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Jenniflow · 05-21-2012, 10:38 PM

I never finish anything I'm writing either. Sometimes it's just an arbitrary judgment ... or limited by time or money or lifespan; you know, some pesky consideration.

Keyair · 05-22-2012, 07:32 PM

Sent you a PM Jennifer.

Finished the polishing and its good to go.
More info over in my Plishing the M/H thread, but here is the result.

240ClassicMH · 05-24-2012, 02:14 PM

Impressive results - very inspiring

Keyair · 05-24-2012, 06:06 PM

Thanks!

So, I decided to finish off the drawer with a 1" angle across the top of the slide. This will conect the top and bottom of the drawer and make it plenty strong enough I think.

Also welded a 7/16" nuts in 4 places along the centerline for battery hold-down.

I then spent a couple of hours grinding the rough edges and prepping for primer.

Exterior primed!

Mike Leary · 05-24-2012, 06:10 PM

Will that damn coach ever see the road?

Keyair · 05-24-2012, 06:14 PM

In the next 2 weeks.... for sure...

Mike Leary · 05-24-2012, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keyair

In the next 2 weeks.... for sure...

Just a little friendly kick in the butt. We must have pics.

Keyair · 05-24-2012, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Leary

Just a little friendly kick in the butt. We must have pics.

Pics?
Nah.... I hate Pics...
LOl, feel free to get ya boots on Mike, I need it!

Ok, So first coat of Bedliner went on...

Keyair · 05-25-2012, 03:01 PM

Inner is primed...

And Bedlinered...

Only thing left to do is to make a new braket from the new slider to the Airstream frame mount.

Keyair · 05-25-2012, 04:38 PM

The original Airstream slides were toast... rough and gritty in operation as well as only about 1 1/2" deep... when I took them off, they were shedding balls all over the workbench!
The new ones are 3" deep and rated to 500lb for static and 300lb mobile. As I stated earlier in this thread, the plan for now is to just have the one set, but to add a second set later... like this but the lower set I will get are gonna be 2" longer...

The mod I am planning for the slider attachment will bolt onto the original and beefy frame attachment brackets...

Here are the original slides in place...

Mike Leary · 05-26-2012, 12:09 PM

Nice work, as usual. Every time I see posts of lower slides, I'm reminded of my long slide on the roadside. I went to pull it out for firewood, and it just kept coming, all the way out, missing trashing my ten toes by inches. Ball bearings all over the place, and me, alone, trying to figure out how to get that slide back in. I blocked it up with my firewood and was able to slip it back into place until I could get fresh slides from Andy. Whew!

dadstoy · 05-26-2012, 01:11 PM

Very nice work Steve.

Keyair · 05-26-2012, 05:15 PM

Thanks Guys!

Well, I am almost there...
Welded the frame attachment bracket together just a few mins ago, and left them to cool...
Then I will cut it into two, and attach to the new slides.

Just for giggles...
Side-by-side of the old slide and new...
If you look close and ignore the mounting bracket, you can see the old ones are half the depth!

New one bolted up in place...

Drawer is almost done, but not happy with the finish...
I used the last bit of my can of Hurculiner, and is was kinda think and goopy at the bottom, so despite thinning it, its kinda grainier than I wanted, and also needed another coat. I will get a new can and do it again later..

Keyair · 05-27-2012, 06:55 PM

Frame Mounts are done...

Drilled the holes and mounted them to the slides with Grade 8 bolts...

Loaded everything up, and went over to storage...
Moment of truth...

And....
She is in...

Almost...
The original end stop fouled, I my Makita Grinder made short work of it..

And she is IN!

Without the wires connected, this is how far the new slides allow the Drawer to extend..

Batteries in!

This Pic shows how much the floor drop is..

But you can see it still way above the exhaust headers..

I left my wiring sketch at home, so had to stop for the day...
More tomorrow!

Keyair · 05-28-2012, 06:27 PM

Airstream day... and I had a blast!

Battery tray wiring all connected, and she started 3rd turn of the key!
Was so buzzed!
I texted Derek(Crazyvw) and got a Woo-Hoo answer, LOL!

Steering and barakes felt odd...
Power steering reservour was low..
So, I topped up the PS fluid which was low due to a leaking return hose(on my list).

Did a walk around, outside and in, then took her for a spin around the emptying and soon to be gone storage..
Is it me, or does this beast fly when the secondaries open on the carb!
Judge for yourself...
Excuse the rattling plates and brake testing...
Click on image to see Video...

crazeevw · 05-28-2012, 07:40 PM

And I'll say it again! WOO-HOO! Jeez, there is nothing, and I mean NOTHING like the sound a 4 barrel carb makes when the secondaries open. Thanks Steve for taking the time to shoot the video and post it for us all to view. Just watching all of those white SOB's out there makes me even prouder to be an Airstream owner! Guessing that's your 3 axle Dodge van at the end of the video?
Thanks, Derek

Jenniflow · 05-29-2012, 12:14 AM

Hey, congratulations! How smooth! I sure hope mine runs again sometime soon ...

Keyair · 05-29-2012, 08:50 AM

Yeah!

I had my Camera sitting on the pass side dash top on a metal box, so that was some of the knocking noise.
I bet I didnt exceed 20mph, but it looked a lot faster, and also on the turns it looks like I was close to some stuff, but its just the camera lens. I did about 5 trips around and by the time I finished the powers steering pump had stopped its low fluid cavitation noises and all felt good. Brakes seemed good, but I had too much stuff floating about inside to really stomp on them. At least I got the surface rust off the rotors!

After shooting the video, it was back to working on stuff.

Secured the batteries in the tray, and did a bunch of other things like getting all the refurbished storage drawers fitting properly... which sound like nothing but took me about 2 hours!
Still not happy with the battery tray fitment... its not sliding smoothly, so I will have to do some more fitment detailing...

Also replaced the fuel line to the Genset, which I had pulled off to do the slide tray conversion.

I am concerned about my Alternator charging... when I first started it the voltmeter showed 14V, and I checked at both couch and house batteries and they were showing an equal charge, so whatever the Alternator was putting out was getting to both. After I had run for a bit, the charge rate dropped off to 12V on the dash voltmeter. I tested the batteries again to see if the voltmeter was the problem, and its not.... there was no charging.
This is something I noticed on the trip back from KS, so I guess something is wrong.
My alternator has a seperate Voltage regulator... I will have to try to figure out if that is the issue...

Keyair · 05-29-2012, 12:27 PM

More research on this charging issue....

For some reason.... My M/H has an "External Voltage Regulator" mounted on the radiator support.
Its a Transpo F540XHD.
When I start the MH, its charging, but I did see 15V yesterday, then afterwards it dropped off to no charge...
I think the thing its suspect, but looking at the picture I want to check the wireing and especially that black ground wire..

Trying to find a replacement locally, I am failing....

345bill · 05-29-2012, 12:55 PM

[QUOTE=Keyair;1153588]
When I start the MH, its charging, but I did see 15V yesterday, then afterwards it dropped off to no charge...
I think the thing its suspect, but looking at the picture I want to check the wireing and especially that black ground wire..

On my 1990 there's a seperate ground strap that ties the battery negative cable (on the back of battery drawer) to the vehicle frame together. I once found the connection at the frame was so loose the nut was close to falling off, causing intermittent charge. New bolt & nylock nut, problem solved. Think this is a spot famous for getting rusty/corroded causing same symptoms. Easy enough to overlook. Simple fix.