Doin' the Full Monte

[Jim & Susan]

Well, Duhhhh. Why didn't I think to look at the website. Thanks Wabbiteer, that looks like the problem. Good news is that it's just a matter off washing with a little clean water. The strange part is that the surface was preped properly. I guess I missed a step somewhere. Thanks again Wabbit.

Now, back to the battery box before it gets dark outside.

Jim

[Jim & Susan]

Well, the dang battery box doesn't fit. Of all of the many parts we've added back on, most fit perfectly, with a few that require a little tweaking. The battery box on the other hand.....

The only thing I can figure is that it has something to do with warping. The battery box does hold a 70 to 80 lbs object. The bottom of the outside fits, the top doesn't. The inside fore fits, not the aft. Of all of the rivets, only three go back to the original holes. Weird. But it does look like it will keep the water out. I'll get the hose out this weekend. Pictures to follow, but I don't know if they will offer much information.

Jim

[Jim & Susan]

See how far those rivet holes are off compared to the original? Almost an inch in some places. The pic is of the area along the outside of the battery box door, where it attaches to the banana wrap.

[Jim & Susan]

Any ’73 owners out there reading along? The two pictures attached show the rear trunk (actually, I’m never exactly sure what to call the dern thing, a trunk, stowage area, etc, the shop manual refers to it as a “hose carrier assembly”). It’s the trunk type area that is just in front of the rear bumper that the grey/black water drain runs thru. Anyway, here’s the question.

The screw driver is leaning against the black water tank. The bottom of the “trunk” is just sitting there, unattached to the frame at this point. The PO had done some kind of work back there on the vertical sheet aluminum because of a plumbing problem. When he put that back in, he pieced it together with 5 chunks of aluminum. Looked really ratty. Does anybody have a picture of what that original piece looks like? (Shop manual is no help here, no pictures) It’s not a big thing, just want to look right and maybe make it easier to work on in the future.

Thanks for the help.

Jim

[Jim & Susan]

And does anybody know why the bottom of that “trunk” has a cutout for a sewage drain? The sewage drain goes out the side of the trunk thru the main frame rail. Even the shop manual shows it as a side discharge.

[rebel beck]

Jim, Don't know if this is the answer but our's has the hole and we run our electrical cord thru it to plug up.

[Jim & Susan]

Thanks Beck, what I'm really trying to figure out is the correct way to cover the dang thing. I forgot to mention this before, but that trunk leaks like seive, right into the pan that holds the black water tank, result is big time rust. You have a rear bath, right? Got any pictures of that area?

BTW, I'll scout out some "junk" for you next week in Ft. Walton Beach. Susan loves to go to those old shops.

Jim

[PizzaChop]

Jim,

There should be a 5" tall piece of thin aluminum the entire width of the opening that covers the rear frame crossmember. There needs to be a hole for the electrical cord and for the plumbing. The bottom of the trunk should be riveted to the bottom of the rear cross member and that joint sealed really good with lots of vulkem. I would drill a few weep holes in front of the seal to allow water to drain down, rather than back into your tank area.

Looks like you're making good progress!

[rebel beck]

Jim we don't have the rear bath I thought about it after I posted we have the center bath. Please let me know on the junk stores. Sure wish yall could make the rally.

[A-Merry-Can]

this puppy will be ready by the april rally... i can feel it!



jp

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Jim & Susan

Thanks Beck, what I'm really trying to figure out is the correct way to cover the dang thing. I forgot to mention this before, but that trunk leaks like seive, right into the pan that holds the black water tank, result is big time rust. You have a rear bath, right? Got any pictures of that area?

BTW, I'll scout out some "junk" for you next week in Ft. Walton Beach. Susan loves to go to those old shops.

Jim

Jim.

The rear door is actually called a "one stop center door."

The section immediately forward of the bumper, is designed to leak. That area is for your city power cable and the sewer hose or hoses.

The bottom drop down door is for the sewer hose and city power cable.

In your case the sewer outlet is on the side of the frame, but the sewer compartment pan is still the same design.

The holding tank steel brackets should be well painted to protect them from rust.

Some people, just to make sure the water drains, add a few small drain holes to the sewer compartment bottom pan.

