'70 Caravanner restoration

[steinVT]

When I got my trailer, the step was only partially attached. At first I thought I would just replace it all, but then decided to try and rebuild it. After I stabilized the slots, the movement was very stiff. I looked for spots that were binding and bent the pin arms with a vice grip and hammer. Basically beat it into submission.

Must have had the right number of hits because they now work great.

Very interesting on your belly pan aluminum, I would have guessed the opposite. You're braver than me to order it without a piece in your hands. Glad it worked out.

[Jeremy9107]

steinVT. have held breath and hoped for best many times along this project.

will try percussive treatment to stair as you did and hope this thing will begin to cooperate.

[Jeremy9107]

have been stairing at this fan for months wondering how it wires. have not garnered a single response from 3 forum posts. have to move on with bathroom reno so was forced to figure it out. trial and error prevailed. see this post for full explanation. have never used solder iron before. when used this one, wife said it was not a solder iron, rather a tool used to scribe into wood. worked just fine for this purpose.
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f37/...ml#post2166142

[HiHoAgRV]

Since nobody knew and you figured it out, you are now the Forums Expert on bath fan wiring. I think there is a medallion and ceremony for that but I might be wrong.

[Jeremy9107]

HiHoAgRV. Don't want to be confused for an expert. Truth be told, the whole time was thinking getting the wires wrong would fry the fan.

[Jeremy9107]

Details can be found here :
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f427...ml#post2170195

Basically wanted a way to empty the swamp cooler reservoir without having to remove it from the trailer. It has a screw on cap and replaced that with a 1 1/2" x 1" hose elbow which then attached to a threaded x barb elbow connected to a solenoid valve that drains through a hole in the floor. Will attach this to a switch at the front of the trailer.



The solenoid valve and pump are riveted to the bracket that that the reservoir sits on and all are tucked under the rear bed.


The reservoir is fed from the water supply within the trailer, whether that be city water or fresh water tank. Will install a 3 way valve here so as to be able to bypass the trailer water supply and pull from a 5 gallon bucket from outside the trailer. There will be a one way valve along this line so as to not contaminate drinking water in the trailer. More to come when installed...

Didn't like the way the roof skin sagged when the swamp cooler was on top. Thought this was just inviting water leak at some point.


So fashioned the rib support from scrap aluminum as detailed in prior post. Worked well to give support.


Finally was able to place the center roof panel back in place. Had done this some months back and struggled for several hours doing it without help. This time was able to complete in 15 minutes with the help of one. Trick is, gotta get one side setting completely within the grooved support, then bow it down the entire middle to get the other side in its grooved support. Its nice to walk into the trailer without having wires smacking faces.

[Jeremy9107]

attempt 3 or 4... based on steinVT's suggestions.

kept handlebar design but replaced 1" flat bar on bottom with 1/2" square tube to allow room for auto drain valve. decided to bolt in place as will need to lower it if ever need to lower black tank.


as mentioned earlier, did not plan well for waste drain pipe to exit frame. had 3 inches there and thought a 3" pipe would fit...did not realize 3" pipe is actually 3 1/2" OD. grateful for suggestions here on how to get that pipe through. tried to heat ABS fitting and mold to the space, but it failed utterly. considered a rubber coupling but could not find one long enough to work. neither of these would allow removal of the pipe if needed so in the end, decided rather than squeeze something in the small space, would drop frame bottom to make room. welded 1" square tube along the frame rail bottom along street and curb side extending from where black tank starts to rear bumper.



This mod allows for plenty of room. Waste valve tank exits at slight downward angle. It's a threaded fitting so if ever need to remove, can just screw off.



Finally was able to wire the tank pads, auto drain valves, and solenoid valve that empties the gray tank. All tanks are now completed.



Next project will be forming the last piece of belly skin.

[Jeremy9107]

Looking at the Progressive Dynamics all in one power station. Ordered wrong input amp unit last time so going with 4500 series for my 50A inlet. Question is...they come in 60A, 75A and 90A. Believe that is in reference to DC output. Why wouldn't one just get the 90A? Read that you have to be careful about the wiring so it can handle the power, but which wiring? Is that in reference to all DC circuit wiring in trailer or just the wiring between battery and DC distribution panel? Just thought would be best to max out option here so no need for further upgrade down the road.

[dbj216]

I'm going to speculate here: I think the max amp output relates to the power of the transformer and other internals. If you added up all the DC amps you though you might use, you would be surprised if it was over 30 amps. Why buy more converter than you will ever need? Now if you are going to install 4 high powered 6v batteries and a big inverter so you can run two air conditioners (say 6000 watts of AC power), then you might need a big converter to keep the batteries going; using solar power of course.

Some of these boondocking power systems get pretty sophisticated from the solar panels down to the lowly battery pack. Why? So you can have all the comforts of home "off grid".

