'68 Overlander Fixup

[Gonzo59]

Hey everyone,

Picked up a '68 Overlander in Truth or Consequences, NM last weekend. Brouht along new bearings and tires and fixed up the brake pads and was able to resuse the wheels! The haul from T or C to Austin, TX went over fairly well but the 800+ miles took a while at the lower speeds I was comfortable with it due to not replacing axles yet.

Interior and exterior seem to be in good shape! only the front window is broken/missing and there is no sign of floor rot... yet .

Fixing it up and need some advice on where to start first. I got all new seals and gaskets coming for the windows and door from VTS on Wedsnesday. I also ordered a rivet gun and supplies to drill out olympic rivet any leaky original rivets. New light caps... just because mine are either broken or cloudy .

Both plastic skylights/vents (front and mid) need to be replaced, but VTS is currently out till mid-August.

This morning I am working on easy yet time consumig stuff like removing and cleaning the old seals of the window frames.

Now here's the kicker... I am trying to get this livable by August 6th I know this is probably going to cause some hoopla but it doesn't have to be perfect (I'm pretty low maintenance) but the more I can fix the better. Anyone have any advice on where to start? Electrical seemed to be working when plugged in at T or C but I havent been able to setup a temporary 30 AMP connection to test everything in Austin YET (that will be coming).

Currently i am locked out of all my utility compartments outside and dont know how to check plumbing or LP without taking the belly pan off (I've read this is a major job!).

I know.. I know this is a pretty crazy deadline and I am aware that if I hit any major hiccups that I won't make it. But here's to being optimistic!

[68 TWind]

Boy do your pics bring back memories of when I got my 68 Trade Wind. If you are going to be living in it I would start with all things plumbing. Make sure you have no leaks, that the black tank is OK ( you have no grey tank), water heater and toilet working and not leaking.
2) Electrical. If the converter is the original univolt it will make a great boat anchor cause that is about all it is good for. Buy a new multi stage electronic control converter (call Randy at Best Converters.com) and a good battery. I would change all the bulbs to LED/s. The 3 way switches on the fixtures will allow you to run one bulb, 3 or 4. LED's are not cheap so just put one in the socket that runs on the fist click then add more later. Course if you are always plugged in, it is not a big deal. The switch can be taken apart and cleaned if they start acting up (all mine did) That will get your 12 volt side in shape. Since it is a 68 you may very well have aluminum wiring, mine did. It is OK , its been working 50 years!,if you have sure all the connection are clean, corrosion free and tight. That means pulling all the 120 outlets and checking the wires on the back. I found several that were loose and corroded. Only those showed signs of heat damage. Pay special attention to the curb side outside 120 outlet box. They are notorious for leaking and with the aluminum wiring it is a trouble spot. I had to replace the outlet and install a new cover. 3) get the leaks stopped and you will have leaks. Too long a discussion for this post on how to do it and what to you but there is ample info here on the subject.
Feel free to PM me if you need help.

[Gonzo59]

Right now I'm trying to figure out the best way to access said plumbing and wiring... I cant find any diagrams on line and still have the floor/underbelly on. Got any advice on best point of access?

[Bubba L]

Appears to be in pretty good shape. I think I would check out the 120vac first with a plug in tester. The propane should have all your connections exposed outside of the belly pan except where the 1/4” copper attaches to the appliance. You can turn on the the propane and check with soapy water. With the water, I guess you could place a pressure gauge at the easiest connection and air up the system with an air jet at the intake. If you lose pressure, you’ve got a leak or failing gasket. You should be able to see most of your water lines thru the cabinetry. Check your breaker box, breakers and ground connection. What did the PO say about the function of all the systems? I say make it safe (propane and CO2 detectors plus a fire extinguisher), move in and keep an eye on the systems. Good luck, Bubba

[Dingo Girl]

In my 67 All the original copper plumbing was run on top of the floor under the furnishings on the streetside.
Looks like quite a project. Good luck on it and ask many questions.

[Dingo Girl]

Here are the diagrams from a 67 manual. Not sure how close it is to yours but may help to get you started.

