77 Safari remodel

[Zeppelinium]

For future reference, I'll be refering to other threads with details on how many of the interior changes were designed, as well as the system upgrades:

1. Overhead cabinets and dinnette in the '70 Caravel

2. Dinnette and shower in the '73 Overlander

3. Metal cainets in the '77 Sovereign

4. Replacing the wing and overhead windows in both the '73 Safari and '73 Overlander

5. Solar installation and refrigerator control in the '73 Safari

6. Axles in serveral models

7. Fitting a desk/workspace in the Overlander and Safari

8. New interior dome in the '77 Safari (this one)

Now to get on with the new stuff...

[Zeppelinium]

There are a lot of places to start in the interior, here's one--the wheel well covers. The old covers were cracked and not easily fixed, so out they went. As luck would have it, I have a full roll of Gavalume metal roofing material, 20" wide, and access to a 10' brake at my roofing contractor's facility. So we cut and bent up two top pieces and two side pieces.



The two fit together, forming a really strong edge where the two 90 degree bends fit.



Two small pieces are required to make the ends and give it some rigidity before the flanges are attached to the shell and the floor. It turns out the wheel wells are not identical, at least in this Airstream. The floor width on the curb side is 1" wider than the street side. Fortunately, I designed the box using the curb side dimensions, so they are wide enough for both. I'm a little bit grumped to lose the 1", however.



there is enough space inside the boxes to allow for at least 1" of wool insulation.

[Zeppelinium]

For this remodel, the inside and outside affect each other. For example, this shot of the roof shows that the front vent has been removed. This was driven by putting the bed up front and not wanting to have any unexpected rain get the bed wet. Removing the vent allowed room fort two wide 200W solar panels up front. You can also see the patch where the fridge vent was skinned over.



The A/C in this 50 year old Airstream still worked, but it had broken the ribs and was squished into the shell several inches. I fabricated a couple of curved ribs and installed doublers on the outside shell for both strength and to cover all the rivets holes that were from the original A/C flat support box. I don't see any deflection at all with 200 lbs on each rib.



Fridge ventillation is now provided by a new external vent just aft of the door. This vent has a water collection trough in between the inner and outer shell, with any infiltration routed via a hose to the fridge drain in the floor.



The fridge chimney needs a little help if the outside air temperature is above 80. The two fans have a low and high speed that was tested on the '73 Safari. On hi speed, the fans use only 4 amp hours from the battery after running 12 hours.

[Zeppelinium]

The "bed up front" design pushed a couple more modifications, inside and outside. Removing the wing windows mad a lot of sense, not to mention that they were leaking/moldy.



This made reskinning the inside shell a piece of cake. You can see the edge of the new headboard for the bed and the battery boxes/electrical power center that will be under the bed.



The electric power center has an Epever solar charge controller, a 12v converter for charging the batteries, and all the current/volts monitors that will feed the digital control panel. The battery boxes are new, coated on the inside with POR-15, and they are just the right height to fit under the bed platform. There will be an access panel in the platform so all the electrical can be reached from above.



I'm looking forward to having 230 AH (165 available), plus 600W of solar. In between the batteries you can see the panel that has the TV/FM antenna connections, a solar input for portable panels on the ground, and a switch for selecting series or parallel solar panel connection. Parallel is great on a sunny day, but if there's a gray sky, a series connection increases the operating voltage and you can get significantly better efficiency when the panels are only putting out 10-15%.

[Zeppelinium]

All of the electrical displays and fuses are in the end of the headboard and are accessible and readable when standing outside in the doorway. There's also a couple of drawers for tools under the electrical panels that provide access for most of the tools from outside or inside.



the heaboard is deep enough to store three folding chairs to take outside.

[Aerowood]

You've been busy

[Zeppelinium]

Originally Posted by Aerowood

You've been busy

I just wanted to get an overview of each modification all in one place. This is actually two years of work, a little here, a little there.

What's not menioned are the new axles, the new floor forward of the wheel wells, redesign of the gray tank, and moving the water heater to street side (now all the water plumbing will be under the kitchen cabinet--never could figure out why the heate was by itself on the curb side).

I'm making good progress (finally) in getting the goo off the vinyl. I'm using Stix Insul-X for a primer, then maybe do some sponge painting (now that Zolatone isn't available).

What I'm not going to mention is that I bought a 2x4 piece of Alclad from Air Parts three days ago, but as soon as I hit the "pay for it" button, I walked into the shop and found the piece you gave me, already trimmed and drilled for installation, I mean, like sitting right out in the open. Fug.

