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LB_3 · 04-01-2017, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pahaska

Mostly mowing grass and a meeting today. I did stop by Sams and bought a 4" topper for the IKEA mattresses I'll buy next week. The two pads add up to 7 1/2" under us. The IKEA mattresses are very firm and my wife likes it soft.

Skip the IKEA matress and take the wife on a short road trip to Houston and visit Texas Matress Makers. They will build a custom matress for each of you to your desired firmness. If you need an odd shape or size, I'm sure they can do that as well. InterBlog praises our custom matress EVERY SINGLE DAY.

They're also half the price of retail store fronts.

InterBlog · 04-02-2017, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pahaska

There is a thing called covenants that prevents me from keeping it here more than overnight once in a while....

So far our HOA has turned a blind eye to our more-than-once-in-a-while overnight driveway parking. However, our lithium conversion reinforced in me the belief that these rigs are best kept in enclosed garages. Our Interstate aged more during the frequent outdoor parking associated with a few months of lithium work than it had aged during the previous two years - I'm not exaggerating. And it wasn't even here for a few months - it was just here more frequently, here repeatedly for up to a week at a time, because work was being done daily. The accelerated break-down of our roof sealants (blog post)? The rusting roof seams (other blog post)? The incipient water penetration at our windshield frame (yet another blog post)? It all occurred during that interval, and I can see the evidence of that aging in the "before lithium" and "after lithium" photos I had taken along the way.

Our subtropical environment is just that harsh. Rule going forward is that we minimize its time outside the storage unit.

InterBlog · 04-02-2017, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LB_3

Skip the IKEA matress and take the wife on a short road trip to Houston and visit Texas Matress Makers. They will build a custom matress for each of you to your desired firmness. If you need an odd shape or size, I'm sure they can do that as well. InterBlog praises our custom matress EVERY SINGLE DAY.

They're also half the price of retail store fronts.

Seriously, x100. You're in Austin - it wouldn't be a big deal for you to come to Houston for this purpose. McRider also bought a mattress from them, although I think that one was for his house rather than his Interstate. There is nothing that compares to Texas Mattress Makers, price-wise or quality-wise.

Pahaska · 04-02-2017, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by InterBlog

Our Interstate aged more during the frequent outdoor parking associated with a few months of lithium work than it had aged during the previous two years - I'm not exaggerating.
Our subtropical environment is just that harsh. Rule going forward is that we minimize its time outside the storage unit.

Drier here in the Austin area, but just as hot. I park mine in a storage yard, under cover. Since it is the same slot my 29' Classic occupied, I can park the IA way back such that the sun does not reach it except briefly in the cooler mornings. By 10 am, there is always enough shade to park my car in the shade in front of the rig. I never thought my Classic suffered sun damage in the 13 years I parked it there. I never bothered to cover my wheels since the sun never reached them.

Pahaska · 04-02-2017, 03:48 PM

Tornado warnings today and torrential rain until afternoon.

Not much done except to modify the black plastic tubs. There is a lot of space above the wheelwells, especially since I raised the height of the seat bases, but that is not a very nice place to store things with wires and water piping running through. Since they will be under the bunks, I cut one side out of the tubs, using the bandsaw.

The tubs will be attached to the little partitions that run along the wheel wells. Since there will be space above the tubs, I attached plastic sheet extensions so that things do not fall behind the tubs. I'll glue non-skid material on the floor of the tubs so that things are less likely to slide out.

I cut and glued up a few other parts and that was my day.

Tomorrow morning, I go for the plywood to start building up the bunks. I'll probably get alder non-formaldehyde sheets and get them to make the long cuts for me that are awkward to do alone.

Pahaska · 04-02-2017, 04:03 PM

No more alerts and warnings. My phone was beeping at me most of the day. The line of sheer nastiness has passed us and is headed for Matagorda Island and Port O'Connor. The sun is shining and the sky is blue here. Supposed to be a great day tomorrow. I may bring the rig home late tomorrow for some serious work.

Pahaska · 04-03-2017, 09:09 PM

I spent the morning driving through traffic to north Austin to get two sheets of non-formaldehyde plywood for the beds and other cabinet work. I didn't want the chemical in the coach and neither HD nor Lowes had an inkling about their plywood.

The two bed panels are cut to size and painted with enamel matching the edge binding throughout the coach.

I took a bit of time out to sell my diesel pickup and eat dinner. Then, I brought the coach home. Tomorrow, I will unbolt the frame of the couch and start installing the beds. I was under the coach tonight, but the mosquitoes are out in force and I abandoned the work for the day.

No photos. Things should look different by tomorrow evening.

InterBlog · 04-04-2017, 06:48 AM

Mosquitoes?! Where are the bats?? I lived in Austin (Westlake Hills general area) for three years around the turn of the century. There were no mosquitoes.

