69 Ambassador Frame On

[Dremel]

New LED marker lights

[Dremel]

some wiring pics. It is not as sloppy as it looks in the pics

[Dremel]

My battery's will be behind the curb side bed, and the distribution box will be on the other side in the bathroom cabinet above the water heater.

Battery is connected by a 2awg wire on the positive side. I also ran a 4 awg for the ground from the battery to the distribution box. even though it is grounded to the ribs.

Convertor will be on the distribution side. it charges the battery thru the same 2 awg wire.

Future solar will run direct to the battery ( I ran two 8 awg wires for this. research, you may want 6 or 4 awg )
Future invertor ( if ever) will install next to battery. Then a spare 110 12 guage wire set runs over to the distribution box to be hooked to whatever 110 breaker I want to energize
the 12 guage can handle 20 amp

Power monitor. The monitor will be on the distribution side. but the shunt will be on the negative part of the battery on the battery side.
small wires will run from the shunt to the monitor.

I went overboard and used armored cable for the 120 ac lines.
and 12 awg stranded from the dc side with grommets in the holes.
I also home runned dc ground lines to the back area even though the skin is a ground.

for the fridge area, it got ac line, 12 awg for control board or ignitor, etc. and a 10 awg ( under a 20ft run ) for 12 volt power if the fridge is a 3 way. ( however, I plan to only have a 2 way.)

[dbj216]

Holy Cow! Reading your progress report made me very tired. You've been one busy Airstream renovator. I really like the way your repaired the Olympic rivets. I have a lot of them in my trailer too for some reason. Accident damage? Tree fell on it. Who knows. Olympic rivets are an easy decorative rivet, but nowhere near a strong as a bucked rivet. You added value to your trailer.

I hear you on reflectix. I see it used in windows of campers on hot summer days. Rockwool is very good stuff.

Thanks for the tips on body on subfloor installation. That too is not an easy job.

And thanks for spending the time describing your renovation project. It will be helpful to others doing a 69 Airstream.

David

[lahrfarm]

How come nobody does closed cell spray foam?

[Dremel]

I am 100% against spray foam.
Not becaurse of r value.
Only because i would not want to be the next owner, opening up my walls and finding that i need to remove the foam

[dbj216]

Actually Airstream used some type of spray foam insulation under the subfloor back in 1968. I agree with Dremel, it is a bear to remove. Some Airstreamers feel it is not good in RVs that are subject to lots of vibration.

David

[lahrfarm]

I haven’t decided what insulation I want to use. I do agree with the point about spray being an issue to remove. I am however doing my work for me, not the next guy. I am also doing the first major work in 50 years, and strongly doubt it will ever be done again to this Airstream. I would also agree that, if you use open cell foam, it may break down over time from forces like vibration. I don’t believe a true closed cell will.

[lahrfarm]

Backing up to A/C. I assume your leaving 1 old one, and will eventually replace with new one in same hole. Does anyone have thoughts about to on a 69 Ambassador? If so, the rear vent doesn’t seem to be in a good spot. The original is about dead center. So, would you have to completely make new location for both? Would it be worth the effort?

[dbj216]

Two ACs may required 50 amp service. That is a big project in itself. I wonder if a 15,000 BTU AC would be enough to cool an Ambassador 29'. I think a white heat reflective roof might help too.

Aluminum Airstreams are a bear to heat and cool compared to some other campers on the market. Two ACs is a factory option from Airstream on some of their bigger units.

David

[Dremel]

So many projects at one time.... ha
anyways, started working on my endcaps.

I wonder if this is everywhere, but I bought sheets of aluminum in June of 2018 for the belly pan. about $85 a sheet.
I checked on the same piece a few days ago and it is now $220
Thank you tariff's ( I guess )

anyways, This is a different thickness, but about the same price. .032
bought 2 4'x12' pieces to do both endcaps

[Bubba L]

The end caps will look great when they’re finished. You have something I don’t, patience.

[lahrfarm]

That will look great, are you using all new aluminum inside?

[MCPC]

Originally Posted by Dremel

So many projects at one time.... ha
anyways, started working on my endcaps.

I wonder if this is everywhere, but I bought sheets of aluminum in June of 2018 for the belly pan. about $85 a sheet.
I checked on the same piece a few days ago and it is now $220
Thank you tariff's ( I guess )

anyways, This is a different thickness, but about the same price. .032
bought 2 4'x12' pieces to do both endcaps

Following to see this when finished!

[Dremel]

Just New aluminum for the end caps, the original aluminum interior skins will go back in. Plan to paint the end caps.

However, considering covering the walls with wood panels, but that decision is for a bit later. Trying to get ready for our first wbcci international in July. Or at least usable

[lahrfarm]

Ive been kicking around the idea of stripping the original interior aluminum. May be hard to maintain? What size are the pieces for the end cap?

[Dremel]

The second side going up.

Then we bucked them together.
Pick is of it thrown back up, only a couple clecos are in. While bucking, it did 'flatten' a bit. So cleco holes are off just a bit.

However, they are very close and I am happy.

[Dremel]

I think my current plan is to put in the rockwool insulation.
Then put up these two sections.
and use Olympic rivets to put up the final piece.
This way I do not have to wrestle one large piece

We'll see. Probably wont get to it this week since I have a few other non airstream things to do

[Dremel]

as far as length,
I think everyone should measure their own , but in my case. I tried to maximize the use of 2 4x12' sheets for both caps. it was layed out to make straight shear cuts

The side pieces are all cut a 9" wide. This is for a 1 in overlay at the rib.
the center piece is 10" wide.

Back.
Have not placed up yet, but they are all 63" long. ( actually 3 pieces are cut at 68 due to the layout of the sheet )

Front
a variety.
My plan is to get to the support that covers the wrap around windows and not all the way to the center window. see pics. I will have a frame of some sort around the center window.

So the goal is to put the sheet squarely on the rib and let it curve to where it wants to. ( used 1.5" spaces , wood blocks )
however, in my case the first piece on each side is probably a little to short. because the second sheet had to be shifted a little bit to touch the first at the window frame. pieces 3, 4, 5 all lay where they want to.
The right side was layed out to match the same spacing as the left side.

Anyways, to let you know, I used
34" ( due to my sheet layout for shearing, this was the longest I could make these 2 pieces and have enough material for everything else)
41"
46"
48"
49"
49"
and a 10 x 49" center

[lahrfarm]

Have you done any more to your Ambassador? I keep thinking I’ll start on construction, but I keep going deeper on demo/deconstruction.