Great progress on floor replacement

[EuroAir]

Originally Posted by ND10CentCan

I would be interested in knowing how the end caps are devised in aluminum. We threw our original end caps out because both were cracked rather badly, yellowed, and looked terrible. We knew we weren't going to use them and so dumped them soon after we took them out of the Albatross. We wanted to fabricate new end caps out of aluminum and do some custom upper cabinets on both of them once those were formed. If you know the secret to putting up these aluminum pieces into end caps, I would be listening. Thanks.
Sandy

This sure is a bit tricky. I started with the decision around how many segments I need. Generally, the more - the nicer (i.e. 13) but I went with only 7 which is faster yet not as nice.
You then attach the segment in the middle which is the largest piece. It has 4 feet on one end (above the window) and maybe 2 to 3 feet on the other. You then work your way to the side by cutting the banana peel shaped segments and attaching them.

[timzog]

Dear Euroair,
What beautiful design and workmanship! A couple of questions if you don't mind... Are you able to open the rear window by yourself or does the partition get in the way? Where is your water tank located? Not seeing the water tank in the front, it made me concerned about weight balance issues. Have you measured your tongue weight to check? Thanks for posting.
Your work is inspiring. I've been playing on sketchup since I saw your pictures a few days ago. My Caravelle has been neglected this fall but I am optimistic for some progress soon. It is great to see others making progress to remind me that I haven't taken on an impossible task.
Tim

[3Ms75Argosy]

I can't answer for Euroair... but I can make a couple of observations... my '63 did not have the water tank in the front... it was parallel to the side along the streetside wheel well. It towed fine even with the propane tanks missing... it seems pretty well balanced. I've also seen some of Uwe's trailers with custom water tanks made to fit inside the A-frame section under the trailer floor in the front... so it might be there.
Marc

[timzog]

Originally Posted by 3Ms75Argosy

I can't answer for Euroair... but I can make a couple of observations... my '63 did not have the water tank in the front... it was parallel to the side along the streetside wheel well. It towed fine even with the propane tanks missing... it seems pretty well balanced. I've also seen some of Uwe's trailers with custom water tanks made to fit inside the A-frame section under the trailer floor in the front... so it might be there.
Marc

Thanks Marc,
That makes sense. It seems like the fresh and waste tanks might be better placed closer to the axles anyway (or have the fresh tank above the grey) so that the weight balance wouldn't be horribly shifted as the water was moved from one tank to the next. It could be better to have them all closer to the axle and have other heavy items near the front so that your balance wouldn't change much from the beginning to end of a trip. I guess the nice thing about the fresh in front is that you could use water to balance things but maybe other items could do that with more versatility.
Tim

[EuroAir]

Tim,

Opening the rear window is not a problem. You open both hooks and the open the window by just using the left lever. The window portion within the bathroom will be frosted for privacy.
Regarding the water tanks, the original had only 2. Fresh water was underneath the front couch And black was under the toilet and both were above the floor.
Now I have installed 3. Black is under the toilet in the far rear, grey is just behind the a le and fresh ist just in front of the axle. I have not measured my tongue weight yet but you are having a point in being careful here as I'm towing with a VW Eurovan who has a limit of 400 lbs. Not much room to play with.