Excella is full of Surprises!

[Lance M]

Originally Posted by bwoodtx

Top,

I know you are multi-talented, but how do you hold the bucking bar in one hand and the gun in the other?

Very carefully!

[Mr & Mrs S]

Originally Posted by Top

JS,
Here is what I bought from VTS. You can find all the necessary things on ebay as well. Here is a link to some other goodies.

Thanks for the info Top.

[Mr & Mrs S]

Well its been a long day today. I got the end cap in the barn and got it taped off and primed. It will be ready for the final coat in the morning after everything warms up.




After I got the end cap primed, I decided to go ahead and put the new blue rub railing at the bottom of the AS. Made a huge difference in the the apperance of the trailer.



As soon as I finished up with that Mrs. S came in from her new job she just started and wanted to celebrate her new job by going out to eat. So after our dinner date we decided to swing by Home Depot since its 60 miles from our home and we were in the neighbor hood. Mrs. S picked out her flooring. She decided on Allure Blonde Maple Resililent Plank Flooring by Traffic Master. And since Best Buy was near by I swung throungh and picked up and new Alpine CD player to replace the old tape deck player mounted in the end cap. ( It was time for an update)



So Im sure to be really busy tomorrow and we are getting really excited being so close to being able to use or AS. Only bad thing is Im running out of time to work on it due to the fact I have to leave Sunday to head back to work.

But were getting there one day at a time. As Ive said before and will say again:

Rome wasnt built in a day!

[Lance M]

Mr. S,
Lookin' good. Congrats to Mrs. S on the new employ! The end cap will look great when you are done. The blue insert looks nice too. Did you have to use the sledge hammer to get it in?

[Mr & Mrs S]

Originally Posted by Top

Mr. S,
Lookin' good. Congrats to Mrs. S on the new employ! The end cap will look great when you are done. The blue insert looks nice too. Did you have to use the sledge hammer to get it in?

Well after nearly 10 years in the Oil and Gas Industry, I tend to solve all my problems with a sledge hammer. When I was posting that pic last night I knew someone would catch the hammer in the shot.

Mrs. S says thank you very much for her Congrats. ( She is very excited)
Im very proud of her, shes spent many years in college and waited for this day.

Now only if I could some how figure out a way for her to come home and put all her money in my Airstream Funding Jar??????

[Mr & Mrs S]

Well yesterday I got the final coat on the end cap, but I couldnt find anyone to help me put it back in the AS. So what the heck it cant be that bad Ill just do it myself. WOW! Never Never Never put in an end cap by yourself... There was one point when I had half of it in trying to figure out my next move but couldnt let it go to stand back and see what it needed, then the UPS man come by to drop off a package and I was hollaring for him to help me but either he didnt hear me or he didnt want to hear me.

But I got it! Many bad words later and lots and lots of sweat its in and the new radio is installed and let me tell you, that AS has got a great sound system in it.

So heres the final result =

[Mr & Mrs S]

Ok need some input. My batteries in the AS have bit the dust and won't take a charge. They are Everstart Maxx and are barely two years old. Can anyone give me some advice on what a good battery for our AS would be. Something powerful and long lasting. Thanks!

[bwoodtx]

That end cap looks fantastic, mr smith. you will get all kinds of responses here about your batteries-its all personal preference. personally, I like an Interstate Group 27 deep cycle. thats what is in my excella 1000 and they have done me well. when i am home on shore power i turn off the charger(univolt) to keep from overcharging. about a week before we go camping i will turn it back on to charge up the batteries. hope this helps. oh btw, check your spoke wheels for cracks- i had cracks in two of mine

[Mr & Mrs S]

Originally Posted by bwoodtx

That end cap looks fantastic, mr smith. you will get all kinds of responses here about your batteries-its all personal preference. personally, I like an Interstate Group 27 deep cycle. thats what is in my excella 1000 and they have done me well. when i am home on shore power i turn off the charger(univolt) to keep from overcharging. about a week before we go camping i will turn it back on to charge up the batteries. hope this helps. oh btw, check your spoke wheels for cracks- i had cracks in two of mine

Thanks for your comment on the end caps. That's a bigger job than I though it would be but it's done.

I'm sure everyone has a different opinion on the best battery. My friends are pushing me towards the Optima batteries but they are really expensive.

You had cracks in the metal spoke of the rim itself? I would never think to even check that. I'll look tomorrow. Thanks for the heads up.

[LawChick]

That front floor looks good! We did our rear floor and started camping. Eventually we have to do the front but hate the idea of stopping our camping to do it. May wait until we fall through! LOL, Just kidding, figure we'll fix it before then. Wish we could just take it to someone and say, "here, replace the front floor." We've done some patching, but nothing I'd want to show anyone!

You should be very proud. Floor work looks great!

