Well it's Here - '69 Tradewind

[mrgreen]

Yesterday got all my outriggers on and my steps all sorted to bolt on when it comes back from galvanization, tank holder finished with the hole cut in the right place this time!, originally i cut a hole for it to exit out the back but then it would get caught up on the stabilizers so it now exits out the curb-side. just a few small bits and pieces to finish up and then the first hurdle is finished.










the tanks will hang on threaded bar sandwiched together from these lugs

[mrgreen]

So i got my frame back from galvanisation, unfortunately they lost a small piece which goes over the coupling which i will have to re-make, oh well, so the grand total for my frame came to €770 with galvanisation which i don't find too bad although ofcourse we don't count the 40-50 hours we spent actually doing it! anyway onwards, next move is to fabricate the wheel wells which is a shame i should have really done them and welded them on and had them galvaised at the same time, oh well like everything hindsight is 20/20. tomorrow i will finish putting my axles on and it will then be a roller so i can't wait for that and after that will be flooring and tanks i'm hoping 2-3 weeks!!lol.

[mrgreen]

Today got my wheel tubs made up and did a few small bits like re-making the piece the galvanisers lost and drilling and bolting on the clamp for the jockey wheel, if i get a good go at it on Friday I think the axles will be bolted on and it will be a roller! I will order my wood and my plastic for the tanks on Friday for next week, who knows it may just come together within the next two!

[Splitrock]

Nice pair

[mrgreen]

well it's been a while to say the least! but i'm still plodding away at this elephant, over the summer I welded a new frame up and covered it with ply wood designed for trucks which is water resistent and not cheap!





after I was at this stage i lowered the shell back on




I had to re-make most of the C channel on the whole van due to corrosion the corners were not easy to bend! also as i had no template for the rear corners so i made up one which was not correct as the shell was more or less hanging so i cut out the rear corners and patched them and then lowered the body down to get a true corner! which was so tight i ended up having to lift off again and take an inch off so that the curve of the body rolls under!.

Getting the body to sit straight on the frame was something of an adventure, what i think may have happened is the shell got a curve in it from moving it pretty much unsupported, once it was on the frame i had to use a hydraulic press between the door frame and the rear compartment door frame to strech the body and put some tension in it so it didn't have folds!



at the moment I am re-skinning my door (due to corrosion) and adding a new lockset in as the original L100 is no longer available heres some photos so far,






I need to get the door sitting a little better at the bottom and top but i think i will be able to pull this in with the interior panel, insulation will be one layer of Baufol which is similar to prodex and a layer of polystyrene to fill the rest of the gap, hopefully this will give the door some depth rather than a hollow sound.

so that's where i'm at at the moment , banana skins are on thethe roof vents were taken out and resealed, all the extra vents on the roof sealed up, most of the dents taken out although that's still a work in progress there is dents on every corner and in reality the front left corner should have been re-skinned but it is what it is.

[Splitrock]

Looking good!

[DGJackson]

Curious what kind of plywood did you use? You mention it was made for trucks.

[Aerowood]

Nice job on the door. It is possible to re-skin the front lower panels with flat sheet. I'll walk you through it if you ever decide to do it.

[mrgreen]

DG; yes the ply is used on the flat beds of Trucks and is water resistant, one side is covered with plastic and the other has a grippy surface (not good for kneeling on!) it's about 8 ply and I used 18mm which is about the same which came out of the trailer, My parents in law had a roof rack made out of this stuff on their motorhome and it lasted about ten years ( although only summer seasons) before it was had it so I have high hopes for this stuff.

