Ohio Design Thesis - Resto/Redesign

[byamcaravanner]

Originally Posted by Cursh

I generally try not to freeze my meat and just eat it before the sell by date anyway

Sell by date??? I thought you were boondocking?? LOL!

The NovaKools are a great option. I am putting one in my trailer. I think they can hook you up with the "stuff" you need to fashion any cooling/freezing configuiration you want.

You might consider just a freezer. Most items that folks put in the fridge really don't need to be refrigerated. In addition, you could construct an insulated box that uses a thermostatically contolled fan to "borrow" cold air from the freezer to keep it cool.

[cameront120]

If you have just a freezer, you can always make your own ice for a separate insulated "ice-chest" for your perishables.

[markdoane]

Originally Posted by byamcaravanner

Sell by date??? I thought you were boondocking?? LOL!

You need to contact your state DNR.

In Minnesota we put a "use by" date on all critters. For big critters (moose, elk, deer) it's an ear tag. Small critters (racoons and squirls) it's stamped into the cheek.

Bits and pieces of roadkill should not be consumed if the meat is harder than a frisbee. If it passes the frisbee test, don't eat it!

[malconium]

Originally Posted by Cursh

The lofted bed is concerning me - but perhaps a part of prepping the thing for towing will just involve rolling the mattress and tying it down between the axles. I feel like the rest of the weight added won't be as much of an issue, but then again, I will have to really start mocking it up and shooting ideas off people who know more than me (which is a point that I am not at all at yet)

One thing to think about relative to keep the weight in a lofted bed would be to consider using an air mattress. There are units available now days that are designed for camping and have electric pumps that run on 12volts. Others run on 110volts. Of course a manually operated pump does not require any electricity. It seems like you could even make a loft that folded up somehow if you used an inflatable mattress. The mattress would not take up much space when not in use.

Malcolm

[Cursh]

Steve - think "urban boondocking"

Thermostatically controlled fan is an interesting solution as well.

Malcom - I like the way you think. - The odd shape of the beds might be the biggest problem there, but then again - I'm months away from trying to sleep in the thing anyway so I have plenty of time to tweak a solution.

[malconium]

Originally Posted by Cursh

Malcom - I like the way you think. - The odd shape of the beds might be the biggest problem there, but then again - I'm months away from trying to sleep in the thing anyway so I have plenty of time to tweak a solution.

I don't think anyone that knows me would say that I am at all afraid to think out of the box...
Perhaps the shape of an air mattress could be modified. It might be that just clamping off parts of the mattress so that air would not go into that part would be enough. Otherwise it might not be that hard to cut and glue to get the shape you need. I wonder if there are any companies out there that make custom shaped air mattresses?

Malcolm

[soldiermedic]

Cursh,

Check into Thermarest camping matresses. They self inflate, are pretty comfy, and are extremely light (Made for hiking).

Steve

[Cursh]

Originally Posted by malconium

I don't think anyone that knows me would say that I am at all afraid to think out of the box...
Perhaps the shape of an air mattress could be modified. It might be that just clamping off parts of the mattress so that air would not go into that part would be enough. Otherwise it might not be that hard to cut and glue to get the shape you need. I wonder if there are any companies out there that make custom shaped air mattresses?

Malcolm

For sure - I wasn't discounting this as an option at all - As soon as you mentioned this I thought of those infomercials where they heat seal ziplock bags with that little hand tool. =P

At least for the mattress up top I think clamping would work just fine (although I would rather have a more elegant solution) as the bed should be only slightly effected by the curve of the endcaps.

Anyway - Saw Bahbu again this weekend and decided to throw all the interior panels back inside as I'm sure I will be able to reuse something.

If anyone wants a 22 safari bathtub/cabinetry shoot me a PM I will let them have it for cheap/free to atone for the sins I am going to commit with this trailer. Pacify the vintage airstream gods if you will. (toilette is up for grabs too, again, not looking for money, just want to know its going to get used)


They are available to be picked up about 30 min south of Dayton OH

Some of the interior is cracked (not sure if its worth repairing) but the tub is in good shape and some of the cabinents are as well.

