1980 Caravelle Shell Off Renovation

[timzog]

Made some more progress on the bath door. It is tougher now to find time now that school has started again.
Here is the door hinge. It is a 6' x1 1\2" aluminum piano hinge from Zoro tools.

I buck riveted the hinge to a .032" aluminum sheet that was 3/8" bigger than the door opening. This is going to be a shower door too so it needs to be waterproof.
I bent some angle for the top of the door and used U channel for 3/4" plywood for the sides and bottom. I sanded it all with 110 and 220 grit paper. The core will be foam, but there will be a6" wide bit of 1/2" plywood near the top as an attachment point for hooks.

Here is the test fit of the frame, hinge and aluminum panel. It fits great.

Next will be the wood skin for the side that faces the interior of the trailer. I was going to use luan but switched to 1/4" maple plywood with several coats of spar polyurethane. Except for the strip of 1/2" ply, the bulk of the core will be 1/2" blue foam. It will all be epoxied together in a sandwich and should be light and strong.


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[timzog]

I am looking for ideas for a latch system that can hold the door in a closed position and also secure the door in an open position. I'd like to be able to travel with the bath door open so I can see out the back. I believe simple is better if possible. Any suggestions?


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[timzog]

Making slow progress on bathroom door. Here is the inner material. The plywood part is reinforcement to support hooks.

This is the door with unfinished plywood face.

Here is the door in one final test fit before finishing and assembly.



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[timzog]

Here's some work I did last week and forget to mention.
Added a voltmeter with a switch as well as a switch for the water pump.



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[timzog]

After I took the door back apart, I put 3 coats of marine polyurethane on the plywood panel with 320 grit sanding in between coats. I applied epoxy to the back side of the plywood and made the sandwich with just the foam and put all the metal trim around the outside. Then another coat of epoxy on the foam and then the aluminum sheet went on. Used clecos to align everything and then put it all together with 1/8" pop rivets. I put it on a flat assembly table on top of a drop cloth and then put a piece of flat particleboard on top and then everything heavy I had within reach including paint,ma propane tank, a toolbox, etc. to help adhere the foam and plywood cores to the skins of the door. Here are a couple of pics of the finished product. I still haven't figured out how to do the latches but I'll probably use magnets for starters and see where it goes from there. I may use the airstream latch that is used to keep the exterior door open to keep the bathroom door open during travel.
ATTACH]222505[/ATTACH]



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[timzog]

The finished door installed with clecos for now.


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[Becky B.]

Looks fantastic!!!

[timzog]

I haven't posted in a while since I've been busy with work, but I've made a bit of progress. I've started working on window covering- my plan is to use magnets to hold the curtains in place and have them fold up like an iPad smart cover and also be totally removable all with magnets. I'm trying out a prototype now using the remnants of home curtains that my dog damaged and some neodymium disc magnets.
The exciting news is that we made a reservation in May at Goblin Valley State Park and Arches NP. We could only get one night at Arches Devil's Garden Campground, so we booked a couple nights at Goblin Valley too. It's only a 4-5 hour drive so it could be a good break in trip, but now the pressure is on. The good news is that we have beds, hot and cold water, power, lights, heat, brakes, tires, and sinks:
The bad news is I still need to:
-get a rear bumper
-get a weight distributing hitch
-get a new brake controller
-finish the drapes
-sort out the shower including a shower curtain.
-composting toilet (I was planning on buying a Nature's Head, but now there is a new option called the C-Head which is cheaper).
-get it licensed
-work out how to dump the grey tank (I used a 2" valve and I haven't figured out how to either get a smaller hose or adapt cleanly to a 3" hose)
-figure out if we'll need a solar panel or not for 3 days with a single battery.

Anyway, I am very excited that we are actually going camping in this thing. My first post was March 3, 2011
I should be totally done by sometime in 2031

[thumbelinadj]

What a beauty! Have enjoyed your thread on the restoration.

[Minno]

For a shower curtain set up, we mounted a curtain rod for RV on the ceiling curving out so we got more room in the upper part. I bought a regular shower curtain (fabric), and cut it to fit the curve of the wall so it hung straight at the bottom when pulled. Works great, and looks good.
You don't really need much more to go camping, except to make sure you're towing safely.. You can always get a portapotty for the first trip if the composter isn't in yet! I hope you finish before 2031 because I will be, ummm, well never mind how old I'll be then! Good luck! First trips are dreamy!

Kay

[adamfried]

I really like the bunk system. I've been thinking about moving the bathroom but bunks could work. Sweet!

[timzog]

Kay,
Thanks for the shower curtain idea. I taped some magnets on the inside of the ceiling panels in order to have an invisible way to hold up the shower curtain, but I don't know if it will work or not. I think I'll need to cut the top in a curve like you did.


