I Love Lucy

[DDickey]

I enjoyed reading through the thread on your '63! I know about the tank that Vintage Trailer sells, and I'm going to use it for gray and fresh, but it has a flat bottom so it could be problematic as a black tank. I worked as a plumber many, many moons ago, and the most critical thing you need to know to be a plumber is that s**t goes down hill. Vintage Trailer said that people have used their 50x21x4 tank for black, but I'm a little leery.

RE: your belly pan - are you saying that you rolled the sides separately from the flat part under the trailer?

[DDickey]

I got the second coat of POR 15 on today, including some on my face. I look like I have new moles, and they won't come off I found a 6 gallon black tank from plasticwatertanks.com that's only 4.25" thick, and I think I can make this work. If I install it so that it sticks above the frame I can hollow out the .75" subfloor and I'll still have .5" on top of the tank. That sounds reasonable to me.

[HiHoAgRV]

Originally Posted by DDickey

..,

RE: your belly pan - are you saying that you rolled the sides separately from the flat part under the trailer?

Yup. Exactly. The rolled sides and the flat bottom are separate parts, overlapped and riveted at the main frame rail.

If you want a sloped bottom, the gray tank I used in my '63 is 4" at one side and 6" at the other so the 2" dump plumbing exits just below the main frame, has a valve and goes to the hose.

[DDickey]

I've got the tanks ordered and it's going to be a few weeks, so it's a perfect time to start working on the windows. I worked on one glass frame for about two hours and I think I have about an hour's worth of work to go before it's ready for prime time. The gaskets on the inner frames are borderline, so I'm going to replace them. I'm missing one vertical post that holds the operator and I'm totally striking out finding it. The local sheet metal shop quoted $200 to replicate, and I think it's going to come to that. If you have an old Hehr window sitting around with a vertical you don't need, hit me up

[DDickey]

Wow, windows are a time consuming PITA. I've removed them all, knocked them down completely, but given up trying to polish them. I found a guy who specializes in metal polishing and he's doing it for $500. That's a bargain.

Anyway, my question is regarding the trunk weather strip, which side does it glue to - the hatch or the frame? It was completely gone on this trailer and I can't tell...

[goobscoob]

I absolutely loooooove seeing a good frame ready to go into a project! AWESOME!

[DDickey]

Originally Posted by goobscoob

I absolutely loooooove seeing a good frame ready to go into a project! AWESOME!

Thanks goobscoob! This has been an incredible amount of work so far, but so much fun. I'm a bit obsessed and spend every free minute on the old gal. I hope to get the shell back on the frame before winter. I've got my tanks ordered and once they go end I expect the bottom to go rather quickly.

[rucos]

awesome job!! ....I installed the 2 apprx 50x20x4 grey tanks in mine and I don't think you'll be happy with that size in a black ...too much solid ... the greys are really slow to drain and you need to raise the front of the trailer a bit to get 100% out ..... the problem is your drain is at the botton of the 4" side/end and doesn't get everything out the way a bottom drain does. My Black bottom draining (new) tank drains in seconds while the greys take awhile!! Good Luck

[DDickey]

Originally Posted by rucos

awesome job!! ....I installed the 2 apprx 50x20x4 grey tanks in mine and I don't think you'll be happy with that size in a black ...too much solid ... the greys are really slow to drain and you need to raise the front of the trailer a bit to get 100% out ..... the problem is your drain is at the botton of the 4" side/end and doesn't get everything out the way a bottom drain does. My Black bottom draining (new) tank drains in seconds while the greys take awhile!! Good Luck

Hey rucos,

I bought two of those tanks from Vintage Trailer for gray (one for kitchen, one for bath), but a smaller 16x33x4 tank for black from a different company. There aren't great choices for black on these old trailers if you want the tank to fit between the floor and the belly skin. I'm going to tie the two gray tanks together within the frame and drain them both through one tank. After reading your post I wish I would have ordered a 3" drain on the gray instead of 1 1/2" dangit. I did consider that this tank setup might be problematic and my strategy is as follows:

1. Each gray tank will get an inspection plate. If they become clogged with gunk I can clean them out from the top.

2. The black tank is going to get a fresh water injection port. If there's too much solids I can hook a water hose up to the tank to fill it up then flush it. If it does indeed become clogged I can pull the toilet and clean it out from top.

