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54breadloaf · 09-08-2012, 08:10 AM

Yeah, the manufacturer recommends a 3M product. A rubberized product to protect from rocks and moisture. Guess I should test the system first before covering it so that if there are any problems, I can return it.

54breadloaf · 09-08-2012, 08:24 AM

Sparky, I have agonized over the banana wraps and just file that thought away figuring I will tackle that problem when I have to. I do have the old front one and that should help. I think I might use the old rear floor panel and build a wooden mock-up of the steel frame work so that I can form the banana wrap upside down. I haven't seen that method before but it seem like it would be much easier than working under the trailer. Do you know if the belly skins are screwed into the frame from underneath? With the flexing that takes place, maybe it would tear at the attachment points.

Sparky57 · 09-09-2012, 07:14 PM

I just put my first corner in today! Made a paper card template and used clecos to hold it in place while i folded and shaped it...Took about 3 tries till I had one I liked, then cut the metal and slid it between the c Channel and body and it fit! Too tired to rivet it place today. I used 6061 t6 .032 metal. It is very stiff, much stiffer than the old BP material, but it did bend ok, and has some memory so should stay in place....I hope!

54breadloaf · 09-09-2012, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparky57

I just put my first corner in today! Made a paper card template and used clecos to hold it in place while i folded and shaped it...Took about 3 tries till I had one I liked, then cut the metal and slid it between the c Channel and body and it fit! Too tired to rivet it place today. I used 6061 t6 .032 metal. It is very stiff, much stiffer than the old BP material, but it did bend ok, and has some memory so should stay in place....I hope!

Please send photos! That's on my to do short list so I'm really interested in your process. Thanks, JT

Sparky57 · 09-09-2012, 09:06 PM

Here are some pics..

Got the door finished- pretty much, a little more polish later on but good for now
Got a new luggage door built, insulated, painted and installed with a new lock
Sanded, washed primed and painted the floor with low VOC porch paint from Behr (love their paints) - Thanks for the tip Steve on the 'amine blush'...paint is sticking now!
belly pan banana wrap #1 in place, just needs to be riveted in place...
stripped the paint off the old screen door locks, primed and painted them too
the banana wrap template....not glorious to look at, but it did the trick

Mark

54breadloaf · 09-10-2012, 09:35 AM

Wow! Looks great Mark! Thanks for posting those. The banana wraps don't seem so intimidating now. I'll be interested in seeing how you deal with the area around the tanks. Mine is similar. The floor really turned out nice.

Cheers! JT

KCN · 09-16-2012, 06:59 AM

[QUOTE=Sparky57;1193199]

Next the belly pan....6061 T6 ,032. I thought it would be easier to bend, have more memory...it is hard to work, and the banana wraps are being a real bugger. I don't have templates and I don't have a clue how to rebuild them. Any tips? Anyone with a template, preferably for a 57 Overlander? I will just build the 4 corners, then put the remainder on around the wraps....but what a crazy corner to try to fabricate...Where to you start? The front? And then work around the side? Yikes....

I'm way behind you, doing a '62, but I have my banana wraps all off and piled in a corner waiting to be used as templates...if you wanna see pix of those? Not sure how much diff is between a 57 and 62..

KC

54breadloaf · 09-16-2012, 11:48 AM

KC, I need to do the belly pans too. My plan is to use my old floor end panels and turn them upside down. I will then build a mock trailer framework on the plywood. Then use it to lay the belly skin on. It should be easier to do standing upright and forming them than to do it laying on my back. Not sure if anyone has done this before but I'll give it a try and post the results.
JT

Sparky57 · 09-16-2012, 09:57 PM

@KC, I think I am doing ok with the template approach, using a thick card stock to make a paper banana wrap, then cutting a duplicate out it metal....only trick is getting material that behaves like stiff aluminum... Wrap 1 is Cleco ' d n place, number 2 will go n tomorrow....

Mocked up the interior today using string lines, tape and placing the appliances...I will post some pics. Going with 2 singles and 2 bunks over...finally feels like I am getting out of the messy stuff.

