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goransons · 03-05-2011, 08:33 PM

Thanks tlsmit1!! 63 is just a weird year, I actually had a lead on a 62 fridge in Seattle figuring it was close enough to find out 63 was the first year to offer the lighter style used from 63 until now. The fridge cabinet was totally hacked over the years of different replacements and trying to get a good idea of what it really was. We do very much appreciate the offer!

goransons · 03-05-2011, 09:48 PM

Boy today was an eventful one. We ordered all our foam, which Steve suggested...

Overstock.com has the Serta Rejuvenator 4" memory foam topper (2.5" of standard foam, 1.5" of memory foam) in california king for only 109.00 each shipped anywhere in the US.

We also picked out the curtain material and the cushion fabric, which will be really cool (you'll just have to wait to see). It's a vintage style fabric, with the same style of weave we found in the trailer in areas factory stapled.

Ready to order the sealand toilet. Will also be ordering refrigerator and water heater soon. Feeling my wallet drain quickly.

Tomorrow I'm treating the original fresh water tank and hopefully reinstalling it. Wednesday my sheets of vinear arrive which means I can finish the rest of the dinette and the two roof lockers. By next weekend I hope to have the dinette fully installed with all drawers back in, as well as the roof lockers. That will allow my wife to work on cushions for that area over our spring break the end of March. That will leave the couch, and kitchen left to build, plus the rest of the mechanical systems.

I'm also getting to the point of getting tires on this beast, no longer running the one radial and one bias ply that Rob pulled it half way across the country, and I pulled it across 3 states on (both of us had no choice, the axle was so bad we couldn't get tires off, even with air all the way out. Original rims will get blasted and powder coated.

Blue Pearl · 03-06-2011, 12:49 AM

Scott, I will be happy to help with the curtains or cushions, it's what I do for a living. Of course this would be my gift to you and Megan for saving the trailer, a little pay it forward. If Megan has any questions have her give me a call.

goransons · 03-06-2011, 09:03 AM

Thanks Teresa! Megan will definately be in contact with you. Just as I've asked tons of questions figuring out how to do stuff I know she will too. She did our cushions in the 69, but silverthreads did the curtains since there were so many and they were full wrap arounds. Megan really wants to do these on this one but like me will have questions along the way. I'll have her get in touch with you as soon as we get materials in hand.

On a completely different subject, I'm trying to decide what brand of tires to run on this since its a single axle I figure its even a bigger issue than our double axle 69. We've run Marathons on the 69 for 4 years with no issue, but wondering if there isn't something better we should be running. I hope to get the tires off here in the next few weeks and get the rims down for powder coating.

3Ms75Argosy · 03-06-2011, 10:30 AM

A lot of people have had luck with Maaxis tires... you can buy them direct or compare the price with Discount tire direct... Tire Products - Discount Tire Direct

Teresea does excellent work! I LOVE her trailers!
Marc

Frank's Trailer Works · 03-06-2011, 12:17 PM

Scott made a huge mistake asking about tires on his thread. I will just say the name and walk away. I love the brand, they have served me VERY well. I hope to avoid the debates. Just throwing in my brand.
CARLISLE

3Ms75Argosy · 03-06-2011, 01:56 PM

Ha! Funny Frank.. but too true!

Marc

goransons · 03-06-2011, 03:45 PM

a good day...

Started off this morning acid etching the original pressure tank. Overall it was in reasonable condition, no major rust, but had a fair amount of pitting and surface rust on the inside of the tank. After several sessions of etching then rinsing, and rinsing and rinsing, I ended up with a nice clean looking tank.

I used a heat gun to dry the tank out real well, and applied my microseal. Microseal is used by municipalities for sealing steel water tower tanks etc. It is a MEK based product, which is nasty stuff, but once the tank was clean I simply plugged all the openings with pvc plugs w/tethlon tape (to help it not get stuck by the microseal), poured in the pint and rolled it around for about 10 minutes sloshing it all around. I drained the remainder out, into a bucket, then did it again after about 10 minutes. It tries to the touch in just a couple minutes, but they recommend 1-3 days before adding water. It will be more than 3 days, so that's not a problem. Tank is back in place, trim ring is applied out front, and the cleaned up air pump is in place. Need to pick up a new inline fuse holder and get it all soldered and shrink wrapped up. Didn't get pictures of this because I ended up mocking up the dinette and table so my wife (who had been managing the two kids while I did the tank) and I could get a sense of how the cushions etc would work. I've figured out how the dinette slides out the rest of the way, but haven't figured out the cushions. These are standard goucho slides on the dinette, and they go into the curve. It was cool to see it all together, even though some is stained, some is ready for stain and some is awaiting my vineer shipment.

My last project of the day was getting the stencil on and finishing the back wall of the trailer. A local sign shop made me the stencil from measurements I took from the ghosted letters, which I applied and painted with a good quality epoxy paint.

Thanks for any tire recommendations. I know I opened the can of worms there, I figured anyone getting nasty could be sent to bed with no dinner...

But wanted some informed feedback to get me started on my search.

