The Shiny Reveal - 1968 Overlander

[64airstream]

We're close enough to completion to introduce our second project. In the time honored tradition of ocean going ships, we named a sponsor for our restoration on our 1968 Overlander 26T. Our sponsor is Lady R and we think the trailer will be named "Nectar".

We're fortunate to get to care for Lady R a couple of days per week, although, I sometimes wonder if, in reality, she's actually caring for us. Lady R has agreed to provide a tour of "Nectar" over the next few days. She has been an outstanding sponsor. She's always checking the smallest detail and has been very involved with the project since we began in earnest in March.

As background, "Nectar" is the second Airstream project for us. We restored "Marlo" a 1964 Safari about 10 years ago and have enjoyed traveling with her ever since. "Marlo" was done prior to our discovering Air Forums. "Nectar", on the other hand, represents many ideas, recommendations and inspirations from the many contributors to this forum. We are grateful for that help and inspiration. I will try to mention specifics as I progress with this thread, but apologize in advance, if I missed something you have done or mentioned here.

Roy

[Glenritas]

Welcome Roy

Looking forward to your progress on Nectar .

[64airstream]

Glen & Rita,

Thanks for your quick reply. I'm hoping this is not too boring.

Today's post:

Lady R recommended starting in the galley. In the first photo she's highlighting the trash can door detail. We always seem to have a plastic bag or two hanging from door knobs, so we thought, wouldn't it be cool if you could throw something in the trash without a hanging bag or opening a door. A short door for access to the foot pedal, and a 4" hole for access to the pail, and, no more bags. Lady R is also a big fan of new appliances and she wanted to point out the furnace duct just over her shoulder from the new Suburban 30 kBTU forced air furnace.

A little over a year ago, Caffeinated posted a question asking about knife storage. Many of you posted your solutions and we decided on a built-in knife slot next to the sink. Ready access and no searching in drawers.

Lady R also wanted to point out the new countertop. This was custom made by Adam Billstone of Warren, PA. We met Adam at our local pancake syrup festival. He make custom furniture with hand selected hardwoods in a rustic type style. We'll point out some more of his talent in subsequent days. Adam used the cutouts from the stove and sink to make custom cutting boards for us. He seasons those with olive oil, so they are completely functional as cutting boards. He even wood burned a thank you to us on the bottom of the small one.

Roy

[64airstream]

Sunday"s Post:

Lady R suggests moving to the twin bed center area next. She likes the cloth covered storage boxes under the dinette seats, but wants to also point out the dinette features.

We used a hydraulic piston table base after reading many comments and suggestions on the forums about wobbling tables. We ordered it from a marine parts supplier, so, as with most boat related items, it was more expensive than we wanted. It works great and no wobble, though.

The tabletop is another custom creation by Adam Billstone. We just gave him the dimensions and that we needed one of the two sides to be finished so either side could be used. He added small walnut inlays for the single table side and large walnut inlays for the double table side.

Note that the dinette can seat 2 to 4 comfortably, but folds open to add two more for dinner or games on a rainy evening.

You may see the temporary Air Conditioner in the background. It has now been removed and a rooftop unit installed. More about that in Monday's post.

Roy

[tony hunt]

Wow! That is a really ingenious way of putting a diner configuration into a twin berth.

[Tampatomgirl]

I love the flooring you chose! I've been looking for something similar to no avail. Would you please share your source???

Michele

[Redleger]

Can you send more pictures of your front couch area, especially how it sits on (or around) the fresh water tank.

Thanks

Tony and Irene
Huck the Mutt and Finn too
69 Overlander - Sentimental Journey
2015 Tundra - Rig-O-Tony
Sun Lakes, AZ
WBCCI 2876

[64airstream]

Tampatomgirl,

The flooring is Pergo Max. We got it locally at Lowes for the kitchen and guest room in the house and had a couple of cartons left over. The style (or color) is called Montgomery Apple and has a nice rustic look with lots of grain and some knots.

Redleger,

I'll post some photos of the entertainment area in a couple of days, but if you'd like specific photos of the framework, etc. send me a PM with your email address and I'll send you whatever helps.

