My son's 1960 Overlander Restoration

[nmbosa]

Originally Posted by Lothlorian

Is removing this stuff pretty easy?

Brian

Yes and no. I imagine every trailer is a little different considering how hand made these things were. On mine, the partition between the bathtub and the bed and the rear wardrobe were jammed in very tight. The bath partition also had a strip of butyl tape holding it to the wall, so even after drilling out all the rivets, it did not want to budge. As I began taking it out, it dug into the old vinyl tiles and put up a good fight (and did crack a little at the bottom). In addition, the wardrobe had some rivets that are hidden from view by the medicene cabinet and impossible to drill out because you can't get a drill between the med cabinet and the wall. I ended up using a hammer and chisel to knock the heads off those. I think both could be even more difficult to remove if the beds were still in place (I took those out first).

The vaniety and the tub were pretty easy to take out with the exception of the tub drain. Frank and Marcus had advised me to heat up the p-trap before trying to remove the drain, but I must not have used enough heat. I destroyed the strainer with the drain wrench. After that, I didn't have anything left for the wrench to grab and I had to cut it out (I managed to do so without destroying the p-trap). You really want to save the p-trap if possible. It is a nice low profile trap that fits in the belly. My suggestion (which is really just repeating Frank and Marcus' advise) is get the p-trap really hot to loosen up the 50 year old pipe dope before you try to unscrew the drain. You will probably need two people for that part of the job because one person needs to be under the trailer with something to keep the p-trap from spinning around, and the other person needs to be inside with the drain wrench.
Norm

[Lothlorian]

Norm:

Thanks for the info. What did you use to heat the trap?

Brian

[Frank's Trailer Works]

Heat gun....

Brian, to get the wardrobes out is actually very easy. Leave the channel on the wall. There are big wood screws going into the floor through a 3/4" x 3/4" cleat inside the cabinet. Those screws are a challenge to get to spin out. I have a screw drive ground down to fit the head very tightly. I put it in the slot and give the screw driver a very serious smack with the hammer. That often will loosen it's grip. At the top the cabinet is held in with rivets to the skin via a bracket. That one is easy. There are some screws also up through the top of the frame into the ceiling. To get the room divider out, remove the track inside it first and you will see the screws up into the ceiling. Take your time. If all the screws are out, the piece will come out. Wiggle things slightly and you will find where you have missed the screws. Nothing should require force.

[Lothlorian]

Thanks:

I am getting under and starting to remove the belly pan tonight. a little bit each evening. I have access to the best heat gun ever made. It is called a leister. I have used it to fix vinyl air structures you see over pools and tennis courts. Not your typical heat gun. I will get that this weekend. I am glad to get the info on the walls also. I have dealt with hidden screws before.

Brian

[Frank's Trailer Works]

Brian, you might need a heat shield so you do melt the tub. A chunk of asbestos siding with a hole drilled in it works well.

[Lothlorian]

Things are moving along nicely. Water heater is out and we are ripping up the linoleum. Honestly this is my son's trailer and he and his buddies are doing most of it. What a nice feeling to sit and watch and get to help. These guys are 23 years old and moving 100 mph. I am amazed how much they have got done.

Here is my question what in blue blazes is this electical thing. It has a coper line to it and wires. Is it a water pump or air pump? The metal water tank is going to go.

They don't have much money but they want airstreams. His buddies told me they are going to get one. I think they will if they save their money

Brian

[nmbosa]

It's the air pump that presurizes the aluminum water tank.

[Lothlorian]

Norm:

I am getting rid of it. Going with plastic, shurflo and pex. I am also going to be using some nyloboard

Brian

[nmbosa]

Originally Posted by Lothlorian

Norm:

I am getting rid of it. Going with plastic, shurflo and pex. I am also going to be using some nyloboard

Brian

I ditched my old aluminum tank and pump also. Wish I could have used nyloboard. Seems like a good product.

[Frank's Trailer Works]

you live near nyloboard so it may be easier for you. My experience with them has been very difficult. I have tried to purchase their product three times and they make it near impossible. 25 sheet minimum or buy from a rep in Tenn. that wants to ship it to me from Florida. Just not very buyer friendly for me. I probably would had promoted the heck out it, but have totally given up. Miracle product perhaps but not easy to get outside of Georgia.
Sorry for the rant. Now someone will tell me how easy it was to get.

[Lothlorian]

Frank:

A person named Lee just posted that he went down there and bought from them. He is doing his whole floor with the stuff. He will never have to worry about leaks. I wonder who you spoke with? I don't get it. I got a tour of the plant and the manager in the plant was saying how he wanted to get the RV business. but those people were not showing interest. Did you ask them if you could get a dealers license or what ever paper work you need to sell the product. I think with your business and abilities you would make a great distributor of the product.

If you ever come through metro Atlanta and take 285 east you should stop by and visit the plant. Maybe if you went in there they would work with you. Lewis was going to pull his whale tail frame down there and put Nyloboard on his trailer in the plant parking lot. Lewis lives closer to the plant then I do. He told me they would sell to him. It might be who is answering the phones. When I went there only one person was handling the phones.

I spoke with him yesterday. He is restoring a boat at the moment.

Brian

[mello mike]

Nyloboard? Never heard of it. What is it? Do you use it in place of plywood floors or is it a floor covering? Just curious.

