Mike's Classic 350 LE

[rmkrum]

Originally Posted by cinerama3

What is current practice for proper indexing of screws these days?
Horizontal or vertical?

(OT: Hey Mr. Rum, my brother is a ham! W9TC.
73s!)

Vertical if it’s where you might encounter water for slot screws.

45 degrees from vertical for Phillips in the same situation.

Horizontal on interior outlet plates and the like for slot.

Aligned for Phillips.

Nuts, bolts, or hex cap screws, align the flats with either horizontal or vertical. Align ‘points’ on a Torx screw accordingly.

On a curved area, tangent to the curve at the location of the fastener.

My dad was a yacht captain. This is stuff I learned from him to make stuff look neat and tidy. (Yes, it also exhibits a lot of OCD on my part)

[bobmiller1]

Ahhh....so I'm not the only one.......Regards. Bob

[davejay]

nice ride,
I have a cracked spare tire cover. I used the gel type super glue, very sparingly, so it didn't come out on the front side . It worked quite well. Just a suggestion. A plastic weld gun will wreck the paint, and you got to be real good at it. And you need to have some spare plastic as the filler. And you got to know how to weld with that heat gun, or you'll make it worse. And I found it also distorts and makes that area ... Brittle. Try the glue first. I think you'll come out with a lot better result. DJ

[cinerama3]

Sounds good to me, DJ.
Thanks!

[Magnet18]

Spare tire covers are ABS, which can be bonded with i believe Methyl Ethyl keytone. Keyair did a large chunk of his tire cover in the first few pages of his thread, for a small crack you can buy tiny bottles from hobby shops, look for"plastic welder", it doesn't take a lot of practice.
I would try welding the crack from the backside, then weld some pieces over it for support

[cinerama3]

Thanks, Rob. I'll try both methods on a small area and see what happens.
But first I'll have to get that hatch open, which I have been unable to do.
Right side latch won't release.

[cinerama3]

When they upgraded the unit to 50 amp service, they installed this Parallax panel. Just discovered that included with the panel is a converter/charger that was never connected!
In second pic we see the new C/C on the left, with the old WFCO C/C on the right, buzzing away like a street light.
Good news, but WTH?

[cinerama3]

In other news, more hackery underneath the coach.
Wiring for the Kwikee steps.
Wire nuts! In an exposed, potentially wet area.
These will get replaced by waterproof connectors.

[Keyair]

A little late to this party it seems!

Indexing screws... Goodness!

The spare tire covers are actually made of that special plastic from Airstream called Unobtaium.
MEK will fix it , but it will destroy the paint.
The entrance step is also ABS and can be fixed with MEK too. I repaired mine like that.
MEK is nasty stuff. Now you can’t even buy in in the Republic of California.
I mix MEK with pieces of ABS in a quart tin. This breaks down into a slurry. I have white, and black. Mix the two to get grey. You can also reinforce areas with glass Fiber or mesh.

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by cinerama3

In other news, more hackery underneath the coach.
Wiring for the Kwikee steps.
Wire nuts! In an exposed, potentially wet area.
These will get replaced by waterproof connectors.

Wire nuts are just one of the typical Airstream construction techniques.

[cinerama3]

What in blazes is goin' on here?
Both stack vents have these covers screwed on, presumably to keep critters out. Or something.
What do you guys do with your stacks?

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by cinerama3

What in blazes is goin' on here?
Both stack vents have these covers screwed on, presumably to keep critters out. Or something.
What do you guys do with your stacks?

Whoever did that was just stupid. There is supposed to be a screen mesh that is between the rubber gasket and the vent housing. The mesh is what keeps critters out.

The arrangement in the picture keeps critters out and gasses in. Just plain dumb.

[bobmiller1]

Maybe the PO just wanted to keep the SMELL in.....Regards, Bob

[PeterH-350LE]

Originally Posted by cinerama3

What in blazes is goin' on here?
Both stack vents have these covers screwed on, presumably to keep critters out. Or something.
What do you guys do with your stacks?

It color coordinates with the aluminum. nice! There is supposed to be 1 screw holding it down. The plastic thread part probably split or broke. a longer screw may fix it.

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by PeterH-Airstreamer

It color coordinates with the aluminum. nice! There is supposed to be 1 screw holding it down. The plastic thread part probably split or broke. a longer screw may fix it.

Peter, would you mind elaborating on the 1-screw comment?

I've not seen any covers over the aluminum vent pipe housings. All I've seen are the black rubber gasket, the wire mesh screen and the aluminum housing.

Brad

[Vycan]

Lots to catch up on...

Yes the switch bank is original, they are distributed in the US, but made in France. Very rare and pricey now as they are running out of stock. From the sounds of it the switches are bad. They are mechanical contactor switches, and develop carbon deposits over time on the contacts that begin act as a thermistor and will not function in cold weather, until eventually there is enough build up they do not work at all. You can take them apart and clean them, but unless you replace them, the cleaning interval requirement decreases. I cleaned my trouble switches when I bought our coach four years ago. Had to clean them the next year, then 10 months later, then six months later, and last year I just researched the supplier, and bought a set of new ones for their asking price of $25/switch.... ouch!

If you want an inverter and plan to change out your converter anyway, why not spring for an inverter/charger? I did a bit of research on them. Magnum makes the best bang for your buck, but the interface is cumbersome. Vectren is hands down the best, but is highly sought after for marine application, so the price follows it.

Your hatch is easily repairable. Go to home depot in the plumbing section and get ABS cement and cleaner. Links for amazon reference on the words. Set a thick towel, spare carpet, carpet pad, moving blanket, or something soft/firm on the ground. Try aligning the plastic of the hatch and tape it with painters tape. Remove your hatch and place it face down so your see the back of the hatch facing up. Double check alignment of cracks and painters tape. Use the cleaner to prep the area and let it dry. Then apply the ABS cement. It is black (made of methyl ethyl keytone mixed with black plastic pellets) and you need to apply just enough to fill the gap, bridge the two sides. It does not take much. The Painters tape has two functions. It mechanically holds the two sides of the crack together, and with proper application limits the advance of the ABS cement to prevent bleeding to the painted side. If it does, you can touch it up. I used this method on my Air Conditioning Shrouds when I hit a tree branch. Worked like a charm.

That's a fine looking coach.

[PeterH-350LE]

Originally Posted by bkahler

Peter, would you mind elaborating on the 1-screw comment?

I've not seen any covers over the aluminum vent pipe housings. All I've seen are the black rubber gasket, the wire mesh screen and the aluminum housing.

Brad

I forgot that the Motorhomes have the aluminum vent. I only looked at the cover, which comes from this set-up:
Three tabs and stud looking thing, that holds the thread for the one screw in the cover.

[cinerama3]

I'd wager that when I take those caps off the screen will be absent.
Is that just regular window screen under there?

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by cinerama3

I'd wager that when I take those caps off the screen will be absent.
Is that just regular window screen under there?

It appears I was wrong about the screen although for some reason I remember getting a small section of screen and a rubber gasket when I ordered some 10 years ago. However at Vintage Trailer Supply all I could find online were the vent pipe gaskets. The gaskets provide a tight seal around the ABS vent pipe.

However Out of Doors Mart does show a screen in the top of the vent which is what I remember seeing previously.


Brad

[cinerama3]

Had a small leak in the rear overhead cabinet, so I thought I'd replace and reseal a suspect clearance light.
Another member mentioned these:
http://vehiclelight.com/97r.html
and they are terrific.
Two wire, with a cavity on back to clear the butt connectors.
One down, nine to go.