Tony Hunt,

Thanks for the thumbs up on the dinette. We thought quite awhile on how to get the best use out of the twin bed area. You'll probably see we cut a window opening in the wall between the kitchen and the twin area to help open the trailer up for dinner and entertaining. We included a window with an etching that can be closed along with the accordion door for privacy. I also wanted to thank you for your suggestions on cutting the roof opening for the air conditioner. Which brings me to Monday's Post:

We researched air conditioners by reading everything we could here on the forums and decided on the Coleman Mach 3 Power Saver (13500 BTU). We had a lot of great input from TheGreatleys on their Coleman Mach 8 Cub, and rodsterinfl about noise levels. We especially appreciated hippiechick finding and sharing the Dometic drain kit that works with the Coleman Mach 3's, because that made the Power Saver an option for us. In the photos you'll see we also followed hippiechick's recommendation to cut the gasket with a 5/8" forester bit. I used a cordless drill very slowly rather than drill it by hand. We thus avoided the use of a roof pan as suggested by lewster.

We also paid close attention to suggestions from Isuzusweet, rsjmcg, 65will, Robwork, Tentmaker and tony (above) when it came to where and how to open the roof. Since this trailer never had an A/C unit, this was a "let's do it once, the right way" moment. We placed it just forward of the axles and aft of the twins area bulkhead. It worked well in that it clears all existing vents and sits in the spot between two full length ribs, which should be the best structurally supported roof space on the trailer. I ended up using a metal blade on a 5" cordless circular saw. That gave me great depth control, so the one wire I did contact, only scuffed the tape wrapped around the wire. (Note that all power was disconnected, including the battery, just in case.) Lady R sees this as an Air Forum "team success."

Tuesday, I'll post about the A/C lift and install...

Roy

[64airstream]

Tuesday's Post:

At Lady R's request, I'll continue the A/C discussion. One photo stuck in my mind as we considered the installation of the A/C unit. WayneG had posted his solution which showed two planks between a second story window and his Airstream, with his A/C unit on it. It occurs that simple tools like the inclined plane have been used by mankind for centuries. We've got great neighbors who often come running when I get into something bigger than I can handle. A neighbor offered to help lift the A/C unit, so when the day came I looked to see if his truck was in his drive. No luck. So I systematically kept making the job easier for the two of us for when he got home. His daughter and grandkids were splashing around in their pool, so I was certain he'd be along soon. I used an inclined plane and slid the A/C in to the bed of my truck. Still no truck in the neighbor's drive. I put the planks between the truck bed and roof of my garage, still no truck in the neighbor's drive. I went ahead and pulled the A/C unit up the planks to the roof, still no truck next door. I put the planks over to the padded roof of the Airstream, right, still no truck in sight. I slid the A/C down the planks and lifted it place. I tightened the mounting bracket inside and when I came out, my neighbor waved as he pulled into his drive.

The Coleman Mach 3 PS worked well. I ran it all day first on city power, then for several hours (emptied the gas tank, then refilled and emptied again in about 4 hours) with our Ryobi 2200w generator. There was plenty of margin on auto idle with just the A/C running and very little margin with the rest of the loads (mostly charging the battery) turned on. We've run it many days since and are very satisfied. It knocks the humidity down significantly and lowers temperature about 15 - 20 F when in direct sun. I have noticed that the drain cups are sensitive to level side to side. We can't be more than 1/3 of a bubble off plumb, or the overflow on the low side is reached.

Roy

[64airstream]

Wednesday's Post:

Our sponsor is checking out the pillows we made while taking sewing lessons as we got ready to sew the cushion covers. The thermometer shows one of our early test runs of the A/C unit. The external transmitter is stashed in the rear bumper and the trailer was in direct sun, so I think the outside temperature is somewhat representative of the skin temperature of the trailer.

I've included a photo of the window in the bulkhead between the twin area and kitchen. The window retracts into a protected enclosure under the sink.

The window was inspired by the door, which was inspired by Aluminuminum. He's a true craftsman and got us thinking about how to approximate his craftsmanship, when we saw it posted here on the Forums. We added matching Lily and Hummingbird etchings to tie it together.

Roy

[64airstream]

Thursday's Post:

During a routine visit, Lady R suggested a larger screen television. This addition was inspired by AirstreamPDX. They mounted an even larger Smart TV in the kitchen area. In our case, we mounted it in the twin bed area on a full motion mount that can swing around and position the TV for viewing from the front sitting area or in the twin area. A 28" just fits the curb side bulkhead, but sticks into the walkway when positioned toward the front. Still plenty of room to squeeze by.

