1978 Travelux President 31'

[jonplayers]

Nice Find! Please post some pics of the interior.

Originally Posted by gehrhardt

Hi jonplayers. I bought a 1973 Travelux 29' President Elite this past Spring. It's now in my garage and the real restoration can begin. I haven't had a chance to read this whole thread yet, but it looks like a wealth of information.

I'm considering removing the front part of my belly pan to get a good look at the frame, etc. Any suggestions?

I took off the front belly pan on mine to do just that. My Frame was rusted out and needed a small repair.

There is a small gap between the body and belly pan at the front left corner of the trailer that allowed water to get in and rot out the floor under the cabinet at the front of the trailer. I'm trying to find a way to get to it without ripping the whole front of the interior apart. I'd prefer not to gut it at this point, as it's in good shape overall.

If by gap you mean under the belting on the curve of the corner?
Or do you mean between the frame and the shell?
The latter would more than likely be "front end separation" ( which sounds worse than it is). If just under the curve / Belting... poor craftsmanship perhaps? I know on mine they sheet metal is stretched flat underneath. Not the nicest looking area I gooped these areas with copious amounts of trempro 635!

If you do have front/rear end separation it is fixable. However, fixing it without having access from the interior could be challenging.

Also, the wiring pigtail that goes to the tow vehicle was ripped out at some point. Can you confirm that this wire goes through the middle bar of the frame through a rectangular hole on its underside, up by the tongue jack? There is a hole there, but I am hoping it's there by design and not as a result of rust.

I am fairly sure that the wires were going through the frame into the belly pan on the left.
Not actually inside the frame.

Oh, and here's a pic of mine (before the aforementioned garage was built):


Thanks

Thanks for posting! Good Luck!

[jonplayers]

Originally Posted by DavidsonOverlander

I never thought of fire when I used foam board to insulate our Sovereign, but I don't think it's a problem. I used 1" Dow Super Tuff-R Polyisocyanurate Rigid Foam Insulated Sheathing from Lowes. The Polyisocyanurate Insulation Manufacturers Association states that

"Polyiso offers superior surface burning and flame spread fire-resistance properties in comparison to minimum building code requirements and other common combustible insulating and structural materials used for building envelope construction. Its flame spread characteristics are similar to gypsum wallboard."

I just tried to burn a piece and it flared up a bit when I first put a match or propane torch to it, but the flame went out within about 5 seconds and didn't spread to the rest of the piece.

I finally tried burning some of that polysio. You were right it flares up than goes out. I defiantly feel better about it now. I did a not so scientificu test by covering a piece of polysio with laqer thinner and a piece of regular Styrofoam. I had even exposed the polysio by peeling of the foil and dowsed it with lacquer thinner. Then lit them on fire!

The regular styro foam burnt until it was a small burning ball.( It never did go out). The Polysio burnt for a bit, then went out! I was impressed actually. I will definitely sleep better now knowing that it is not flammable.

Thanks!

[gehrhardt]

Here are some pictures of the interior from when we bought it to give you an idea of the layout.







Yes, it has real hardwood floors in it.

I can't send more up to date ones, as I have been working on it and have removed cabinets, etc. Needless to say the clutter is gone.

This is a shot of the water damage to the front corner. The separation is under the belting, as you said above. I also find it suspicious that the drain hose for the fresh water tank is pointing right at the rot... Hmmm...


I have stripped most of the white vinyl from the ceiling and walls. In one of the pictures, you can see where the previous owner put white panels on the roof to try and cover the peeling vinyl. It looked terrible, so it was the first to go.

Also, I think the propane line has been replaced. It is a copper line underneath the belly pan. I can't imagine the factory would have done it that way. It's hanging so close to the road. I'll probably cut that off this weekend.

[jonplayers]

It has been a year since I have done anything on the old girl. I pulled her out of the shop to free up some space for all the woodworking projects I had to do for our cabin project. It has kinda been taunting me.... always in view around the yard. I am finally done the cabins! I should have wrote a blog about that! Wow what a pile of work it was!

They turned out quite nice. I am very pleased with our use of space in them. We our getting quite a bit of interest and bookings! I still have a few more projects to do for them ( stools, benches,and shelves) but it is definitely winding down. I still will not do much on the old girl till winter though. Anyways just thought I would let folks know I am still hoping to finish one day... here is a link to our website http://www.hiddenacrestreehouseresort.com/

[Hittenstiehl]

Looks like you are quite busy there building a beautiful life. What a scenic location. The trailer will come along in between the rest if it.

