).
Took off one of the tail lights - it's a 4-screw Autolamp type, not the 3-screw type that V.T.S. sells. They're actually okay but pretty dim. I think I'm right in thinking that the LED lamps that InlandRV sells will fit as a simple replacement, and they look like they match okay - I'm more interested in safety than exact originality anyway.
I took off the front rock guard by pulling the hinge rod, and today I'm going to order the perforated aluminium to replace the worn-out fiberglass. I'm hoping that'll look pretty good.
Let's see... I removed the (non-original) Magic Chef cooker from the kitchen cabinet, which just about fell apart in the process - it's been cut about in so many ways to remove the old furnace, put in a new cooker, and put in that catalytic heater that there isn't much left of the frame, but I think I'm going to repair it anyway. The countertop looked okay from the top, but was sagging & rotten underneath, so that sadly has to go too. I'm not sure yet whether I'll go for a wood countertop or another formica top (maybe in a slightly less boring colour). I'm planning on putting a smaller 3-burner cooktop in with a compact dishwasher underneath (convenient for plumbing) and a microwave opposite next to the fridge. I'm not sure if I'll keep the original 2-basin sink or not - I'm leaning towards yes right now though.
So what I'm thinking there is that I will remove that cabinet, repair the frame, replace some of the panels, and fit the new countertop, cooktop, and dishwasher. I might put a stainless steel, copper, or aluminium backsplash on the wall behind it.
I took out the 3-door cabinet that was above the rear bed as the bottom panel in it had warped & delaminated badly. It's now in my kitchen... the frame for it is pretty sound, so I think I'll replace all the plywood panels and have it good as new. I may use baltic birch ply or bamboo plywood which of course won't match the original cabinets, but to be honest most of the panels in those have similar (but less serious) problems with delamination, so maybe they'll all get replaced.
After I took out that cabinet, the vinyl ceiling insulation was freed from around it. I was hoping to take this out intact to give it to someone else who's restoring maybe, but although the vinyl surface was mostly okay, the backing cardboard was full of mildew or mould and pretty much disintegrated as I was taking it off, so it all wound up in a garbage bag (I must have filled a dozen or more large trash bags with all the stuff I've taken out of the trailer, without even counting the mattress or the large pieces of wood).
The paint underneath was in better shape than the rest of the Zolatone, which is pretty grubby, but I still find the colour pretty ugly (and there's a lot of damage to the paint). So I'm still leaning towards sand-and-repaint there.
On a less fun note, I think I identified the problem with the cracks in the skin above the door, after I removed the aluminium trim at the edge of the step. Basically the floor at the front edge of the doorway has rotted, and because the outrigger frame underneath doesn't seem to extend to the edge of the floor, the floor has crushed & warped downwards under the weight of the shell, causing it to distort and crack around the door. I'll post a photo when I get a good one. So I'm thinking I may need to cut up a small section of the floor there and replace the plywood. I'm not exactly sure how I can bring the shell back to level though (lack of convenient places to lift it) but I guess I'll figure it out. At the same time I should be able to check the frame for rust through the hole, clean it up, and POR-15 where there are problems. From the tiny hole I made by bending back some of the belly skin, the outrigger there next to the step looks like it has surface rust but not too serious.
I'm not sure how the step is attached to the frame or floor. It's obviously a high-stress point so hopefully it's solid but I guess I'll find that out too when I remove the floor.
So currently the trailer has neither a greywater nor a freshwater tank. I do have a plan for the greywater; I think I'm going to put it in the closet just behind the curbside wheel well. I ought to be able to fit 40-50+ gallons in there just taking up the first 12-18" of the space. I don't hang much that requires the full height of the space, mostly just shirts, so of all the near-the-wheels areas above the floor it seemed like the least intrusive. Also, the drains for both the sink and the bathroom washbasin go through there, so it'll be easy to interpose the holding tank, and there's already a vent pipe there. The sinks can gravity-drain into the tank, but obviously it will be above the level of the bottom of the shower, so my plan there is to put in a marine sump pump box in the back compartment that will pump shower water back to the greywater tank. That means running 2 pumps when taking a shower but I think it's the easiest solution.
For freshwater it's not quite so straightforward. Obviously with the fixed bed remove there's a lot of clear space on the streetside back, but I kind of want to reserve that for something else. The space I'd like to use is under the front gaucho (because it's not very useful when you have the bed folded out most of the time, as I'm envisaging) but I'm mildly concerned about the increase in tongue weight that would cause. But, I've seen that a lot of other people do it without problems, so that's how I'm leaning. I may use the existing (not very well-sized) water tank or have a new one fabricated that fits part of the space better.
I'm planning to add a much larger AGM battery & inverter/charger, probably somewhere on the streetside near the wheels. Haven't exactly located that. Then I'll run one cable to the back for the existing 12V circuits and put a sub-fuse-panel in the back compartment, and run new 12V circuits from the new battery compartment.
