1976 Overlander

[Seabloom]

I know I am one year out, but there isn't a 76 thread. We bought our trailer in November 2014 and took it out for the first trip this past weekend. We live in Vancouver BC, I really appreciate all of the comments and post that people put on this forum.

So far to date I have done the following:

Completed to date:
1. New Shocks (3 hrs first one, 15 min each other three some tricks for sure)
2. Painted all frame work with POR15 (awesome paint for steel that is rusted)
3. Cleaned tire and wheels
4. Re-painted all skirting under the blue trim line and clear coated, previous owner did this originally so I made it look new again.
5. Fixed oven and stove gas fittings
6. Located 12V short in old antenna booster (Rogers Wireless hated me, it created serious interference with cell signals)
7. Fixed 40 year old plumbing in kitchen and bathroom faucets (thank you to my sister who is a journeyman plumber, bathroom faucet was 5 mins cartridge install instead of 4 hr faucet change)
8. Repaired all interior lighting and 12 volt fans
9. Repaired catalytic heater
10. Re-certified propane tanks (aluminum tanks are awesome)
11. Replaced furnace and catalytic heater thermostat
12. Clean out water system
13. Built an LED porch light out of an old blue bin recycling can
14. Painted all of the hitch, equalizer bars
15. replaced the breakaway switch and re-wired it.
16. Repaired all exterior clearance lights
17. Install recently purchased 2 x 6v batteries
18. Install new main door seal
19. Unplugged pilot light orifice for hot water tank
20. Installed all new curtains
21. Repainted rear external brake/turn light fixture
22. Removed/repainted A/C Cover, took out an old birds nest at the same time.

Left to do:
1. Sand and repaint blue pin stripping
2. Reseal roof vents
3. Strip some wall paper
4. Bathroom and kitchen updating
5. dinette conversion (maybe)
6. The dreaded strip and polish
7. Replace vista view windows
8. Fix main door latch (covered by PO with a plate)

[Seabloom]

Photos Attached

[ScoobyShack]

Your new Overlander looks great, and you are getting so many good things done on it, quite a list. Post up some pics of the interior when you can, love to see where you are with fixing it up.

Never understood why the Overlander section stops at 1975.


David

[Seabloom]

Attached are the recent interior photos.

Does anyone else have this same kitchen layout. Almost all of the other ones we see, have either the wall oven or a double sink with a curved countertop.

Does anyone know what the doorbell switch in the bathroom is for? It looks original but have no idea of its purpose.

[OilnH2o]

Originally Posted by Seabloom

Attached are the recent interior photos.

Does anyone else have this same kitchen layout. Almost all of the other ones we see, have either the wall oven or a double sink with a curved countertop.

We have a similar layout in the kitchen, although we do not have the storage/spice rack behind the stove and where it appears you have a mirror we have a microwave and paper towel bar. Same brown formica, though. And, it appears you have a shelf on the street side wall by the refrigerator - our wall does not have that. Where you have a magazine rack - on the left as you come in from outside, we have a catalytic heater, although it appears it was an add-on by a PO. We do have a flip-up counter extension right above the sliding door, though.

We have twin beds in the center, but from your pictures we have a similar rear bath. But, it appears our linen cabinet in the bath is taller - ours is about 5' tall - maybe it is just the angle of your picture. And, we have the same '70's "pop-art" flowered wallpaper. Is that (above your floor) a reddish-rust colored indoor outdoor carpet in the bathroom below the sink? If so, we've got that too. Have you found your hamper?

Door bell switch? Don't know about that at all...

[Seabloom]

The bathroom shot is a little deceiving, the reddish brown that you see is the wall under the sink. We have wood laminate on the whole floor.

We have a microwave in the upper pantry cupboard next to the fridge.

Catalytic heater on ours is on the driver side just ahead of the fridge. you can just see the grate in the kitchen photo. It works well, I spoke to the CAT manufacture in Washington State, he was really helpful. I looked at a 74 ish Tradewind that had the Cat heater where our magazine rack is, possible it came factory that way. The Tradewind version had no external exhaust vent. Ours has a small power vent (fan) for the exhaust.

The shelf was supposedly a TV shelf.

I haven't found any hamper? Where is it hiding?

[shineybullet]

How are your axels ? Do they need to be replaced ? Mine were in bad shape from just setting around in storage

[Seabloom]

I plan to do the axles next year. When fully loaded the axle arm is about parallel with the road. The brakes and bearings are in good shape, so my plan was to run the trailer one year. See what other things need work that I haven't even thought of.

I contacted a truck and trailer supply company in Bellingham that can get the dexter axles. I think I will go that route as having a local supplier should be helpful.

When you say bad shape, did they not carry the weight, or were they stiff? I know mine flex back, because I had to pre-load them individually with a jack to fit the new shocks on.

[Earl123]

Where did you find the vista view windows? My 76 needs 3

[Seabloom]

I haven't found them yet. they are a "to-do" still a long way off. They don't leak, but they look horrible. Was going to try a glass shop re-build.

