1966 Caravel Restoration

[Argonaut20]

You did put a hole in the floor and belly pan under the fridge so air could enter and flow over the coils, right?

[docflyboy]

Hollie nice work on the Olympic Wave heater. With the catalytic design, you burn all the LP well enough to not have any Carbon Monoxide, but you do make four molecules of water for every propane molecule and 3 molecules of CO2. The water ends up as condensation inside a cold window, so some outside circulation is necessary. It's a warm molecule of water, so it will rise, so the roof vent will work for that. I guess there's not enough market for a vented catalytic heater, but it sure would be nice in RV's and for boondocking. Jerry

[Atomic_13]

Loving the science, Doc... [emoji4] A good point regarding catalytic heaters. They have their pros but condensation is a con. I added one to my bathroom to take the chill off and help supplement my main heater (Dickinson) on really cold days.



Of note, the Dickinson P9000 or P12000 heaters, like I added to my Tradewind are propane heaters. However they isolate combustion to the outside air by using a double walled chimney. The inner most tube exhausts the combustion byproducts whereas the outmost tube draws oxygenated air into the firebox. The flame heats metal components of the heater and a low amp draw PC fan circulates the heat in the trailer. Like my renovation pace, they are slow to warm the trailer but so nice to look at and do a good job once they are up and running.

[Flostream66]

Nice thread hijack, Atomic_13...with that stunning Trade Wind renovation of yours! Nothing like trailer envy to motivate a restoration.

Doc, thanks for the non-scientific shout-out on my Hydro Flame retromod. BTW: I have initiated the order for the refrigerator chimney for your Caravel. I will try to pop by to snap photos of the WIP.

Argonaut20, as always, thank you for weighing on the work that I am doing on my trailer. We installed the Dometic refrigerator according to the installation instructions n the original owners manual, except that we built a frame to raise the unit just enough for the right side to glide over the steel tread wheel well cover. The frame is made from an all plastic framing material, to ward against rot, and it was designed to add additional spacing for air flow.


This original Dometic refrigerator worked great, even though the access door that was on the trailer when I bought it was solid. With the benefit of the comments I received from you and the discussion on Atomic_13's thread, I went searching for a hot rod restoration company and found one nearby that is going to install custom louvers in the original door. I will then face the backside of the access door with screening material similar to what Atomic_13 used.

Before re-installing the refrigerator, I vacuumed the entire unit and sanded away the extensive rust on the back, so I am hopeful this too will add to the continued efficiency of the unit.


The original installation instructions I used as a reference guide do not speak about cutting a hole in the floor, and so I did not do that...I just couldn't bear to do it, having spent a boatload covering up all the holes! If the refrigerator is not working to optimum capacity, I will add a fan before resorting to these more drastic measures....unless you or anyone else feel I am risking a fire hazard. So that it is a part of this thread, here is the owners manual: http://bryantrv.com/docs2/docs/M52.pdf

[steinVT]

Like you, I have an aversion to cutting holes in the belly pan, but there are ways to do it without making it a highway for mice. Adding a vent is a good way to assure good flow up the chimney of both exhaust gas and hot air.

This is what I did in the Safari and seems to work well.

On the inside I added a plastic flange and a strip of aluminum to form the wall of the vent.

On the outside is a premade vent with an integral screen. - Mark

[Flostream66]

Thanks, Mark, for taking the time to share these photos and thoughts. It is incredibly helpful to have this kind of support. I also have spoken with Argonaut20 and it seems that I do need to vent from below. In considering how best to do that, while minimizing the potential for critters and cold, the choices were narrowed down to a circle [like yours, so thanks for the validation!] or a rectangular household vent. When the gas guys came out to run the gas lines, we discovered that a large 14 x 18 grate is already under the bellypan - just no access to the floor, at present.

So, we are going to have to consider how best to retrofit a smaller opening...and if your circle vent works for you, I think I am now on a better track. I also do not want the right side of the refrigerator, closest to the wheel well cover, to sit on top of that open grate...it needs to sit on the plywood flooring.

