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dbj216 · 01-16-2019, 07:12 PM

The polyurethane is drying on my plywood parts. Watching poly dry is no fun. So I put the three door "cabinet face" on my bench to clean it up thoroughly before assembling it. This piece is just another example of what I think is a well made 75 Airstream.

The three doors are solid particle board laminated with melamine. The doors are surrounded with a nifty aluminum extrusion. None of it has delaminated. A previous owner must have glued a pajama hook inside one of the doors. The adhesive came off with lacquer thinner and sand paper. No damage to the melamine. Photo 1

I mentioned the pantry shelves earlier. Very well made in my view.

The cabinet face frame work is built with more cool aluminum extrusions. No rotted wood here like my former 66 Trade Wind and my sons 69 Globetrotter. The extrusions hold the hinges and have 1/4" wide grooves for mounting bulkhead walls. Photo 2

The door hinges are 55" long piano hinges riveted to the extrusions. Rock solid, no sag. Photo 3

And the plastic door pulls are cleverly designed. They work smoothly and latch the doors positively. My wife's 86 Limited had traditional hinges and friction wheel/spring latches. Twice since we've owned it the doors have come open while towing, bounced around, and pulled the hinges out of the wood framework. The Overlander has better latches in my view. I'm replacing them with NOS door pulls of the correct brown color as a previous owner painted them off white and I don't like the look. Photo 4.

I read a lot about the "cheap" 70s Airstreams as compared to earlier or later vintages. I was concerned when I bought one; what am I getting into. But my experience doesn't fit that label in my view. There are a lot of well built features in my trailer. It's fun for me to learn about them.

Of course there are also "design deficiencies" in my trailer. The rear body seal is on top of the list. The plastic bath parts have lived 44 years, but they are thermo-formed plastic. The axle mounting plate is too weak. There was too much weight behind the axles due to rear bath, holding tanks, battery and 10gal water heater all riding along back there. And we worry about bumper bike racks! All the subfloor penetrations for the plumbing further weakened the floor back there. And don't get me started on big horizontal tambour doors. Nifty, but sticky. The vertical ones work okay.

All this isn't worth two cents as it is just my opinion. But it's fun to blog about it here knowing you readers are very knowledgeable on Airstream trailers. I think these 70s Airstreams can be renovated into very nice travel trailers indeed. Worth the expense and effort.

David

dbj216 · 01-19-2019, 07:30 PM

I busied myself assembling the new pantry shelves, all four of them. I mentioned earlier the original ones were very well assembled by someone at Jackson Center 44 years ago. Preciously cut, solidly riveted, and very square. Good job. The material used was about 1/8" thick laminated with melamine on both sides. I felt this was too thin for me. I'm using 1/4" MDF laminated with "real" red oak veneer. Looks okay and kinda, sorta matches the grain pattern of the original melamine.

I am moving the galley cabinet forward about 3". I saw no good reason to let the fridge sit "proud" of the galley cabinet. So I made new pantry shelves 3" longer for more storage room. Airstream for some reason left a significant space behind the pantry shelves to the interior wall. So I decided I might as well use that space too. My new shelves are considerably longer than the originals. See photo, the old one is on the right.

Airstream used this melamine as decorative trim inserted in the pantry shelf end piece extrusions. The end pieces help prevent a can of baked beans from falling off the shelf during transit. The side mounting "rails" are also aluminum extrusions riveted to the side walls. It is a very solid pantry cupboard for sure. The melamine is about 1/16" thick and quite strong. I think it is like Formica.
See photo.

New Airstreams have pull out pantry cupboards. I gave thought to this. But the cabinet face I'm reusing had doors only 11" wide covering the bulkhead walls that are spaced at 14". I can live with fixed shelves although not near as handy as pull out drawers or a whole pantry.

It doesn't look like much progress. It takes time to "design", cut, finish, "restore" the old extrusions, then assemble, space, and level the 4 shelves. I also made two new bulkhead side walls for the pantry. I don't want to mention how many hours I have in this aspect of the project.

More pantry space; book it as an improvement please.

David

Jeremy9107 · 01-20-2019, 12:21 PM

David. Nice cabinet rebuild. Lots of space in there. You gave me yet another idea, pull out shelves. Think I will try that.

I remain confused about the baffle. From your photo it looks like the back of the fridge would be blocked by it. I was thinking the baffle would be above the fridge and it's components to help direct air towards your roof vent??

dbj216 · 01-20-2019, 05:57 PM

Hello Jermey: My photo doesn't show the baffle in the fridge cabinet. I just installed it today. The baffle is nothing more than a piece of plywood approximately 1 1/2" from the back of the fridge when it is installed. The idea is to get air moving upward over the cooling fins. A good chimney has a good "draft" when we make a fire so the smoke will rise up, not drift into the house. Dometic is trying to create a good upward draft. I'll post a picture of the baffle tomorrow.

And yes, I made some little pieces to help direct air to the Airstream plastic vent. Just trying to get a good "upward draft" going.

David

dbj216 · 01-20-2019, 06:07 PM

I assembled the old cabinet face with doors to the new bulkhead walls and pantry shelves today. I don't need clamps to hold it in place anymore. It's always uplifting to see the fruits of my efforts come together a little bit. Once I had it all assembled and riveted and screwed in place, it became quite solid.

Now my overhead lockers can hold a bit more weight, the cabinet walls are new and solid, the pantry shelves are longer to hold more junk food, and the wardrobe is 6" higher for those with really long pants to hang up. Hey, and notice the new brown door latches. Better I think.

Tomorrow I hope to install the new fridge.