Andy

[Wabbiteer]

Tank housing rear wall on this is one is four pieces - left most has grommet for power cord and ground wire (6"), next piece is sensor access panel which has vent holes and drain line plus acts as half of drain pipe collar (7") then the right half of collar (7" ?) then remainder of wall. To far right is a small tacked in piece to separate locker from free space beside tank. the right collar on this one had severe corrosion and was used as template for quick flashing fix. Note the new 1" angle iron support beam; I had meant to use 1 1/2" but this was handy so I added two bottom support pieces riveted in for peace of mind. Also used stainless steel bolts, washers and SS nylock nuts to attach the new angle iron. Also iron got cold-galvanize primer and sealed w/ the white paint - wasn't ready to open the POR-15 just for that...

It is the piano hinge that draws in water from above - It is real tempting to fabricate a diamond plate floor and tack on a 90 degree angle piece as floor 'molding' in the back to prevent drainage forward; with the tank support being 1/2" or so above the frame rail in which the original floor rested on, newly adding a small spacer block to lift the new plate up might promote drainage to the rear. The belly skin would overlap the plate (grind off diamond for flush fit) and terminate there.

Anyhow - watching with interest; bathtub is two rivets away from being pulled and am going to get spanner wrench for strainer-drain removal...

[Jim & Susan]

You can always count on those Wascally Wabbits. Thanks Wabbit, that is exactly what I needed.

Seems you and I are headed down similar paths with this part of the camper. The angle steel that holds the tank in are in good shape on mine, but the hangers were iffy. I had to replace one of the hangers and repair the others. Like you, I added a brace under there, but mine is much more crude than yours (see pic below). And like you, I used stainless fasteners. If you’ve been following this thread, you know that I had to replace the pan that the tank sits in. The moisture in this area destroyed the old one. I don’t know how I towed it home without the thing falling out. I POR’ed the whole area while I was reworking the frame, so that shouldn’t be a problem (fingers firmly crossed here).

As you and Andy have concluded, this trunk area does seem to be designed to leak. I had already decided (thanks Andy for the confirmation) that I would need to drill a few weep holes and seal the heck outta everything.

So, Wabbit, a couple more questions about that vertical wall. What is the clear plastic tubing used to drain? The PO had made a mess of the plumbing in this (and most) area. Does it drain the fresh water or water heater (as in an overflow)? Also, you say there are four pieces overall to this wall. To the extreme right, does the wall extend all the way to the main frame rail? It almost looks like the last 6 to 8 inches are supposed to be open to the belly pan.

Thanks to everybody for the help. Update to follow.

Jim

[Wabbiteer]

On my '73 a scrap piece of interior shell aluminum was roughly trimmed and used as barrier between back tanks rear wall and curbside frame rail, two rivets into corner of tank & other end rests on the the frame rail w/o attachment. Note the flap also acts as access to shower trap floor cut-out so you might do well to use stainless screws since it seems that drain trap needs checking & tightening, it must loosen from usage of the bath or vibration - do you have the heavy PVC frisbee leak catcher pan that mouse & water-proofed the opening?

I have two drain lines that are still original black rubber which drain the low points of hot & cold water lines from the valves beside the pressure regulator. I think I will make a set of hard PVC lines and route them through the belly pan w/ some type of bulkhead fitting - the idea of loosing winterizing anti-freeze into the belly area at some point in the future so it stays perpetually moist under there makes it worth the effort in my opinion.

No clear or third line on this one & the pressure relief valve on the hot water tank is bare of fittings, it just dumps down over the tank to drain through the exterior opening. I ran the HW tank for a few weeks this summer and never saw it vent; those valves are 'do not disturb' once they get age on them since its likely the seals will dribble. The HW tank on mine is going to be replaced w/ a demand unit when I find the right one.

Todays project here is making a lexan see-through baffle plate at BW tank valve to keep all things 'Black Water' BENEATH the floor. Running a heater in the trailer makes a huge icy vortex swirling up from the black tank access & since it hasn't been drop cleaned yet I am isolating it. Toilet was discarded, tank fitting plugged and a plate placed over the opening. I am waiting for 4/0 copper cable I purchased to arrive to install a golf-cart battery Trace U2512 120VAC inverter so I can't close the belly up as I will run conduit from side to side at the wheel wells... Will post that project up for suggestions!!

[ankornuta]

Originally Posted by Wabbiteer

I am waiting for 4/0 copper cable I purchased to arrive to install a golf-cart battery Trace U2512 120VAC inverter so I can't close the belly up as I will run conduit from side to side at the wheel wells... Will post that project up for suggestions!!

Not to hijack this thread... but where are you putting those batteries? I'm looking into something similar, but the batteries are 66 pounds each; kinda heavy for the tongue I think, but I could be wrong.

