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mello mike · 07-20-2007, 01:40 PM

Tim, I really like the approach you've used in installing the foil insulation underneath. It does look neat and clean. What are the insulation properties of the foil as compared to the traditional pink fiberglass insulation? Did you do any preservation or painting while underneath? It looks brand new.

Also, IMHO, leaving the belly pan off would be a mistake. While driving, water WILL slosh up in there. While it's true that lots SOB don't have belly pans, more and more are going to them because they do increase the aerodynamic qualities of the trailer and provide and extra layer of protection between the floor and the outside. If anything, you have peace of mind knowing that the underside has been cleaned and insulated. Just my humble opinion.

tphan · 07-20-2007, 06:22 PM

hi mike- as near as I can tell, installed with a thin air space (I used 1/2" spacers around the perimeter) it has an R-value of about 6. If you wanted to put some fiberglass up in there first, and somehow attach the reflectix over it, you can bump up to about 19 R-value! I did paint the frame with POR-15, and painted the underside of the plywood floor with some leftover house-paint just to water-proof and protect it a bit. Thanks for your input on the belly pan, seems to be a majority concensus for having one so far, though I'm not necessarily convinced of it's necessity. It's so much work to get one on there, is probably my main beef at this point! -tim

Safari Tim · 07-20-2007, 08:28 PM

I just went for my maiden voyage with the rear 3' of bellypan still off.

I'm not too concerned. It's not a priority now, but I will finish it.

If you're burned out from all the work you've put it, I can certainly understand that. I don't see any reason to rush the belly pan.

Get out and use it. When you have time put one on.

tphan · 07-21-2007, 12:11 PM

hi- I like the sounds of Safari Tim's advice- just go use the dadgum thing! Am giving it a solar charge today, will probably plug the fridge in tomorrow morning to pre-cool it and then switch over to gas in the no-hookups campground in the Park. Just read a thread here about someone's coach catching on fire, from a shorted wire + gas, so am a bit nervous about the whole thing. But I think I'm ready, thanks to all the incredible information and help on this forum! Thankyou to all! -tim

malconium · 07-23-2007, 08:32 PM

I have two additional thoughts about leaving the belly pan off:

1.) The reflective foil does best when it is really clean and shiney on the side where you want to stop heat. If you are only wanting to keep from losing heat from the inside then the bottom side could be dirty. Otherwise if you are trying to keep outside heat from coming in it would be best to have the foil be as clean as possible.

2.) Reflective foil insulation does best when there is an enclosed air gap on both sides of the foil. Leaving off the belly pan removes one of those air gaps.

Malcolm

tphan · 07-26-2007, 05:09 PM

Thanks, malcolm- I hadn't thought of that. Probably would be best to have something else over the insulation. At any rate, the maiden voyage went GREAT, it was my wife's birthday and lots of her (our) friends stopped in to socialize (drink and eat) with us both evenings- and the coyotes howled after dark. Here is what I noticed as far as glitches/issues go: 2 of the 3 round knobs for the ceiling lights unscrewed and fell off on the drive up, will just leave them off next time; the EQ hitch worked great, giving a nice level ride to the whole rig despite forgetting to more than hand-tighten the bolts securing the clamps that accept the chains from the bars; the Prodigy brake controller worked perfectly despite forgetting to set it to "boost 1", and TomW explained the slight "pinging" sound emanating from the trailer wheels/brakes with the trailer hooked up to the TV, about every 10 seconds- said it is the controller constantly making sure it is still connected to the brakes; the water heater (new Atwood) worked well once I removed a piece of aluminum that I thought would protect it from the wind- all it did was starve it for combustion air (I have now drilled a bunch of holes in it, down low by the burner); the 35 year-old fridge worked perfectly, making ice cubes and keeping all food nice and cold; I banged the heck out of my head on an open window, after tightening the aforementioned loose bolts on the EQ hitch- those things are something to stay away from in the future! But no wheels fell off, no fires, no plumbing leaks- I feel fortunate and can't wait to do it again!!-tim ps: the picure is of, L to R: my wife's mom, Peggy, my wife, Jane, and her sister Barbara.

sequoiacoast · 07-26-2007, 06:33 PM

Thank you for cracking me up! It sounds like a great trip despite the small "bugs", and just think it has to just keep getting better!!