Question - do you have louvers in the access door to the refrigerator?

BTW: your post on Docflyboy's thread of your floor IS professional grade. Well done!

[steinVT]

I actually had louvers in my refrigerator access door and blocked them off. I wanted my exhaust fans to draw from the floor and not from the louvers. I replaced the very large original vent with a smaller powered vent. Seems to work great. I have to turn down the old Kreft refrigerator or it will freeze everything. I have pictures on post #223 (page 12) of my Safari restoration blog. - Mark

[Flostream66]

Mark, thank you for this very helpful explanation - and your Safari restoration is fantastic. I am trying to understand from this reply and from the original Safari post where you put the exhaust fan. I ask because the ducting you used behind the refrigerator consists of two flexible hoses (dryer-like) that go all the way up and then out the trailer. Is the fan up top, or is it down by the hole in the floor? Thanks in advance for your help. Hollie

BTW: the opening underneath is 9 by 14.

[steinVT]

I closed off the opening in the countertop at the back of the refrigerator with a piece of plexiglass. I then mounted the two fans on the plexiglass. The fans are temperature controlled so they use almost no power when not needed. As soon as the temp comes up, they spin up as well. The small duct pipes are attached to the top of the fans and exit up in the chimney. The aluminum cover just hides the ducts.

Here a picture with one of the ducts removed.


Both ducts then go up to and into the cabinet and exit at the base of the chimney.


And finally with the cover in place


These fans are also used to evacuate the exhaust from the tankless water heater that lives under the sink. When the heater comes on, you can see the plexiglass start to fog up from the combustion moisture, but as soon as the fans spin up, it disappears. Hope this helps. - Mark

[Flostream66]

Mark, your photographs and detailed descriptions about the refrigerator vents and ducting are extremely helpful, as I try to make good choices for Flo. Based on your posts and my further discussions with Atomic_13 and Argonaut20, here is how I decided to proceed.

Similar to your approach, Mark (only home-made because the box store was just too far away!), we cut a 4 1/4" hole above the existing vent in the belly pan, and then created a "custom" flange out of leftover aluminum, using a 6" bit to cut a circle and then the 4/14" bit to cut the inner circle of the home-made flange. We then filed the edges and added mouse guard fencing, which we then affixed to the floor centered over the vent hole.
When the refrigerator is in place, the vent hole sits centered on the back edge, approximately 1/2 under the refrigerator and 1/2 in the open space between the refrigerator and trailer wall, so as to maximize air flow across the coils.

On the recommendation of Atomic_13, I have purchased the following 12v computer fan which is water and dust resistant: Noctua NF-F12 iPPC-2000 IP67 PWM, Heavy Duty Cooling Fan, 4-Pin, 2000 RPM.

I have abandoned the idea of putting louvers in the access door. By all accounts, the most effective way to cool the coils is to draw from the ground up, which makes sense. This also eliminated the concern I had that I might create another place for cold air to seep into the cabin.

But I was still left with this large opening (9" by 14") that had been cut into the bellypan (but not through the flooring) right in front of the CS wheel. While I appreciate that liquid and debris from the wheel is spun out to the back, I remained concerned that moisture and debris from the TV and the road would come into the trailer via the open vent. I have found a custom louver company that is going to make louvers for the bellypan vent. The slants and opening will face the wheel well - good call Atomic_13!

Marc and Atomic-13, you have both done exceptional jobs covering the ducts that carry the warm air up through the roof vent. [How life has changed from fast car envy to refrigerator duct cover envy! ] But I am, as you know, trying to restore Flo to her original glory. As is often the case, the old refrigerator chimney had become brittle and unlikely to survive another riveting session. So I took it to the Porsche expert, John Corson of Carrera 6 Racing (see Post #7, et seq.], and after he got over the initial shock of the condition of this vintage "treasure," John agreed to tackle the project for me, as this is well beyond my skillset.

