Capt. Wilson's 1959 Overlander

[nmbosa]

The trip home for Capt. Wilson's Overlander is going well today. Jeff was out of San Diego County by 10:00 this morning and is now north of Woodland, California on his way to Redding for the night. The trailer and driver seem to be in a much better mood.

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by nmbosa

The trip home for Capt. Wilson's Overlander is going well today. Jeff was out of San Diego County by 10:00 this morning and is now north of Woodland, California on his way to Redding for the night. The trailer and driver seem to be in a much better mood.

It's always good when you can get all participants to cooperate.
Hopefully the remainder of the trip will continue to be uneventful.

[r&kweber]

Originally Posted by flyfshr

Congratulations on getting the title details all sorted out and best of luck with the transport. '59's are the best!! Can't wait to see more photos once you get 'her' home.

Brad
FF

Couldn't agree more -- we like the '59's!

[navyeod]

When do you expect the captain home?

[nmbosa]

Around 2:00 p.m. He made it to 90 miles south of Eugene last night and has been back on the road for over an hour already this morning. Time to clear out the parking space.

[navyeod]

I know you will be glad when the Captain is in your driveway. Keep us posted. That is one nice looking trailer.

[Sixty3TW4US]

I'm sure you won't forget the PICS when the Captain gets home. Glad all is going well!!

[nmbosa]

Jeff rolled in around 2:30 this afternoon with the Captain's Overlander looking even better than I expected. We spent the afternoon looking her over and giving numerous tours to curious neighbors. I feel like a kid in a candy shop. So much to explore and so much to clean and fix. The San Diego sun had taken a toll on everything plastic. Both the Astradome and the air conditioner shroud disintegrated during the trip north. Fortunately we have a new Astradome from Vintage Trailer Supply available and will install that tomorrow. The air conditioner shroud, however, presents a more difficult problem. I will have to spend some time inspecting the old 1950's/60's AC to determine whether it is at all worth saving and, if so, how we might go about replacing the shroud. If not, we will have to figure out how to remove it and patch whatever massive opening it leaves.

[pbearsailor]

Congrats on another 50's trailer in the Pacific Northwest.

cheers,
steve

[flyfshr]

OK, you've had it home for for awhile, where's all the pictures? You just can't keep us hanging on like this, we're family.

Brad
FF

[nmbosa]

The Captain has been home for a couple days now. Jeff was a bit cranky Saturday after driving nearly 24 hours with only a 4 hour break for sleep south of Eugene. So, I took him out for a good dinner and plenty of wine. After dinner, we met up with the Webers at their shop to help reunite the shell to the frame on their 59' Flying Cloud. We got all but the last corner down Saturday night, but couldn't manage to get the last bit done (the wine did not help this process). Ryan made the wise call to retire for the night and grab a couple beers at Prost, West Seattle. I hear Ryan, Katie and Fred managed to finish getting the shell back on Sunday and can't wait to see the update on their blog.

In the meantime, my dad and I went to work on the Captain. I was hoping to spend Sunday poking around, cleaning up and starting what is sure to be a long to-do list, but the gaping hole in the Astrodome forced us to immediately go to work. We live in Seattle afterall and rain is never more than a couple days away. Fortunately, Ryan had a brand new Astrodome that he had ordered for his Flying Cloud, so we had the parts available. Unfortunately, the rear lifter was completely jammed, so we were only able to get the front lifter bolted to the Astrodome and the rear is currently held down with a cam strap. I've been blasting the rear lifter with penetrating oil in what, so far, has been a futile attempt to loosen it up. I may try to salvage a spare lifter from one of the rear vents (if they are the same size) and replace that vent with a new Fantastic Fan, or if that won't work, start looking for one on eBay or Craigslist.
As promised, here are a few pics of the Captain at home.

[navyeod]

Wow. Looks great. Love those wheel wells. You have a great trailer. So glad it worked out for you.

[3Ms75Argosy]

Oh man, that's my favorite model with those wheel wells! It just looks "right." I also love the ride height... I do like the "lowrider" look, regardless of what those axles are like...

Your other lifters should work fine in the front. I see you also have the bunk option. Cool!


That's a good friend for getting it for you. I've done that trip solo in a hurry too.... I5 can be so boring.
Congrats!
Marc

[r&kweber]

Katie & I saw the Overlander coming over the West Seattle Bridge at the end of Jeff's long journey. What a sight! She was riding straight and level -- and pretty clean too. We both said to each other, 'that's not too big at all'. We barely got it backed in and the neighbors were walking up with big smiles. What a homecoming! Take it easy with that Sharpie...

[nmbosa]

Although I hoped we could camp in the Captain before starting a shell-off restoration, our full inspection revealed termites in the flooring under the street side bed, and evidence of previous termite activity in a couple other floor areas. While the damage is not extensive . . . yet, and we could probably nurse the Captain along for a couple years, we've decided to just start our restoration sooner rather than later.

This summer we will begin by stripping out the interior, planing the restoration and stockpiling as many supplies as we can purchase in advance. Sometime in the late summer or early fall, the Captain will go down to Ryan's shop for the heavy lifting.

The Captain came to us pretty much fully intact with all the original pieces. Both my wife and I really like the vintage look, so we will be sticking as close to the original as possible while adding as many modern mechanical features as allowed by our budget and time line.

I've been spending the last several days reading through many of the major restoration threads. I'm glad so many of you have already gone down this road as I'm finding many great ideas and lessons learned. I was also amazed at how many people have completed, or are still in the process of completing restorations of 1958-1963 Overlanders. Everytime I come up with a new question, it seems like I find an answer in one of those threads. I'm sure I will have new questions as we go forward and appreciate any suggestions you might have.

[gypsygirl1]

Originally Posted by flyfshr

Congratulations on getting the title details all sorted out and best of luck with the transport. '59's are the best!! Can't wait to see more photos once you get 'her' home.

Brad
FF

WHOLE-HEARTEDLY AGREE -- '59's are definitely the BEST!! Good luck with your new love.........

[nmbosa]

Originally Posted by overlander63

How about "Nautilus"? Your beast was owned by a Navy captain, and the a/c unit and whip antenna reminds me of the conning tower and antenna/periscope array from photos of the real Nautilus at the North Pole.

Good luck with the tow, take plenty of WD40 and duct tape.

I've got to admit I kind of like that old a/c unit. Does anyone know if they are still serviceable? I saw Inland RV still lists the shroud sale.

[NatchezBear]

Nice find I hope you have as much fun restoring her as i have my Olivia (Overlander). I really enjoy being able to camp while restoring.Good luck on yours.....
NatchezBear

[nmbosa]

Since the trailer will not go into the shop until Fall, I've been polishing the last several weeks and thought I would put up some before and after shots. Lots of work left to do (on many fronts) but it is nice to see her looking better.

When we bought this trailer, it had a half stripped coat of white paint on the roof, so polishing was pretty much a forgone conclusion. Stripping the rest of the paint was a pain, but probably easier than removing the clear coat and polishing. And spending hours going over every inch of the exterior has really helped me really learn a lot about the trailer and some of the repairs necessary.

NatchezBear, thanks for the encouragement. I read your thread and look forward to updates on Olivia.

By the way, is there anyone following this thread who has an old WBCCI directory and could look up WBCCI #2617?

[pbearsailor]

Wow, what a huge improvement, Norm. I can tell you've been putting in a bunch of hours on it.

I'm still resisting.

cheers,
steve