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nmbosa · 09-26-2009, 12:03 PM

The teardown has been slow going this last month, but we are just about done. I got the black tank out this morning. Nothing like 50 year old poop goup dripping on you as you crawl around in the dirt. That was a full hazmat suit type of job. It's only 11:00 a.m., but I think a beer is in order following that part of the project. Hope to finish with the tear down by tomorrow afternoon and then I'll post some pics and an update on my blog.

Norm

pbearsailor · 09-26-2009, 08:43 PM

Glad you're making good progress on those nasty jobs, Norm. You're not too far now from the bottom and things will start getting a lot better pretty soon.

cheers,
steve

3Ms75Argosy · 09-26-2009, 11:00 PM

Ah... petrafied poop.. and that which isn't... I too had fun with my black tank... where are you tossing yours? I'd like to take it too the dump.. think I'll wrap it in plastic first so it doesn't look too obvious when I toss it.

Great work! I too look forward to the grossness being done. I enjoy reading... keep up with the updates!
Marc

nmbosa · 09-27-2009, 10:09 PM

Thanks for the encouragement guys. Unfortunately I haven't hit bottom yet. I began today wresting with the bathtub and got hung up on that for several hours. I've read a lot about how difficult it can be to break the drain loose from the trap, so I knew this is where I could hit a wall. After trying heat, penetrating oil and lots of torque that simply started mangling the drain, I decided to give the tub a rest for a while and turned to the furnace and hot water heater. Those were stubborn too, but eventually came out without damaging anything.

As I pull back the layers on this poor old trailer, the insanity of my original hope to camp in it for a few years before beginning a restoration has become embarrassingly clear. The Captain was ridden hard, real hard, and was in pretty terrible condition. The water lines (which I fortunately never tried to run water through) are split in at least a dozen different places (despite the PO's claim that they were fine "and even the water filter works"). The hot water heater and furnace are both rusted hulks and the floor. . . well, it's pretty much what you might expect after 50 years.

Between family and work commitments, it's been tough to sting together more than an hour at a time on the tear down, but I'm down to the last few pieces now, so hopefully I can finish this week.

utee94 · 09-28-2009, 06:30 AM

The tub drain was a bear, no doubt. The heat worked well for me, I'd try that again. As Frank always tells me, just go at it KNOWING it will come apart, and it will.

-Marcus

nmbosa · 10-05-2009, 09:28 AM

I turned back to the tub removal Friday and tried more heat to loosen up the p-trap/strainer connection. Unfortunately, I'd already damaged the strainer too badly and there was nothing left for the drain wrench to grab. Nonetheless, I was still able to save the low profile p-trap. Rather than cut it off from below, I took the sawzall and cut a couple vertical notches in the strainer and then collapsed it in on itself. Success was announced by the sound of the p-trap droping to the ground and the tub jumping up from the floor as the trap broke free from the strainer.

That was a defining moment. Everything started really moving from there and we now have an empty trailer with several interior panels out. I'm taking a couple days off this week to finish removing the interior panels. I also need to take the Armstrong AC down. That could probably slow me down again.
Norm

BarryIowa · 10-05-2009, 10:05 PM

Lookin' good Captain!

Sugarfoot · 10-06-2009, 10:15 PM

Isn't funny how one stinkin' stubborn thing like a tub drain can hold up the details. Sounds like your on a roll now. Keep on keepin' on.

Aage · 10-08-2009, 08:33 AM

After reading this thread

, and knowing that I had a drain to remove from a bathtub that I will be painting this weekend,

I broke down and bought a porper drain wrench.

What's $15 to keep what's left of my sanity? Hey, I may want to take the tub out of the TT in the furutre, that will double the value of my investment!!

nmbosa · 10-08-2009, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aage

After reading this thread

, and knowing that I had a drain to remove from a bathtub that I will be painting this weekend,

I broke down and bought a porper drain wrench.

What's $15 to keep what's left of my sanity? Hey, I may want to take the tub out of the TT in the furutre, that will double the value of my investment!!