I need the endcaps because I have no desire to custom fab something up there (they will be covered, but I will need something to attach the coverings to)

[soldiermedic]

Always nice to see people giving away free parts. Karma to ya.

Steve

[Mrs_RedSHED]

Originally Posted by cameront120

The first question never occurred to me. I guess my glass is half full.

To the second question, you could use what I do:

BOBgear | BOB Yak Trailer – your best friend on a long cycling trip.

We agree on the bike trailer idea! BOB makes a nice product and there are other options. We have a couple of Burleys. www.burley.com

Mr RedSHED will tell you all about hauling a couple bags of mulch/manure for me with his bike trailer. The trailer handled it just fine and he got a nice workout! And yes, I believe that the last time we had the propane tank on our grill filled, he used the bike trailer. They are handy for grocerys, too. I suppose you could haul a couple bundles of firewood, as well.

[cameront120]

While I was cycling down the Pacific Coast Highway, I met a geologist in San Luis Obispo who used his BOB trailer to haul rock samples from the back country. He loaded that thing well beyond the specified limits and had nothing but praise for the trailers performance. I used mine cycling from Vancouver to Los Angeles with absolutley no problems at all. I'll never go back to panniers on a bike.

[Cursh]

ALRIGHT! ill get/make a bike trailer.

I guess i DO have a flip flop and can gear down pretty easily if I need to. =P

[Cursh]

Back from the dead (for a day maybe)

I've seen the light i've seen the light.

My car is for sale (not that anyone is going to buy it) because I can't justify the two grand i will need to pour into it to make it tow safely. I have also quit driving (my current tank of gas cost me $3.40 a gallon and is above 3/4 full) so fuel economy is not a concern in my only vehicle.

The replacement will be a period pick up and i am leaning towards the Chevy C-10 step side or a first generation K5 blazer. I'm not married to either of these, but thats just where I am looking currently. (the C-10 is much easier to find in good running condition for little to no money)

I have also been over intimidated by the plumbing and flooring process. I talked to Steve at Pands Trailer Service and they will be throwing in Polyboard and a new belly pan and plumbing.

I got my second piece of vintage flair for the finished project today. I work for the most fantastic jewish man downtown in a vintage shop and he threw a gorgeous old robins egg blue eskimo my way today (it can be wall mounted.) I also purchased a 2015 Marantz tuner/reciever from the mid 70's - It only has 15 watts per chanel but thats more than my 140 sq ft. could ever need (its also from back when saying a reciever was a certain wattage meant something.)

Lastly I made friends with a man who has a bunch of late model inverters from his AC repair company. He was willing to part with a couple of them (I would obviously only need one) and the prices were good.

Anyway - Theme is - I'm about to graduate and am completely distracted from working on the airstream 90% of the time, but it is still a very important project to me. I have every intention of moving into it by this fall (whether it is complete or not) and . . . yeah . . . you guys rock.

oh - and my girlfriend left me - but whatever. I'm going home to win her back . . . or live in my moms basement . . . or both - mid june.

The updates will continue to come as things happen - I haven't forgotten about Bahbu - and will be back soon - hopefully full throtle.

Much Love

-Ben

P.S. - Vintage Gadget Porn

[Cursh]

P.P.S. - I'm no longer lofting the bed - but I have a fantastic (in my mind) storage solution that I will share with you once I find my sketches (and make sure that they would make sense to anyone other than me.

[byamcaravanner]

Ben,

Good to see you are still at it. Keep those great ideas comming... but make sure you run them past the folks on the forum so we can make sure you're not about to nearly kill yourself again :-)

Cool finds... you've got the right idea on the vintage stuff.

HERE is a blog for you to check out regarding a great vintage trailer/tow vehicle set-up. You may also want to drop Brad a line... I'm sure you two have some things in common.

Continued Good Luck!

[dmroot]

Hi Cursh,

I just caught sight of this thread and had to laugh at the firestorm of comments. I hope you have a great time with your trailer. It is really a cool design problem to work through. We had a great time doing ours. And the fun isn't over yet

If you are able to get it into great towing shape (brakes, hitch, tires, brake controller, etc) you'll be able to bring it with you even before you've realized your interior vision.