David

[Jeremy9107]

finally got the last piece of belly pan installed. was trying to get this in as few pieces as possible. ended up being 4 total.
2 in front of axles (1 is for the fresh water tank support)
1 over the axle covering gray water tanks
1 to the rear of the axles

the rear piece was by far the hardest to make. had to create a lot of bends. was pleased to know how well this roof coil aluminium bends though

first created a mold as was not going to fuss with a million measurements. basically just raised a piece of plywood under frame and drew the shape of the frame on it, then used paper to draw out frame rails and transferred that to wood for templates






used the wood mold to bend the alum. had to work it with hands, rubber mallet and 4x4 with sledge hammer...but bent rather nicely.

[Jeremy9107]

then flipped it over, cut excess alum, and bent some more






put Protecto wrap on sides of belly pan that would be in contact with steel frame. not sure if it will matter but thought was to prevent unlike metal corrosion.


also precut holes for outdoor shower fittings and pipes for waste drain and storage.

[Jeremy9107]

mold was not perfect as had to tweak belly pan a bit once it was on frame, but close enough to make that task not too difficult.



did have to adjust the pipe holes though. will need to make a patch to make this look nicer.


ran 3" ABS pipe the width of the frame within belly pan and attached to 3" alum pipe to exit frame. will use these to store city connection hose and outdoor shower hose. the front one is the waste valve drain.



the outdoor shower fittings lined up quite well.



all in all, just pleased to have this on and not have to be on my back under that trailer any more!

[Bubba L]

Good detailing on the belly pan. I think that was the most frustrating task for me. The pictures will surely help some in the future. Keep up the great work and documenting. See you down the road, Bubba

[dbj216]

Belly pans are a lot of work. You earned this merit badge and then some.

Great job on a hard job.

David

[Jeremy9107]

thanks Bubba and David. actually have road rash on my back from crawling in and out from under the belly to put that on.

just thought it would be neat to see these side by side.

[Jeremy9107]

any ideas on how to better access the rear bumper compartment? was excited about potential for increased storage here. previously could only store stinky slinky and power cord and a few small items, but removed black tank that was behind it previously which opened up a depth of 3-4 feet or so. the height is 8-9" now if foam board insulation is removed and it runs the width of the frame so lots of space in there. trouble is, the opening is not very deep so not easy to get big items in and out. thought some creative ideas might make use of this space...

[Wabbiteer]

umnn... forget appearances, any & all gaps - take your time and escutcheon them leapin' mice, pack rats, slitherin & buzzing heathen varmints back to the stone age! Might be the one thing I'm proudest of is my '73 27' has been mouse free for a bunch of years now, the Deer Mice up here leap like grasshoppers faster than the eye can follow if they think* there is shelter to be had...


On the subfloor basement storage - how about tail-gating the bumper, permanent hinges to keep bumper secure and something like clevis pins to secure it upright?

[Jeremy9107]

Have been following several restoration threads and seems everyone has been busy and making good progress. Very good to see that and game some motivation to get things going again on this end.

Probably would not be so far behind if didn't do everything 2 or 3 times. Just couldn't get past the fact that the bed support was 1/4" ply when intentionally have made everything else out of Coosa....so bought more Cooosa including 1/4" and redid it. Added a couple more supports too. Lighter, stronger and don't have to worry about water now.

[Jeremy9107]

Speaking of doing everything twice...previously had posted installation of Progessive Dynamics 4500 converter. Trouble is, it was the wrong model (didn't support 50A service). Got lucky cause the eBay seller agreed to take it back 6 months after it was purchased. Exchanged it for a 4560 and even got some money refunded. Seems odd that the 50A model is less expensive.

Seems the wires back there keep multiplying. Have added several things (battery monitor, battery shut off switch, LP detector, etc) after skins were on which made fishing wires a fun task. Hint : KY jelly seemed to make those wires slide through more easily.


Had to slightly adjust the opening as this model stands vertical.



Ranted previously about wiring diagram for the PD. Difficult to follow. Had to call installation desk a couple of times and this is what they recommended.

Ground to chassis :
1) AC ground bus bar on converter
2) "Battery ground" lug on converter (aka DC distribution board)
3) Separate (not included) bus bar for all DC accessorie neutral wires
4) (-) battery terminal
**the first 3 can be grounded to same point on the chassis, but the battery terminal must ground to the chassis separately

AC in :
Red and black wires connect to 50A breaker
Green wire attaches to AC ground bus bar on converter
White wire attaches to neutral bus bar on converter

Dual 15A breaker for the fridge and outlets and another 15A breaker that the DC distribution board black wire attaches to.

DC in :
Battery + terminal attaches to "battery +" lug on converter

Here is my best attempt at wiring diagram in color.

[Jeremy9107]

There are 2 heavy gauge wires (6g white and pinkish) coming off umbilical and ending at rear of trailer. Believe these are the charge lines from tow vehicle. Where do these attach? Directly to pos and neg terminals of battery? Or to converter?

It has been awhile but believe previously the only wires that attached to the battery were off the Univolt which leads me to believe the charge lines from the umbilical went through the Univolt??