1984 Airstream 345 owner (Newbie) need advice!

[Magnet18]

Originally Posted by bobmiller1

... plus I like the idea of the heat pumps, a back up so in case the furnace craps out I’ll have heat providing it’s not minus 20 outside. Regards, Bob

Heat pump or heat strip?
In my experience the strips work down to about 40, they're just tiny space heaters

[Keyair]

I think it’s the Heat Pump units that are limited to what temp they work at.

So, I picked up the Penguin AC.
Looks ok. Shroud is cracked in a couple of places, and the lower frame is tweaked a little. I can fix both, but really don’t need to as it’s not visible from the ground. I’m ok with saving $600 if it works ok!
Just comparing the shroud sizes here. I think it’s probably a few inches lower, and maybe an inch or so in length



The ceiling assembly is $75 ish so will order that and test.

As I was out there picking up this AC, I stopped by and spent time at the Airstream.
Put the original roof shroud back on the front AC.
Much better.


This is rear one for comparison!


So, I thought I would test the front AC.
Fired up my noisy 3500w portable to see.
Ambient was 78f, blue sky day. Roof temp was reading 88f ish.
Front AC was working fine.


Thought the rear was dead.... but it fired right up!
And....


Dang it!

[Keyair]

Was making some space in my garage for work, last week, so kicked a few items to storage, and in the reorganization of that, I found a box of TBI parts I’ve been looking for.
I’m not sure if I’m going TBI yet, but want to have it all to hand and ready if this carb or smog gear is not working out.


TBI, intake manifold, air filter assembly, AIR tubes, egr etc. more to come.

[Keyair]

Stripped.


I knew if was a 454 unit, but confirming visually it’s the 2” bore.

[bobmiller1]

Simplicity at its best ! Regards, Bob

[Keyair]

Bead and soda blasting.

[Keyair]

Injector Mount.




Main part.

[Keyair]

High heat black on the coolant heater unit, and Eastwood Gold/Cad Carb Renew onbthe TBI body.

[rmkrum]

Looks nice and shiny new.

[Keyair]

Indeed!
Happy Easter/Passover everyone!

Have the TBI rebuild kit to hand now.


As I know and owned the Suburban this TBI came off, I know it ran pretty well. Looking at sending the injectors out to be cleaned, tested and balanced as it did have 165,000 miles on it.

Intake manifold will be going in the parts washer today hopefully.


Also found the lower air filter assembly and the crossover hard pipe for the air injection that went around the back of the heads to feed air into the exhaust manifolds.


And then the Penguin AC ceiling assembly arrived!

[Keyair]

Intake refurb is.... interesting.
Scrubbing it and flipping it, I heard junk inside the heat shield on the underside of the intake.
Busted out the rivets.


Lotsa junk.
Glad I stripped it out.
Into the parts washer after.

[cmadmaxman]

Originally Posted by Keyair

Intake refurb is.... interesting.
Scrubbing it and flipping it, I heard junk inside the heat shield on the underside of the intake.
Busted out the rivets.
Attachment 338832Attachment 338833

Lotsa junk.
Glad I stripped it out.
Into the parts washer after.
Attachment 338834

Yep, that's the way they are. As long it's not disturbed, it stays put. I tap the pin holes in the manifold and red locktite Allen head Cap screws to keep the shield in place. You could also wire tie them.

[Keyair]

Busy busy.
Degreased and media blasted the intake.



Got some Aluminum L extrusion for the solar panel frame and mounts.


And so I can roll the mount into the roof radius, doing the Swag Off-road upgrade on my tube roller.

[Keyair]

That’s that little project done.



Next!

[Keyair]

Heat shield drilled and tapped. [emoji3]
Need to find some red locktite as mine had gone hard.

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by Keyair

Need to find some red locktite as mine had gone hard.

Sometimes that's a good problem to have.....

[Keyair]

Lol.
Started on the Solar panel frame.


Pretty happy with the upgrades I did to my English Wheel. That the level of stiffness imparted is such that it can curve this thickness.


Now.



I have to do a run out to the Motorhome to double check the curve, as I think it might need a touch more curve, but this is how it will look.

[Keyair]

Test done.
Looks close, but in fact it needs another 2”.

[Keyair]

Wow.
Has it really been that long since I updated my thread?


Ok, so life has been a little tough.
The loss of Tony(IzusuSweet), hit me really hard, even tho I had never met the guy.
It still hurts to think we lost such a great guy from our community.

Wasn't feeling right, and went to get checked up.
Erratic heart beat... diagnosed with Afib(My Dad has it too)...
Blood thinners, adjustments to Blood pressure meds, etc.
One of the BP meds, that was added was one called Metroplo.
My BP stats improved, but I completely ran out of energy... I mean by midday I was sitting in my chair falling asleep, or taking to bed and sleeping for several hours in the afternoon.
Worse than that was the complete apathy that came with it.
I have not been in the garage or to the Airstream or looked at any of my other projects for 6 months at least.

I explained what was going on, and that my in my research into Metroplo I found it noted that the #3 most common side effect of it was DEPRESSION.
Everything dropped into place in my mind.
So, after months of this I went back to the cardiologist, and had a discussion.
He agreed it was not right and swapped that one out.
Things have been improving and my energy levels are coming back but its been a slow road to recovery.

Anyway, I have some small updates to post, and hope to continue on soon.

[Keyair]

So, I had been out the the Motorhome and done some work last year, and earlier this year, but hadn’t posted.
I started to focus on getting the water tanks and systems fixed, and reinstalled.
This involved replacing a rotted section rear subfloor under the bed where the tanks will go.
I cut the rot out, and made a replacement section, and fitted and bonded it in place. Then cleaned and sealed the whole area.


After scraping off the excess glue it looked good.
A trial fit of my twin tank setup followed.
To recap, my OEM 80 gallon tank was long gone. PO had put a 15g in. Not acceptable!
I was given a 70g tank... and then I was given a 25g.
My plan is the run both tanks in tandem, with the 25g as the main fill, and feed tank, for traveling, to save weight, and the 70g on a gate valve for when needed.
This is how they fit together, with the 25 to the rear.