I hope this works

[Ravenquest]

Thanks for the progress reports. I've wanted to do this on our 1998 but don't know if it is worth it.
You say "She leaks like a colander". Is it the rivets or seams (or both) that leak, we have leaks we cannot figure out where they come from with out stripping the inside like you have.

The marine plywood was a good idea in my book.
keep up the good work.

steve B.

[rucos]

That sounds good having the inspection plates and injection port .... I put my 2 tanks just behind the axle ...the rear is the bathroom sink /shower and the front is the kitchen .... the kitchen comes out the rear/side and the rear out the middle/back ....they both meet up mid point rear with a valve ... I control the valve from the rear bumper then they head to the dump connection ....the front tank also has a valve to separate it if desired...... the trouble with dump outlets on the tanks is they end up slightly above the tank bottom so there is always a bit left in the bottom.... a bigger outlet would probably help with the dumping speed though.
Ive started using a "Sewer Solution" this week and will see how it works out for dumping.... the thing I like is I'm leaving my grey valves open at a full service sites because I'm using water pressure to flush out the black so i don't need the grey water flushing out the black residue..... still will probably use the stinky slinky at pull up dump sites.
keep up the good work!

[DDickey]

Originally Posted by Ravenquest

Thanks for the progress reports. I've wanted to do this on our 1998 but don't know if it is worth it.
You say "She leaks like a colander". Is it the rivets or seams (or both) that leak, we have leaks we cannot figure out where they come from with out stripping the inside like you have.

The marine plywood was a good idea in my book.
keep up the good work.

steve B.

Hey Steve,

Lucy leaks from the rivets, the seams, the windows, the vents - everything. Since this is a shell-off restoration it will be relatively easy to fix:

1. Rivets - I've started to treat the rivets with Captain Tolley's and it's pretty easy to spot the leaky ones. You have to treat every single rivet on the trailer, and the leaky ones twice (or even three times). I'll hit the really leaky ones with TremPro from the inside.

2. Seams - I've cleaned and wire brushed the seams from the inside and will treat every single seam with TremPro 635.

3. Windows - I'm completely rebuilding the windows and the door. They'll get all new rubber, glass, fasteners, operators, screens, putty tape and sealant. Rebuilding the windows is a time consuming PITA, but if I do the job correctly, they should be watertight.

4. Vents and miscellaneous penetrations - I've pulled the vents and other items penetrating the skin and whatever putty tape was supposed to be there has turned to dust. I'll re-seal and re-rivet.

If I were you I would start with the rivets - it's the easiest thing to do without knowing exactly what's leaking. I think Captain Tolley's could treat the seams on your trailer too though.

[snog]

I love these vintage air streams. It fascinating to see the steps of your overhaul. I'd love to own a fully restored vintage air steam myself, but having an income that is below the poverty line doesn't permit this. Too, lol, I don't drive. However, I do own an airstream coffee table book and its photos are a real joy to look at!

[DDickey]

So right now my progress has slowed to a crawl with the tanks. I ordered two from Vintage Trailer and they're here. I ordered a third tank from another company and I screwed up the measurements, so I reordered and then they screwed up the measurements. $#!666(*)@!! Maybe the third time will be a charm, but I'm stuck touching up the frame and counting rivets...

[jjmtb]

Subscribed!

Your information here is invaluable. It is like a cheat sheet for those of us following behind you.

I will be watching closely!