Thanks for sharing!

safari57 · 07-26-2007, 09:35 PM

It is surprising how open windows and heads work like magnets and metal. Whammo seems to be a common theme. It sounds as though your maiden voyage was a lot of fun with a few learning experiences included just to keep it interesting. Glad it all is working out for you. Now, get out and camp the heck out of it.

Barry

tphan · 07-27-2007, 08:20 AM

I'm sure you're right, barry- there seems to be a number of hard, sharp things at about head level in these rigs. I might just make a big foam helmet to wear whenever we camp, my wife has an attraction to the top of the door-jamb... Otherwise, our guests agreed that these rigs are an efficient use of a small space. I see these huge 5th-wheel SOBs and am always reminded of the economy of space, and the aerodynamics, of our beautiful Airstreams. Like airplanes without wings!

tphan · 05-29-2008, 02:17 PM

Not much new here, renovation-wise. Only thing I've done lately is add a strip of aluminum down the center of the shower wall, and the shower curtain overlaps that when in use. She's pretty much done, now it's just a matter of using it more often! We plan on taking some local camping forays this summer, but nothing too far away and requiring too much gas. The good news is that I still have a tankful of $3 gas from last summer (to which I added that stabilizer product last fall), the bad news being I have no idea what the next fill-up is going to cost. Are you guys sticking closer to home this summer, or still taking long trips, figuring that gas will never again be as "cheap" as it is right now? -tim

slowmover · 05-29-2008, 05:53 PM

As a new guy around here (about a year), I was pleased that you revived this thread as I enjoyed reading it, seeing some very nice work to that interior. Hope you get around to the belly pan at some point.

As well, the camping photo just above; both sides of my family are from Colorado (Boulder, Denver and other) and I haven't been up there to spend any time in 20 years. My wife not at all, except to pass through. Estes Park is high on our list as is Greenwood Springs.

Reading this thread, admiring the woodwork, and seeing the results (I can almost smell the air) is pushing me to get mine out of storage and work on it some of these evenings when the sun is lower and the humidity has dropped.

Thanks.

tphan · 05-30-2008, 07:49 AM

thanks, REDNAX- spring/summer has only just arrived here at 7,500', and it's what we put up with winter for: glorious, blue-sky days, but never hotter than about 90 (when it's 100 down in Denver/Boulder), usually in the 70's or 80's. If you plan on getting up this way this summer, with your rig, be sure and make campground reservations for Rocky Mt. Park, as they tend to be full all summer long. Glenwood Springs is nice, but even nicer (in my opinion) is Pagosa Springs, east of Durango about an hour. There's some great trailer camping in the Nat. Forest around town, hot springs, a river for fishing, and a great music festival on Labor Day weekend. And, it's a bit closer to Corpus Christi! Great looking Silver Streak you have- I've always loved the looks of those, with the gold-anodized accent panels. Let me know if you're planning a trip up here to Colorado, I can give you more specific suggestions. -tim

Jim & Susan · 05-30-2008, 08:11 AM

Great looking work (as usual), Tim. Is yours a rear bath? I'm trying to figure out how you bath is arranged. It looks different that mine.

Jim

surferstyler · 05-30-2008, 08:52 AM

Hey Tim,
The shower panel looks great. Too bad you didn't buy a 500g tank or something to fill with that $3 gas! The cost of trailering this summer is going to be heavy. We're heading back up to Yosemite next week and the thought of the gas price for this trip is frustrating to say the least. We're probably looking at 4 full tanks of gas, or about $450 for the fuel. Well worth the fun and excitement though as our 3 year old will be going nuts chasing squirels and other little animals. Plus, teaching him to fly fish. The rest of our camping trips scheduled this year are all within a couple hours along the coast.