I bought the $15 drain wrench (actually I think it might have been closer to $20), but unfortunately that was what led to the damage.

I got the really nice one that accepts a 1/2 inch socket and proceeded to use a long handle breaker bar. It had such a good bite on the drain that it simply ripped the thing apart.

My mistake was probably not heating it up enough before putting so much torque on the wrench. Frank explained that they used pipe dope on the threads that hardens after so many years. It seems to need a lot of heat to loosen it up. Lesson learned.

nmbosa · 10-09-2009, 11:24 AM

I took Tuesday and Wednesday off this week and managed to complete the interior teardown.

All of the skins are off and the insulation is on its way to the dump. We are ready to remove the shell and may get started on that next week.

Removing the old Armstrong AC was a bit of a pain, but not quite as difficult as the tub. I took a ton of photos of the AC wiring and connections, but I'm beginning to think reinstalling the Armstrong may be more trouble than its worth. I'm came away from that part of the project pretty impressed with the workmanship that went into the old AC install. These were not simple bolt on additions. Remarkably, it is in very good condition. I'm sure I will go back-and-forth on that decision several times over the winter.
Norm

stain · 10-11-2009, 12:24 AM

Looks Good Norm !!! at this rate you will be Flying along.. It sure helps to have a hand , I have done most of my restoration myself so far ,I do get some help from the 6 year old ... I am almost ready to reinstall the upper skin ( aka.. taco ) I rolled mine into a burrito and have been walking over it for what seems months ....I will be so glad when it is back up ,I took it down myself but I am going to get some help to put it up.... I did not do a shell off as I did not have the room, if I was to do it again it would be a shell off.... Its great to get the smell out of these things after 50 years , it took along time but its gone ... are you doing restore indoors ??? how did the frame look?? anyways keep up the good work .. stain ...

dieseleagle · 10-11-2009, 04:00 AM

Great work. Sounds like you are doing it, but you can not take too many pictures. Its amazing how things that are so obvious now become inexplicable later.

nmbosa · 10-11-2009, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stain

Looks Good Norm !!! at this rate you will be Flying along.. It sure helps to have a hand , I have done most of my restoration myself so far ,I do get some help from the 6 year old ... I am almost ready to reinstall the upper skin ( aka.. taco ) I rolled mine into a burrito and have been walking over it for what seems months ....I will be so glad when it is back up ,I took it down myself but I am going to get some help to put it up.... I did not do a shell off as I did not have the room, if I was to do it again it would be a shell off.... Its great to get the smell out of these things after 50 years , it took along time but its gone ... are you doing restore indoors ??? how did the frame look?? anyways keep up the good work .. stain ...

Stain, thanks. Glad to here you have made so much progress on your 59'. Post some pics when you get a chance. I'd love to see your progress. We were planning to work on mine in a friend's shop, but that space is no longer available, so we are going to have to do the work where she sits now. The timing is unfortunate, but we will make do.

Diesel, I've been taking tons of photos and trying to label every screw that comes out, but there have been more than a few times when I found myself surrounded by a pile of screws and forgot exactly where they came from or what order I took them out. I also took some video of the trailer at a few points to give a wider perspective than a photograph allows. This morning, I took video of the entire perimeter of the c-channel so I can remember where all the various brackets need to go. I'm sure I will still be scratching my head a lot when trying to put it back together.

Norm

utee94 · 10-11-2009, 01:16 PM

I bagged and labeled all of my hardware, but did not end up re-using much of it. I replaced all of those annoying slotted screws with phillips and square drive screws that are much easier to install and remove.

nmbosa · 10-21-2009, 05:27 PM

This week marks the start of the heavy lifting. Ryan started Monday by taking detailed measurements of the entire trailer. He also created a couple of templates for the front and rear curved sections. Although we hope to be able to use the old floor as a template, the amount of rot and termite damage now showing after taking out the interior has us thinking there will not be much floor left after the shell comes off. You can see one of the worst areas in the last photo. That is from just under the stove vents (both high-and low) and has taken on a lot of water.