Basically I'm pretty happy - the floor is sound except for that one spot by the door, the skin looks good, the drainage from the sinks looks like it works fine, and the original cabinets are usable for now even if some of the panels could use replacement.
I do need to find a better place to keep it though. A quiet suburban neighbourhood is not a good place to be loudly drilling aluminium, wirebrushing with an angle grinder, or riveting in the evenings and weekends. So, I need to find either a storage facility that won't mind if I work on it, or maybe the corner of some parking lot in an industrial area that I could rent. Any suggestions in the East Bay area? Emeryville or Oakland would be better than San Leandro...
Welcome to the forums. I also have a 64 Overlander. You can view some pictures by going to the photo section and executing a search under MW64OVERLANDER asking to search all forums. The trailers have different floor plans, but a lot of the trailer is identical. In a previous post, you had questions about your axles, and having dealt with this issue myself, I would suggest putting an axle replacement in your budget at some point in time. It makes all the difference in the way the trailer tows and handles the highway bumps and potholes. It looks like you have your project well under control, but if I can be any help with questions or advice, just pm me and I will do the best I can.
__________________
Mark Wilson
1964 Overlander/2000 f250 Crew Cab 4X4 PS WBCCI# 5600
Thanks, and I think I will be replacing the axles once the exterior is otherwise done. The sheared rivet heads inside speak to some vibration damage I'd rather did not continue.
I moved the trailer from my friend's house to a warehouse in San Leandro, where I'm renting space at $300/month. Ouch, but I can get access 24 hours a day, it's in an industrial neighbourhood where nobody will mind the noise, and I can do all the basic work in peace and without having to worry about keeping it sealed against rain. Hopefully I'll be done in 3-6 months. I don't yet have access, that should be available this weekend.
In the meantime the sheet of perforated aluminium I ordered from onlinemetals.com arrived - this is to replace the ragged fiberglass in the front rock guard. Here's a couple of photos of it during a test fit (with cable ties rather than real fastening, and before cleaning & polishing the frame):
I think it looks good and it's surprisingly light - really not much heavier than the fiberglass it's replacing. The holes are 1/4", so I guess it's possible a stone could still penetrate, but I think it'll be okay.
I need to work out how the hardware works - I couldn't get it to latch up from the window before, but I didn't try very hard. I removed the supports to clean them and paint before replacing.
Actually that should say "I HAD to move it from my friend's house". I was planning on doing so anyway, since I couldn't do significant exterior work there, and it was a little in the way there, but their landlord sent them a letter stating that they were in violation of their lease and MUST remove the trailer or vacate the property in 7 days. Then he came around and started taking photos of their house from across the street. He was also demanding that they remove the motorcycle belonging to one of the tenants.
Some boundary problems there! Of course, there was nothing in the lease about what they could or could not do with the driveway of the house they rent, nor any verbal agreement on the subject, and storing a trailer in your driveway is entirely legal in San Leandro, as evidenced by the numerous other trailers & RVs in driveways on their street. (And, of course, owning a motorcycle is legal too - and this one is a particularly quiet BMW). As a long-term renter myself, I find it extremely annoying when homeowners & landlords fail to understand the legal concept of "quiet enjoyment", which is to say: as long as you don't break the law, cause serious damage to the property, or violate the terms of your lease, your rights as a tenant are the same as those of a homeowner. You don't get to make up new rules for your tenants as you go along.
Oh well - if I didn't need to work on it, and it was the driveway of myown house, I might have argued over it, but even my friends were a little sad to seem like they were caving in to their nutty landlord.
Still - indoors, and able to make as much noise as I want, those are good things.
Wow! Fabulous firsts posts! You are well on your way! Be sure and check out the rally calendar on the blue toolbar ~ attend one near you with or without your trailer. You will get a chance to talk to folks about their trailers and how they repaired this n' that.... and meet some really fine folks!
Well, I cut out a section of the belly skin under the problematic floor area, by the step. If you look at this thread I posted some photos of the problem - the floor has rotted from water coming in at the door and also at the edge of the banana wrap, where the awning brackets were bolted to a frame outrigger. I suspect it looked particularly bad in those photos because it had gotten wet, but it's crumbling at the edge, particularly at the doorframe.
Here's what I found underneath the floor:
It really doesn't seem so bad - other than a few pounds of dirt that fell on my head as I was cutting (lots of fun), there's some rust but everything seems structurally OK, no bird's nests, no mice, and it was completely dry. The section of rotted floor seems to be just the very edge, like the last inch or two where it's under the frame. So I'm thinking I will put in a piece about 12-14" wide, from where the banana wrap ends to the door, or possibly across the door and maybe even a little further (as the floor seems to have sagged a bit to the left of the door too). Joined to the existing floor, that should keep the shell level and be pretty solid.