One of these days we'll head out to the Rocky's and connect with you. Have some great travels!
Ron Althouse

tphan · 05-31-2008, 04:51 PM

hi- 1st, to answer Jim and Susan- I have a re-arranged Overlander; that is, I re-built the interior to my tastes and priorities. I removed the rear bathroom (which was totally trashed anyway), re-positioned the black tank a little, turned the toilet about 80 degrees (so it now points mostly forward), and fashioned a shower area just forward of the toilet that stows beneath the new queen bed when not needed. No sink. So it's still a rear-bath config, but now it's only a 1/2 bath.
Ron- good to hear from you again! Yeah, fuel prices are putting somewhat of a damper on longer trips for the time being, but I think your plan is a good one- Keep the beautiful AS and just do shorter trips. I don't care if gas reaches $20 a gallon, I think these things will retain their value. They may just be parked more, as a get-away cabin on rustic property, or as full-time homes. They're not making the vintage ones anymore!
I originally wanted to post here today just to be the 3rd thread about 70's Overlanders- along with the '70 and '73. Cheers to you guys! -tim

utee94 · 05-31-2008, 05:10 PM

I read through this thread a couple of months ago and I love what you did, the woodwork is fabulous.

I also posted a question to SurferStyler's thread many weeks ago, if he'll answer it we can have another 70s Overlander thread on the front page...

slowmover · 05-31-2008, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tphan

thanks, REDNAX- spring/summer has only just arrived here at 7,500', and it's what we put up with winter for: glorious, blue-sky days, but never hotter than about 90 (when it's 100 down in Denver/Boulder), usually in the 70's or 80's. If you plan on getting up this way this summer, with your rig, be sure and make campground reservations for Rocky Mt. Park, as they tend to be full all summer long. Glenwood Springs is nice, but even nicer (in my opinion) is Pagosa Springs, east of Durango about an hour. There's some great trailer camping in the Nat. Forest around town, hot springs, a river for fishing, and a great music festival on Labor Day weekend. And, it's a bit closer to Corpus Christi! Great looking Silver Streak you have- I've always loved the looks of those, with the gold-anodized accent panels. Let me know if you're planning a trip up here to Colorado, I can give you more specific suggestions. -tim

Thank you for the advice and I'll take you up on the suggestions when we begin to plan. My grandparents cabin at Nederland was my kinesthetic starting point for all of Colorado, and it's a long 1,100 miles away from Corpus Christi (from Dallas, it was just a long day as we kids slept in the back of a green & white '59 Dodge and Dad kept that V8-383 mainlining from dark to dark).

YouTube - Dodge 1959 Comercial

Take care, will look forward to any additions you make to this thread!

tphan · 06-01-2008, 07:03 AM

Ah, Nederland- we also know people with an old cabin there, and a lot of good memories. Good to know the mileage from there to C.C., as I've been thinking the past couple of years about spending some of the Colorado winter down around south Padre Island. If I divide that 1,100 miles by 12 mpg and multiply that by $4, it would currently cost about $366 in fuel for that trip- one way. 15 mpg brings it down to $293. We'll see what gas costs around next November...

Kainer · 06-29-2008, 11:37 AM

I took my '69 out to the beach and got alot of comments. I told a few people about your trailer. Man I sure do love yours. -Kaine

slowmover · 06-30-2008, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tphan

Ah, Nederland- we also know people with an old cabin there, and a lot of good memories. Good to know the mileage from there to C.C., as I've been thinking the past couple of years about spending some of the Colorado winter down around south Padre Island. If I divide that 1,100 miles by 12 mpg and multiply that by $4, it would currently cost about $366 in fuel for that trip- one way. 15 mpg brings it down to $293. We'll see what gas costs around next November...

Corpus Christi has about 3-weeks of "winter" (temps near 40F), the Rio Grande Valley not even that, and it is another 150-miles south. The United States ends at CC, but Texas extends to the border. North Padre Island has amenities, but South Padre Island, on the Mexican border, has more tourist stuff (not to mention $2.50/diesel or gasoline).

Google Maps has the route, from E-P, CO to Donna, TX (exiting I-10 at Kerrville,TX and running TX-16 and TX-173 around San Antonio via Hondo to Pleasanton -- nice roads) at 1,243 miles.