Roy

[64airstream]

Friday's Post:

We're moving aft to the bathroom. Lady R is closely inspecting the floor vent. Just over her head is the bathroom closet. It's relatively large and houses the new 6 gal Atwood water heater at floor level. As we restored the trailer, I spent a full two days chasing leaks in the original copper plumbing. I gave up and in a few hours removed all the old plumbing and replaced it with PEX. I added a manifold for draining the water heater as an upgrade over the work we did on the '64. We haven't had a problem winterizing the '64, but this should cut the time down.

Inside the closet, we made room for a soft-sided laundry basket. Our bathtub in the '64 seems to become the catch-all for bottles of drinking water and our hamper. We hope to reduce that with the '68. The drinking water jugs have a specific storage area under the sink. Above the basket is the towel shelf and above that another small shelf. We added a small basket there, but haven't filled it yet.

Behind the new toilet, we removed the plastic coated "(original) hamper" cover and replaced it with some woodgrain with a hummingbird wood burning. We capped off the sprayer for the toilet, thinking that the shower sprayer is very close and we added a sprayer faucet at the sink that also reaches the toilet. The new toilet also appears to flush significantly better than the toilet in the '64.

The shower curtain rod was inspired by Aluminumium. He solved the problem of the bizarre plastic covered cardboard room divider thing that Airstream provided. His installation is much stronger than ours. He can hang his bicycles or probably anything else he chooses from his. We thought for awhile on how to take his design and avoid mounting it to the plastic end cap. So we tied into the pocket door bulkhead at 90 degrees, followed the tub contour, then followed the end cap contour down the the top of the '(original) hamper." We finished the open gap behind the toilet (above the hamper) with Lexan cut to shape and sealed along the end cap. We did not seal the bottom edge, to allow for the originally intended drainage path. Shampoo, etc. can sit on the shelf and be seen and easily reached from the shower enclosure. I also wimped out on the material for the rod. Since, this was my first attempt at bending tubing, I opted for conduit. Much less expensive and a bit more forgiving. If we get too much oxidation over time, I'll replace it with marine stainless steel tubing. Thanks again for the guidance and inspiration by Aluminuminum.

Roy

[awolff]

hello, do you have any more a/c installation pictures and information? we will hopefully be installing one in our '69 Caravel (17') and are looking for advise on type and installation. It's a small trailer so i assume i can get by with a small one. The smallest available. And i want to keep my current fantastic fan if possible, so thinking of cutting a new hole for it like you did. Did you have to build up the area between the inside and outside skin to hold the weight? Thanks, Awolff

[64airstream]

awolff,

I'd be glad to send you any photos that can help. Just PM me with your e-mail and I'll send you whatever you want. Cutting a 14 X 14" hole in the roof feels like kind of a big deal, and I'm sure you want to do it right.

Yes, you'll absolutely need to reinforce the area between the inner and outer skin. The way the A/C unit "clamps" onto the roof is by squeezing the two together between the A/C unit and a provided lower bracket. I wanted to use square aluminum tubing, but bought the wrong size (1" vs 1.5") and couldn't locally source the correct size quickly. So I used oak.

With a Caravel, I'd think a Coleman Mach 8 Cub would probably do the job, based on my research. It's 9200 BTU and can be run with a 2000w generator, if that is important to you. It's also a low profile, only about 8" high. TheGreatleys have a couple of threads and a link with great detailed info on their install. There are other brands with similar capacity, but I don't have experience with them.

Good luck and let me know what photos or info you want,
Roy

[64airstream]

Saturday's Post (Part 1):

Lady R has moved forward to the entertainment area at the front of "Nectar". She's pointing out the catalytic heater, well suited for boon docking. The small level on top makes an excellent drum stick on the Pergo floating floor.

The front layout is a sofa lounger configuration with an end table on each side of the sofa.

The front end table tops were also crafted by Adam Billstone. We asked him if he would sign the underside of the tops, much the way some Airstream craftsmen would sign their work (hidden inside of doors or cabinets where the signature wouldn't be found until a major rebuild was underway.) Adam signed each piece and even fire branded them for us.

We have found an original signature in one cabinet during the project by, Jesus Munoz.

[64airstream]

Saturday's Post (Part 2):

The sofa lounger converts to a full size bed with access from each side and goes together like a simple jigsaw puzzle. Each section is independent and rolls on 2" soft castors. A small pin latches each section to the floor in either configuration, so the sections don't roll around in transit or in use.