Using the old duct as a model, John built a wooden form. He removed the broken flange pieces, opting to hand-form those instead on the top edge of the mold. He then lined the old duct with fiberglass to construct the new chimney. Before doing so, he had to repair the bend that was found in the lower half of the old chimney, using a mix of aluminum and fiberglass. He carefully layered on the fiberglass, and then fashioned a sturdy flange along the top and the sides. When the piece was dry, he removed it from the form, and sanded it gently - truly a work of art that is more substantive and durable than the parts you can source online.
, , ,

Though John tinted the gel coat to a near match, the piece had a couple of quarter-size spots where the fiberglass had not loosened as evenly from the form. I took it to vintage car restorer and automotive paint expert, Richard Wheeler of Wheels of Time, and he put the piece in the paint booth where he applied a single stage automotive paint in a matte finish. Before affixing the duct to Flo, I applied two coats of high heat silver paint, at John's recommendation, to repel the warm air from the duct. Admittedly, the restoration of this refrigerator chimney was a laborious extra step. However, the result speaks for itself - a functional, yet visually attractive, authentic reproduction.

For the installation, we put a small piece of trim along the edge of the countertop that abuts the chimney to close the gap and then trimmed the countertop material to cover it. I then replaced the old edge trim with new edge trim from VTS in the latte color. The fit is tight and finished, but without losing precious counterspace that had been taken by the old 5" backsplash and aluminum trim.

[Dwwalker18]

Your restoration is making great progress and looks fantastic! You’ll have a work of art that will last for many many years!

[Flostream66]

Originally Posted by Dwwalker18

Your restoration is making great progress and looks fantastic! You’ll have a work of art that will last for many many years!

Thanks, DWWalker16, for the kind words – nice to know Flo now has two fans in the North Pole!

Her restoration has continued at a steady clip. Over the past few weeks, the electrical wiring and 12v panels have been installed, tested and labeled. [See below] The plumbing installation has been finished, including an outdoor shower faucet mounted on a custom panel made from leftover aluminum tread. It is housed in the dead space behind the stove and furnace, and can be accessed through the small door that was installed where the old Hydro Flame furnace vented to the outside. We also managed to find enough space in that area to install a quick connect fitting for a gas grill with a 10-foot hose, so that I can cook just outside the galley area.

We left the installation of the upper cabinets for last. Using a metal cabinet jack and brute force (and a third hand cabinet jack), we started with the SS upper cabinet. Inexplicably, this otherwise ordinary step provoked a flood of emotion as I stepped back to look at the installed cabinet...I could finally see that Flo was back.

But the moment was short-lived. As we installed the front side cabinet and then the upper CS cabinet and vent hood, I had to laugh … to an outsider, it would seem that I had spent all this time and done all this work, and yet Flo still looked largely the same on the inside, albeit “refreshed” - so, in this sense, mission accomplished!

The one noticeable difference is the original cabinetry. When I bought Flo in summer 2019, the cabinetry was in remarkably good condition, and therefore worth saving; except that the darkish mid-century orange hue (caused by repeated Tung oil applications over the years), needed to be lightened up. While restoring the cabinetry, I discovered that the backside of some of the frames and the veneers were labeled “ash” and that the insides of the cabinets had remained quite light, having escaped the repeated Tung oil lashings.

To get the fronts to match the backs, I used a technique I learned years ago from a master cabinet-maker. I started each piece by applying a generous coat of furniture stripper, scraping gently, so as not to damage the veneers, and then wiped each piece down with mineral spirits to clear away the residue from the stripping. This is the most effective way of removing years of grime, oil and dirt. Once the surface was left to dry for at least 24 hours, I used fine sandpaper (150 to 320 grit) for a finishing sand.

Working in small areas, I then applied a coat of Monocoat Oil Plus 2C in White 5%. I like Monocoat because it is a no VOC product, and creates the most natural-looking, matte finish. Once dried, Monocoat is as durable as any urethane or oil-based stain, and if conditioned, will last another decade or two!

