A 1963 Overlander named Moonraker!

[Becky B.]

I would use the Tremco. It's thicker than Sikaflex. I can't say about the 3M, as I've never used it. I used Tremco in some pretty wide areas in the bottom of my Avion (kind of like this area) and it set up fine.

[HiHoAgRV]

How about cutting an arched slice of aluminum to cover it, then tape off all of the area that you don't want to get messy, sling on the Trempro, then stick on the arched slice?

[65CV]

I've used 5200 on boats and it's great stuff -- overkill for this area IMHO. I sealed the same type of seam with Vulkem and it's fine after 2 years.

If you're looking to seal the gap between the aluminum sheets, you can probably hold the sealant in place with wax or parchment paper taped or clamped in place. It should release when the sealant is cured. I've used scrap aluminum waxed 3 times when working with West Systems epoxy -- it releases well. (waxed 1 time doesn't!).

Are you aluminum tenting soon?

[Frank's Trailer Works]

trempro 626

[reinergirl]

Thank you all! Rain in the forecast so moving on lol.....

Here's the plan for the 12 volt side of life!

Any suggestions on improvements or things to change would be appreciated - thanks . I know wiring advice is hard to give on the Forum. Please be assured that while we will be doing the work ourselves, inspection and final hookup will be done by a licensed professional. I hate electrical, so my hubby is taking the lead here, he's NHhiker on the forum.

The DC wiring circuits and parts are as follows:


Parts:

Converter: Progressive Dynamics PD9260: 60 Amp

12 Volt Fuse Box (Vintage Trailer Supply)

Wire – Marine 12/2 – 250 ft (waytekwire.com)
Wire – Marine 10/2 – 25 ft

Connectors – sealed multiple wire butt connectors (waytekwire.com)

Seven Circuits (parallel wired, return to fuse block):

1. Refrigerator (curb side, kitchen front) - 2 Amps (2 way AC/propane) or 3.2 (AC/DC) = 3.2 Amps, 45 ft, 12 gauge.

2. Fireplace (street side, kitchen front, 0.2 amps), LP/CO detector (1 amp), front fan (2.6 amp)) =
3.8 Amps, 40 ft, 12 gauge.

3. Center circuit, front light (.1 amps), rear light (.1 amps), rear fan (2.6 amps), bath light (.1 amps) =
3 amps, 55 ft, 12 gauge.

4. Water heater (street side) = 5 Amps, 40 ft, 10 gauge.

5. Water pump (street side) = 4 Amps, 35 ft, 12 gauge.

6. Sconce (.1 amps) / kitchen fan (2.6) / stove / kitchen light (.1 amps)/bed dc outlet (2 amps) bed light (streetside, .1 amps) =
5 amps, 45 ft, 12 gauge.

7. Sconce (.1 amps) / scare light (.1 amps) / frig dc outlet (2 amps)/ bed dc outlet (2 amps)/ bed light (curb side, .1 amps) =
4 amps, 45 ft, 12 gauge

[vinstream]

I do not want to be the bear of bad news; However, There should NOT be any gap that large between the exterior skin, 'C' channel, and belly pan! This should all be tightly connected together. Furthermore, this should of been sealed up during the reconnection of all these parts not afterwards. This is a very critical point to prevent water entering the trailer, preventing future floor rot, and preventing structural separation. It sickens me to see all this work done and see it go back very incorrectly! This needs to be addressed now and NOT simply covered up with sealant. The correct way to address this major issue is to remove rivets at the bottom half of the panels below both the front and back windows, in order to snug in the corner skins tight to the belly pan over the "c" channel. And then rivet through the outer skin, belly pan, and "c" channel with sealant between each. Then re-rivet the skins below the windows, this will require new holes into the corner panels. I feel bad you have gotten this fare to have to go back and correct what was done wrong to begin with.

[vinstream]

Sorry first time to your post... Looking back these two picture is where the corner skins should of been drawn toward the center to remove the gap before the end skins were placed back on. This would of solved the problem! I am not sure why at this stage it was not done correctly???? Hope that helps explain why it's the way it is and what needs to be done to fix the problem correctly.

[Air Cruiser]

Shelly, thanks for sharing such detailed info on wiring, etc, it will be extremely useful when we get to that point.

I'm hoping to get back onto our Bubble asap, but that may not be until next Spring. Originally, this was to have been the year for me to get much accomplished in her, but sad to say that I haven't even pulled her out of the shop this year to begin again. Family matters (my Dad lives with us, will be 98 soon, and he has started failing and requires much more of my time) and the fact that my business is going gang busters -- no time for much of anything for ourselves. We haven't even been able to get away to camp except for going to the Vintage Trailer Academy in April! That is really tough on us!

