Both Kilz and BIN (what I used) happen to be shellac based. I have used them for other types of projects and feel that they stick pretty well. Shellac based primers are also great for painting over stains and for covering over smoke damage. I like the fact that it dries very quickly. I was able to start putting on a second coat immediately after I finished the first coat. I guess time will tell if I made a good choice.
Your trailer is looking great. You really did a great job on your back lights. My inside canisters were really rusted and I did not feel like rebuilding them. I went and purchased Lights that look like the originals at Norther tool. I put those in and will use them for now. Eventually I want to put the orginals back in.
I had this company make my black tank. I took a picture and made a CAD drawing with dimensions to send to them. They made a new tank with better plastic. It arrived in a couple of weeks. They were great! Check out the site.
Dad and I finally got the last of the walls in Saturday. A chore I am very happy to have completed.
Sunday, we decided to tackle the Air Conditioner. It was working when we bought the camper, but the electrics have been disconnected since we ripped out the interior. Rounded up all the pieces/parts, hooked it up and voila! COLD air! We let it run for about 6 hours yesterday afternoon and into last night and it worked beautifully.
There's still work to do on it, however. This is the orignal Armstrong AC unit that came with the Airstream from the factory (or appears to be). The compressor has been replaced at some time in the past (early 1990's?) The plenum needs to be cleaned very well and the insulation in there needs to be replaced (think smelly old stuff). The inner cooling coils are very dirty. The way these things are designed, it's almost impossible to keep dirt and dust out of those coils--the filter is very poor.
Does anybody know to clean these coils? I know the pro's use spray type solvents to get in there, but those cleaners are not available unless you are licensed. I've already tried the garden hose method. Didn't do any good at all.
Jim
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What is that line from "Miracle on 34th Street"? Something like "Maybe he's only a little crazy, like those men in Washington."
I used full-strength Purple Stuff in a spray bottle. Sprayed it on, let is sit for a while, hosed it out with the garden hose set to "heavy stream", then blew it all out with compressed air. Obviously something on the floor to catch runoff is a must.
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Terry Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine
AIR#2611
There used to be a Mother's 'Mag' Wheel cleaner that contained some mild organic acids that would break up aluminum oxide crystals and leave bare bright aluminum but that may be very hard to find - and etching aluminum to clean it reduces the life expectancy, that's the hitch with the commercial foaming coil cleaners. I've seen mismatched chemical cleaning lay low hundreds of evaporator coils but mostly that is from the techs not TIMING the application and rinsing after 10, 20 or 30 seconds...
I've heard techs recommend 409 spray cleaner for cleaning lightly soiled coils, but for ancient ugly cooling fins I've used spray oven cleaner which worked well to brighten up the metal - which I immediately water washed off and then neutralized with Coca-Cola (for the phosphoric acid). Never apply the hydroxide cleaner to a dry coil, hose it down well and spray on and let stand for 10 or 20 seconds then water wash off...
I actually had a tech recommend the 409 thing. I'm probably going to try one of the less "toxic" cleaners first. The purple stuff, 409 or a product that I happen to have in the garage called "Krud Kleaner". I'll post back how it goes. Complete with pictures, right?
Jim
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What is that line from "Miracle on 34th Street"? Something like "Maybe he's only a little crazy, like those men in Washington."
Something I've been meaning to do and don't think I've done yet. Here is how the wiring for the stereo is laid out: http://www.airforums.com/forums/574843-post16.html just in case anybody needs that for a '73.
Jim
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What is that line from "Miracle on 34th Street"? Something like "Maybe he's only a little crazy, like those men in Washington."
I hope I get the opporunity to see your trailer some day. I have decided to upgrade the stereo and the vents in mine. After putting the fantastic fan in this last week I have decided to do the other two vents. I wil have this up and running by July. I will take mine for a ride next Monday. I haven't pulled a travel trailer before. This will be a learning experience.
I got my vulkem in today which gives me the opportunity to secure the hot water heater.
... After putting the fantastic fan in this last week I have decided to do the other two vents. ... Brian
Brian, I've got two Fantastic Fans in my Overlander and Sovereign, at either end, and it's a toss-up whether more than one is needed. I removed the center vent and sealed the vent opening in both of them. In my Safari I did something similar, but only one Fantastic Fan. I've found that it's a good thing to have a couple of vent openings for passive cooling, but when you turn the fan on, close the other vent(s) and let the fan pull air in through the windows. So a third vent opening seems a little superfluous--maybe not the right answer for the south, but seems to work well out here in the dry west.
Sounds like progress. Good for you. Did you use the existing holes in the walls and structure? I am wounding how it all aligned after rebuilding so much.
I'm hoping to get the back floor out this weekend - the typical back-end sage=rotten floor.
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Master of the Tin-Can and thats not saying much
Jim & Susan
If you have time , could you call me. I am removing floor and may not be doing it right. When I put in temporary 3/4 ply some slide right in, others I have to beat in with a hammer.I also guess I should be using Jack stands and do not know where to put them on my 74....Lee
Last edited by overlander63; 06-13-2008 at 07:30 PM.
Sounds like progress. Good for you. Did you use the existing holes in the walls and structure? I am wounding how it all aligned after rebuilding so much.
I'm hoping to get the back floor out this weekend - the typical back-end sage=rotten floor.
I'm using all the original holes and wall structure. I'm very pleased to report that everything lines back up. We were concerned that things wouldn't line up well because the trailer her been moved a few times and, as you suggest, all that twisting, pulling and tugging from the resto.
There was one small problem, however. In a couple of spots, the wall semed to all of a sudden be "too long" once all the rivets were put back. Let me if I can explain that a little bit...
Jim
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What is that line from "Miracle on 34th Street"? Something like "Maybe he's only a little crazy, like those men in Washington."
As we "clecoed" the sheets back in, a few of them didn't want to fit flush at the bottom, next to the floor, even tho everything else lined up properly. What we did was trim off a small piece of the wall at the bottom. No more than about 1/8" needed to be trimed. This normally occured where two pieces of the new floor butted up to one another. It looks like the basic problem was that either 1) the new floor didn't fit as flush to the frame as the old floor did, or 2) all that POR-15 on the frame and epoxy on the new floor threw the measurements off by just a bit.
If that isn't clear, maybe I can get a couple of pics to illustrate.
Jim
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What is that line from "Miracle on 34th Street"? Something like "Maybe he's only a little crazy, like those men in Washington."
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