[68 TWind]

Agree with Dingo. All the copper is inside on top of the floor and under stuff. I removed all my interior I so had a clean slate to run new PEX as my old copper lines were holes from freezing.
You can do it without remove all the interior but it will be much slower. I highly recommend you use PEX if you need to replace the copper. If your trailer does not have a factory water pressure regulator get and external one before you hook up water. Amazon has them as does W.Mart. It drops the inlet pressure to around 45PSI.
Expect leaks and be happy if you don't have any.

[Gonzo59]

Hey guys, thanks for all the help! I'm sorry I haven't re-posted or added any pics but I've been working non-stop after work until late at night and haven't had the energy. I will make sure to post update pics soon!

Everything has been going surprisingly smooth (thanks to y'alls guidance and mentorship). After spending some mucho dinero at VTS, Im getting the exterior close to water tight... Sadly they don't have their solar vents in stock and that's a big leak point for me so... here's to hoping for continued drought for awhile longer! (Probably the first time I've ever said that)

The last couple nights I just started messing with the electrical system because I got my new Boondocker converter in (Thanks randy!). Turns out the PO had already replaced the Univolt with a generic converter and routed the plug wire for the converter into an after-market circuit breaker (the type you would find in a house). This circuit breaker had 3 20 Amp breakers in it taken up by the AC/Outlets/Lights circuits respectively... so he decided to wire the converter into the same breaker as the lights...

This leads to the first issue. When running off shore power everything worked great at first... Then my father decided he wanted to see what it looked like to have all the lights on... This broke the circuit for the lights but did not trip the 20 amp breaker that they were on and it looked like the converter was still humming.

Next I discovered the double wired breaker so added a fourth breaker and split up the converter and lights. When I plugged everything back in the lights worked again until.... my father decided to find out if the breaker would work this time. .. Once again it broke the circuit without tripping the breaker. They still aren't working at the moment.

Now I'm looking into what to do before I wire in my new Boondocker. I read something on here about not using that type of circuit? Anyone with electrical experience care to expand on this?

I promise I'll post pics of the electrical situation when I get off of work tonigh and updates of the trailers progress as well!

Thanks!

[Gonzo59]

Here are the breaker panel and converter that PO added... I tried undoing the battery again when I got home and it gave me about 20 seconds with two lights on before it tripped. This time it actually tripped.

Tried undoing the battery again after that to see if I could get similar results and got nothing.

[Gonzo59]

Breaker panel door is temporarily off for maintenance BTW.

[TG Twinkie]

Originally Posted by Gonzo59

Breaker panel door is temporarily off for maintenance BTW.

Looks to me like the breaker on the left is the "Main". In most cases this should be a 30 amp unit.
The converter looks like an OLD Univolt or something of that nature.
Is the 12 volt DC fuse block inside the converter?
Don't know what you mean by "broke the circuit". Is the output of the. converter shutting down? Are you losing the 12 volts to the lights?

[TG Twinkie]

Meant to say right side for main breaker.

[Gonzo59]

Sorry... Not an electrician by any means "by broke the circuit I mean that I'm not getting any voltage to the lights (or so I think, my electrician buddy with all the fancy gadgets to check that stuff is at the coast till Monday). At the moment all I really know is that one moment the lights work and the next they won't.

After letting it sit for a few hours I tried my unplugging/re-plugging trick from the battery and it the lights started working again. I'm working on fresh water plumbing in the mean time until we can figure out what to do with this delimma.

I'm not sure if the 12 V fuse block is in converter. Might be somewhere on the backside. I'll check in the morning. I guess the reason why I thought it was after market is that it has copper wire and everything else is aluminum. I know that the original fuze block for these models has blade circuit breakers and is supposed to be mounted at the front of the back battery compartment. Which is why I assume that is after market for sure... It also worries me that it's not the correct breaker type for something using DC.

I noticed when running one single reading light to illuminate the water pump that the ammeter read that I was draining a little more than charging and when the light was off it was at no net charge. (This was while connected to 30 amp shore power). My thoughts are, either the converter is dead or having it plugged into that fourth breaker I added is causing it to not charge the battery.

Thanks for chiming in TG! It's great to have someone with experience to bounce these things off of.

[TG Twinkie]

Have you checked the common/ground connection at the frame?
Are the battery connections clean and tight?
Sounds to me like you have a bad connection.
It could be a bad fuse holder. Especially if you have glass fuses.

[Joyflea]

That univolt is just like the one in my 67 and original. Good luck on the fast aproching date . Glald to see you made it home safe .