Zep's '72 Overlander

[Zeppelinium]

Russ, here's the photos of how I moved the bedroom back a foot.

First, cut the tub in "half." The tub is tight up against the FRP (the FRP is glued to the 1/2 birch partition with silicon. One of the edges is coming up slightly, but I am sure it will glue back down--when I get a round tuit.) and sealed with silicon. It's been a good seal for 8 years. (You have to get the cut almost perfectly planar and vertical. I lucked out with a saber saw! You can trim it with a rasp to get real close.) One day I'm going to tear out the sink surround and move the sink about 8" toward street side so I can have a full shower without that dreadful overhang with the handle.



Now your partions won't be opposite each other (see diagonal cut in the Pergo flooring--it's always good to provide segments in these floors so you don't have to remove all of it to get at something near one end. I have 4 segments in the Overlander. The other three are covered with an extrustion from HD that's designed to make a transition from carpet to hardwood.).



You can gain privacy in the bathroom by making a door inside a door. First photo is of the bath closet open wide and the "door inside a door" unfolded. The second photo shows the contraption in the correct position so that it provides a closed door to the bathroom.



Zep

[howco]

Just to much time on your hands.....
Just kidding, nice work, good idea, I like a man that is a thinker.=.
Thank you.

[Zeppelinium]

Thanks to a suggestion from FOILED AGAIN (thanks, Sister), I've adopted a drawer control method that is simple, cheap, and quick--use cutain spring rods between the floor and underside of the counter. Voila!



I am a little leery of relying only on the friction from the spring force, so I decided to drill receiving holes for the ends of the rods. I hated to do it in the floor (the under counter holes aren normally "invisible"), but the simplicity of the solution convinced me it was worth it.

You need to make a small tool to guide the forstner bit. It will walk on the hard surface of any Pergo-like flooring and it's difficult to keep it from walking when you're drilling upside down on the counter top.

The holes in the floor need a coating of spar varnish to keep them water resistant.

If this was Thursday, I'd say I love my Airstream because it has 16 drawers--you just don't see the others.

Zep

[Zeppelinium]

I wish all my Airstreams had this feature. It's great to be able to reach in and grab tools, flashlights, extension cords, etc., without tracking crud inside.



Whew! It's only been 10 years and the front end is finally done.

Zep

[Jezibels]

She sure is looking good Zep!

Love the wood cabs! Super job!

[Dave Park]

Originally Posted by Zeppelinium

I wish all my Airstreams had this feature. It's great to be able to reach in and grab tools, flashlights, extension cords, etc., without tracking crud inside.

Is there not enough room to put an upright tool caddy in the upright behind space? Like the pantry can holders?

[Zeppelinium]

Originally Posted by Dave Park

Is there not enough room to put an upright tool caddy in the upright behind space? Like the pantry can holders?

What a good idea. Guess I'll have to buy another one and get started on the mods. I guess I got carried away with storing the folding lounge chairs in that space on this one.

Zep

[Dave Park]

You didn't build a storage bin into your floor? *gasp*

I got the idea from the stow and go seating in my old Town and Country. I'm working out how to implement it in an Airstream.

[Zeppelinium]

The Overlander is by no means done, but these two finishing touches are getting it closer. How many years is it that I've had wires hanging out of the wall where I removed the bed reading light and moved the partition back 10 inches? Well, the new reading light and small shelves are installed. The light is a SuperbrightLEDs WWHP10-DAC 12V bi-pin disk (warm white), which normally draws about 150 milliamps. I used a SPDT on-off-on switch to provide both a bright (full voltage) and very dim (560 ohm resistor in series for a current of 9.5 milliamps). The very dim setting is about half as bright as a night light.



The inner shell wall slopes at roughly 12 degrees here, so the two shelves are installed at a slant so they are level when parked. The bottom of the cabinet is cut at 35 degrees to point the LED out from the wall and then the LED itself is mounted on a 25 degree wedge to point it more toward the lap of someone sitting on the bed to read. Looking at the installed cabinet, I now realized I could have achieved a better pointing angle if I had rotated that wedge just a little.

I also installed a light over the desk. It has a curved shade so that the light doesn't spill over to the bed, and also has two settings--full bright and low (a 270 ohm resistor in series cuts the current to 25 milliamps, which is enough light to see the keyboard for typing those pesky characters and numbers I never mastered).



Zep

[Zeppelinium]

After a great 10 weeks in the Overlander and about 6,300 miles, it's time to dive into the remodel of the bathroom.



The original plastic countertop and sink molding took too much room out of the shower (originally a tub, but cutting that in half was my very first modification). This area has always been the main source of road dust, coming up through the floor plumbing penetrations and into the rear of the trailer.