LB_3 and I currently live in a "mosquito hole". We rarely have a mosquito issue - only on certain high tides, once or twice a year, does a wave (which we call a "hatch-out") of saltwaters move through from the coast, but then after a week or so, they are done.

Greater Houston has seen an enormous expansion in its bat population over the past decade. When I go dog-walking or biking at dusk, I'm constantly amazed at how the air is full of bats. It reminds me very much of what I used to see in Austin, and is one of the factors that keep us living here. When I go hiking in extra-urban places such as the Sam Houston National Forest, I'm frequently horrified by the intensity of mosquitoes. I don't want to live like that if I can help it.

Pahaska · 04-04-2017, 10:19 AM

Any mosquito within miles finds me and I am terribly alergic. I itch forever when one bites me. We are far enough out of Austin that the bats are seldom seen here.

This morning was largely spent under the coach with dirt falling in my face and grease getting under my nails. I unbolted and removed the couch and also the two central seat belt anchors. I'll probably leave the side belt anchors since they are pretty much out of the way.

Working alone was interesting. I used a bunch of tricks such as setting an anvil on a box-end wrench while I removed the bottom nut. My vise-grip pliers were also handy in holding the top nuts while I worked underneath.

Now, I have 6 holes in the floor to fix. Thankfully, they are under the mouse fur and out of sight. I may simply blow them full of expanding foam.

This afternoon will be spent working on the twin beds. Much of tomorrow will be wasted with a meeting and a unit lunch.

Oh, and I sold my diesel pickup last evening. Next acquisition will be a tow car; probably a Smart car.

toskeysam · 04-04-2017, 10:52 AM

To Pahaska.....re Smart toad....2017 is the last year the gas-powered Smart will be sold. Auto trans is towable, manual is not. I just got a 2017 to pull behind my AI....also note....Blue Ox does not offer a baseplate for the 2017 Smart...Roadmaster does and my dealer is installing mine next week.

Pahaska · 04-04-2017, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by toskeysam

To Pahaska.....re Smart toad....2017 is the last year the gas-powered Smart will be sold. Auto trans is towable, manual is not. I just got a 2017 to pull behind my AI....also note....Blue Ox does not offer a baseplate for the 2017 Smart...Roadmaster does and my dealer is installing mine next week.

Thanks for the info. It will save me some searching. I'll be looking for an older year Smart; as long as it is reasonably reliable around town, it will do. My wife will be happy that the auto is towable.

toskeysam · 04-04-2017, 11:14 AM

Last post about the Smart......for this thread.... the older manuals were towable. Car2go is liquidating a large number of 2014-2015 Smarts from the Columbus Ohio and Washington DC market. Low mileage rental retirement. Not sure about towability of older auto. The dual clutch, in the later auto, was key in making the automatic towable.

Pahaska · 04-04-2017, 03:49 PM

One twin is pretty much finished and ready to fasten in place.

I decided to use the bed extensions as headboards by turning them 90 degrees. I may decide to shorten them and/or remove the jog at the end. OTOH, as they are, they will visually block stored clutter. I may build magazine racks in the space formerly used by the extensions.

I actually took a short nap on the hard plywood twin. Thinking turned to snoozing.

Why are my images inverted? Both were saved with PhotoShop, just like all recent images. Maybe because I forgot to include them and aded them by editing.

Pahaska · 04-04-2017, 09:31 PM

On our last trip, the vent fans and the reading lights over the couch failed to work. Today, I finally got down to trouble shooting. Turns out that the blue wire, circuit #5 had come adrift from the plugs under the CS jackknife seat. I had moved the wires out of my way when putting in an inside propane switch.

When I inserted the blue wire into the connector, it made an audible click and locked in securely. I have an idea that it never had been properly locked in place and simply pulled out when the cables were handled.

Nice to have that solved so that I can install the CS twin this weekend.

Pahaska · 04-05-2017, 06:12 PM

Much of day was tied up in selling my diesel pickup, but I did get a few hours in working on the curbside twin bed and on the full-height 3/4" plywood partition that goes behind where the Magnum is mounted. There will be full-height extensions running backward from this partition along the battery box and water heater box.

The obscenely over-designed pull-out frame that supported the bed extensions will be cut up and the longer pieces will be used to extend the above parts toward the head of the beds. The nice black end plugs will be reused to make the installation look nice. That frame must cost Airstream a bundle by the time it is formed, welded, and the welds ground smooth. Almost sacrilegious to cut that thing up.

Without the couch frame, I will have really nice storage in the rear.

Pahaska · 04-06-2017, 05:22 PM

Getting close to completion.

