Clipper, Cutter, Land Yacht, Interior Updates

[masseyfarm]

Well, after looking at my own pictures, I concluded that there was more that could be done with that seat base.


I started with a magazine holder to augment the foot rest.

Next I thought that might be a good place to store the hand vacuum.

Then on the curbside I felt there was room, and easy access from inside or at the door, for a couple fire extinguishers.

This has all turned out very well, and I have not lost any toe space, and all updates are mostly out of sight. And no new holes drilled in the AIRSTREAM itself. It frees up the drawer space I had the vacuum in, and the cargo bay I had the fire extinguishers in, and recycles a piece of that pipe I had used for the hitch extender carrier as seen on another thread.
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f313...ml#post1117724

Total cost was 6 rivets.

Dave

[TerraYacht]

I like the magazine slot to store shoes: there's more wall space than floor space.

I added a few things to my Land Yacht that should also work for the Clipper:

My wife needed more working space in the bathroom for hair drying, etc so we added a flip up shelf. I used a tray from Sur la Table because it has raised edges so stuff does not roll off.

As a relative newbie 'Streamer I got frustrated with the amount of "nature" being tracked in, and installed this Intervac in an available panel. It is plugged in so it can be portable, and the panel was a shelf from the Container Store that was the right size and a good color match. It is mounted with industrial Velcro. The 35' hose and a turbo brush end works great, but it pulls a lot of current, so when I'm plugged in at home with a 15 amp circuit I need to be careful.

[masseyfarm]

I would not be able to do that counter extension
in the bath of the Clipper as there is a 12V power plug, 120V duplex outlet, and a 4 place switch control for the exhaust fan/HWT on the endwall of the cabinet. My GW has never complained about that lack of counter top yet. I had offered to install a wall mount hair dryer, but she did not feel she wanted one.

Dave

[masseyfarm]

As I got older, I found that my eyes were a bit more sensitive to the bright sun.
On the Clipper, and other A Class, the high windshield gives a lot of area to try to shield that direct sunbeam when driving into the sun.

The drivers and passenger positions have the standard and pull down sun shades, but the area under the TV was a problem. To control this I installed another mid-mount visor and have been very happy with the results.

On the Clipper, in the cockpit on both sides, are installed oak cabinets, that have a flat top surface. On the drivers side, this flat surface has numerous switches and controls that tend to be accidentally turned on if not careful when setting something down in the area. (I could tell you a long story about how the neighbours cat turned on my gen set one night after I went to bed!)
On the passenger side, the cabinet is just right for the mouse pad for the laptop GPS control.
To help protect both areas, I cut up and bent some Plexiglas protectors. These slide on the cabinet and the window frame, and can be moved forward or back to access whats underneath.
Both are actually high enough to reach under if wanted.

On the Clipper the b/u monitor is mounted on the road side of the dash and is hard to see when the sun is bright on that side. Again, I bent up some plexi and made a sun shield that helps somewhat, depending on the sun angle. Not perfect, but a great improvement.

On all the Airstream Class A's with side mounted mirrors, there is a problem with outside area night lighting reflecting off the flat glass side window. This makes it difficult when you are trying to view your mirror to back up in the cg after dark. Normally, one would roll down your window to eliminate this reflection, but this is not possible in the Class A's as it is the bottom of the window that slides open.
To combat this reflection as best I could, I installed another visor on the side window at the w/s pillar that can be swung back to shield the window from reflective lighting. This did do the job and makes it much easier than backing up almost blind trying to look thru the window reflection.
For travel the visor is stored in the forward position and does not interfere with the forward vision.

Some of these inexpensive ideas may be of use on other units, and anytime you can increase your safety zone, it will make for a more pleasurable RV experience.

Dave

[masseyfarm]

On my other thread you can see my laptop stand for the drivers GPS. http://www.airforums.com/forums/f313...tml#post989448


Sometimes it is just easier to take a quick look at the map to refresh which route# you are heading for.

To keep things in place, I installed a spring loaded clip on the center cabinet to hold the map of the day. If wanted, a quick glance will refresh your memory on your route choice. This is especially important on County or State roads that may not be numbered the same as the RM map, or GPS.

[masseyfarm]

These laptop power cords are either too long or too short.

To try to control the snakes nest that these cords create, I tried the Velcro straps, and other elastic bands etc.

Probably the cheapest and easiest solution is this:

Take an empty large vitamin pill container and cut the neck off with the grinder. Leave some of the taper of the container neck on to grab onto the bundle of wiring.