[Lance M]

Nice job on the end cap. Looks like new.
I can say that the Interstate group 27 deep cycle marine batteries are good quality. I got one in November used it for a month, drilled a hole in it in January and it still holds a charge with one cell empty. I plan on installing two AGM batteries at some point. Not sure of the brand though. Maybe Lifeline. The group 27 Lifeline is about $275. They are reported to last 7-8 years. The regular flooded cell Interstate group 27 batteries are about $85 and are reported to last 5 years. (if you don't drill a hole in it) You can replace a lot of flooded cell batteries for the price of one AGM. I'm running wires from the curb side battery compartment to the street side closet for "Future installation" of a second battery. The PO installed a new Intelli-power PD9160A charger/converter. I've read you have to have a good charger converter with AGM batteries. I believe a quality three stage charger/converter is essential to long battery life. Everything you need is available from bestconverter.com

[bwoodtx]

Mr S- Personally(jmho) I think the optima batteries are a unecessary waste of money-same with the AGM. If your univolt is working i see no reason to change it unless it fails. just take some precautions to keep from overcharging the batteries.

Wheels-the cracks were right where the spoke joined the wheel. they were 180 degrees apart. can not get wheels from airstream anymore, but southwest wheel or tredit.com have replacements. both are under 40 bucks.

hope this helps.

[thecatsandi]

Originally Posted by bwoodtx

Mr S- Personally(jmho) I think the optima batteries are a unecessary waste of money-same with the AGM. If your univolt is working i see no reason to change it unless it fails. just take some precautions to keep from overcharging the batteries.

I disagree. The Univolt should go. It charges and charges. It has no intelligence. The Intellipower and Best converters will not overcharge your betteries.
They may be other converters that are good but these are the only two I am aware of.

[Mr & Mrs S]

Originally Posted by LawChick

That front floor looks good! We did our rear floor and started camping. Eventually we have to do the front but hate the idea of stopping our camping to do it. May wait until we fall through! LOL, Just kidding, figure we'll fix it before then. Wish we could just take it to someone and say, "here, replace the front floor." We've done some patching, but nothing I'd want to show anyone!

You should be very proud. Floor work looks great!

Thanks for the comment on the floor! If you do end up taking your AS to someone to have the floor replaced, be sure to get some background on the person before they work on it. Quiz them alittle on AS's and see if they have any background with working on them. If you remember I took my to a shop and they turned my rear floor into a disaster and I had to rip it out and redo it myself.

Hope your travels have been great! Hope to catch you guys on the road one day.

[Mr & Mrs S]

Hmmm I thing the whole uniconverter, battery, on, off, charge no charge, thing is kinda confusing. Me and Mrs. S talk about it and were not going to be alot of boondocking so batteries wont be a HUGE factor so I think I'll just replace them with a decent quaility battery. THanks for everyones input.

[robwok]

Originally Posted by jsmith84

Hmmm I thing the whole uniconverter, battery, on, off, charge no charge, thing is kinda confusing. Me and Mrs. S talk about it and were not going to be alot of boondocking so batteries wont be a HUGE factor so I think I'll just replace them with a decent quaility battery. THanks for everyones input.

Having just replaced the univolt with an all in one, it makes it much easier, saves about 30 lbs, and the lights when plugged in look better. It's a good project that someone will have to do someday.

[Mr & Mrs S]

Well Ive run out of time! Im headed back to work today. Man time flies when your building an AS and having fun with the family. Were so close but yet so far. Next time I get home all thats left is laying the new floor and installing the couch and the bed. So HOPEFULLY with our fingers crossed, we will get to take the Ole AS to Lake Sam Rayburn for a test run. We were up there yesterday with the in-laws and there camper and the whole time I was there all I could think about was being up there and having my AS sitting there. Would have been the only AS in the park. Sure dont see many around here. But soon it wont be a dream.

Ok everyone, hope everyone thats traveling has safe travels and everyone working on there AS is making great progress.

Ill be back posting here in the middle of MAY!

[Lance M]

Enjoy Mr. S. Don't work too hard.

[Mr & Mrs S]

Originally Posted by Top

Enjoy Mr. S. Don't work too hard.

Thanks Top! I have to go to work to get a break if you know what I mean.

Ill be lurking around keeping an eye on things while Im away. Talented as you are and hard as you work on Abby you just might be done with her before Im done with mine. Man that would make me look bad! Good luck with Abby! Hopefully we will all be camping soon! Take care!

[Mr & Mrs S]

Well my time in Asia is coming to an end, Im finally on my way back home. While I was away I order 6 new 16'' aluminum wheels, 6 new Michelin LTX M/S tires, 4 centramatic balancers, 4 new shocks from ODMRV.com, and a new back bumper. Everything should arrive about the same time I do. Mrs. S and I sure have our fingers crossed that we get our floor laid and everything put together in time to make a 7 day test run while Im home this time. Looks like Im sure going to be busy while Im home.
Rome wasnt built in a day, but Rome also didnt have Mrs. S swinging a whip either....
Glad to be headed home and will be even happier to be working on our AS. Stay tuned Ill be posting progress soon.