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MsRivet · 03-18-2019, 06:10 AM

The RIVETS are sending waves of well wishes your way for a speedy recovery. Sounds like you got this one and are on the mend now. Take it easy even after you think all is well. Slow the roll! The trailer will wait and will be there when when you are fully recovered. And no snow shoveling either! LOL

Camper Crazy · 03-18-2019, 05:01 PM

Just wanted to chime in. Hello from Alberta. We too, have had a great bunch of snow, but it feels like spring today. I found your journal yesterday and have enjoyed following your restoration journey. I am restoring/refurbishing a 72 outlander. Your tambour door entry caught my eye. I have had to repair most of the upper tambours, but the one door you replaced, is one that I have to figure out a way to repair. The uppers are pretty straight forward, the lowers not so much. My question for you is, did you have to take the side panel off (near the entry door) to install the new tambour?
So sorry to hear of your back troubles, nothing worse than parts not working when you are full steam ahead on a project.

dbj216 · 03-18-2019, 07:16 PM

Hello Camper Crazy: Thanks for looking over my project thread. There are many better ones here on Air Forums in the Knowledgebase, and in the Overlander model name.

Horizontal tambour doors are problematic. I think parts settle while towing, or someone spills pancake syrup down the front of one, or they get kicked, or someone sits on the galley countertop. Who knows. I do know Airstream did not provide the necessary rigidity to maintain the correct alignment of horizontal tambour doors. I have improved mine, I think.

I took the galley countertop off, then pulled the galley cabinet front off. It is made of some nifty aluminum extrusions. Then I had easy access to the tambour "box" where the spirals are located. It would be hard to remove just the side panel without moving the galley cabinet front. But it would give access to the tambour box. Here is a photo of the tambour box (right side) I took with the galley cabinet front "on the bench", not in the trailer.

David

blackbear · 03-18-2019, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dbj216

My Overlander has a 7 pin receptacle on the front of the trailer. So you plug the umbilical cord in to the trailer, and then into the tow vehicle. I have never seen such an arrangement before. You can take your umbilical with you into the restaurant. Hang it around your neck like a snake. I feel it doubles the chance of trouble due to a loose connection or corrosion in one of the plugs. My old 66 and our 86 are hard wired in to the trailer.

So I aim to hard wire the 75 Overlander 7 pin umbilical cord in the same way. This trailer has 12v circuit breakers on many of the 7 circuits from the tow vehicle to the trailer. They are 1. brake lights, 2 tail lights, 3 turn signals, 4 brakes, 5 marker lights, 6 back up lights, 7 battery charging, and ground wire. I believe these are old fashioned "thermo"style breakers than open when the element gets hot from an overloaded circuit. Then they close back up when they cool down. I much prefer fuses as they go open and stay open until you find the problem.

Most tow vehicles have fuse protection on the 7 pin circuits too.

Do I need circuit protection for the exterior trailer lights? Are fuses adequate? Has anyone else eliminated the trailer plug and hard wired the umbilical cord to the trailer?

David

Great to catch up on your forum David, some serious progress on your end as well. That's funny you mentioned the snake in one of your early posts, I have the exact same arrangement on my 75 Overlander. Hope the back is back to normal soon and keep up the great work!!!

dbj216 · 03-18-2019, 08:23 PM

Hi Daddy blackbear: My "snake" has been made obsolete. But that's not to say I can't still wear it around my neck in the campground just to look cool. Folks would say: "Hey look, that idiot must own one of those goofy Airstreams."

Thanks for looking over my project thread. Maybe my trials and tribulations will save you a bit of grief somewhere along the line.

My back is improving. I'm still on "light duty work". No snow shoveling, no going to the gym, no picking up the grandson, no picking up the beagle (fat), no picking up a softener salt bag, and no installing the new axles under my trailer for a while. But I can now pick myself up off the floor, and I can drive now. Some progress anyways.

I gotta fully recover before our planned spring trip. Do you know how important a strong back is while out traveling. Let's see: pick up and install a 65 pound hitch, crank up the weight bars, rotate tires, load the air compressor, load the generator, load the tool boxes, load up propane tanks for filling and then put them on the A frame, torque lug nuts, reach up and pull the awning down, move a picnic table, and what else? I can't do those things right now.

David

Jeremy9107 · 03-18-2019, 11:49 PM

Looking real nice. Glad you figured out the mystery of the tambour. I could never quite get those things to open consistently. Probably got all the reasons you mentioned.

dbj216 · 03-19-2019, 07:15 PM

It is nice to get back to the Overlander after about two weeks "medical leave". I'm getting stronger.

I screwed down the galley sink cabinet finally. I wonder what I forgot to do under there. I hope not much, otherwise it is coming out again.

The "new" off color horizontal tambour door works good, as well as the other one. As I fussed with the cabinet alignment, the tambour would start to bind. I did have to relieve some stress to get the tambour working easily again. Maybe horizontal tambour doors are too fussy for the "flexible flyer" Airstream construction practices.

With the horizontal tambour doors open, there is easy access to the new shelf under the sink, as well as the storage at floor level. I made the new shelves pretty easy to take out for easy access to the pump in case of trouble.

I also reinstalled the "cutting board" in the cabinet. It is tied nicely to the wall and helps add rigidity to the cabinet. I also have some drawer assemblies to install that Airstream provided for silverware and cooking utensils.

My Overlander is the Airstream of many colors. But they seem to coordinate pretty well. A person can sit on the gaucho and see how many different colors he can find looking around.

I have to make the new countertop next. I also have foam to cut and cushions to make.