Another noteworthy feature is that the sofa cushion bases are hinged at the front and can be tilted up for TV viewing or for a better night's sleep.

The sofa back hides the 1" mattress topper and the pillows on the lounger hide the pillows and sheets.

[64airstream]

Saturday's Post (Part 3):

Some of the detail Lady R wants to point out in the entertainment area include hummingbird details covering the old speaker grills, LED lighting inside the front overhead and above the sofa as well as 12V USB and cigarette lighter outlets on each end table. A level gauge is also built into the sofa base trim, when you push the original control panel button for "Tank Level" a back light illuminates the freshwater tank allowing you to see the actual level in the tank. (Lower right hand side of the sofa.)

Roy

[64airstream]

Sunday's Post:

Finally the exterior. Compounding is in progress, so still a lot of hours remain to be invested with the cyclo-polisher. The skin is in reasonably good shape, although the trailer has been hit by a significant hail storm sometime in it's history. We also realize that one of the POs might have been challenged backing up. There are a few bumps and bruises, but all in all, "Nectar" will shine up beautifully. We installed new axles. A project that went especially smooth. Thanks again to Colin for spec'ing and ordering the perfect fit axles and for Shacksman's advice and guidance. New 16" Sendel wheels and Michelin LT tires complete the new running gear.

We added a new ZipDee awning. Thanks here to Frank Yensen for spec'ing and ordering the awning. His advise to mount the storage clamps after the awning was installed (which differs from the provided instructions) put the clamps in the right place the first time.

The existing safety chain was adequate and passed our state inspection, but since we were cleaning and repainting the tongue, we install new high strength safety chain and hooks. The pull out brake switch was also replaced.

That completes the tour of "Nectar". We want to again say thank you for this forum and its many contributors. We believe this project was more fun and had better outcomes as a result of trying to incorporate many ideas, concepts and lessons shared here. Lady R agrees and is ready for a break.

Thanks,

Roy

[64airstream]

We just added a generator box to the tongue of the trailer.

We've been thinking about adding a box to the trailer to transport and allow operation of our portable generator. I've been working on brainstorming the dimensions, available material, new tools I'd need and fittings, like locks, handles, etc. I'd saved up some cardboard for the CAD (Cardboard Aided Design) Program and researched the discussions and great ideas here on the forum. I've been carrying the generator dimensions in my cell phone for a couple of months, so I could check when I came across pre made boxes. I decided on bright diamond decking material for strength and finish.

We visited a sportsman show at the Kentucky Horse Park on Saturday. As I came down the steps and around the corner, I spotted a diamond plate box and thought, I might be able to convert one, if it was the right size, then noticed these were actually generator boxes!

I talked to the company owner and designer all about their design and how well it matched my plans. They are just getting started and have been working on the design for about three years. They've built many prototypes and beta tested them and refined the design. Mine, of course, would have been one and done. Theirs will hold many different generators from many manufacturers, and allow fuel refilling in-situ and have been verified to permit adequate air flow for operation in the box.

I bought one and found out, they have just gone into production and while they have several on-line orders ready to fill, they brought their inventory to Lexington for the show and haven't yet shipped any. So, I bought their very first delivered unit. They seemed pleased when I asked if they would autograph the inside to the box and they even added #1 above their signatures. I mounted it yesterday on the tongue by removing a 30# bottle, trading off some propane tank tongue weight for generator weight. That was a recommendation here. Thought to be better than mounting to the rear, for several reasons, including weight distribution and concern for frame strength and separation in the back. I tested it briefly yesterday and noise and vibration are acceptably low. I'll try hook up and towing today.

We did buy an extension for the hitch receiver for maneuvering into campsite, etc. I think we'll be able to tow and navigate the roads without the extension.

Roy

[64airstream]

I just completed the turning radius test. All I can say is: AMAZING! In my former line of work, we often equated that word with two other words often abbreviated as B.S.

Not this time. I'd like to call it inspired genius, but more of a blind squirrel thing. Because I raised the mounting plate about 5.5" to allow clearance for clamping the equalizing bars, it also clears the bumper of our primary tow vehicle. That permits an "amazing" degree of turning radius. I'll carry the extension, just in case, but I really don't expect to need it.

Roy