But, as I said, I am enjoying following along on your thread and at some point will be there, doing that myself. (Positive thoughts here.)

Thanks again, and I forgot to mention before, you are doing a terrific job!

Deb

[Minno]

Shelly,

Do you have room for another circuit in the fuse box? If yes, the LP/CO detector should be on its own circuit according to the RV code. But, if you don't have another circut in the fuse box, I wouldn't worry about it.

Chris

[Al Uminum]

I too appreciate your frequent posts and level of detail. As we begin our project, your tutorials will become even more helpful.

By the way concerning some of the corrosion you have noticed under silicone, MOST formulations (like big box DIY) tubes liberate acetic acid as they cure. That accounts for the "vinegar" smell of fresh silicone. There is the corrosion starter. Water leaks only make it worse as you have documented.

[Al Uminum]

When you replaced the back seal in your windows was the "original" seal glued in? If so how did you clean the seal tracks?
Thanks in advance

[reinergirl]

If you have a 59 Overlander , you have different windows from mine, none of my gaskets were glued by anything but crud. I used dental picks (from harbor freight) to clean out my channels.

Citristrip now comes in an aerosol can, I'd spray into the channel, cover it with plastic so it doesn't dry out. Come back the next day and blast it out with water.

I also used scotch brite gray pads and wooden Popsicle sticks to get down in the channel

Two of my best purchases so far were a box of these scotch brite pads and my scaffolding!
http://www.amazon.com/20Pk-Scotch-Br.../dp/B000CQ6I7G

[reinergirl]

Originally Posted by Minno

Shelly,

Do you have room for another circuit in the fuse box? If yes, the LP/CO detector should be on its own circuit according to the RV code. But, if you don't have another circut in the fuse box, I wouldn't worry about it.

Chris

Thanks Chris, I have two extra slots so this is no problem .

[reinergirl]

Originally Posted by 65CV

I've used 5200 on boats and it's great stuff -- overkill for this area IMHO. I sealed the same type of seam with Vulkem and it's fine after 2 years.

If you're looking to seal the gap between the aluminum sheets, you can probably hold the sealant in place with wax or parchment paper taped or clamped in place. It should release when the sealant is cured. I've used scrap aluminum waxed 3 times when working with West Systems epoxy -- it releases well. (waxed 1 time doesn't!).

Are you aluminum tenting soon?

Thanks! I'm slightly ashamed to admit we haven't bought a truck yet! At this point I think we will hold out for the new 2015 aluminum ford truck. I'm gonna strip and polish it .... Lol. NOT!! But the added cargo weight because the truck is lighter is appealing. The only aluminum tenting we are doing is in the driveway!

[reinergirl]

Originally Posted by Air Cruiser

Shelly, thanks for sharing such detailed info on wiring, etc, it will be extremely useful when we get to that point.

I'm hoping to get back onto our Bubble asap, but that may not be until next Spring. Originally, this was to have been the year for me to get much accomplished in her, but sad to say that I haven't even pulled her out of the shop this year to begin again. Family matters (my Dad lives with us, will be 98 soon, and he has started failing and requires much more of my time) and the fact that my business is going gang busters -- no time for much of anything for ourselves. We haven't even been able to get away to camp except for going to the Vintage Trailer Academy in April! That is really tough on us!

But, as I said, I am enjoying following along on your thread and at some point will be there, doing that myself. (Positive thoughts here.)

Thanks again, and I forgot to mention before, you are doing a terrific job!

Deb

Thanks Deb, don't worry your time will come! I get the aging parent dilemma, lost my dad a couple of years back. It's a good thing your business is going well! That way you can afford to do it right when the time comes!

[reinergirl]

Its been nice to finally put some things back on Moonraker!

New badges, lights and plates:

I finally ended up using this paint to replicate the original golden frames. It's color number SP404 gold flake.

It's an automotive paint that got "cured" in the oven at 200 degrees for an hour, we'll see if it ends up being durable or not. I did clearcoat it after it was cured. Of course, I waited to use the oven until my husband was away on a business trip. Don't judge.

LED lights - They have all been switched out and rewired with closed sealed LED's much like Reggiemon did on this post. No more worrying about corrosion at the bulb. And being sealed LED's, I'm not going to have to seal the teardrop lights at all. I want water to flow thru, not get trapped behind the light.

What about the wiring hole you say?? Well, that actually worked out really great, I drilled a new hole in the VTS base plate with a step drill and used a grommet that goes on that hole AND the hole on the trailer.

We've had some really awful rain storms and they don't leak at all. I will seal the wires with a glob of Eternabond doublestick tape anyway.

Drilling the hole - You need to have wood underneath because the metal is extremely soft.