David

dbj216 · 03-24-2019, 06:36 PM

Airstream provided a set of drawers for under the sink cabinet. There is one in the upper right corner for silverware. And there are two in this nifty cabinet that fits under the cooktop. It likely is used for cooking utensils, at least we will.

My friend's 76 Sovereign has the same thing, but his is three drawers instead of just two.

This drawer cabinet is very nicely made by Airstream. Yep, held together by aluminum pieces and built very light weight.

I elected to lower the big shelf location as I figured the top shelf provides easier access. The bottom area on the floor will be for little used items. Then I elected to raise the drawer cabinet to the bottom of the cutting board just to save some space. I have room for a third drawer now just like the Sovereign. It also nicely provides a "wall" for the other half of the cabinet so stuff doesn't move around too much while towing.

Easy light duty work. But another item off the list.

David

dbj216 · 03-27-2019, 06:11 PM

I'm doing "light duty work" while my back heals up. It takes 6 to 8 weeks to heal. I'm in week 5. So take it easy David, the belly pan can wait.

I hung the lower curtain guides in the bedroom, both curb and street side. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I got to work with yet another unique aluminum extrusion Airstream made for this. My wife's 86 Limited has a similar lower curtain guide aluminum extrusion. It keeps the curtains inline with the curved body, and it provides a track for a piece of formica trim.

I bet this part cost a pretty penny to make. I bet a SOB box camper would use a piece of plastic.

Here is a photo. I just know you will giggle with delight like I did.

David

Jeremy9107 · 03-27-2019, 11:16 PM

David your comments are making me begin to appreciate the aluminum pieces. Do your rails cause curtains to stick a bit? Mine are similar to yours and recall it being difficult to open and close. Have read to use silicone spray or bees wax

chrisetmike · 03-28-2019, 03:34 PM

Hey David
Glad to see you on the mend. Your" light duty" work looks nice. You are progressing and healing, that is all that matters!

dbj216 · 03-28-2019, 06:38 PM

Hi Jeremy: Those narrow curtain guides are a problem. It is a bit like tambour doors. The track must be wide enough and no burrs, dents, bends or dirt anywhere so the plastic curtain guides slide easily. I think silicone lube would help a bit.

I'm mostly being silly with all the extrusion posts. But after a career in manufacturing, designing and making all those different extrusion shapes in an effort to keep the trailer lightweight impresses me.

chrisetmike: Thanks for the well wishes. I read 80% of us humans will end up with some type of lower back injury. Let's face it, lower backs are just a bad design. My Overlander looks nothing like your finely crafted piece. Actually, Jeremy's wood end caps, mid bath, and gauchos look pretty nice too. Mine is just the original stuff spruced up a bit. The wife thinks it is quite boring, no pazazz.

David

dbj216 · 03-28-2019, 06:50 PM

I decided to cut the foam we ordered to size and see what the twin beds might look like. The foam we ordered is a good density grade and just right firmness.

You might recall I elected to raise the sleeping surface about 6" more in line with modern bed heights. The sleeping surface is now about 30" off the floor. I also made the beds wider to 36" from the original 28" or so.

I think the modified beds will be just fine. And I can still get into the rear bath even though I infringed on the pocket door space. Luckily my feet are much narrower than my butt. Gotta keep the butt to the right. The toilet is on that side anyway, so no wasted movements. With that, entry into the bathroom works good enough.

You can kinda see the aluminum lower curtain rod now only about 8" above the mattress. But still plenty of sleeping room with the 36" mattress width.

Ah, time for a nap.

David

Jeremy9107 · 03-29-2019, 12:01 AM

David the extra width on the bed I think was wise. I went the same route on the gauchos. I don't know why but when I camp I sleep restlessly, on high alert I guess. The extra eight inches accommodates the tossing and turning.

dbj216 · 03-29-2019, 07:13 PM

Thanks. The wider beds are more comfortable. I'm usually pretty tired while traveling in the Airstream and crash hard. I don't worry much as the beagle barking keeps the bears away.

David

dbj216 · 04-01-2019, 05:49 PM

I sawed up a slab of 3/4" plywood and fitted the faucet, sink and cooktop to it. The sink drains matched up well. The cooktop is smaller giving a bit more counter space.

I discovered a slight interference of the window latch to the faucet. This is due to the new faucet being larger in diameter than the old one. The window latch will be a bit clumsy to use. Not the greatest, but functional.

The countertop will be a son of a gun to attach to the wall and galley cabinet. I wish I was a contortionist. I need to take up Yoga.

First I have to take delivery of the formica covering and get that glued down as well as make the back splash pieces. We're going with an off white instead of the off red the original countertop had. That decision is above my labor grade.

Keep it going...

David

Joyflea · 04-01-2019, 07:16 PM

Yoga , not sure if I am ready to see you in those stretch pants . LOL I know I could not get in them . Nice work on top . Blue

dbj216 · 04-01-2019, 07:36 PM

Stretch pants? Bib overalls are more to my liking.

my3sonsdad · 04-01-2019, 09:12 PM

“Overall Yoga” ... now there’s a mega trend just waiting to happen!

Looking good!

dbj216 · 04-02-2019, 06:58 PM

We could make a U Tube of old retired geezers doing Yoga poses in their bibs. I'm sure it would be a hit. A little straw and hog manure on the boots would add an "organic, all natural" slant to the show.

I finally felt strong enough to lay on the creeper and begin some initial activities related to the belly pan install. All went well with my back not complaining about it. It will be my 4th belly pan install. It's not fun anymore.

David