thanks, caravanner, that's what I needed to know. It looks like a 'spanner' wrench is what's needed to remove the old flange, as it has two notches opposite each other, so I'll try to locate one of those. The new flange fits the toilet perfectly (the old one didn't) so I think i'll be using the new..gracias
Cut a rectangle of 1/4" thick plastic-metal-hardwood rectangle just wide enough to fit across the two notches in the toilet flange. Thickness of the appropriate corners should be trimmed to about 7/64ths to fit tightly in the notches. You can then turn the toilet flange out of the tank using this inexpensive rectangle as a "spanner" tool.
I don't recall exactly, but I think the threads are 2-1/2" standard PVC pipe thread, per the test item in this post: http://www.airforums.com/forums/523734-post19.html You have to replace the toilet flange with a threaded fitting.
Rick,
You are doing a great job. I have our bathroom gutted in our 69 31'. I have printed up all your notes. I am sure some of your problems will help my hubby get it all back together. Our black tank pan was totally rotted, we had to have a new one built ($45). We also had to order a new black tank as ours was cracked around the vent pipe ($260). Guess what the new tank is really black. We are puting in a new hotwater tank, as I don't want to have to ever ever take the bathroom apart again. I haven't bought our POR15 yet to do the beams after we sand all the rust off. Keep up the good work. We are having to wait until the weather gets better as we have to work outside. Thanks for all the great pictures and info.
Do you have the specs on what you ordered (model number etc of the tank) and any pics of the new and old tank, specs on the pan. That is much more reasonable than I thought on the tank. I was planning on putting off replacing the metal pan and tank until next season (and still may) but it is the weak link in our system at this point. Was thinking of adding a temporary strap under the belly pan just so I don't hit a bump and leave my tank on the highway (or just have the extra water weight drop the tank for me).
Do you have the specs on what you ordered (model number etc of the tank) and any pics of the new and old tank, specs on the pan. That is much more reasonable than I thought on the tank. I was planning on putting off replacing the metal pan and tank until next season (and still may) but it is the weak link in our system at this point. Was thinking of adding a temporary strap under the belly pan just so I don't hit a bump and leave my tank on the highway (or just have the extra water weight drop the tank for me).
The company that has been making tanks for airstream is still in business. Inca Plastics Inc. If you look on your tank you will see INCA, and you will see a number on your tank ours was H4 (this is a 20gal). They have these in stock. I believe the guy I talked to was AL (owl). He will tell you to print up the photo from their web sight and make measurements and put them on the paper and email or fax to him. I can private email (pe) you our copy for a reference for you is you would like. Our pan was custom made in a metal shop in Oklahoma City. Our old one was so bad it fell apart when they took measurements (there was no botton in it) the foam was the only thing holding it against the belly. Our leak was also at the vent. I am sorry but I do not intend to take the trailer apart again in my life time so a new tank was the only way I would go. AL told me the old one couldn't be fixed as the vent pipe is heat spinned into place which causes it to melt and set. They couldn't guarantee it would stay fixed, I wasn't about to take that chance. With all the vibrations going down the road just to risky for my taste. Now this is just a girls point of view. I have photos of the old tank, haven't taken the time to take photo of new pan and tank. I can this weekend if you like and PE you the photos from home. Like I said the new tank is BLACK. INCA did a great job and $260 included shipping to Alex, OK. It is funny the tank is shipped in it bare nothings just a black tank with your name and address stuck to it. That is a pretty strong tank to make it through the US postage with no box.
It is funny the tank is shipped in it bare nothings just a black tank with your name and address stuck to it. That is a pretty strong tank to make it through the US postage with no box.
LOL! That's how mine were shipped too. They even had to use that stretchy plastic pallet wrap to hold the stickers on since nothing seams to stick to that black plastic. I ordered my tanks from AmeriKart thru PPL RV... since the price was about half as much. I have a link on my blog
Thank you for the incaplastic link. I e-mailed them a picture of my tank with dimensions and they said they have it. My overlander airstream is a 1973. This is the comment he made to me. Does anybody have a suggestion on how I answer him. This has me a bit confused. I will post a picture of my tank so you all can see.