To clean off the label, spray with WD40 and let it soak for 10 minutes. Wipe the label off and clean with soap and water. You can use it this way, or spray your choice of paint on it.

This one lays on top of the printer and is not attached so that it can be picked up to stuff the wire into. The one I have in the front of the Clipper, just sits within the plexi retainer that holds the 1000w inverter on the #3 battery bank. These work great whether round or rectangular, and you get to reuse something that was just going to the garbage pile. They are light and take a lot of abuse before splitting.

Dave

[masseyfarm]

Over the years I have thought of this every time I reach for the screen door handle from the step while entering.

Without looking one could/would put your fingers over the screen ledge rather than on the handle.

Last summer, after noticing wear on the screen at that point, I have protected this with a small piece of plexi cut and mounted behind the handle. This protects the screen and makes it easier to grab the door handle without looking.


The last couple years, I have not removed my soft Styrofoam panel from the skylight in the hallway. I had originally used it for winter weather, but it also works great in the summer sun. Diffuses the light and helps keep the heat out.
Dave

[masseyfarm]

No, it is not titled in error.

The Clipper was not equipped with dual pane windows in 1996. That option became available on a wider scale in 1997.

With all the trouble owners had with the seals leaking/traveling up into the window view, the industry eventually abandoned the idea for most RV's.

However, there are some energy savings that can be made with a small investment in time and $$$$.

On the entrance door on the Clipper, there is a dual flange that can be utilized. I trimmed a sheet of Plexiglas and mounted it with the old rear window rubber from my pickup window upgrade. This worked for a couple years, but when I needed to clean the window this year, I re-cut a new piece and remounted it with a push-in style of rubber. (very hard to see it now unless you know its there )

On the bedroom, dinning room, and lounge window, the plexi can be trimmed to fit the upper solid glass area and will stay without a rubber retainer.

There will only be an average of 1/4" space, and it is not dead air, but by using a temp. gun, the temp. will be up to 4* less on the plexi reading than on the glass in full sun.

If you use a light tinted plexi, you will still have a great view from the window when the shade is up. Most users would have the shade down part way in the sun anyway. This in theory should also suppress transmission of sound at the window. The plexi can easily be removed for spring cleaning.

I have no picture as it would be hard to notice the plexi is installed.

Dave

[Keyair]

Good ideas Dave.
In the UK, double glazing became the norm many years ago in homes, but many older places didnt have it... including the house I grew in. My dad built simple frames that held Plexglass panels on our windows. Worked great and they are still there in the windows that have not been replaced.

[masseyfarm]

On page one of this thread I discuss making a screen for the passenger window on the Clipper.


I ended up with it a bit shorter that wanted, (upright shows in window view) and finally got around to redoing it today.

I think this looks better and also closes the small gap at the bottom left hand corner when the glass is slide all the way forward.

I reused the existing frame by re-bending it and joined it with a longer piece of air line. New screen.

Dave

[masseyfarm]

That screen update on the passenger side went so well, that I decided to make one for the drivers side that could be removed easily when wanted, but used when we are parked in the hot weather.

Finished in the dark, but that project is completed, and I have moved on to working on a cool one.

Dave

[masseyfarm]

Again, this applies to the Clipper but may be of help on other units.

I will enter this here, although it is an outside item, it is to reduce the light reflection when backing into that strange spot after dark.

After being frustrated with having trouble seeing clearly when backing into those cg's or boondocks sites after dark, I started with the improvements posted earlier in this thread. I also was not happy with the reflection off the, (drivers side in particular) dock light, and installed a translucent shade, made up by cutting a green plastic container. That did help but I have now upgraded that by using some scrap white vinyl that blocks the glare completely.

The front dock lights are not normally visible in the mirrors so are not a problem. But I have done this on both mid body dock lights. With the vinyl, it will bend if contacted, and is not something that can cause injury to the kids it they rub up against them.

Easy to do if you have this problem.

Dave

Originally Posted by masseyfarm

On all the Airstream Class A's with side mounted mirrors, there is a problem with outside area night lighting reflecting off the flat glass side window. This makes it difficult when you are trying to view your mirror to back up in the cg after dark. Normally, one would roll down your window to eliminate this reflection, but this is not possible in the Class A's as it is the bottom of the window that slides open.
To combat this reflection as best I could, I installed another visor on the side window at the w/s pillar that can be swung back to shield the window from reflective lighting. This did do the job and makes it much easier than backing up almost blind trying to look thru the window reflection.
For travel the visor is stored in the forward position and does not interfere with the forward vision.
Dave

[masseyfarm]

Another upgrade on the Clipper.