[Ultradog]

What is wrong with your Vista Views?
I was able to remove the glass and plastic lenses in my 75 without much trouble.
Then I cleaned all the old vulkem off the frame, tossed the inner plastic lens and used a razor blade to remove the silver coating on the glass lens.
Then I siliconed the glass lens back in.
12 years now and no leaks or problems.

[Seabloom]

Vista Views are hazy and have condensation in between the panes. I think they are repairable at some point. Did you have to remove the inner skins, or did you drill them out from the outside and then use Olympic rivets to re-install?

[OilnH2o]

Originally Posted by Seabloom

I haven't found any hamper? Where is it hiding?

Take a look behind your toilet - is there a flip up "shelf" that is covered with the same pop-art wall vinyl? If so, it should flip up and hinge in the back. The hamper is a Airstream-tagged cloth bag that is fitted to the area and has snaps around the top and snaps in and can be un-snapped and pulled out. If my AS was here I'd go take a picture but it's in storage. Our PO only found it when they were cleaning the trailer to sell and just before we came to pick it up. They were as surprised as we were - and they owned it for more than 12 years!

Still don't know what you are talking about when you say a door bell is back there, though.

Oh, the vista views - the way ultradog is talking about only works for models up to 1975. We - those with '76 models have a different version which requires either drilling out or breaking the (glass) inner window and just doing without the double-pane. The difference besides the glass/acrylic inner window is 1976 and newer did not have a snap-ring on the interior side to access the whole area.

[Earl123]

Thank you very much for these replies! I assumed this was a hermetically sealed window--curved to boot. Thus, extremely expensive to have made/replace.
Another reply to your response defines a difference between 75's and 76's. I believe I will break the inner window and clean the outer window.
I am grateful to you-all

[onelisab]

I have a 1976 Overlander. Purchased her in September of this year. Her interior is in excellent condition. Exterior is great for a 40 year old. I would love to start a thread for the 1976 Overlanders. I never see much on them. We live in North West Texas.

[OilnH2o]

Nice looking rig! I like the "TEXAS" touch - makes it stand out.

THIS thread is the closest - maybe a Mod will do what is necessary to add it to the list. I know there are "1976" questions scattered through the 1975 thread - but this is about the closest there is to a stand-alone thread. There are 1977 questions scattered throughout as well.

One reason for a '76 thread is the visit-view window issue, discussed above in this thread. The "easy" vista view window fix (see Panama Red's great discussion http://www.airforums.com/forums/f454...ign-96251.html) stops with the 1975 Overlanders... for ours they made them virtually unfixable without deconstructing or breaking it.

Yet, I tried hard to talk the DW into a 2001 30' slide-out that was in absolutely super condition and a great price... and she said, "I like our Overlander!" So, looks like I'm here for the long-haul.

A stand-alone thread might generate more interest in sharing about the differences beyond 1975 - are there others like the vista-view windows? I don't know... but I'll bet there are.

Maybe a Mod can do something...

[Mixter]

Im in. '76 Overlander here.

[dennis3751]

Can a '76 Ambassador join??

Dennis

[onelisab]

We love our Overlander. I would say that 97.9% of her is original. There are a few things we are working on but no major issues. Except 1. Well really there are 2.


1.
Humming from the converter drives me insane.
It is 24/7 hummm that seems to get louder and louder and louder. I kid you not. I told my husband that we were going to get kicked out of the park we were camping in because of
our hummmmmming. My ears hurt from this hummmmm. Anyway, we have been told it is the converter and there is nothing we can do about it. Seriously? Nothing? Surely if we replace the converter, the hummmmm will go away. My dreams of sweet dreams have been turned into nightmares of hummmmmimg. Maybe the mechanic we took her too was deaf?

2.
There is water on the floor in our rear bath. We thought it was coming from the water heater.
So she went into the shop. After testing, pressuring up and more testing, the doctor could not find the leak. So, therefore, he could not find where the “leak” was coming from. We decided it was a one time leak so off we went. As soon as we set up camp, behold, water on the floor. The floor inside the cabinet that holds the water tank was soaking wet and it was creeping onto the bathroom floor around the commode. Could this be a commode leak? How do we check?

I love this forum and I love my Overlander.
Lisa onelisab
27 FT. OVERLANDER DOUBLE REAR BATH
(International Land Yacht)

[Seabloom]

Hi Lisa,

In regards to your items I can offer the following:

1. The previous owner of my trailer switched the old Univolt to a multi stage converter/charger. It is quiet and efficient. On my layout to do this you have to remove the stove/oven to access the area behind the kitchen cabinet. Having that upgraded multi-stage converter is a real treat.

2. I thought I would get creative one day and fill my black water tank full then drain it, not sure what liquor made me think that would be a good idea. I ended up overfilling the tank and the seal at the floor leaked wonderful black water into my bathroom. This could only happen though if your tank was really full.

Possibility number 2, I used to have a truck box slide in 9 ft camper. In that unit everytime I first fired up the propane hot water tank I would have to leave the hot water kitchen faucet open to relieve initial pressure. The pressure relief valve worked just fine on the tank so no idea why piping would leak when the system was initially heated. After the first cycle each trip it wouldn't leak again, only the initial fire up. It would be worth checking...

Good luck.