Kip; thanks for the offer but this trailer has so many dents it doesn't really matter, i will beat out what i can and i heated a couple of them out to bring the tension back into the Ally although heating is not a favourite job of mine, in fact it's quite scary! , where the water filler neck was there was a dent which with a bit of heat came out but also melted a little as well but it doesn't matter as i've put a patch on it and this is where the main power supply will enter the van. I am curious about how you made your front panel though as i've used a stretcher/shrinker but it makes a hell of a mess where it grips what do you do to avoid this or do you just shrink from the bottom?

today i finished up my door but when I was on my luch break a mysterious dent appeared on the door I am geussing one of the boys dropped one of the drawers they were making on it, it's about 6 inches below the lock so i may be able to slide something down there and push it out a bit, just a bummer as it's all new aluminium!. next week it's onto wiring up all the towing lights but maybe someone can answer me this, i have two circuits for sidelights and off the two circuits i would like to run 18 5w lamps is this possible? with the regs i need 6 orange sidelights, 2white front marker lights 2 high white marker lights, 2 high red side marker lights and of course the normal tail lights but i would also like to run the 3 original lights front and rear, if it's not possible the front and rear lights will be purely decorative!





I also made a new latch plate which folds over the back face of the door but not shown in this photo but if you would like to see one similar have a look at Aerowoods thread!! (thanks Kip)

[Aerowood]

To Change a front corner lower skin all you have to do is cut off the vertical rib at the horizontal frame that runs next to the wing window and splice in a straight one, then a flat sheet will wrap right aroud the corner with no shrinking needed

[DGJackson]

Originally Posted by mrgreen

DG; yes the ply is used on the flat beds of Trucks and is water resistant, one side is covered with plastic and the other has a grippy surface (not good for kneeling on!) it's about 8 ply and I used 18mm which is about the same which came out of the trailer, My parents in law had a roof rack made out of this stuff on their motorhome and it lasted about ten years ( although only summer seasons) before it was had it so I have high hopes for this stuff.)

Any information on tradename, source or price??? I'm getting real close on pulling the trigger on flooring material.

[mrgreen]

I'll ask for a name for you but it's probably european, I have loads of trouble over here trying to source materials which are talked about on this site, my Trimark lock i had sent from the U.S, i found a supplier here but the price was ridiculous. If i was in the U.S i would consider the Nyloboard which is talked about on here although some could argue that that is overkill, in my opinion my last floor was in there for 40 odd years so this new one should last a minimum of 20 and that is enough for me.

[Zeppelinium]

Originally Posted by mrgreen

... i have two circuits for sidelights and off the two circuits i would like to run 18 5w lamps is this possible? with the regs i need 6 orange sidelights, 2white front marker lights 2 high white marker lights, 2 high red side marker lights and of course the normal tail lights but i would also like to run the 3 original lights front and rear, if it's not possible the front and rear lights will be purely decorative!...

Your 18 5w lamps will take about 7 amps at 12 volts. I doubt your wiring gauge is heavy enough for that. What's the application--is this a plug-in string of party lights?

Where are you getting your info for the number of required marker lights? This is excessive (unless your Airstream is 60' long). What gives here? I have never seen a requirement for white marker lights, either.

Zep

[mrgreen]

Originally Posted by Zeppelinium

Your 18 5w lamps will take about 7 amps at 12 volts. I doubt your wiring gauge is heavy enough for that. What's the application--is this a plug-in string of party lights?

Where are you getting your info for the number of required marker lights? This is excessive (unless your Airstream is 60' long). What gives here? I have never seen a requirement for white marker lights, either.

Zep

In europe anything over six metres needs orange side markers, max three metres from the tow hitch max one metre from the rear bumper and in between must be no more than three metres apart so I need three lights on each side (6 total), it needs roof outline markers red facing backwards and white facing forward, you can obviously do this with one light which is split red white but i have opted for where the original high up marker lights were to put in individual lights (4 total) also it's law here to have white forward facing lights under 1.5metres above the ground and within 15cm of the outside of the vehicle (total 2) rear marker lights on the main light carrier as normal (total 2) so with these lights i have already a total of 14 running lights over two circuits, the original three marker lights which are on the front and rear of the trailer would then bring the total to 20 lights , ten on each circuit, which i'm geussing is not going to happen so these will become inoperable decoration

have a look here from page 24 and you will see the hoops i'm going to have to jump through to get the trailer legal!

http://www.hella.com/hella-com/asset...ten_EN_HKG.pdf

[mrgreen]

It's been quite a while but have got a few things done since my last post (everything takse so long!)got all the windows back in that are going back in with new D seals and cleaned up handles, i made new lifters for the windows out of stainless steel and have ordered normal screw on knobs for the lifters themselves (cut a thread on the end of the lifters). forgot to photo these but will post later.