By the way, it won't come as a surprise to you that every hole was in a different spot. That meant clecoing a teardrop fixture in place, going in the trailer and tracing the hole, every one by ever luvin' one. And then labeling them so I knew what goes where.

A new roof refrigerator vent:

I must say, my hole is a lot less ragged than the one cut by the factory, I used a Harbor Freight hand nibbler.

I used butyl tape to seat the vent and riveted it in place with closed end pop rivets and covered it with Sikaflex221.

I used closed end pop rivets on this vent cover too. The vent is aluminum but needed to be cut down as it was too large. I used these instructions.

By the way, this cover was clearcoated with some uber strong Martian spit.... clearcoat, that is! Three applications of Aircraft stripper and I finally broke down and sanded the rest off before I polished it.

I really didn't want to make something that looked like a patch. Colin Hyde suggested that I open up the rivets at the top seam and the awning rail and slip the patch top and bottom seams underneath. This was a great idea and it really makes the patch less visible. That is, it would be if the patch would hurry up and corrode a little! It's too shiny! Special thanks goes out to Anna, my daughter, for bucking all the rivets with me. I shot it all wet with Trempro 635 (not fun) and she had it dripping down on her in the trailer. This doesn't make a young woman with super expensive highlighted hair happy! Phhhht. Also a shout out to Wayne R, whom I got the refrigerator collar from. Thanks Wayne.

Only had one moment of high anxiety when I picked up the vent cover to put it up on the roof and realized that I had never test fit it! It would have been really bad if the vent had ended up being even a smidgen longer. As it was, it fit exactly on the 2 foot length of the patch. I have no clue why I never considered this!!!! Some fancy planning of where the rivets could go so they don't land on top of the patch rivets and a near disaster was averted....

CG Antenna:
Installed a new CB radio antenna, I'm planning on putting a mobile CB unit in that can be shared with the truck. Of course the only thing I know about CB's I learned from Smokey and the Bandit! "Snowman, what's your 20?" I don't even have a clue what kind of cable/wire to attach to this antenna!!! I need to figure that out before I put my skins in.

A Jalousie window makeover. Hand polished frames, new seals , retainer discs, mouse fur.....etc. Honestly this took the better part of a week!

My sill was completely corroded. This is not dirt, its corrosion!

So I broke out this bad boy and chucked it in my drill, it's a 3m maroon scotch brite sanding disc. These frames are all aluminum so I could get pretty aggressive.

Not perfect but much much better!

While the window was time consuming and tedious, the only difficulty I had was inserting the strips of fur on either side of the window. I had just sat down with a pair of scissors thinking that I would have to trim it when I realized the the fur is directional, the fur has to point down if that makes any sense otherwise you can't slip it up from the bottom and past the window panes. Its a very tight fit, but that's good! It means it will be leak free right? Yeah right. I also found one of my more pesky leaks, I thought it was coming from the door seal but it turnd out that it was where all the water from the eyebrow dumps on the window gutter. The area under the gutter was just funneling it into the trailer. Patooey on this design!!!

Fan:
I replaced the fan motor and cleaned up and painted the fan cover. Unfortunately, the springs that hold the cover open outside are broken, I tried finding new ones but am not having any luck, Anyone have a source?

This is the broken spring. The knob next to it was an trigger for the fan to turn on. I think for now I'm going plug all the holes and rig a way for the door to prop open when I use the stove.

What else? Does wrestling with jurassic weeds count? Look at the size of the root on this monster! I know the picture doesn't give it perspective but it was easily 4 feet long!

Or saving little baby birds? This little guy hit my trailer and I'm proud to say, I scooped him up first and placed him in a safe place before Finn could get at him. THEN I checked for damage to my trailer!!! While I was contemplating how I was going to manage feeding him every four hours into my schedule, he recovered and flew off. Phew!

There's more to come...... trailer related stuff that is...

[65CV]

Great post, Shelly. Nice work.

BTW, you look WAY too thin in those pictures!

[Becky B.]

Wowza, Shelly! You've been busy! And your shine.....it's perfecto! It's amazing, when you've finished with your project, you'll look at your trailer & not know how you did all the things you did to it! A lot of your things you're working on are such deja vu for me! Jalousie window, corroded frames, refrigerator vent remake.....I enjoy watching all your progress. You go, girl!!

[pbearsailor]

That is some really really nice work, Shelly!

Cheers,
steve

[HiHoAgRV]

Darn, I'm getting old and forgetful. I found a replacement spring somewhere for my vent. Was it Lowes or Home Depot? They have those slide out drawers with speciality stuff that is crazy expensive.

It is interesting that your trailer has the vent for the stove and mine has the exact same vent, just it's mounted behind the toilet. There is something funny to be said about venting at different stages of the 'process'...