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overlander63 · 01-22-2006, 10:20 PM

I got a package from Vintage RV supply, with a new set of clearance lights for Goliath inside. The box also had some dangly lighted Airstreams on a wire for whenever we get the awning working again. I took a pair of photos of the lights in action, as well as the photo of the slinky adapter I promised Squrgurl.

overlander63 · 01-22-2006, 10:24 PM

While playing with the lights, I noticed the taillights had a 1157 bulb in each of them, and one of the filaments was not used for anything. This would be the parking light filament, and the parking light job was taken by a #67 bulb in the Bargman taillight. The taillights are now brighter, bright is good. I don't want some half-blind tourist to ram the trailer because he didn't see it. This is still possible, but there is less of an excuse now that all running lights are operating.

overlander63 · 01-25-2006, 07:06 PM

Before I took Goliath back to storage this weekend, I thoroughly scrubbed the outside, including the roof, and finished sweeping and cleaning the inside.
The upcoming Florida State Rally will be the first verifiable rally this trailer has made an appearance at since the Notre Dame Rally in 1984. Here is a photo of proof that Goliath was there. The little green and white sticker is a leprechaun with "WBCCI '84" printed on it:

overlander63 · 02-05-2006, 08:22 PM

We installed a "newsed" power tongue jack on Goliath today, and found and replaced a worn out circuit breaker. The breaker works fine, the jack...
We installed the power jack this afternoon. Some of you may know I injured my back a few months ago, and sometimes with the cooler weather we are having right now, it doesn't want to do what I want to do, so I had a friend come by and help me with it. We removed the replacement jack that was on the coach, it had been replaced sometime in the early 1980's, as evidenced by the date stamped on it. Then we installed the electric jack in its place, where I found out there was yet another problem with the wiring. There is a circuit breaker under the right front corner inside the belly pan that had died a grisly death by rot. After it was replaced, we had power to the jack. i then called my wife out to show off our handiwork. It went up, then down, then up once more. "Hey, this is great! No more endless cranking!" Then I pushed the button to lower the jack again. Nothing. Not a wimper. "Aww, *&^%$^&!!!!!!!!" It seems the switch chose that moment to shuffle off its mortal coil. After the obligatory cursing and gnashing of teeth, I removed the switch. It is off to Ace Hardware again in the morning, as I now have a coach I can't remove from my tow vehicle. Ah, the joys of Vintage Ownership...

overlander63 · 02-06-2006, 03:53 PM

I learned several things today, not all of them good things...
1- I learned that the circuit breaker we installed yesterday performs as intended.
2- I learned you can't use a double pole, double throw momentary contact switch as a jack control switch. It will short out and cause the circuit breaker to cut out. See #1 above.
3- I learned never to trust what color the spray can of paint says it is.
4- I learned you CAN re-install a manual tongue jack when you have to.
5- I learned that there are people that really shouldn't own trailers.

6- I learned that no one stocks switches for tongue jacks, and they are kind of expensive.

After the power jack debacle, I towed Goliath back out to the storage lot to park for the week. When I arrived, I found a very large, heavy enclosed car hauler parked half in his space, half in my space, and half in the space behind him. The manager of the storage facility had to move the trailer so I could park. Which brings me to:
7- A half ton Dodge Ram pickup looks really silly trying to tow a 15,000 pound trailer.

overlander63 · 02-14-2006, 07:33 PM

The switch arrived late last week, and I soldered it into the jack. It again works as intended, a good thing, considering the switch was kind of pricey.
Here is the new jack, wired, able, and ready:

overlander63 · 02-19-2006, 04:15 PM

Since the temps at the upcoming rally are supposed to be hovering just over 80, with humidity to match, and given that we are not allowed to use our air conditioners (3 amp service), we had a choice: Either roast, or Do Something. I opted for the latter. First I tinted the skylight that is in the place of the Astradome. That worked well, you could tell it was cooler in the coach after I did that. Not much, but a couple degrees is better than nothing. I then had 2/3 roll of tinting left over. Hmm.... There is nothing as dangerous as a man looking for a use for something.
I then tinted the rear (bathroom) window. That worked well, and the back of the coach was now a degree cooler (thermometers in front and rear of trailer). Sooo... Off I went to pick up two more rolls of tinting... Several hours later, all windows but the jalousies are now tinted. Here are some photos, one showing the new "Big Red Numbers":

overlander63 · 02-19-2006, 04:21 PM

Also, I got tired of looking at the cheap-looking light fixture over the couch, so I removed it, and went to Home Depot for a replacement. What I found was the light I had was the absolute cheapest light fixture in the entire store. $4.99...So, we upgraded to a dual Halogen 20 watt fixture with stainless steel finish. I installed it in place of the (horrible) fixture. I have to tweak it so it doesn't droop on one side (there is no mounting hole on that side), but it is a vast improvement.

overlander63 · 02-26-2006, 06:34 PM

I am slowly becoming convinced Goliath is posessed, and is trying to either drive me nuts, or do away with me in a spectacular fashion. The latest incident occured at the Florida State Rally that we recently attended.
Picture, if you will, a quiet late evening, around 11 PM. The Fairgrounds are quiet, nothing is moving, except for an occasional wisp of fog slowly drifting under the sodium vapor lights. Suddenly, from one of the coaches (ours) comes a gush of steam and water from within, closely followed by a piercing scream as my upper body is frozen by cold water, and my feet are scalded by the hot water geysering from the ruptured hot water line to the shower I was recently enjoying. I had to run outside wearing not much of anything, and shut off the main water feed to the trailer.
I finally made emergency repairs to the line, and finished my shower. Bedtime was around 1:30 or so...Sigh...Does anyone know a good exorcist?