Will update with finished interior shots, but for now, it's time to get ready for for a late fall test camping trip...at long last!

[Bubba L]

Glad you were able to save some of the cabinetry. Also, that’s a great tip on stripping the old finish and bringing the original wood grain back. On our 66 Safari, the old cabinetry also had Ash written on the back. Unfortunately, the previous owner had thrown away all the cabinets. We had a heckuva time rebuilding the interior back to its original dimensions and layout. Thanks to Mimiandrews who had a 66 Safari one production number off ours, she sent many pictures and dimensions of hers. You’ve put a lot of forethought and planning in your project. Looks great. Take care

[Flostream66]

Thanks, Bubba – judging from the fantastic work you have done on the restoration of your 55FC, I have a long way to go.

I did manage to salvage all of the original cabinets except for the insides of the lower galley cabinet and the bottom of the CS overhead. The overhead came out pretty well, except that the section which surrounds the chimney has a slight sag to it since there is nothing there to support it until the wood reaches the frame. Any suggestions for how I might reinforce the sag in front of the chimney from the inside to straighten it up? Thanks.

[Bubba L]

Concerning the sag in the cabinet against the chimney, I don’t see any other way other than a stiffener inside against the chimney. You could take a 1” x 1” aluminum angle placed inside the cabinet with the vertical against the chimney the width of the chimney. Unfortunately, you would have to place a couple of ss pan head screws thru the plywood and aluminum angle with small nylon lock nuts. Maybe a couple of 8-32s. I just wouldn’t drill into the chimney. Just not enough meat there. Just a thought. Good luck

[Flostream66]

Thanks, Bubba...I surely don't want to puncture the new fiberglass chimney I had made up - it looks great and functions...so I will experiment with a brace along the lines of what you have mentioned.

In the meantime, my Dometic 36A refrigerator, which works like a champ on shore power, failed when the technician stress tested the gas system...bubbles at the shut off valve.

I am reaching out to the forum in hopes of finding a functioning valve.

Here is the post I wrote in the refrigerator section: https://www.airforums.com/forums/f42...ml#post2431513

Since this is a vintage refrigerator part [not currently available on the internet], I also wanted to reach out to those familiar with 1966 Caravel.

Thanks in advance for any help you might be able to lend. Holie

[docflyboy]

Hollie- great progress. I got sidetracked with work, so the reason for being on radio silence. I've got my main helper back now that his side business is slowed down. We should make a lot of progress in the next two weeks. I'm not planning on using my original refrigerator. I'll try to fire it up on propane this weekend and see if it's got any life in it. Jerry

[Flostream66]

Thanks, Doc...same here. More work than Air time. BUT I finally executed on a design element for Flo that I have been contemplating for months now. When I got the trailer, the reading light above the SS banquet was affixed to the bulkhead via a big block of oak, whose sole purpose was to house the 12v wires. This made hanging anything on this one flat space impossible.

While refurbishing the SS bulkhead, I removed the lamp and board - yikes - 60 years of pale covered wood (though it confirmed my hunch about the light wood tones) - but this made the design dilemma even worse. And despite all my years of refinishing tricks, I could not harmonize the wood tones.

The fix concept - - create a custom light fixture using old oak planks salvaged from my conference room table apron, and the original Airstream sign that was removed. I stripped away the old paint and then gently sanded it, using 0000 grit steel wool...this caused the letters to appear etched.

The (partial) execution - a custom, yet MCM period appropriate light fixture which doubles as a space to perch a plant or display collected treasures - though the sign makes me want to leave it empty. Light will be added and fixture hung this weekend ... full reveal to follow...

[docflyboy]

Hollie- too late to grab my dog and pose him, but I think I have your dog's twin. Jerry

[Flostream66]

That is Morgan Flynne of Kilkenny - Flynne for short. She is a soft-coated wheaten terrier. This shot was taken in early 2019 - Flynne had just experienced her first Airstream rally...and was basically "done" being social. Share a photo of Flynne's twin when you can.