I have in insulated with the silver bubble wrap (first layer of insulation) and then wired all the 12volt in, i have 20!!! side lights on this trailer (legally i need 14) as i have the original three markers front and back lit as well.

Rear lights are re-done with Euro marked inserts! and the rear window was a proper Pita to get back together, i ended up welding the frame back together and after each weld blowing cold air on the weld to cool it down to prevent the window cracking.


The optic band you see on this next photo is where the cut out will be for the selling window, i am waiting for my aluminium to come back from the metalshop bent up to a form that i made to represent the curve of the trailer, then it will be make up the frame and rivet that in and cut the hole out and make the window.





next is the Bumper!! oh dear!



here i started by cutting out the middle bent and rusted piece and keeping the end curves and replacing the small pieces that were rusted out on them

[mrgreen]

wasn't quite finished with my post!

then i made up the middle piece to replace the bent and rusty one




and welded it to the ends of the revived curved pieces!


still have the left hand side to complete along with the mounts but it's getting there.

I closed up the hatch doors for good with blind bolts



this week I start the main wiring for the 240v side of things (16A)



It's getting there slowly but it's getting there, thanks for looking.

[mrgreen]

many may think i have given up but i'm still going at it and today i had a milestone so i thought i better share. Since the last time i've wired the running lights, wired inside (16amp) insulated with three layers of reflective bubble wrap and one 2cm layer of polystyrene cladded the walls and the end caps (man the end caps are fun!). i layed the floor last week and today i cut the window out so now it actually looks a bit like the purpose i am intending to use it for. It's been really hot here so yesterday (before i cut thewindow!) i ran my Dometic hb2500 air conditioning unit and i have to say i was very impressed, i will still tint all the windows as the direct sun through those is a killer and heats it up really quick. here's a few photo's anyway of the progress.

[Motor Boatn]

I really enjoy your forum. I just started a 69 Tradewind and your information has been extremely helpful! Looking good! Thanks for all your great pictures!

I attached my thread, but don't know if I did it right.
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f116...ml#post1316363

[mrgreen]

So i've started by doing the outside of the window frame, the rounding for the outside frame was okay i did that with a shrinker (2mm aluminium) but then it came to doing the 30mm piping for the window itself! that was a bit more difficult and i didn't want to spend another 200 euro having someone do it for me so we put a round bench weight in a vice with a chain wrapped around it and bolted at the end to form a loop and used this as a lever to get the pipe to bend, no easy task but luckily my boss is pretty good at this stuff and managed it on the first attempt, tomorrow i'll weld all the ally together and i'll have myself a window, just need to sort out some kind of locking mechanism, i could use what is on the luggage doors on the buses but i don't really want it visible from the outside, the search goes on.




















next will be the installation of the water system, i'm going to have it so i can run mains supply and tank but am having trouble finding a 230v pump which would suit this installation, i found one fromflojet but it's 235 euro and considering the 12v equivalent is 130 euro i'm tossing up on putting the 12v on a transformer, the ammount of times this will be used will be really minimal as i want to have a pretty much allocated place to sell from.

[mrgreen]

it's been a busy week at work so i haven't had much time to get to the airstream but did manage to make up my air channel for the air con, man these curves are a pain to replicate!




i went and got some piping for the water installation i am using a plug and play system which has the advantage of being able to curve nicely around the form of the trailer

Wiroflex Stecksystem (HD) - YouTube

I also welded together the gap in my Lino, thank goodness i don't do that for a living!, next week i will order the material for my tanks to weld together.