David

chrisetmike · 01-21-2019, 04:27 AM

You will have plenty of storage in those lockers. You did a great job. It looks nice.

dbj216 · 01-21-2019, 07:20 PM

Thank you kindly chrisetmike: That complement means a lot coming from an experienced Overlander builder like you. You know how much work it is.

I will have more storage room by closing the silly gap between the cabinet and the overhead lockers. That space wasn't very useful at all and I didn't like the look of it. I also gained the 3" or so of space by moving the cabinet face flush with the fridge. The overhead locker (cupboard for dishes) is now much better supported. However, the galley working room is 3" smaller. I don't think anyone will notice; don't ask, don't tell.

So I put the fridge in today. It is quite a job getting everything lined up. It is a tight fit and the front of the fridge must fit tightly around the "framework" of the cabinet. I'll post more about this adventure tomorrow.

David

dbj216 · 01-22-2019, 07:03 PM

I finally installed the new fridge in the new galley cabinet. This was the mission of this whole galley cabinet project. I was diligent about caulking every seam that might allow combustion exhaust to leak into the trailer. I think I got them all. I wonder if Dometic could somehow seal up the back of the fridge so all combustion fumes stay in the back of the fridge and installers only need to worry about the seal at the lower and upper vents, instead of the whole cabinet. I was thinking about a Suburban furnace being sealed up at the factory.

I added a little extra styrofoam insulation on the sides and top of the fridge as Dometic directed if there is extra room in the cabinet. My new fridge is smaller than the one I took out.

I included my "baffle box" as prescribed in the instructions, as well as a couple plywood "diverters" to expedite hot air to the roof vent.

I also finished the microwave cabinet and sealed it up likewise. I installed the planned dedicated microwave outlet, energized the circuit and all tested good.

I also have a little more exterior storage access under the fridge. I'll use one of those Wally Byam patented plastic containers as a drawer that fits under there.

Onward ..

David

Joyflea · 01-22-2019, 08:41 PM

Nice work , David . Looks really nice and built much better than AS would ever do . They could not stay in their budget .

TouringDan · 01-23-2019, 08:18 AM

David

Your fridge install looks great. I sure wish I had the nice big access that you have to the back of your fridge. The fridge access that I have in my Tradewind is way to small.

Dan

Minno · 01-23-2019, 10:25 AM

There was a hole in the floor of our frig cavity by the wall to draw in fresh air for our frig, covered with metal mesh. We eliminated that when we put in the new subfloor, and then had our exterior cover for the back of the frig vented. the hot rod shop that did that job said it was a PITA. We added bug screen to the inside of it to keep bugs and etc out. Last summer, we noticed our frig was not cooling well. In investigating, we found the bug screen was clogged up some, but not bad. Took it off, and frig cooled well again. We're still thinking about that one....

Kay

Minno · 01-23-2019, 10:29 AM

By the way, trailer looks wonderful!

Kay

Jeremy9107 · 01-23-2019, 02:44 PM

David. Well done. I too am envious of the access panel (and the size of your fridge). I wish I had the same.

dbj216 · 01-23-2019, 08:29 PM

TouringDan: I had a 66 Trade Wind in a former life. I remember how small the "pilot light" access panel was, and I had to have a key to open it. I remember trying to unhook the gas line, and worse, trying to install a screw to hold the new fridge to the floor. You can see in this photo how the access panel is about half of the width of the fridge cabinet.

Thanks for your encouragement on the Overlander project.

David

dbj216 · 01-23-2019, 08:39 PM

Hi Minno (Kay): Your experience with bugs in the screens is reflective with what Dometic says in the installation manual. The cold air vent SHALL be this size. They have specs for floor vents and the much more common side vents. Dometic has specs for a "baffle box" to help force air over the cooling fins of the fridge. My Overlander has a floor vent and I kept it in place for now, and I built the required baffle box.

In Minnesota I can remember the "lake flys" covering the Airstream. While going to get the Overlander I ran into a "love bug" hatch in eastern Texas that plastered the front cap of the trailer. I could hardly see out the windshield. I think so many bugs could plug the truck's radiator causing coolant temps to rise.

We don't have bugs like that in Colorado. One of the benefits of living here.

Thanks for your kind words on my Overlander project.

David

dbj216 · 01-23-2019, 08:48 PM

Jeremy: Thanks. My fridge is actually a smaller 5 cu ft model. I elevated it just because I could and I thought it might be a bit handier. I installed a smaller fridge so I could have a microwave on top of it. I can't boil water, so a microwave is important to me if I want to eat. The smaller fridge might mean more trips to the store, but we decided we could handle that.

The access hatch on the Overlander is bigger, but still not as big as the one on the wife's Limited, which is a side vent by the way. Most campers are side vents nowadays.

David

dbj216 · 01-25-2019, 06:23 PM

We are getting good snows this month. A welcome relief from drought conditions. We have over 2' on the ground around here. The poor beagle has to do a nose up "dog paddle" to get out into the back yard.

March is typically our snowiest month. More to come for sure.

David

dbj216 · 01-25-2019, 06:33 PM

The new fridge is hooked up and running, and the microwave sits on top of it and is powered up. I believe this new arrangement will work out just fine.

I then installed a clothes hanger rod in the new wardrobe. The wardrobe is 6" taller allowing more hanging room, and more floor storage room. Small improvement.

It took me almost two hours. Once again I demonstrate that re-assembly takes much, much longer than tearing it out.

I'm going to use polished stainless steel for the fridge door panel. I have the outside corner molding to install around the cabinet. And then move on to the galley sink cabinet. It needs improved too.

David

PS: Ooooh, I need to clean my camera lens!