Once that's all fixed up I'll trim the edges of the old belly skin section neatly and patch it with a new piece of aluminium.
I'm pretty happy about how solid the floor looks. The plywood looks good even in this area where there was water penetration. Everywhere else there's not even this level of damage.
Removed the awnings, awning poles, and the awning rails from the street side and rear (the awning fabric just tore off). There were a lot of screws holding these in place, covered in gobs of silicone that don't seem to have actually stopped it from leaking, and I forgot to charge my drill. So I removed them all by hand. Ow. I cleaned a little but it still looks dirty, but better than with two mildewed awnings covered in brown sealant for some reason. I still need to remove the awning brackets and arms, and the much bigger job of either getting the curb-side awning off or keeping it but replacing the fabric and sealing the brackets better, since it would be quite useful, and it's not as ugly as the square-tubed smaller awnings were.
Removed the circular TV antenna and decayed fridge vent cover from the roof. Also took out the chimney section that goes through the skin to patch it up - all the sealant was flaking out. I need to get a new vent cover.
Cut off the nameplates with a putty knife & hammer - got that tip from here. I have replacements for the front and back plates, but not the serial number plate. I'm not sure if I can restore it - the "International Land Yacht" lettering is completely gone (maybe it was raised, stuck-on letters?) and the paint is very faded, but I don't see how I'd repaint without ruining the trailer & bicycle logo. I could mask the rest. Need to clean the area where they'll go, drill the new nameplates to fit the holes, and seal & re-rivet.
Replaced the worn chrome/brass doorknob with a cheap stainless steel one for now. I'll probably put a chrome knob on when it's polished.
Replaced the door catch. Of course, the new doorknob means it won't catch anymore. Oh well, it's indoors for now so I can wait to fix that.
Removed the original extending TV antenna. It's very cool, I like it, but I wouldn't ever use it and I like the look of the front without it. I cleaned under the brackets a bit and filled the holes with Olympic rivets. Hopefully when it's all cleaned and polished you won't be able to tell it was ever there.
Took off the propane bottles so I can wirebrush and POR-15 the hitch section. Turns out I do have a Reese dual-cam weight-distributing & anti-sway hitch - I just need bars and the ball-mount parts for the truck. Since I don't actually have a truck, this can wait.
Removed the porch light. This was original, but the lens was broken and I couldn't find a new one. So I'm going to get the one that V.T.S. sells instead.
Removed the taillight lenses. I'm going to get LED taillights of the same size. Not quite as stylish, but they'll work (much) better. You can hardly see the taillights right now.
Took off the license plate bracket, which was corroded and all the rubber was shot. I believe identical replacements are available so I need to get one.
Removed another window (the one over the dresser) and removed the damaged window stripping, and the old bulb seal. Getting the window off the hinge was a huge pain so I didn't put it back on yet. I still want to get tempered glass for all the windows anyway.
The back window was replaced with plexiglass and installed with silicone sealant. Yuck. I cut out the plexiglass and removed most of the silicone by abusing a screwdriver in the slot, but I will probably need to use solvent to get all of it out.
I did one 20" edge of bulb seal on one window before deciding that A) that was a lot like hard work and B) it could probably wait because C) I bet I could sucker one of my friends into doing it for me.
On the inside:
Took out the overhead cabinets over the kitchen (both sides) and the cabinet face from the overhead cabinets over the front window. These are to go home for repair and refinishing, and while I paint the interior, and OK, just to get them out of the way. That leaves only one to remove, the one over the dresser in the back, but to get that out I think I need to cut through some inaccessible screws.
Took out the cooker fan in that process. It doesn't work anyway. I'm going to look for a stainless-steel replacement, but I haven't thrown this one out yet.
Removed all the window openers (3 need replacing - 2 are stripped, one is too small for the location and really hard to turn) so I can take out the windows.
A busy day (this was Sunday). I'm happy with the trailer's new location in a warehouse - NOBODY else around, miles from anyone who could complain, a nice flat concrete floor, and good, bright overhead lighting. It's not quite my own personal workshop space, but it's close. If anyone in the bay area is interested, I can put you in contact with the guy renting it - maybe we could even get a better deal than the $300 for 30'x12' for a bigger, shared area. Actually since there's nothing around me for about 100 feet in every direction, and nobody else there, when I'm working I can pretty much use as much space as I want as long as it's cleared back into my assigned space at the end of the day. (That's not by explicit consent of the management, but I don't think they care as long as I clean up and keep paying my rent - I am explicitly allowed to be working there though.) I can also pull my car right up to the trailer which is handy, and there's 24 hour access. There's supposed to be electricity, but right now I'm just running a long extension cord since I don't need it to be on when I'm not there. Of course, it's in San Leandro, not the center of the universe, but there's a Home Depot and Wal-Mart (and mostly importantly, STARBUCKS) right around the corner.
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