Also carefully installed my first of 3 hepvo vents. This one was for the grey water tank....the shower drain goes though the floor, into the hepvo, then into the side/bottom of the grey tank. Was nerve racking to do...I cleaned sanded prepped, primed and glued the heck out of that joint! Tested out perfect...hepvo works great, filled the tank right to the top without any problems.

Also ordered the new Precision Temp tankless system today (the 550)....no sidewall vent required, just need to figure out where to put it....near the kitchen, or under the bathroom sink....

Sparky57 · 09-20-2012, 08:43 PM

Took the center vent completely out tonite in prep for installing the AC unit- a Dometic Penguin Low Profile 13500 BTU unit. The ribs barely support the vent that was there so I'll have to call on the father in law to build some sort of crazy bracing...Not sure what that'll look like, but the unit weighs 100lbs, so it better be heavy duty.

Also bought 10/3 wire for the 30a intellipower converter and will be cutting the hole for the Marinco 30a plug. Also bought the cable outlet from them too, so be putting that in place too. Plan to run the wire through the frame to the front dinette area.

Also, thinking of ordering an inverter from costco.ca...is 1500w enough? There is a 2000w model too..Just want to run an electric griddle, toaster, coffee maker or kettle....(not all at once, or course!)

Got the other banana wrap cut and placed too- looks better than the other side. Funny with these things, you learn as you go and by the time you are done your an expert, but you'll probably never do it again. Thinking about redoing the first one...if there's metal left over I think I will....

Question: anyone who has done the 12v wiring tell me if you bought 2 wire 12v wire, or did you buy 2 single strands. I can find lots of people selling single strands of low voltage wire but I was expecting to buy a pair....

Also, anyone looking for a 1957 Hehr vent and frame in perfect condition? Open to offers or trades?

Minno · 09-20-2012, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparky57

Question: anyone who has done the 12v wiring tell me if you bought 2 wire 12v wire, or did you buy 2 single strands. I can find lots of people selling single strands of low voltage wire but I was expecting to buy a pair....

How much do you want to spend on wire? Here's one source for duplex wire: 2 Conductor Marine Cable - 100ft Spool | W-MC2

You could also use electric brake wire, as it's typically 2 conductors, one blue and one white.

Regular single conductor is typically used and fairly inexpensive. I used multiple colors of single strand wire, one color for each 12 volt circuit. Used white for the ground/return.

Chris

pbearsailor · 09-20-2012, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparky57

Also, thinking of ordering an inverter from costco.ca...is 1500w enough? There is a 2000w model too..Just want to run an electric griddle, toaster, coffee maker or kettle....(not all at once, or course!)

I've got a 1000 watt inverter and it's fine for what I use it for, mostly charging or running computers. The items on your list are all very high current draw that'll put a big hit on your batteries (can't remember what you're planning there). Never been happy trying to run stuff that uses much power through an inverter and think it works better to use propane whenever you can.

Congrats on the belly pan corners. I got worse as it went along with the first one being the best.

cheers,
steve

Sparky57 · 09-20-2012, 10:12 PM

I am planning on a pair of 6v golf cart batteries, wired in parallel to make 12 v (or is it series?)...should provide 220 AH of fun, minus battery inefficiency, minus inverter inefficiency....I should be able to toast one piece of toast

....I think I'll go with 1500W and save myself the $70 extra for the 2000W.

As for the wire, I think I will just pair up some nice single strands of 10g wire...stop hunting for a pair of wires.

Thanks again

nmbosa · 09-22-2012, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparky57

As for the wire, I think I will just pair up some nice single strands of 10g wire...stop hunting for a pair of wires.

Thanks again

That's what I did. It's worth looking around on prices. I think I dropped over $400 on all my wiring supplies. All these goodies add up quick.

Sounds like you are making good progress.

Norm

65CV · 09-22-2012, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparky57

I am planning on a pair of 6v golf cart batteries, wired in parallel to make 12 v (or is it series?)...should provide 220 AH of fun, minus battery inefficiency, minus inverter inefficiency....I should be able to toast one piece of toast

....I think I'll go with 1500W and save myself the $70 extra for the 2000W.

As for the wire, I think I will just pair up some nice single strands of 10g wire...stop hunting for a pair of wires.