[Gene]

It has been a year?! I didn't realize it had been so long.

Did you build those cabins from scratch, or just finish them? Either way a lot of work plus the farm. Great job. Are they elevated because of flood possibilities from the Skeena R.? I feel like stopping in later today and taking a nap or then sitting on the porch and doing very little, but I am far away and going the other direction tomorrow.

Where's parking for Airstreams?

Gene

[jonplayers]

Originally Posted by Hittenstiehl

Looks like you are quite busy there building a beautiful life. What a scenic location. The trailer will come along in between the rest if it.

Yes very busy around here. We are very fortunate to be able to live and raise our children on this property. It is a great life style. Although, sometimes I long for a condo far away!

[jonplayers]

Originally Posted by Gene

It has been a year?! I didn't realize it had been so long.

Did you build those cabins from scratch, or just finish them? Either way a lot of work plus the farm. Great job. Are they elevated because of flood possibilities from the Skeena R.? I feel like stopping in later today and taking a nap or then sitting on the porch and doing very little, but I am far away and going the other direction tomorrow.

Where's parking for Airstreams?

Gene

It has been four years since I got the trailer! Wow! I thought it would take a year or two ha!
We did build the cabins from the ground up. We framed them last summer in about 6 weeks. We got the metal roofs on, and then I had to go to work for 4 months. I have been on it full time since Nov. of last year. I am just now back to work. We have them up on stilts for the cool vibe, views, and mostly in case of flooding. Yes sitting on the porch and doing very little sounds like a dream. I will have to leave that for someone else to do! Perhaps you one day! There is plenty of room for RVs to park. I have 5 spots to put in but, that might wait until next year. I have had a few people just pull in and camp on the grass. I am so looking forward to getting back to work on the old girl. Maybe a break was what I needed.

[Gene]

Glad to see you are doing it your way and making it work for the whole family.

Sure sounds like you needed a break. Our bodies usually tell us when we need one and sometimes we listen.

Gene

[jonplayers]

After many months of no progress I started back on the skins! I am happy to say that I have finally finished that part of the project! The ceiling panels went in better than expected, although it was a little hard on the neck and shoulders!

I started another thread in interior restorations in hopes of getting a bit of advice on the finish of the panels. The finger prints and smudges of last year have oxidized. There are also some patches of oxidation on the panels from when they were stacked in storage. I am not opposed to painting with zolatone, however I would prefer the mill finish of the aluminum if I could get it back and protect it somehow.

Anyways I will post a few pics in the next little bit.

[Dickitee]

Hello there Jonplayers and all.
I know it’s been a long time since this thread has been active... but I’ve followed along since purchasing and beginning renovations on my very own Travelux 31’, in the UK!

I am slightly frightened by the amount of work to do and the cost but I am committed now and so I am beginning the long road to renewal of this beast.

I have a specific question about windows. Because they are metal inside and out, when I was living in my Travelux before beginning the renovation, we used to get very bad condensation dripping down the windows.

I am concerned that after spending thousands of pounds renovating this monster and re doing everything especially newly insulating it, that I will have the same issue.

Did you find any way to overcome this?

Perhaps once proper hearing and ventilation is installed the issue is greatly lessened?

I was playing with the idea of rebuilding the window frames to be timber but feel like this may be one too many rabbit holes even for me.

Thanks in advance and looking forward to hearing from you.

I will begin a thread and post a link.

Richard

[jonplayers]

Hello Richard in the UK! Looks like you got yourself a fine specimen. I bet there are not to many of those across the pond! I have not spent much time in my trailer or tried heating it yet. I imagine my windows would sweat as well. I am not sure there is much you could do to get them to preform better?! My gaskets on the individual windows are old and cracked and I have not been able to source them. Not sure I would want to try and change all those lol! I had always thought if heating in the fall or winter I would make insulated panels to fit in snugly in the windows. Although you would lose the light /view. I have not worked on my trailer for quite sometime now😬😕. I am hoping this next winter I will have time. Anyways best of luck to you on your restoration!

