'96 Excella Upgrades

[sander17]

We decided to do a few upgrades to our 10 year old 28 ft Excella. The biggest part of the project was a reconfiguration of the "living room" area.
First, a photo of "before"

[sander17]

The Dometic Refrigerator broke the hinge on the lower door. The first photo is of my temporary fix with a strap of steel and a couple of sheet metal screws. The second is the much better looking solution, a whole new lower door. The hinge was part of a large piece of plastic forming the whole door frame.

[sander17]

After many years listening to the hummm of Univolts, it was time to upgrade to a power converter that was designed in the LATTER half of the 20th century. On our previous Airstream, I had to lift the beast out once to replace the two blown capacitors. What a monster! Goodbye Mr. Buzzy, Hello to a WFCO 3-stage converter.

[sander17]

The original Thetford plastic toilet was showing its age, so a Sealand Traveler Lite was in order. We chose the Sealand based on such good reviews on the forum.

[sander17]

Since the gaucho (jacknife sofa) was going to be moved to the streetside wall, I needed to cover up the Univolt and the two battery boxes. The first photo shows them after the carpet was removed and the gaucho shifted. The others show the fabrication of the red oak box (plywood and left-over solid from other projects).

[sander17]

We wanted better seating than the single floating chair, so I built a dinette style bench, once again with oak plywood and solids. I stained it with Minwax red oak stain and finished it with oil based polyurethane. The seat and the back are removeable, with cabinet magnets to hold them. This gives good hidden storage without a visible door.

[sander17]

A local manufacturer, Launstein Hardwood Floors, sells 3/8" thick hardwood flooring in several different widths. I have installed several of these floors in two houses, so I was familiar with the technique and had the necessary tools. The boards come pre-sanded and are attached with 18ga pin nails and construction adhesive.
The 96 Excella had an oak hardwood floor already in the kitchen area. It measured 5/8" above the main plywood floor. So, the first step was to install 1/4" underlayment everywhere. Unlike the other "nominal" thicknesses of plywood at Home Depot (which are typically 1/32" off the correct thickness), the 1/4" was actually 1/4" thick.

[sander17]

The floor went quickly. The only tough part was running the furnace, eating up lots of propane, to keep everything at greater than 60 degrees. The two photos show the floor, pre-stain and after the Minwax red oak stain was applied.

[sander17]

I put down 4 coats of Fabulon oil based satin finish polyurethane for floors. It is the finish recommended by the flooring manufacturer. With the long drying time, it is tough to get it to dry without dust landing in the wet poly. I may switch to water based floor poly next time. I'll have to do some tests first.

[sander17]

Since we removed the old Airstream folding tables, I needed a new one between the gaucho and the new bench. Back to Home Depot for more oak plywood. For a removeable support, I used a marine table mount manufactured by Todd and sold by West Marine. The local store did not stock them, but the warehouse shipped it for free within a couple of days. (Sorry about the orientation of the first photo)

[sander17]

The old upholstery on the gaucho was showing its age, and we needed new cushions for the bench and the box covering the WFCO converter and the battery boxes. So after being turned down by several custom upholsterers (You want cushions for a trailer???), we finally found one in a nearby town who would do the job. She recovered the gaucho and made the new cushions with the bottom covered with vinyl (we have a 5-year old). This allows us to flip them over during major potential spill times.

[sander17]

As you can see from the above photo, I need to fabricate a wood panel to cover the end of the gaucho, where you can see the side of the drawer. At some time, I would like to refinish the kitchen floor to match the new.

BUT FIRST! TIME TO GO CAMPING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[doorgunner]

Nice, I like a personal touch inside! Nothing like a full time dinnette! DG

[05ModPod]

Gishhhhh I'm tired just looking at all that work! and fabulous work I might ad - had the pleasure of seeing it in person....

What a great job and so much more functional than the couch and side table. That so many Airstreams have.

If you get tired of the big square table, with your skill you could muster drop leafs in the future - you know for when the Rivettes arrive and want the table to be their cocktail table instead of the full game board or meal table. But it is a table to die for for little Sam I could see lego masterpieces being built!

How about that hydraulic post the movie guy from Sahara is getting now that would be cool for Sam - while M & D are getting dinner ready he can lower the table to play height.

The spot beside the couch lends itself for an extra cupboard and counter.

Great job Dave!

[Happycampers]

Hello... love the setup for the front.. we are trying to figure out what we will do.. looks GREAT... you have inspired us...

[sander17]

Thanks to everyone for the nice comments!

[michelle50]

wow! I am new to this and what a beautiful job you did! We can't wait to get started on these projects ourselves. Busy enough just cleaning it up.:-) thanks for these photos.

[HankO]

Sander,

I too broke the lower door hinge on my dometic frig. It apparently came unlocked while traveling and the door whip opened and broke the plastic hinge. My question: Does the whole bottom door have to be replaced or can I just by the hinge. If I have to buy the door where do I purchase it and at what cost?

Thanks,

HankO

[sander17]

HankO,
I found that I had to replace the whole lower door. The fake wood panel came out easily for re-installation in the new door. I found a replacement door at one of the RV parts places in Elkhart, IN. I do not remember which one, but if you search for dometic parts, it should be easy to find one. If I remember right, it was around $200. Ouch.
Sander17