[Jim & Susan]

Ank,
Mine are gonna go up front someplace inside the camper. I'm trying to get as much weight as possible off the rear of the trailer because of all of the frame issues. With the battery moved to the front & replacing the Univolt with a more modern alternative, that takes something like 150 lbs off the back end.

Wabbit, thanks for the info. That's exactly what I needed.

Jim

[Wabbiteer]

I want to keep hitch weight near factory numbers so the batteries will be going above the axles; not quite committed to any one location as ideal... All I know is the inverter will be opposite of some/all of the batteries so am running conduit under the plywood from one frame rail to the the other.

[Jim & Susan]

Well, the holidays are over and I finally got back to working on the Airstream. It sat so long with the floor out and openings to the outside everywhere that I had to go back and clean the interior again. That worked out ok, though, because I wanted to take the wiring down, clean it and check for possible problems. Besides, the plastic “stick-on” hangers that were holding it in place were almost all shot (brittle, breaking to slightest touch.) I’m happy to report that there are only a few feet of wire in the bath that need to be replaced. Pretty incredible for 30 plus year old wire.

I now know where every wire in that camper goes and what function each serves. If anybody needs that info, I’ll be happy to post it here. It looks like Airstream used the same wiring harness for several different models. For example, the ’73 Overlander harness has several “spare” wires that at first glance don’t seem to go anywhere. There is a spare set of green wires just in the middle of the camper. I suspect the same harness may be used on longer trailers of the period. Those spare green wires would be placed just about right for running light in the middle of each side as seen on the longer campers. The wiring harness itself is 3 to 4 feet longer than it needs to be for a 27’ trailer. There are also several spare 12v runs tucked in the bundle and along the sides (behind the walls).

I ran a phone line in there, just in case it’s ever needed (probably not in the cellular world). I also ran a Cat5e cable from front to back, just in case. The coax for the television needs to be replaced (not done yet). Question for the gang is what else to I need to add at this point. I thought about a WiFi antenna, but at the rate computer technology changes, would it be out of date six months from now? I think there is plenty of 12v for the new lights that will be added. Speaking of which, I purchased a couple of LED’s to play around with. One is ready to install tonight over the door, to replace the 1157 that used to be there. We’ll see how that goes. If it works out ok, then I’ll install a couple more near the steps for a bit more light around the door.

I’ll have some pics and more later.

Jim

[Jim & Susan]

Here’s a couple of pics of the new “hangers” that keep the wire in place. The first pic is of the old grey ones. The second pic shows the new ones that are the peel and stick type used by the computer guys these days. Stick ‘em up on the aluminum and use a zip tie to hold the wire in place.

Make sure the aluminum is very clean (a little acetone does the trick). Some of these I actually used a bit of construction adhesive to help hold in place. And don’t be afraid to use lots of them. 200 zip ties and sticky feet don’t even weigh a pound.

Jim

[Jim & Susan]

Here's the 12 volt wiring break down for the '73's. I suspect that most of the '73's use this scheme, pretty much.

12 Volt

Yellow Wire 20 Amp

• Curbside Hatch light
• Curbside Bed Light
• Roadside Bed Light
• Bath Fan
• Spare—In ceiling between vent 2 and 3

Purple Wire 20 Amp

• Bedroom Vent Light
• Bath Light
• Cigarette Light—Bath
• Trunk Light

Pink Wire 20 Amp

• Spare at foot of roadside bed
• Center vent light
• Oven light
• Furnace
• Light switch by door—controls light over ink

Brown Wire 20 Amp

• Cigarette lighter in living room
• Vent hood over stove
• Light switch by door—Controls exterior light above door
• Living room Vent light
• Roadside light over Gaucho
• “scare” light, exterior light to right of door
• Curbside light over Gaucho

Blue Wire 40 Amp

This wire begins at the 7-way plug and pulls all the way to the back of the camper to the Univolt. It is designed to charge the battery (from the tow vehicle) while driving. Along the way to the back of the camper, it splits and drops at each vent. It powers the fan in the front vent, is just a spare at the other two vents. This wire also drops at the control panel and another for the radio, both in the shelf above the Gaucho.

Misc. Wires

• Orange wire pulls from water pump under sink to the control panel over Gaucho
• White wire is always ground, except for a portion of the wire to the light over the sink.
• Green wire pulls to all of the running lights.
• Brake wire is grey jacket in belly pan
• Stop/turn/back up lights are red/green/black, but I don’t have the break out yet.

Jim

ON Edit: I just remembered I missed a couple, I'll have to look at them in the daylight tomorrow.