Thanks again

Sparky -

Are you going with wire no smaller than 6 gauge for connecting the two 6v batteries to each other (in series) and for connecting your charger? Depending on the charger you select -- typically 45 or 60 amps, those circuits can see full amperage for a while when your batteries begin their charge.

On our last trailer, we used the 6V golf cart batteries and they worked beautifully. We're doing the same on the new-to-us Overlander. We placed the batteries just behind the wheel wells, one on each side. That's one reason for the larger wire size. I'm going with 4 gauge this time for those runs. Got the wire locally for a buck a foot -- in green and black.

I sized wire runs based on a very good article on West Marine.com for voltage loss for different currents for 12v wiring. The article isn't there anymore, but I kept the wire sizing table in Excel. PM me if you want a copy. (tried to paste it here, but it doesn't look right).

Lookin' good!

John

Sparky57 · 09-22-2012, 10:13 PM

I haven' sized the wire yet, but would love to read the article. Just started drawing up a wiring plan tonite and am starting to figure out that there a whole buncha things that "I didnt' know that I didn't know", that's what I love about these projects- the details, the research....almost everything is a puzzle.
Things I don't know are how many DC amps I can put per circuit,
how to break up the DC circuits- appliances on one, lights on another, or forward and aft, or just by proximity?
Also, what do you use to switch 12v lights? Little switches or big?

Thanks for the encouragement -- definitely getting to the point of feeling like there are a million jobs to do all at once right now, and not really knowing exactly which to do first and in what order....

Mark

54breadloaf · 09-22-2012, 10:55 PM

I'm watching all of this dialog closely as I know I don't know a lot about the things I should know about wiring and electricity. I'll be doing mine in the next few months.

Sparky57 · 10-01-2012, 08:39 PM

A few pictures of what I am up to as I work on the electrical, plumbing and layout all at the same time.
Got the plumbing inlet put in place as well as the power and cable inlets. Ordered some attwood 5/8" low profile vents for the fresh water tank vents as well as 2 vents for the planned battery box (yet to be built) Planning a aluminum battery box with 2 vents, venting out the front of the trailer....

Placing the power converter curbside ahead of the door, batteries next to that and the inverter next to that. Tape on the floor is dinette and bed layouts...

Rebuilt the original stove fan- took it all apart and rewired it, cleaned it up and it works awesome....it is 110v but I am ok with that.

Trying to find a way to have the inverter feed the converter when I don't have shore power....that way the trailer works the same way unplugged as plugged but just off the batteries. Found a 30a double pole toggle switch on line that should allow me to wire the inverter into one side and shore power into the other side so I can choose my power source....

Belly pan is going slow....I have a serious shortage of helpers these days and it is a 2 person job. The next pan is there ready to go in when I grow another set (of hands).

Apart from that I am waiting on parts, helpers, and endlessly searching for small odd shaped fittings, whats-its and thingy's.

Any comments on running the pex pipe inside the shell? A couple spots I have to do it, other areas I could avoid it...

54breadloaf · 10-01-2012, 09:07 PM

That's what I like to see Mark, jumping in with both feet. You are a madman! Wish I were closer, I'd come give you a hand with the belly skins... Then you could help me with mine. Lol good luck and keep us posted. JT

pbearsailor · 10-02-2012, 12:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparky57

Trying to find a way to have the inverter feed the converter when I don't have shore power....that way the trailer works the same way unplugged as plugged but just off the batteries. Found a 30a double pole toggle switch on line that should allow me to wire the inverter into one side and shore power into the other side so I can choose my power source....

Maybe I'm confused here, but it seems like over complication. You can't take power out of the batteries to run the inverter to make 110 power to charge the batteries with the converter. You want to use battery power to run things when you aren't plugged into shore power and the batteries can power the inverter to make limited 110 volt power. If you want to wire outlets to run 110 volt stuff either by shore power or inverter, that could probably be done by switching. The converter, though, just isn't part of the equation unless you have shore power.

On your PEX runs, I'd just try to keep everything as accessible as possible should you have to make repairs in the future. Hopefully you'll never have to, but. . . .

Making great progress, Mark, and the quality of your work looks really great. Won't be long before you're rolling down the road.

cheers,
steve