The first step will be to replace the over-sink vanity cabinet and mirror. Next, a new stainless sink and cabinet alongside the toilet. Last, lowering the tub to the floor and rerouting the drain lines. This might also include a small gray tank, just for the two sinks (kitchen and bath), about 8 gallons. That's enough to wash a couple meals of dishes and brush your teeth, so you're dribbling on the WallyMart parking lot during quick stops. I have to see what I can fit aft of the wheel well under the bed.







Zep

[Zeppelinium]

OK, the tub is out. The objective is to install a shower pan on the floor to recover the 4 or so inches of height that the tub was off the floor. The battery box makes this a bit difficult, as it pushes the kitchen drain away from the wall. The PO had installed an alternate battery box on the street side, so I may remove this one to get the room for the shower pan.

You can see the hole where the J-trap was for the tub. I thought all the road dust was coming up through the floor around the dump valve, but it now appears that this is the real source.







The main electrical area is just forward of where the tub was. I think I'll move the coverter to the forward part of this storage area, take the battery box out, and install a gray tank (for the sinks, only) here.



Zep

[Zeppelinium]

Now that the old tub is out, I see opportunity. In order to place the new shower pan on directly on the floor, most of the bath plumbing needs to be rearranged, forcing the removal of the battery box (the PO happened to install another battery box on the other side--how serendipidous!).

It occurs to me that the space in the last photo in the previous post (the storage area aft of the wheel well under the bed) could hold an above-floor gray tank. A check of tanks from The Metal Company finds a big selection of tanks between 15 and 28 gallons that will fit. The twenty gallon size looks like the best bet, simply because it provides sufficient room to get hands into the space with the tank and get the in and out pipes connected.

An above-floor gray tank can't do anything for the shower, but it allows use of both sinks (20 gallons ought to provide 3-5 days use). This will make the Balloon Fiesta a lot easier!

Obviously the floor needs to be repaired and the exterior skins need some work.





The fuse block and the Intellipower need to be relocated--not a big deal except the wires to the fuse block limit how far it can be easily moved. Maybe it can go under the shower seat and be accessed from the outside. Oops, new door? Hello, Kip!

[Zeppelinium]

Why do Airstream projects always wind up being several factors bigger than first planned?

The side wrap skin behind the wheels had been damaged a couple years ago by a blowout, so this was a great time to replace it. I also armored it. The one item I didn't have on hand was the edge trim, so I folded a piece of soft 0.032 over a piece of 1/8" plate. Once that was slipped over the edge of the skin, I used a wood block to flatten it, which made it relatively bendable.



The banana wrap on this side is short, due to the space taken by the battery box. I've always been a little dismayed by the wrinkly edge of the banana wrap, so I made the underside triangle of skin and the banana wrap into one piece, including a strip of "L" channel as a stiffener. This one piece is a lot easier to install than the original two pieces.



The shell transitions from straight to curved right in the middle of the space previously occupied by the battery box. This presents a problem, in that the lower side wrap skin is a quarter tube and the aft end cannot be bent around to fair into the banana wrap. In order to get from the side wrap contour (straight tube) to the banana skin contour (compound curve), you need a short conic section. The joint between the shell skins immediately above is a good excuse to continue the joint down into the side wrap. The short piece of lower wrap that makes the connection between the two fits both skins nice and tight. I thought this would be a very subtle transition, but when you stand back and look at it, it's obvious it is cone-shaped. The longer banana wrap on the other side takes care of this transition from curved to straight.



I fabricated a short rib section, which allows me to splice two skins to cover the remaining hole, and to continue to the apearance of the joint down to the lower trim belt. The C channel is curved by notching the inside flange and web.



Jeeze, another one-day job made into half a week!
Zep

[azflycaster]

Originally Posted by Zeppelinium

Jeeze, another one-day job made into half a week!
Zep

If you were paid for the job by the hour, this would be great.

[DryFly]

I'm getting ready to install new counter tops in the kitchen and bathroom of my 73 Argosy 20'. How did you treat the transition from the counter top to the side wall - i.e. did you use a backsplash or did you find some type of aluminum transition strip?

[Zeppelinium]

Originally Posted by DryFly

I'm getting ready to install new counter tops in the kitchen and bathroom of my 73 Argosy 20'. How did you treat the transition from the counter top to the side wall - i.e. did you use a backsplash or did you find some type of aluminum transition strip?

I used a piece of 3/4" "L" channel (actually, two pieces, with a interlocking joint at the corner). I pop riveted it to the wall and used some acrylic bath caulk under the horizontal leg and the counter.
Zep