Hello everybody, my name's Greg and I've just recently purchased a beautifuly preserved 1965 Overlander. An old friend of mine (co-writer & bass player in my band) had procured this jewel from a client in the elder care facility he owned & operated at his ranch in Apple Valley Calif. I had been after my friend for years to sell, but he stubbornly held out even though he never used it. 8 years went by and there it sat beside his house, tin foil on all of the windows just gathering dust.
I finally convinced him to consider selling it to me in June when we drove down from Vacaville where we now live to visit him. $3500.00 later & I was making plans to bring her up to Nor Cal & start the resto process.
She was pretty dirty when I towed her home so I expected the worst. My son & I did a thorough cleaning and got rid of a few yards of horrible blue indoor-outdoor carpet, I was pretty amaised at what we had uncovered. Virtually everything was still there, intact & in working condition. The AC, the Dometic 'fridge, The MagicChef oven, everything works! The interior is Honduran Mahogony and is in surprisingly good condition. I started re-oiling it with Watco oil and although it was rather thirsty for having been stored in the Mojave for 30 years, but with a light sanding and some elbow grease, that rich reddish hue came right back like new!
You can see the contrast from the bathroom cabinets and the bedroom bulkheads that haven't been done yet.
Here's some pictures of what we have so far if anyone's interested in what the original interior looked like in a '65 Overlander with a street side galley and a "Devan" style front.http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/...339&uid=458225
We plan on covering over the original asbestos containing floor tiles with some laminated wood flooring but for now, I'll stay with the 9"x9"s until I get done spilling cleaners & varnish!
I'll keep you posted on the progress. Anyone have any ideas where I can find 6" thick cushion foam? I would like to re-stuff the devan cushions they're hard and disintegraiting.
It came with the original Owner's manual (held together with shoe laces) and all the paper work for all the add ons - gas lamp, front window "road filter" etc. I have the lifetime guarantee certificate from the Original owner, and all of the California registration cards from 1965 through 1978 when it was last registered. We are the 4th owners. I wonder if we can resume the original Caravan number when the second owners joined the WBCC?
I'm in the process of restoring my 1966 Chevy C20 "Custom Camper" pick-up truck to pull it with. It's sure going to look nice behind that classic rig!
Wow. Just, Wow! If that interior is in as good a shape as it appears in the pictures, you're going to have one beautiful camper when you're done. And the great part is that it doesn't look there's a lot to do (well, comapred to some us!) I love the interiors of the '60's trailers, especially those "exotic" woods. And to top it off, you got one hell-uv-deal on it. Congrats! Great find.
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Guess I'm getting old. Don't recognize any of the famous people in the "Got Milk?" ads any more.
What a great looking unit! Is the "box" on the roof an A/C unit?
Yes. It's an Armstrong AC unit. And see that brick over the front ceiling vent? In my haste to get it home, I didn't notice it was there. It stayed on top of the unit all the way from Apple Valley Ca. down the grapevine through Sacramento all the way to Vacaville without falling off. That could have done some serious damage to my wife's new Dodge Caravan on the way home!
What color Watco did you use - it looks very nice......
Ken J.
I went with the "Natural" I didn't want to darken things any - I know how mahogany can absorb all the light from a room when it's too dark. As it is, the Mahogany drank up the oil and it definately started to bring out that rich red charactoristic indicative of that wood. It's hard to stay away from the trailer, I find myself (or should I say, my wife finds me) in there almost every day.
I really do need to get started on my truck. I have a cab, and a 1989 Suburban front-end sitting in my shop waiting for me to dig in! I'm doing a front disc brake conversion and I'm upgrading my power assisted steering to real power steering with a hydraulic steering box. Everything else is staying pretty much stock for the period look. I'm installing a gear splitter behind the factory turbo 400 automatic transmision along with 4.10 gears in the differential to give me some much needed gas milage. Next year if things go well for us financially, I'll be converting the ol' 66 over to multi-port fuel injection and AC!!!!.
I went with the "Natural" I didn't want to darken things any - I know how mahogany can absorb all the light from a room when it's too dark. As it is, the Mahogany drank up the oil and it definately started to bring out that rich red charactoristic indicative of that wood. It's hard to stay away from the trailer, I find myself (or should I say, my wife finds me) in there almost every day.
I really do need to get started on my truck. I have a cab, and a 1989 Suburban front-end sitting in my shop waiting for me to dig in! I'm doing a front disc brake conversion and I'm upgrading my power assisted steering to real power steering with a hydraulic steering box. Everything else is staying pretty much stock for the period look. I'm installing a gear splitter behind the factory turbo 400 automatic transmision along with 4.10 gears in the differential to give me some much needed gas milage. Next year if things go well for us financially, I'll be converting the ol' 66 over to multi-port fuel injection and AC!!!!.
I know on the 67-72 body style that the front saddle with all the suspension and brakes is about a bolt in. I had a 70 Sub I was going to restore and I had a 77 saddle and suspension I was going to put in it. I would have only had to drill 2 more holes. The rest lined up.
The 87-89 454 TBI has a spread bore base and should bolt in place of the shock quad. I know its not MPI but is good bang for the buck. I have one of these set ups that I will probably drop on my 70 Lemans. http://www.customefis.com/ can custom taylor a chip.
Do you ever got to http://www.67-72chevytrucks.com/ I hang there on occasion. I go by Grim Reaper there LOL. Lots of good tech and they do have a foum for your year.
Great find on the coach. It looks like your going to have it back to near perfect in a very short time.
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1959 22' Caravanner
1988 R20 454 Suburban.
Atlanta, GA
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An old friend of mine (co-writer & bass player in my band) had procured this jewel from a client in the elder care facility he owned & operated at his ranch in Apple Valley Calif. I had been after my friend for years to sell, but he stubbornly held out even though he never used it. 8 years went by and there it sat beside his house, tin foil on all of the windows just gathering dust.
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