Zep

[coloradoup]

Nice work. That interior end cap looks great!

[overlander64]

Greetings Zeppelinium!

Originally Posted by Zeppelinium

I'm making good progress (finally) in getting the goo off the vinyl. I'm using Stix Insul-X for a primer, then maybe do some sponge painting (now that Zolatone isn't available).

Zep

When I saw your mention that Zolatone paint was no longer available, I had to check my online sources. I have been following for some time as my dream is to eventually return my 1964 Overlander Land Yacht International to its original light gray Zolatone finish -- unfortunately, the second owners painted over the Zolatone with an ugly shade of hospital green enamel. Arlene and Henry Fowler of Fowler RV Interiors did a beautiful sponge painting job using blue, gray and white, but I realize that one day it will require a redo as the modern paint does not hold up as well as the original.

I checked, and Zolatone is still available. The color range has been reduced somewhat, and the price per gallon has skyrocketed since I last checked.

Good Luck with your Safari Remodel!!

Kevin

[Zeppelinium]

Originally Posted by overlander64

Zolatone is still available. The color range has been reduced somewhat, and the price per gallon has skyrocketed since I last checked.

I recall an "end of production" announcement a few years ago. I did check a couple days ago and found some sources (at high prices), but it appeared to me that the colors now are mostly gray and black. I'll check again. thanks.

None of my '70s Airstreams (73, 75, 77, 78) had Zolatone, except maybe the '70 Caravel. I know the '64 Bambi I did was Zolatone and I really liked it.

Zep

[Zeppelinium]

The curbside plastic wheel well has an 8" crack that needs repair before permanently installing the new covers. I've seen these cracks a couple times, but always had to repair them from the underside.

Getting the two plates to fit the broad curve of the wheel well was easy, but forming the end of the underside plate to fit the tight curve against the shell was a challenge. I finally hammer-formed it using a 1/2" iron pipe as the mandrel.



Installation was a slow process. I could reach both sides using the fridge access panel, but getting the two pieces aligned was always a half-blind process. Once I had them match-drilled, I used an exterior gutter sealant that lasts "forever" out in the sunlight.



Last step--remove the clecos and pop-rivet from the underside, then a coating of gutter seal over the rivet heads.

[Zeppelinium]

The "Queen" has been in the hangar for way too long. Long enough that my original idea for solar had been somewhat overtaken by new technology and my early purchase of solar panels aren't compatible with currently available panels. The original plan, with the removal of the forward vent, was to mount the panels up front. An unintended benefit is I can fit two of the wider 200W panels in that space, no problem, and I can still fit two 100W panels approximately mid-ship, just forward of the A/C and on either side of the middle vent.



To do that, I needed to test the connection of two incompatible panels. The panels, a 200W and a 100W connected in series, as laid out in the photo, get full sun around 12:30.



I discharged the batteries overnight by about 50 A-H. As soon as the panels were fully illuminated I hooked them up. Viola! The PV controller reported the panels were delivering 6.8A at 49V. The twin batteries were taking a total charge input of 14V at 18A, about 250W delivered.

So what's the incompatibility? Older Renogy panels have an open circuit voltage ~22V, but newer panels have an OCV ~31V. I don't think you can connect them in parallel. Their optimum operating currents are a little closer, 5.4A and 6.5A, respectively. I'll do some additional testing to make sure I can operate the 100W panel at higher than its optimum amperage, but the initial data is looking good.

[labans]

Is there a particular type of Zolatone you are not able to buy? It appears that there are many choices of Zolatone still out there,

[Zeppelinium]

Finshing up the wheel wells. A little spray adheasive and the Havelock wool sticks nicely to the plastic underside. It takes about 2-1/4 pieces of wool to completely insulate the space between the inner and outer wheel well covers.



On a different note, I printed a couple of LED fixtures that have magnets in them. When the inner skins of this Airstream were off, I installed magnets on the inside of the outer shell, as well as watertight electrical connections next to the magnets. The LED fixtures are stowed inside while towing, then, when parked, snapped onto the magnet locations and plugged in.



The two fixtures together put out great light for outdoor dining and only use 0.6A. It's a real improvement over the circular scare light, plus the fixtures shade the LEDs to prevent lighting up anyone boondocking nearby.



There's also a BBQ fixture that slips into a fitting at the curbside end of the front window awning eyebrow. I usually grill on the tailgate of the truck, so this light is perfect for that (no photo).