Wasted much of the day with a trip to the dump with my Diesel 2500HD truck that will be sold in the morning. Then, the detailers came; I had promised the buyer a clean truck.

Spent some of the morning trimming a 4" queen foam to two twin widths with an electric knife. I made a rough slice down the center, then sandwiched the foam between one of the twin bases and a sheet of plywood to cut it to final size. That made it easy to just keep the knife in contact with the wood top and bottom as I cut.

Following that, I finished up the CS twin base and worked on the structure that goes behind the electrical island. I'll bring the IA home Saturday morning and, by the end of Saturday, I expect to have all but finishing touches finished.

I delayed ordering the matching plywood edging from Airstream until I can get an accurate measure since I'm sure they want plenty per foot for it. I'll also see if I can order a yard of the black mouse fur to finish up the rear storage.

Pahaska · 04-08-2017, 07:25 PM

Not much progress today. I finished painting the CS bed and installed a 5" sailboat deck plate in the bed so that I don't have to remove the bed to reach the low-point drains. I have used deck plates in former Airstreams to better reach the water pump and to repair a sliding door where there was no other reasonable access. Deck plates are also invaluable in showers since they are totally waterproof. There will be another deck plate in my RS bed to reach the bypass valve for the water heater. Deck plates only protrude about 1/8" and will never be noticed under a mattress.

The new owner came by and picked up the couch to go in one of the Airstreams he is renovating.

I have to admit that some of the day was spent (wasted) playing with my new Smart Car, toad to be. And some of the day was spent at a memorial for a really admirable friend who died when a big Suburban/Tahoe/ whatever rear-ended his stopped car at about 70 mph. Texting, maybe?

I have tomorrow and Monday before my wife returns from Croatia. I promised her it would be complete when she returns.

InterBlog · 04-09-2017, 05:14 AM

You may not wish to discuss this in an open forum, but while you have the thing taken apart, any plans to install additional security resources such as locking points?

If you can install deck plate(s), then big heavy lashing rings or D-rings might be possible.

Security issues have been discussed extensively on previous threads, but to summarize briefly, there are those of us who seek to make enhancements that guard against a typical smash-and-grab scenario. Realizing that no security measures will ever be perfect, I think we can thwart about 90% of thefts just by taking reasonable measures to beef up what we've already got.

The hitch carrier we built for our Interstate is a case in point. Our Yeti cooler rides on that carrier close to 100% of the time, and no one has managed to abscond with it. Stealing it would require so much work to circumvent its security measures that it's simply not worth doing relative to the benefit that would be obtained (knock wood).

I've toyed with the idea of adding one or more interior heavy duty bolt-down points and running a length of Pewag chain from it / them, so that I could achieve a similar degree of "un-remove-ability" for certain interior cargoes. But in mulling this over I've said to myself, "Dang, adding that feature would probably require me to first remove the couch..."

InterBlog · 04-09-2017, 06:15 AM

This is an example along the lines of what I mean - a recessed pan fitting. Run a Pewag segment from a large-enough one or two of these strategically installed in non-visible locations, and there ain't nothin' goin' nowhere in your average smash-and-grab scenario.

If you've got the 4-wheeled (or in your case, 6-wheeled) patient on the operating table anyway, it's a good time to also fix hernias and do the odd nip and tuck or enhancement. Some people call that "scope creep", but I tend to call it DIY entertainment.

Pahaska · 04-09-2017, 11:19 AM

Taking a much needed break. Wife returns tomorrow from Croatia and I want a fairly finished job to show her.

I woke up at 7 and took the Smart to the storage yard and came back in the AI. Grabbed a breakfast taco and coffee on the way.

I first needed to shut off the breaker and rewire the junction box I added to get the rear outlet out next to the aisle instead of way back and hard to reach. About a half-hour. shot.

Then shorten the bed extension to use as a headboard and mount it. Another hour shot.

Then mount the modified tray that was under the jackknife chair. It now has one side cut out to use for storage over the wheel well. Another half hour shot.

I installed the rest of the rear-end woodwork, using Kreg screws for joinery and into the floor. Where Airstream uses velcro and some sort of mouse fuzz, I am covering the woodwork with black marine bunker padding. The stuff is cheap and lasts forever. I am installing it with spray adhesive and my pneumatic stapler. It should hold up to stored stuff banging around just fine. TRhat brings me up to noon.

Here are some photos prior to applying the bunker padding. The beds are real hardwood 3/4" maple plywood and will be cantilevered to the rear of the structure shown. A friend stopped by for the couch yesterday and his first question to me was where did I find real 3/4" high quality plywood. I found it in north Austin. The vents are for the Magnum.

I'll go out now and install the CS twin bed and bring in the RS twin to the garage for final preparation and installing the deck plate to access the water heater bypass. By day's end, both twins should be finished and installed.