1984 Airstream 345 owner (Newbie) need advice!

[Keyair]

Question:
Can someone tell me what the deal is with the wood closet linings?
Its it a veneer over the aluminum inner skin, or plywood or what??


Rreason I ask is I have been battling a leak in the curbside bedroom closet since ive owned my rig... Every time it rains, the floor is soaked...
No point in fixing the floor until I have found the leak source, and its got me baffled so far.
I see water stains on the wood lining of the closet, and wondered on the makeup of that wall area.
The square hole is where the floor safe normally sits... I have a piece of ply I put over the hole to stop critters access.

[bkahler]

Steve, when was the last time you replaced the A/C gaskets? The rear air conditioner is in that area and if you haven't replaced the gaskets in the last 5 to 10 years I'd check that area first. I had similar leaks in the 310 and the rear A/C gasket was the culprit.

Brad

[Keyair]

Wow... never thought of that!
The answer is... Not in my ownership, and that would make it 9 years...
Is it a specific gasket or can you make one?
Whats involved in replacing it?



My rear AC maybe on its last legs... it wouldn't start last time I tried it... It maybe something simple like the start capacitor... but as I think they are both the originals, it might be time for a 15k new one!

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by Keyair

Wow... never thought of that!
The answer is... Not in my ownership, and that would make it 9 years...
Is it a specific gasket or can you make one?
Whats involved in replacing it?

Here's a link to an
AC gasket on Amazon. Not sure if this is the right one or not. I thought they were supposed to be 14-1/2" square. Maybe someone can point out the correct size.

My rear AC maybe on its last legs... it wouldn't start last time I tried it... It maybe something simple like the start capacitor... but as I think they are both the originals, it might be time for a 15k new one!

Yep

[Magnet18]

From what I remember, I think mine are sealed with copious amounts of vulkem/dicor ...

[jasonskinner]

Hello,

I am the Service and Parts Director for Airstream Los Angeles. We have a few technicians on staff that are familiar with the older Airstream Motor Homes. Let me know if we can be of assistance to you on repairs or general instruction on use.

You should be able to call a local auto glass company to replace the windshield for you. I believe GMS Auto Glass has a branch in Orange County that does motor home windshields.

Thanks,
Jason Skinner
Service and Parts Director
Airstream Los Angeles
Airstream Las Vegas

[Keyair]

Thanks for the input guys!

Ordered a pair of AC gasket kits... looks like 14 x 14 is the number.
Lets hope that its it!
Thanks for the Link Brad!


Its gonna be a while before I can afford to replace that rear AC if it is beyond repair, so I will do them anyway.
It's been peeing down here for days... I can't remember the last time we had so much rain!

I've had that little Uni-solar Flexible Solar Panel sitting inside the Airstream for a while now. I connected it with crocodile clips whenever I'm out there, but I had shied away from leaving it like that because I was worried it would fry the batteries without a controller.

Seems, I was really worried about nothing, as it can only output a max of 2a...
]


So I splashed out on a well regarded PWM Charge controller this week...
It was $13...

[Keyair]

Also ordered a 580 Piece Molex style connector kit so I can prep some repairs and mods to the rats nest behind the dash when I put "WayneG's Magical Box" back in!





Part of the ongoing mods, I needed a way to bend some thicker steel and Aluminum...
That came to life this week, as I pretty much finished my SWAG OFFROAD 20T HD Finger Press brake kit.


This means I can bend thicker sheet, and up to 1/2" steel plate, and also thicker Aluminum sheet and Diamond plate!
I've been trying to bend some Aluminum polished Diamond plate for the entrance step and failing...

[bobmiller1]

Hey listen, on those AC gaskets you may need 2 sets if you plan on re-using the original factory drains which are located in between the outer and inner skin of the motor home. Check my thread on the 370LE for detailed pictures of the install and roof re-do, Regards, Bob

[Keyair]