In addition to mapping out the location of all the brackets, bolts, etc., Ryan also found the centerline of the trailer and mapped out the exact location of the wheel wells. This turned up an interesting discrepancy in that the wheel wells are offset by about a half inch as you can see in the photo of the flooring (one is a half-inch forward of the other).

Just one of those things I'm glad we figured out before we get to the point of putting it back together. After creating the templates and taking down all the measurements, Ryan started drilling rivets yesterday and I finished up this afternoon during a break in the rain. Time to start building our cross bracing.

dieseleagle · 10-21-2009, 06:34 PM

When I did mine I thought maybe I had used a Canadian tape measure on one side and an American on the other. Nope, they were were not the same no matter which tape measure I used. In fact, mine were off by about an inch and a quarter. I notice you have a lot of the original VAT (vinyl ASBESTOS tile). Take care when you take it off, especially cutting through it with the Sawzall.

nmbosa · 10-21-2009, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dieseleagle

I notice you have a lot of the original VAT (vinyl ASBESTOS tile). Take care when you take it off, especially cutting through it with the Sawzall.

Yep, there are still a bunch of the VAT tiles. Fortunately they have been soaked throughly in water from all the leaks in this trailer

, so they are not terribly prone to turning into dust. Still, we are being pretty careful when handling them and will certainly take precautions when it comes time to tear the floor off the frame.

Btw, the decision on the old AC has been made. When Ryan and I went to take the exterior unit off the roof it quickly became clear that the only way to get it down without hurting ourselves or the trailer, was to simply launch it overboard. I felt crappy destroying a working piece of equipment, but the only way to bring it down in any controlled fashion would have required either two more people (standing on our scaffold waiting for us to hand it over) or an overhead crane. It hit the ground hard and will never be used again. I still have some useable parts (the fan motor, electrical diagram and a couple other pieces) if anyone is interested (who knows, the compressor might even still work since it did when I last plugged it in).

Oh well, it was a pretty ugly wart on the top of the trailer. I'm planning to rough in for a new AC as part of the restoration, but will not install one until we have camped in it for a while.

nmbosa · 10-28-2009, 10:49 PM

Today was one of those days when everything just comes together. Although we were originally going to be doing the restoration in Ryan's shop this winter, they recently had to move out of the shop. So, work on the Captain is taking place where she sits. That turn of events brings some challenges inherent with Seattle weather. The rain arrived a couple of weeks ago and it is already getting pretty cold. Wind storms are probably not too far off. Today, however, we got a good break in the weather at the same time that Ryan, my dad, and I were all available to put in a few good hours on the trailer.

So at around 4:00 this afternoon, after installing some bracing, checking the perimeter of the trailer for any remaining hidden rivets, and slowly putting pressure on the bracing with the floor jack, the shell started to pull away from the frame.

We found several additional hidden rivets during this process that had to be sheared off with the help of a putty knife. As we dispatched each hidden rivet, the shell would pop up from the frame as if letting out a sigh of relief. Despite our best efforts, we somehow managed to miss at least one hidden under the refrigerator access door. That caused a little damage to the access door frame and the skin just under the door frame, but nothing too significant.

Before the day was over, we managed to get the shell off, the frame pulled out from under the trailer and the shell lowered back down to just an inch or so above the ground.

Lowering the shell was probably the trickiest part of the day's work. The ground underneath us was not perfectly level and the shell was up pretty high to get the frame out from underneath. As we brought it down, there were a few moments when the shell was a bit off kilter. A good strong wind and we would have been pretty screwed. It felt very good to get it down off the high sawhorses and eventually down to the ground.

Ryan secured the shell to the ground with six 2x4 stakes driven at least a foot into the ground and screwed to the the cross bracing inside the trailer. Tomorrow, he's picking up an industrial work tent to build over the frame and we should be ready to start stripping the frame by Friday.