overlander63 · 02-26-2006, 06:40 PM

With the very warm (almost hot) weather we experienced at the rally, I decided we should spring for a Fantastic Fan. Since we only have the huge hole up front where the Astradome was, which is now a skylight, and the bathroom vent, I opted to install the fan in the bathroom. The difference was remarkable. I still have to trim the bulkhead brace so it will clear the fan, but it looks good in there, also, it allows more light in the bathroom than the previous metal-topped vent.

overlander63 · 02-26-2006, 06:43 PM

We also picked up a slightly used couch from a 1987 Excella to replace the very comfortable (but not really useful) love seat we installed previously. The couch has storage underneath, and a walkover-type back that flips out to form a smallish double bed. It may not look stylish, but it does look like it belongs there.

overlander63 · 02-26-2006, 06:47 PM

I was made an offer I couldn't refuse, and we are now proud owners of a new Thetford Bravurra toilet. It is in, after much cursing and gnashing of teeth, and I have made two trips to get the plumbing supplies. One more trip should do it. It is in, but not hooked up to water.

sd90mac · 02-26-2006, 06:49 PM

And since we got home, Terry has installed the new toilet we got at the flea market, (sans fleas), I have made the cutting board sink covers fit the openings of the sink, and cleaned the coach. And I have decided the curtains in the living room and kitchen need to be redone to be a shade of blue ion the couch!!!!

Marie

overlander63 · 03-12-2006, 04:57 PM

We went to Bob's RV Salvage in High Springs this weekend, looking for some parts for both our coach, and our friends'. We took advantage of the good weather to take Goliath along, and actually camp. This is the first time we have used the trailer for anything but an evacuation shelter, or for the Florida State rally a couple of weeks ago. The weather was great, the folks were friendly, and we got a few bargains, to boot. (more on the bargains later)
After several Cape Codders for moral encouragement, I decided to see exactly how bad the awning that we have really is. Suprisingly, it opened and unrolled with only minor protest, and we were able to roll it back up again. The second part is a good thing, as we were about 250 miles from home.
Anybody have a spare Care-Free awning cap?

overlander63 · 03-12-2006, 07:23 PM

One of the items we got this weekend was an in almost-new-condition Dometic RM2400 3 way fridge. We got this one because the guy testing the appliances couldn't seem to get the fridge to switch over to LP from electric... We put it in the van, took it home, and removed the 1977 model Dometic 2 way fridge, and installed the new to us unit. I hooked up LP, 110, and the 12v ignitor circuit. The unit works perfectly so far, it froze water in the included ice cube trays in about an hour and a half. The soft drinks I put in the fridge are already cold, a mere 3 hours after finishing hooking the fridge up.
I also picked up a folding shelf for the bedroom out of a 1977 Overlander, and installed it, along with a new door for our medicine cabinet.
Here are a few photos of the bargain-priced fridge that we got for a song (& it wasn't even one of the top ten songs!)

overlander63 · 03-14-2006, 05:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by overlander63

Anybody have a spare Care-Free awning cap?

It seems I was incorrect in my assumption this is a Care-Free awning, I just learned in another thread it is an E-Z Awning from the Wally Byam Store. My search for a cap just got a whole lot tougher...

85MH325 · 03-14-2006, 05:49 AM

Terry, if you cut the end off a #10 tin can with shears... paint it gray, and drill it just so for riveting, it would... no, no, that would be tacky... no... I've got it!!! if you us an aluminum beer can (beer of your choice) and cut it to length just to cover the end...

Roger

overlander63 · 03-19-2006, 05:03 PM

I "wrassled" the two BAL stabilisers into place under the rear of Goliath today, as well as replacing the horribly rusted hinge on the rock guard with a stainless part.
The stabilizers make the rear of the coach extremely solid. Now I can cut off the weird rear stabilizers, and start looking for a pair for the front.
The hinge went on well, although I will have to trim off the end of it that sticks out a few feet past the window. I don't want to decapitate any unsuspecting pedestrians while driving down the street. I also took a photo of the NOS door lock assembly we installed last week. Looks pretty much like the old one, just newer (and it has keys).
Here are a couple more photos of the newest refurbs:

overlander63 · 03-20-2006, 06:05 PM

I was talking to another forum member the other day, and he suggested I run my kitchen sink drain into the black water tank, to keep it from having to drain into the blue tank, or onto the ground. I thought this was a good idea, and the drain for the kitchen sink is about 1 foot from the black water vent, which I could use to drain the dishwater into it.
Soo...That's what I did. With only a ten gallon or so black tank, I will have to dump it more often, but it should keep the contents of the black tank diluted enough to flow out the 2" dump valve hole. Time will tell, but it is pretty neat so far. Here is the obligatory photo of my latest monument to plumbing:

overlander63 · 04-03-2006, 02:52 PM

We took a three-day-weekend in Goliath, and I can report that:
The addition of dishwater to the black tank works very well, and seems to keep the nasty stuff flowing out the drain like it should.
The addition of the dishwater drain into the black tank also means I have to drain the tank more often (daily).
This is good and bad. The bad is obvious (I have to dump the tank pretty frequently). The good is that it is keeping the tank cleaned out, and it doesn't have time to sit and get "that black tank smell" that tends to permeate everything if the wind is blowing the wrong way. Everything worked as it should, and I was able to trim down the couch arms so they will sit in their mounts on the ends of the couch now.
I did find an issue that will have to be addressed, and soon. It seems the PO did a "hack job" fixing a minor drain leak under the bathtub, by stuffing the hole with mattress foam. This cuts the obvious drips down to almost nothing, but it also means the moisture got into the mattress foam, and just sat there. And sat there. And rotted the wood out from around the drain under the tub. I will now have to pull the tub out, and replace the floor underneath, instead of just repairing the leaking drain. At least I haven't found any more empty whiskey bottles...