Overlander & Sea · 03-06-2011, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goransons

Rick & JJ, do you guys still have that contact papered refrigerator? If you do, I'm wondering if you might be able to take me a measurement of the rough opening it needs, and the full width and height of the face frame.

Scott,

I still have the original refrigerator that came with my '63 Globetrotter. It's in a store room at work, I can get you the model number (to make sure it's the same as the '63 Safari) and the measurements tomorrow.

goransons · 03-06-2011, 07:01 PM

Awesome, thanks! That will help alot!

utee94 · 03-06-2011, 08:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goransons

Thanks for any tire recommendations. I know I opened the can of worms there, I figured anyone getting nasty could be sent to bed with no dinner...

But wanted some informed feedback to get me started on my search.

Like you, I've had good luck with GYM on my tandem axle trailer. Terry put them on about 5 years ago and they are still doing great, though I'll likely consider replacing them soon.

I'm not sure what differences arise with a single axle travel trailer, but I ran GYM on my single-axle boat trailer for over a decade and never had any issue with them, either. But of course, YMMV.

goransons · 03-06-2011, 08:54 PM

I just look at that second axle as an insurance policy, certainly not a fool proof one, but a total loss of a sidewall on the tire, the second tire, might provide enough support to come to a safe stop, of course debris from the blow out can easily take out the second tire. So far GYM's on mine have done fine, but hey, maybe there is something better!?!

goransons · 03-07-2011, 05:42 PM

Family of 4 in this trailer, which will be tight anyway....

the original fridge and fridge cabinet are long long gone, judging by the hack job that was at least 20 years old that was pulled out before we took over on this one.

I was about to order today the new fridge and water heater and discovered some things....

The original fridge was shorter than what I have to work with now. 31 inches and some change high.

The fridge in this model sits above the wheel well (See photo). The Dometic fridge base I still have, the steel structure that helps it sit over the wheel well which I can still use on the new one. Here's the dilema:

Option 1, is the Dometic RM2451 which will require little to no modification to fit in the space, however it is one of the smallest single door units they make, and with a family of 4 that is kinda rough to work with (we have the larger 2 door model in our 69 and we packed that thing full every trip with our family of 3 at the time).

Option 2, trim 5 inches off the fridge scoop and install the Dometic 2551 which instead of 36" in height I get 42" in refrigerator for a few bucks less even. The extra few inches might not seem that big, but it's a whole extra shelf of stuff. Is that horrible? I'm thinking that in the restoration since the wood around it is all new that it will really be virtually unnoticeable. But what do you think?

Frank's Trailer Works · 03-07-2011, 05:46 PM

I have the Dometic 2551 in my trailer. We are four. We cook all our meals in and it fits our needs perfectly.

goransons · 03-07-2011, 05:47 PM

So Frank would you just trim the scoop and go a little taller for the 2551?

Frank's Trailer Works · 03-07-2011, 06:26 PM

WWFD??? I would hide the chase in an upper cabinet. I hate the way those scoops look.

goransons · 03-07-2011, 06:42 PM

I would be tempted to do a taller fridge and go all the way up but in this specific instance I'm going to leave it exposed. I spent a lot of time making it look "right" that I want it to look as vintage as possible. But I agree I don't like the scoops. I'm really leaning towards the 2551 since I'm starting from scratch there, the more and more I look at it, the less I think it will be even slightly noticable.

Frank's Trailer Works · 03-07-2011, 06:51 PM

the 2551 was the closest match to the original Dometic B50.

goransons · 03-07-2011, 09:20 PM

Well we're poor now! lol

In the last 4 days we've ordered:

Sealand Traveler Lite Low Profile Toilet
All foam and fabric for the trailer
RM2551 Dometic Refrigerator
Suburban 6 Gallon Electronic Ignition Water Heater (to go behind stock cover)
Power inverter to tuck under the cabinet to help keep the battery charged at longer stays.

This afternoon got the wardrobes glued and screwed back together, tomorrow I plan to reskin them and get them ready for stain. Side goucho frame is rebuilt, all glued and screwed back together (Mike Holmes would be proud), and awaiting veneer which gets here Wednesday.

Should be a fun couple weeks getting things moving forward finally. I just hope this nice weather holds out!

nmbosa · 03-07-2011, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goransons

Well we're poor now! lol

In the last 4 days we've ordered:

Sealand Traveler Lite Low Profile Toilet
All foam and fabric for the trailer
RM2551 Dometic Refrigerator
Suburban 6 Gallon Electronic Ignition Water Heater (to go behind stock cover)
Power inverter to tuck under the cabinet to help keep the battery charged at longer stays.

This afternoon got the wardrobes glued and screwed back together, tomorrow I plan to reskin them and get them ready for stain. Side goucho frame is rebuilt, all glued and screwed back together (Mike Holmes would be proud), and awaiting veneer which gets here Wednesday.

Should be a fun couple weeks getting things moving forward finally. I just hope this nice weather holds out!

Yep, you are broke. I'm planning to order the same toilet and fridge and all the foam for our trailer this month. Not looking forward to the bills. Where did you order everything?