Thanks Bob!
Will read up on that.
I ordered 2 sets, so if I need both for one AC I’m cool with that as it’s probably all I will get down in a trip out there.
Planned to take some wire to rod out the drain tube too. I know it was free before as I saw water dripping from the wheel arch area last time I ran that AC successfully.
I will read up on the Start capacitor too, and check that while I’m in there. Had to do one on our home HVAC system this summer so I’m learning.
It started raining here at 3pm yesterday, and it’s still going hard. The drumming on the house was so intense it woke me at 2am despite my Unisom tabs! I don’t remember the last time we had such intense rain for this long! Reminds me of summer in England. Lol. No sleep for me tonight!
Anyway, I will try to get out to the MH on Wednesday next week as that’s the next lull forecast, then it’s starts again!
Battling a windshield leak on the Range Rover that drips water right on the passenger knees. Not good if a potential buyer is looking!
Monday, I managed to do the front pads and rotors on the Mercedes ML. I’m slowly swapping all my vehicles over to ceramic pads. Akebono pads and Zimmerman Z Coat rotors. I like them. I hate cleaning brake dust! No more dust and no more rust!


Next few days I will be working on wrap panel.
I did some exploratory tail lamp panel layout work and by overlapping the lamp flanges, like this, I can reduce the overall width to 15” which is only 1” more than the original. This makes fitting and transition back to the body much easier as it does not go around the body curve as much.

The press brake is ready to go, so will be doing som test bends on the diamond plate step too.


Decided to do the Airstream floors with the leftover wood look vinyl plank. We have maybe 700sqft of take up, left over from when we redid the house with real wood. These are some scraps I took to test last week, and think it will work well.

[Keyair]

Protoype Tail lamp #2.
I think I'm on the right track... but not there yet!

Mk2 face plate with no chrome rings, and lamps moved closer together.



Took a 4" strip of aluminum, and folded a flange on it...
Then put it in the shrinker to create the curve to match the face plate...



Result.


Test fit, secured with Cleco Clamps...



Lamps in...


Mocked up with Rivets...



I am happy with the look, but to my eye, its too "Square", so next step is to curve the lamp face a little and add draft or angle to the outer surface.

[Magnet18]

I agree, looks good, on the right track, but it wouldn't be an airstream part if there was a straight line anywhere on it!

[Keyair]

Airstream day today!
This is how my VW handles Airstream days...
Two Go Boxes, Generator, tool box, etc.



First order of business was to set up the HF Genset and charger to try to rescue the House batteries(2x6v Golf cart).
They were dead last time I was there, and I charged them as long as I could to try to bring them back. A quick test said 11.9v, so I was hopeful.
Left the Genset purring away and the charger set to “Repair mode”, I moved on.

Placed the Unisolar 32w Panel on the roof.
Just a temporary install, as I plan to White paint the roof soon.
I was very pleased to find that it fit perfectly across the front. Trapping one side under the Roof horns works good.
Put some doubleside tape under the middle and other end and taped it down.


The install of the PMW Charge controller was quick, and also temporary.
I put it on the Chassis battery, while the House batteries were boosting.
The sun was shining and I set the battery type in the charger menu and watched as it began inputting and climbed to 14.4v before a storm front rolled thru, chopping it back to 12.9v.


I grabbed my ladder, and did some investigative work on this leak.
The AC unit is a good call, and I have the seals ready, but I was puzzled by something.
The wet area inside is between the rear roof AC and bedroom vent on the passenger side. The Motorhome is sitting nose down, so if the roof AC was the leak area, it would flow down and forward. Maybe it’s the Bedroom vent. Looks shabby enough, and needs resealing.


So, where else could the leak be.
I have panel damage in that area that I plan to repair... I grabbed my Mitivac vacuum pump and tested the roof rivets. Surprisingly, they held vacuum.
The rivets below the awning rail in the buckled area ALL failed to hold vacuum....


For sure, this is one issue.

[Keyair]

While I had the ladder out, I mapped out the roof areas so I can plan more solar panels.
I also tested the tail light prototype mk 2 and got some better ideas on that direction.


Then the storm front came thru, the temperature began to plummet from high 60s to 45ish... I’m sure the snow on the hills added to the wind chill.


I moved inside.
The 454 started first time and I warmed it up, and began setting the idle speed and mixture. I added a vacuum gauge as suggested by the experts, and began to tweak the mixture screws. I managed to pull it back from the 12/1 rich to 14.8/15.2 variable, with a stable 750rpm idle, and almost 20hg of vacuum.
I was happy.... I read somewhere that you should rev the motor to 2000/2500 rpm for a few mins to stabilize temperatures in the motor and fuel and cleanse any fuel droplets before confirming its good.
As soon as I did that, the mixtures at idle and 2000rpm went haywire. And went back to 12/1, and 13/1, which is rich.
Ugh.
Baffled. Will check next time.