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[timzog]

SOLAR!!
I've been dreaming of a solar powered Airstream for a while now and the technology and low costs are just too good to ignore. I have 6awg wire that runs from my battery compartment to some Blue Sea pass throughs on the roof in front of the rear vent. I'm thinking I have enough room for a total of 300w, but I'm going to start with 100W. The controller that looks right is the Morningstar Sunsaver 20L. It has a capacity of 20A, is temperature compensating, can mount in the battery compartment, and costs less than $100. It doesn't have much in the way of settings or readouts but that's OK since it won't be super easy to access. I do have a great voltage readout on my 12V system (which I calibrated the other day with a high end multimeter) so I should be able to tell what is going on based on the voltage. The max output of most 100W panels is below 6A so 20A should be adequate for 3 panels. The Renogy 100w flexible panels are now $200, weigh 3 pounds, and can be secured on the roof with just adhesive. I'll try it out for a while and see if I like it and decide if I should get more. I've heard a few concerns about durability, but at $200 even if it only lasts a few years, it will be worth it. The technology will probably advance by then anyway.

In other news, I am trying to find a rear bumper. I saw a couple threads on ideas. For now I just need something to make me legal. Any advice is appreciated.


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[reinergirl]

Did you see these?

Search - Bumpers


Your trailer looks great!

[timzog]

Originally Posted by reinergirl

Did you see these?

Search - Bumpers


Your trailer looks great!

No, I hadn't. Thanks for the tip. One of them may work. I have to go out in the snow and do some measuring😄


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[timzog]

So as I try to sort out the need, want , and would like list, I am wondering if bumpers are required for licensing and safety or if it is something I could put on my nice to have list and worry about other things first. Does anybody know what the requirements are?


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[timzog]

Random thoughts as I get closer to actually taking this thing on the road.

The kids and I spent the night in our airstream a week ago. It got down to 35 outside that night. With the newport dickinson 9000 on high, my daughter actually got too hot in the bunk bed. My younger daughter was too cold closer to the floor. I was happy as a clam. We did build up a lot of condensation so we need to figure out the right amount of ventilation to get rid of all the moisture we breathe out while keeping enough heat in. If we are going to cold weather camp, I also need to figure out how to move the heat from the top to the bottom. I wonder if a well placed fan and duct could draw heat from along the roof and expel it at the floor. It could go in the main cabinet??

So I'm continuing to do some mundane things to get my Caravelle on the road. Today I had a police officer come over and inspect the VIN. Next stop will be to the DMV to get the title and license.

I am doing a lot of reading to figure out which way to go on a couple of other items. One critical one is the hitch. After getting a lot of advice, I think I will go with the EAz Lift hitch with a single friction sway control. The main advantage of the EAz lift is that it puts the ball closer to the vehicle and has more play in its bars. The opinion that swayed me (no pun intended) was that of the good folks at Can Am who have set up Honda Pilots to pull Airstreams much heavier than mine. It doesn't hurt that it's cheap. It clearly will need to be set up properly to actually do the job.

Another item is solar panels and controllers. I have #6 wire from the roof to my battery enclosure. It turns out that the Morningstar sunsaver duo may be perfect for me. It can handle 400 watts, has terminals that can take #6 wire and can also be hooked up with a remote meter. I can buy the controller for about $90 and add the meter later if I want. The meter won't measure load current but it will record solar amp hours. The smaller controllers don't take #6 wire. I am looking for fuses that can take #6 wire. I am still leaning toward flexible panels mostly due to weight issues. I've done so much work to keep the center of gravity low that I don't want to add 50 lbs on the roof. The cost is so low now that I could start with a 200 watt system that weighs 5 pounds on the roof for $500. Even if I have to replace them down the road, I'll still be happy if they last 5 years at that price. I do have a voltage meter for the battery so in the short term I could measure extent of charge poorly with that and upgrade later. Until I get my Danfoss fridge I'll have minimal power draw anyway. When I add the fridge, I think I'll need to upgrade batteries and add more panels. Right now I just have a 100AHr 12V deep cycle battery. I have enough room up top for at least 400 watts😄😄😄😄

I've pretty much decided to go with the C Head composting toilet. I like the simplicity and the cost better than the Natures Head.

I still have to get my shower working. So far the aluminum subfloor is the floor of the shower, but I've been thinking of putting a liner on top of it, I wonder if thin vinyl flooring might do the job. It is not hard to roll it up at the edges and seal at the corners to make a pan. It could just float in place and I could seal a fitting into the drain to complete the project. It would have to be perfect since water that got underneath could be trapped and that would be bad. I'm sure it would be easy to find a 2' x 2' remnant.

I tried to make some magnet curtains but I need stronger magnets to really make it work. I'll show some pics when I actually get it right.



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[timzog]

found these great fuse holders for my 12V system. They connect directly to the + battery terminal to save space and simplify the connections.
Blue Sea 5191 Terminal Fuse Block 30-300AMP - 5191 Blue Sea - Star Marine Depot

[timzog]

I went up on the roof of my trailer today since it was 70 degrees here!!!
I made a heavy paper template 41x21 just like the Renogy 100 watt flex solar panels. I have room for 3 panels on the center section of roof between the two fans and I actually have room for 2 more in the front. I think this means that I need to think about getting a controller capable of handling 500 watts which would be 30A. So now I'll probably get a Morningstar Prostar 30.

[timzog]

I finally got around to registering my trailer and getting the title transferred. Now I can drive it around. Anybody have good ideas of how to attach the plate? I'd rather avoid more holes. I'm wondering about VHB tape.



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