I mentioned I had a sun shield on my b/u monitor that was helpful, but not perfect.
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f313...ml#post1167639

Well - I thought today I could improve on that sun shield that still allowed substantial light transmission.

I looked thru my stash and found, cut up, and bent another piece of solid colour plexi.

It looks and does the job much better as you can see in the pictures below.

Now, if I hold my hand on the edge of the shield, I can completely shade the monitor of all reflection and actually see what I want to see.

Dave

[masseyfarm]

On the OEM Clipper, there is room in the drivers kick panel area for a minor upgrade of the area forward of the oak side cabinet.

A few years ago I bent up a light guage aluminium to form a panel with flat top to fit between the oak cabinet and the front radius of the inner sidewall. I remounted the front outside hood cable control to this new panel, installed a courtesy lamp, a power plug, and also hung a water bottle holder. I also have a manual switch here to override/bypass the SurePower 1315-200 SEPARATOR controlling the charge between battery banks #2 and #3.

The panel, painted black, serves also to cover some wire runs and generally clean up the corner. It serves as a base for another water bottle that fits between the oak cabinet and the dash.

On the next year of the Cutter (Clipper was discontinued after the 65 anniversary year) I believe the Cutter models had a carpeted panel in this location and did not have the oak side panel?

This has proved to be a worthwhile upgrade.

Dave

[masseyfarm]

I posted in #30 and #31 about the screen for the drivers side screen on the Clipper.

The drivers side was designed to be removed when not wanted.

It was snug, and looked good, but on Monday when we went to the Alberni Inlet on a day trip, I wanted to open the screen to hand signal to an acquaintance and, the frame of the screen buckled when I tried to move it forward while driving. (I had forgotten I had returned the original glass retainers to the window channel after the screen installation I realized also that border crossings would require open window access, so a sliding screen was a must)

Yesterday I redid this project to make it a slider screen that can be slide open with ease if wanted.

I used a lighter guage of wire. This is standard fence wire available from any hardware store.

The joint in the wire is at the forward upright and is made with 1/4" air line.

I have found it easier to limit the length of the 1/4" air line (cut lengthwise) screen retainers to about 3".
If you trim off the square corners of the retainers with the scissors it makes it easier to move the retainer and pull the screen tight after installation.

To complete the seal at the front edge, I have used a piece of split wire loom protector.

If the screen is going to be moved, the two plastic glass retainers that were in the window channel cannot be replaced over the screen. I don't think this is a problem, but if this proves to create wind noise, or water penetration at the glass, I will update the situation at that time.

I consider this job done for now, and expect it should last many seasons.

Dave

[masseyfarm]

When we are on the road and putting miles on, we like to have lots of coffee.

Most places we fuel up, "HUSKY/LOVES" offer free coffee with the $200.00 fuel fill and those big cups are sometimes hard to keep upright.

I installed this retainer bar at the kitchen window, which will hold a cup, water or soap bottle. In the past we sometimes set coffee cups, or water bottles, on the counter, and then drove away only to here them bounce off the floor on the first corner.

Dave

[mfancher]

could you resend me that recall info please?
need to get that tended to.
Thank you!

[masseyfarm]

This is the thread posted.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f313...all-93832.html

Dave

[masseyfarm]

I keep reading where RVr's have a problem with their paper products winding off the roll while traveling.

This is an easy simple solution that works without interfering with daily use of the paper rolls.


Before installation of the paper roll, lay it on the counter and squish it flat. This puts a two position stop in the cardboard center insert, and the roll will not rotate by itself while en route.


Dave

[masseyfarm]

I needed a 12V power plug in the rear bedroom area to power my florescent work lamp while doing engine bay inspections. I had previously installed two power plugs on the TV cabinet, but then had to duck under the wire when I used the lamp in the engine bay.

Any challenge presents another opportunity.

I removed the curbside lamp and found 10G wire terminating there. I ran 10G back down the cabinet and mounted the power plug in the cabinet where it is accessible, but out of the way.

Now that I'm in this corner, I decided to make MGW happy ( happier ) and install a small fan with an illuminated control switch on the cabinet.

The fan can be pivoted out of the way if not wanted.

This is just a 12V computer fan that is quiet, but gives that gentle breeze across the head and shoulders. For more HD weather, I have a large 12V fan that I mount in the open window, but it is a bit noisy. This small fan is difficult to hear.

The fan is controlled by a switch that has an indicator light when on. Because the switch is in the dark corner, it can be seen from the hallway and would catch your eye if it was left on.

Dave