At the last rally we went to outside of Portland, at least one or two people were sleeping in a pretty empty trailer in an Aerobed. It made for a pretty great tent while they worked through the interior projects.

Enjoy. I'll start watching this thread more closely and look forward to seeing you have a great time with this. Love all the creative thinking you've done so far.

[bredlo]

Originally Posted by Arteacherz

...a teacup of urine,

Originally Posted by 2airishuman

...there are incineration units that fry poop!

Ye gods, how long are you people boondocking for, anyhow?

As for ByamCaravanner's comment, you betcha - we do have a lot in common. I'm kind of "the Cursh of Christmas Future" in that I gave up on some of the more grand ideas I started out with on our first trailer, but still a risk taker to a degree.

On the vintage tow/trailer combo, I'll say that a lot of research went into making the decision on this vintage Jeep and GlobeTrotter matchup, including reaching out to people who've already done it. It paid off, too: they're well suited to each other, and when you factor in that I stayed in the right lane at 55 mph, I still got from North Carolina to Chicago in a day without a drop of sweat on my brow.

Keep up the creative thinking - you'll land on the right thing to do with each step. You're already way ahead of the game by talking with the people on this board, and as long as you heed their advice, both warnings and encouragement, you'll be fine.

Speaking of good advice from AIRforums, I finally got off my butt this past week and became a Supporting Member for the first time. Thanks to all of you who make it worth visiting.

[bertro]

Cursh, Love the old marantz, I had a 2216 back in the day with some RTR 3 ways. Robert

[malconium]

Originally Posted by Cursh

I also purchased a 2015 Marantz tuner/reciever from the mid 70's - It only has 15 watts per chanel but thats more than my 140 sq ft. could ever need (its also from back when saying a reciever was a certain wattage meant something.)

Cursh,

I have a Marantz in my basement that is so classic it is still monoral. Very high fidelity though. Actually the tuner and the amp are sepepate units and both have vacuum tubes. I know what you mean about the wattage really meaning something too.

Malcolm

[Cursh]

So I made a ridiculous craigslist ad to sell my car . . . it got national coverage (showed up on autoblog and a handful of forums)

in the end though and old friend of mine traded keys with me for his 1988 Land Cruiser . . .



Her name is Cinderella and she is boss enough to replace the audi.

And . . . . she tows (you betcha)



in hindsight I should have flipped that hitch drop over to make it a 1" hitch riser so that she would have been sitting pretty with 'Bahbu' scampering along all level like behind her, but it was really hard to make all this happen with a hydrolic toyota jack and a bunch of jack stands (see first post where the trailer decided it needed some personal space)

Anyway - It was a reletively uneventful trip except for the fact that I have never in my life owned an automatic transmission before and have no concept of how to tow with one. After about 50 min of driving a long in overdrive the transmission started to over heat and burned a soft ball sized hole in the back of my rear bench seat. (it was folded down to hold all of the Airstream Goodies that were just too good to throw away)

Since 3 of the four vehicles that I have owned in the tenure of my drivers license have had instances involving fire and seats I figured this was just me breaking in Cinderella, and I am now proud to call myself her owner. (as I'm sure Anthony would not take the thing back considering how much he is enjoying driving the audi around these days . . . and that massive hole in the back seat.)

ANYway - post me calling a friend and asking him the how to of towing with an auto I dropped Cinderella into 3rd and hauled Bahbu up to toledo at a cool 45-55 mph.



He is now sitting in what looks like airstream heaven at P&S Trailer Service where he will be recieving a floor and a belly pan - after which I will be towing him to my home town in Alabama for the remainder of the project (yeah right)


The duration of the work however has put me in a unique position where I have no means to get all of my nifty stuff home (I don't own much, but I know I love you [its more than will comfortably fit into an 88 land cruiser]) and I don't really feel like moving it all for two weeks (as my lease is up)

Solution? Ride my bike from ohio to Alabama. Ship a couple sets of undies and socks home and greyhound back up once the trailer is done.

no time stress in case the job takes longer than originally planned - no stress finding a place to live.

Anyway - thats all for now - I've done one or two boss sketches of what I hope the interior will look like, but those will have to wait as I just got in from a training ride and am about ready to pass out.

Until next time - much love - keep on streamin'

-Ben