My day was done, and I began tidying up to leave. Only then did I notice the charger on the house batteries was reading “Battery Failure”... I removed the charger, and checked with a volt meter... reading was 1.6v...
Brought the batteries home so I can test. They are dated 2012, and I’ve abused them, so it’s ok, if they are dead.
Weird day.

[Magnet18]

I hadn't seen a vacuum gauge used to check rivets before, that's good to know

[Keyair]

Originally Posted by Magnet18

I hadn't seen a vacuum gauge used to check rivets before, that's good to know

Variation of the idea gleaned from here...
Its just easier to see the vacuum dropping away on the gauge...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYmQsn6DlE4

[Keyair]

Grabbed 2 Gallons of Henry's Enviro White Elastomeric roof paint to the plan. 12 year warranty seems good!

[Keyair]

Started a thread up in the "Roof" section of the trailer forum, about the Henry Eviro-White..
Good info and feedback up there for anyone who is bored or interested..

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f478...te-192555.html

Ran into an interesting issue on the tail lamp project...
I was a little puzzled by the visible wires at the original tail lamps, and being there on my own, I was kinda hamstrung to test when I could not put my foot on the brake...

It seems I have an issue with my plan to do separate amber blinkers!

Seems that Chevy, in their wisdom wired the tail lamps with a combined wire for brake and blinker..

The Airstream Service manual on tail light wires, says...
1/ Stop/Left Turn= Dark Green
2/ Tail Lamps/Clearance= Brown
3/ Stop/Right Turn= Yellow
4/ Backup lights= Light Green

I am wondering if I could add this to the wiring to fix that issue?

https://www.etrailer.com/Accessories...rt/C56196.html

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by Keyair

Started a thread up in the "Roof" section of the trailer forum, about the Henry Eviro-White..
Good info and feedback up there for anyone who is bored or interested..

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f478...te-192555.html

Ran into an interesting issue on the tail lamp project...
I was a little puzzled by the visible wires at the original tail lamps, and being there on my own, I was kinda hamstrung to test when I could not put my foot on the brake...

It seems I have an issue with my plan to do separate amber blinkers!

Seems that Chevy, in their wisdom wired the tail lamps with a combined wire for brake and blinker..

The Airstream Service manual on tail light wires, says...
1/ Stop/Left Turn= Dark Green
2/ Tail Lamps/Clearance= Brown
3/ Stop/Right Turn= Yellow
4/ Backup lights= Light Green

I am wondering if I could add this to the wiring to fix that issue?

https://www.etrailer.com/Accessories...rt/C56196.html

Steve, based on my understanding of how the amber light is supposed to work I believe the etrailer module will do the job. I need to get one of these for Peanut so I don't have to run an extra wire from the front of the coach to the back. Since Peanut will be heading to the UK Martin would like the Amber light function. This module would appear to be an easy solution to the problem.

Brad

[Keyair]

Good stuff Brad!
My gut tells me to buy 2 and install one behind each tail lamp, as the idea of fishing wires from one lamp to the next to save $20, does not appeal!

Looks like I was wrong on the 2x 6v's I had as the House batteries..
I brought them home, and checked them again, and I think there must have been a bad connection on the + to - between the two, as they were showing 11.4v.
I super cleaned the terminals, and got them back on charge, desulphate, and recondition, and the have settled down to, and the came back somewhat.
Reading 12.6v after resting... Not great, but 7 years old and they have some life in them yet, as when I do get new ones, I will buy a pack of 4, 6, or maybe 8, to be going on with.

Today was an Airstream day.
I got packed up for a big day... but felt I had forgotten something...
5 mins from the Airstream storage I realized what I forgot...
The House batteries...
Oh well.. I had a plan for the day, and it was not worth going back.
Got right into it.
Paint the rear part of the roof!

Removed the Bedroom Fantastic Fan...

It works, but the sealant was bad... and the flange is cracked in multiple places...
Had to come off..

That took me 90 mins, as all the screws were stripped, rusty, filled with sealant, AND rounded off...



And, I now see, all 4 corners are broken off too.


It's gotta go.
Investigation options now.

That out of the way, I attacked the roof with The SCT, and a woven drum... stripping all the weathering, and everything off.