Jon

[Ganaraska]

Re those windows - if it is like my Travelux it has jalousie windows made of horizontal strips of glass. They are convenient in summer but do not seal very tight and are not really suited to cold weather. I don't know what you could do, except replace them with more modern insulated windows. The only other thing would be to cover them with clear plastic. I have done this in my house and it helps a lot. You get them at the pound store or hardware store.

[jonplayers]

Well it’s been years… haha!
I’m finally getting going on this project again.
It’s been such a long time, but I think I am finally committed to finishing the interior. I installed the old tub unit yesterday.
It’s been my experience that the hardest part about a project is starting!!
Today a plan on starting the floors.


Jon

[jonplayers]

Here are some of the Pics from my tub install as well as a bit of an explanation of my process.


I had refinished the tub with por 15 at some point in the last 10 years haha.
When I install tubs as a contractor often I would put a pile of mortor in a garbage bag when dry it makes for a solid tub with no flex.
Not really wanting the extra weight in the trailer i used some fairly dense packing strofoam i had saved for just this. I used a bit of spray foam to attach the foam to the tub. The little seat/ leg rest was kind of sloped the wrong way so i did my best to straighten it out with a couple cedar shim jambed between tub and foam. I then scribed the tub to the wall with a jiffy marker. Using an angle grinder with a sanding disc I was able to get a reasonable fit.


Finally after the last dry fit I used up the rest of the can of spray foam on the low spot of the foam. I then covered with a piece of plastic so it would not stick to the floor. Once in final postition i used exsisting holes in the tub and drilled a small hole into the aluminum skins. Using a hand screw driver i installed stainless screws. Once install there was way less flex in the tub when standing in it. The foam is supporting the bottom.

[jonplayers]

I prepped the floor today as well as patched a wheel well while waiting for the planipatch to dry. I snapped a chalk line and spread out some glue.
I'm just waiting for it to dry so I can get the first few runs of flooring down tonight.


I cant say i wanted to use vinyl plank. I've used it on a lot of projects and while the durabilty is great it does shrink in cold weather and show small gaps. We had wanted linoleum but the cost was way more and durability is not the best. So we decided to go with the vinyl plank. We found the colour we wanted and it was on for a great deal!

I filled all the screw holes and seams with planipatch and additive.

[jonplayers]

The flooring is done!
Not sure why every pic I post is sideways. Maybe I’m holding the phone wrong?!
I feel like my parents who couldn’t program the VCR!
My kids don’t even know what a VCR is!
Ah well…technology!

I had a few issues installing flooring.

1. The nice price of the flooring also means there are only about 5 different pieces…so I had to be vigilant that I did not install two identical pieces side by side!

2. I removed the exterior door threshold and noticed/remembered that the door was crooked and a wedge shaped piece of off wood was screwed directly to 3/4 ply subfloor to make up. I spray painted this piece and used construction adhesive and a few screws to attach it firmly. I had debated using a biscuit jointer. I even went as far as to get it out! In the end I did not use it. 😂

3. Was the flooring was finished and I had wrestled the threshold back into place.
The screen door was binding on the threshold. The floor was only about 1/8 inch thick, but enough to cause binding. After wondering the aisles of Canadian tire in search of a zip disc for cutting aluminum. I asked the google the best method for grinding cutting aluminum. Angle grinder Sandpaper disc were suggested. I have lots of those! So, rather than waste my trip to the store…I bought some grey décor receptacles and stainless steel cover plates.

I scribed and ground enough aluminum of the screen door so that it would close easily. However when trying to close with the main door it still would bind.
It took some effort and two grinding discs to remove enough material so that the door would close properly.

While working on the door I got side tracked with a couple more projects. The air conditioner interior cowling and the scare light/handle.

















Clearly I have not figured out how to post the pics!!!

[BigAl]

Good work. I lived in Kitimat in the mid 60’s. Need to make a trip out that way.

[jonplayers]

Hello Al, thank you. You should definitely make the pilgrimage back out here. Kitimat has been bustling the last few years. The L n G project in Kitimat is almost complete. People from all over Canada and the world have been working on that project! Definitely a trip worth doing for the journey and not the destination though…as Kitimat is well still an industry town. ��

Jon

[jonplayers]

I put the air conditioner back together today. It still works! So that’s cool….
Dad joke 🙄

I also bent up some hinges for the hot water tank door out of a couple of wall board hangers. I had tried to buy some new hinges the other day to no avail.

It’s time to organize all the supplies and appliances and see what I have and what I will need. Let’s see if these pics post any better!