[DDickey]

Alrighty then, after a bit of a pause I'm finally back in the saddle again. The tanks went in this weekend and now I'm working on the subfloor and details on the bottom end. My axle is still on order and I hope it gets done this week. Here's where I'm at:

1. Tanks - Tanks were problematic for me because I didn't want them to hang below the belly pan and I didn't want an above the floor black tank. The 50x21x4 tanks from VTS fit perfectly between the rails, but they're not ideally suited for black. I couldn't find a 4" deep sloped black tank, so I opted for an 8 gallon 36x16x4 tank from tank-mart.com (MW-306). I'm setting Lucy up for boondocking for long weekends, nothing longer, and with 32 gallons of gray and 8 gallons of black I think we'll be fine. Getting my tanks right was a PITA. First I ordered my black tank wrong, so I reordered it and they built it wrong. I sent it back and tank-mart fixed it. One of the gray tanks from VTS was wrong, but I didn't realize it until I got the black tank straightened out and tried to install it all. I sent it back and Zach at VTS straightened it out. The measure of a company isn't that they always get it right the first time, but what they do when they get it wrong. Both companies were great to work with. I welded 16 gauge galvanized sheet metal between the frame rails for the tanks to sit on, so they'll be fully supported.

2. Tank monitors - The VTS tanks are actually 3 7/8" tall, and there aren't great solutions for tank monitors for these short tanks. I wanted externally mounted sensors, but some of the systems require a 1" separation from metal, and since the tanks are sitting on metal pans that wasn't possible. I've gone with a LevelGuard SensaTank RV100 tank monitoring system. I called tech support and discussed my installation with them and they said it should work. We'll see

3. Insulation - I'm going to use foam board between the main rails and regular glass wool outboard of the main rails.

4. Plumbing - I'm using flexible PVC spa pipe in the frame to hook up the tanks. This will keep everything happy while the frame dances down the road. Many, many moons ago I was a plumber so I'm using copper for water and gas. It's heavy, it's expensive, but I just can't bring myself to use that newfangled PEX. It's just how I roll.

5. Wheel wells - Evidently Lucy had a blowout at some point in her life and one of the wheel wells was in pretty rough shape. A couple hours with a hammer and some bending tools, and the well was as good as new. OK, not quite as good as new, but as good as it needs to be. No one will ever know. I wire brushed them, hit the little bit of rust with rust converter, sprayed the inside with truck bed liner and installed new putty tape.

6. Subfloor - I've tacked the subfloor down with self-tapping screws and I'm going back with elevator bolts. The cross members where I've welded the sheet metal to hold the tanks will be tricky because the bolts will be inaccessible from the bottom. My plan is to drill a 1/4" hole all the way through the assembly then enlarge it to a 1" hole on the bottom so that I can access the bolts. I'm going to bend the elevator bolts like they did at the factory, but I won't be able to do that in this area, so I'll use red thread locker and a lock washer.

7. Axle - It's still on order, but that's not a big deal because once I get the subfloor screwed down I can flip this thing over and start working on the belly pan. I'm scared of the belly pan.

8. Public service announcement: working on an Airstream outside in the summer in Austin, Texas is like working on a fired up BBQ pit.

[HiHoAgRV]

Nice looking work.

[jjmtb]

Nice and clean. The thought, planning, and preparation is the key. You have plenty of that.

[DDickey]

Originally Posted by HiHoAgRV

Nice looking work.

Thanks HiHo! I hope the shell fits when I plop it back down

[DDickey]

Originally Posted by jjmtb

Nice and clean. The thought, planning, and preparation is the key. You have plenty of that.

Except sometimes I don't - today I drilled through a pipe trying to screw the subfloor down @#$%&666! I had the pipes marked, I had them mentally mapped out, I made sure to remember not to drill through them, I had a beer and danged if I didn't drill through one of the pipes. Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!

Fortunately I only have to pull one partially screwed down section of the subfloor, but I'm done for the day. I HATE doing things twice :\