[Lothlorian]

Mike:

I did my whole bathroom floor with it in my 73 overlander. It will never rot. It is made of nylon (recycle carpet). It looks, feels, nails, and cuts like plywood. I put 3/4" and it has been there for 3 years. The scrap is in the yard and it still is like new. Check Jim and Susan thread. He is helping a guy do a full floor with the product. Good stuff.

Brian

[Frank's Trailer Works]

Brian it has to do with minimums, 25 sheet minimums. I am not willing to lay out for 25 sheets and then have to store it. I needed 7 sheets and just cannot see having 18 on hand. Yes they will eventually get used but just too much to have to lay out. They are trying to develop their distribution system, but is is slow to develop. They are now venturing into the fake wood deck material with the product. That has become a major focus for the company.
I know Lee and Lee bought seconds from them. He got lucky and the order was piggybacked on another load going to WI. He might not need to worry about the floor rotting, but he will always need to worry about the frame and the bolts holding the floor down from rotting. Leaks are destructive.
I know Lewis and his Flying Cloud also. Going to them is a good plan. It is just not an option for me.

[Lothlorian]

I posted this on another thread but I think I will bring it over here. I have the opportunity to pick up a new Attwood 35,000 Btu furnace for 150.00 dollars with Warranty included. I don't want to cut a big hole in my trailer. If it is safe and possible I would like to but it up to the inside aluminum and run the exhaust vent out of the trailer. Can it be done?
Would like your opinion. This is a horizontal ducted furnace

If I can't I will just fork out the bucks and get a suburban.

Brian

[Lothlorian]

Well the furnace deal fell through, but we did make more progress. We got the Princess stove and oven out. I will take it to a appliance place and have them up grade its guts. We want to keep it. We got the old furnace out. Next I want to get all the copper water lines out and the metal water tank. We are making head way. I think we have done well for the last three evening.



Here are a couple of pics

[nmbosa]

Brian, the Suburban might fit well in that location. I think the dimensions are 13 x 12 7/16th. Not sure if you could get the Suburban vent through the old vent door, but you could also just buck rivet in a water heater style patch over the giant hole, and then cut the small holes for the Suburban vent.

On the stove, I would recommend cleaning it up and just bench testing it in your back yard. I hooked mine up to propane and it worked great. After making sure it worked, I had the brightwork all re-chromed and the enamel pieces powder coated. The powerder coating shop also sandblasted the burners, so they look great too.

Norm

[Lothlorian]

Norm:

Powder coating was the game plan. I am not an appliance technician so I will take it to a shop and have them check it out. I took the stove part out and then pulled the oven. The thermostate wire was shot and completely corroded. I will need for all of that to be replaced and tested.

We are putting together a collection of things we will get powder coated.

I will get a suburban furnace and do a patch. I have never used buck rivets. I don't know how the go in. I have a rivet gun and the 1/8" rivets you buy at a store.

Brian

Brian

[nmbosa]

If you aren't comfortable working with gas appliances, it sure can't hurt to have a technician look it over. They should be able to tell you if it has any leaks. I was fortunate as the thermostat line on my stove was in good shape. Other than that, they are pretty simple stoves. The entire thing is controled by a manifold that sits in the burner tray. I took the entire thing apart, cleaned it up, put it back together, sprayed soappy water on it to check for leaks and fired it up. They didn't mess around with fancy safety devices that could save your life back then. Once one of those knobs are turned, the gas is-a-flowing.

Buck riveting is actually pretty easy and by far the best way to do any exterior repairs if you can get to both sides of the area you are working on. Vintgage Trailer Supply sells a good buck riveting kit and rivets made for our older trailers.

How extensive are your floor repairs - are you replacing the entire floor? If you are, I assume you will be pulling at least the lower interior skins down and probably pulling your belly pan down. Unless you plan on cutting the belly pan below the waist line and then just pop-riveting in patches, you'll need to drill out all the rivets along the bottom of the shell and then buck rivet the new belly pan through the shell and c-channel. Take a look at Someday'59's blog - especially around February, March and April. They did a full shell-on floor replacement in just a few months. Lots of good pointers in that blog. With all the help you have from your son and his friends, I'm sure you could move along as fast as they did.

Norm

[Lothlorian]

This trailer was kept under a roof its whole existance. We have ripped up the linolium and I saw all this curled wood. I thought it was rot. We found out it was a wood type tile on tar paper. Once we started tearing that up we found the wood was solid. I found one small soft spot and I am going to do what I did last time. I soaked it with a wood protection product another airstreamer forum person told me about (PizzaChop). I drove an hour away to get this stuff (can't think of the name). I know it is not Rot doctor. This stuff turned the rot hard as concrete. I floated an epoxy product over the repaird spot and smoothed it out. It has been more then three years and I have not had any problems.

I will cut out the floor by the front door and replace it with Nyloboard.. Otherwise everything is looking good. Once the wood tile and tar paper are up I will use a wood sealer and and outdoor stain. I am putting Laminate over the floor. I got under the trailer and checked out the wood in the back of the bathroom and at first I thought it was bad. Once I did real good examination I determined it was fine. First time I was feeling around in the dark and I had my hand on something which felt funny. I thought it was the floor. I was wrong.

My son and his buddies are going to take over this weekend and keep moving the progress.

Brian