Overbassador or Ambassalander?

till · 01-02-2005, 06:06 PM

I knew it was too good to be true. We are in the midst of struggling with which way to go. The two extra feet of the Ambassador is a major plus but the Overlander being titled and licensed is a major plus. I love the extra windows in the Ambassador too, also that it is an oddball of the oddball trailers. (67's seem to be the only trailers with the sink on the street side) At least I'm not loosing sleep on this yet. The advice I'm getting at this point is to go cautiously and investigate the damage on both trailers and proceed with the better trailer.

I hate this, I thought that getting the Overlander home would answer all my problems.

Silver Bullet · 01-02-2005, 06:35 PM

'62 Overlanders have street side sinks, trust me, been in ours since '72

Oscar

TomW · 01-02-2005, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by till

...The advice I'm getting at this point is to go cautionsly and investagte the damage on both trailers and procide with the better trailer...

More advice.

I have personally seen the Overlander. I have seen your pictures of the Ambassador & read your posts on cracked door jambs etc.

Removing the end cap from the Ambassador, and mounting it on the Overlander sounds easy enough, but I see two problems. The biggest one is that there is absolutely no reason to think any of the rivet holes will align between the two coaches. As long as the distance between old rivet holes & new rivet holes is not less than 3D, where D is the rivet diameter, you will be okay. However, the end result is A LOT of rivets, both in old holes & new holes, tying it all together.

The second problem is the street-side skin. The Overlander's skin is damaged in the immediate area of the end cap. Grafting skin from the Ambassador, on ALL sides of the graft, has the same rivet hole problem as outlined above. Purchasing new skin would lessen this problem, but you would definitely end up with a calico appearance with all the different aluminum sources.

I am not real thrilled about the way someone treated the skin around the Ambassador's door (padlock hasp?). But, IMO, that is the only reason you may not not want to base your plans on using the Ambassador based on what I know about it.

You may want to list, and provide pictures, of the major areas of concern on both coaches. People more familiar with skin repairs may be able to offer different insight.

Tom

Silver Bullet · 01-02-2005, 09:32 PM

Good post Tom, that would be good to know. Tedd, which one do you really want? I have a hunch I know.

Can the Ambassador "absorbe" the interior and exterior of the Overlander? My guess is "yes". Take the simplist frame work and start from there.

Oscar

till · 01-03-2005, 08:50 AM

Tom,

Thank you again, for the clear insight. I can live with a small patch or two vs the calico affect. Though I will need pemission to copy most of your floor plan.

kposey · 01-03-2005, 10:50 AM

Till, glad to see that ya'll made it back safe and sound. Sorry we didn't get to meet you on your way, but if you and your family are back in this area, please feel free to stop in.

We are having a rally next April at the Georgia Mountain Fairground in Hiawassee. Think you could have the Overbassador or Ambassalander ready by then?