IF YOU STILL WANT TO ORDER IT, PLEASE INDICATE TYPE OF FITTING ( THREADED, SLIP,GROMMET OR SENSORS LOCATION) MAKE SURE YOU MEASURE I.D. NOT O.D.
This is the comment he made to me. Does anybody have a suggestion on how I answer him. This has me a bit confused. I will post a picture of my tank so you all can see.
IF YOU STILL WANT TO ORDER IT, PLEASE INDICATE TYPE OF FITTING ( THREADED, SLIP,GROMMET OR SENSORS LOCATION) MAKE SURE YOU MEASURE I.D. NOT O.D.
SIU Bound
Brina
What I think he is asking clarification on is where and what size you want the fitting (holes) and what type/size. I may not have been clear on your dimensions you sent.
We just ordered tanks (but from someone else) without all the holes in them for our '56 Safari. We weren't sure exactly where we wanted the holes until we could see how the tanks would fit in the frame which was after we had the tanks in hand. Our Safari had no existing tanks to go-by, so our tanks were 100% custom shape/size - nothing to start with. Once we got them, we figured out where we wanted everything and last week I took them to a local tank builder (doesn't do custom builds though, only molded) and had them put in the spin fittings exactly where we needed them. It took about 15 minutes for both tanks and only cost $20.
Being you have the old tanks, you can either measure where the fittings go or order your tank without them and have someone local provide the fittings & spin set them to match your existing tank.
Hope this helps ~
Shari
__________________
Vintage Airstream Club - Past President 2007/2008
WBCCI #1824 - DenCO Unit Past President (2005)
AIR #30 - Join Date: 2-25-2002
I am not up on the correct terminology on all the fittings. I know the toilet flange screws into a hole on the top of the tank. and the other fitting the gray water dumps into must be a slip. The sensors are on the right where the dump valve goes. I will have to research this more.
IF YOU STILL WANT TO ORDER IT, PLEASE INDICATE TYPE OF FITTING ( THREADED, SLIP,GROMMET OR SENSORS LOCATION) MAKE SURE YOU MEASURE I.D. NOT O.D.
SIU Bound
Brina
My original '69 tank has a THREADED female 3" spun-in fitting that the toilet flange screws into. If your existing sub-floor is not being replaced like mine you'll want to make sure that the toilet fitting fits exactly under the hole in your sub-floor (since I'm putting a new floor in I had to locate that spot and cut the plywood directly above the toilet fitting). The fitting for the dump valve is simply a SLIP fitting (like a piece of pipe) as is the tank vent. You can see pix of these in Post #37 of this thread. I changed my Thetford dump valve to a Valterra and used a heat lamp to get the Valterra in. If you don't have a gray tank the graywater will empty just AFT of the dump valve in a sort of "tee" fitting. If yours is a Thetford tee the only guy I've seen who says he can repair them is Inland Andy (I don't think they're available new anymore), which is another reason I switched to Valterra as the parts are readily available.
-clecos mean stuff is going back TOGETHER instead of being taken apart, so they make me very happy! here's some holding a reinforcing strip added to the one shaky spot on the blacktank, after hitting it with the POR. I shot wide-flange bellypan rivets in here to hold the strip:
-that tank flange did indeed have threads and I made an AIRSTREAM "black hole" wrench to back it out (thanks, Zep, for the tip):
-since my subfloor was mostly GONE, it was a bit tricky to determine exactly where the hole for the toilet flange should go. this is a critical measurement because the black tank doesn't have a whole lot of room to move around, especially laterally, which is as it should be. I drilled a pilot hole in the approximate spot then cut a pencil off about 2" long and squeeeeeeezed it inside the hole and traced the edge of the threaded (female) tank flange as I pushed the thin ply floor template against the tank underneath. which gave me this marking on the template:
which I cut out. voila. next up: cutting the actual 3/4 subfloor....not the 1/4" template (which I'm a bit sick of..honestly..)
OK, why is there always a 'dangling photograph' in my posts...? paperclip sabotage... the dangler above is a birds eye view of the tubes that connect the heater duct and the blacktank pan (to keep the tank from freezing...before I learned this I thought "why would you want blackwater overflow going into the heater duct?"....DUH...) anyway these two have to line up when you're re-fitting your blacktank, that's my only point...and they're connected by a short lengtht of radiator hose, for those of you who haven't seen your trailer's bath guts yet...
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