Monthly Archives: April 2007

Cable and curtains

We’ve pretty much decided on this pattern for our new curtains.  We still need to order it and get that project going.  I’m figuring on 15 yards.  It’s called Old Caraca – Meadows.

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Only had time for one small project.  I made a plate for the CATV connection on the trailer.  I cut it from an old aluminum sign.

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I already had the coax cable run to the street side closet so I just drilled straight through and pushed the wire out.

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Added a little vulkem and a couple of screws and wala! 

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Not bad, and kind of matches the water inlet.   It was either this simple idea or buy the Marinco CATV and Phone inlet.  It would have matched the Marinco electrical inlet.  But I didn’t want to go through drilling another large hole! :-)  I do have the phone cable in the closet just waiting there.   Seems like cell phones and wifi are all the communications used anymore anyway.

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The big gun!

Round two of the clearcoat removal. 

I borrowed an electric power washer from a friend to try and get the remainiing clearcoat off the trailer.

If you remember I had all these bad spots from yesterday.

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I hit them with the power washer and it did nothing :-(.  I had to go over those spots with some more Removall.  This 60’s clearcoat is much tougher than the coating that was used on my ’71 Safari.  After I let the Removall setup for a couple of hours I hit it again with the power washer.

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The power washer is a nice way to do this.  I actually got less wet using it than with the hose alone.  This second pass with the stripper and washer did a good job.

 

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There are still lots of areas with some thinned out stubborn clearcoat.  I tried my hand at hitting it with the compond polisher to see if they would buff out.  And they did with not too much effort.  So, I’ll let them slide.

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No doubt I’ll have to do some follow up stripping with the Removall or Bix.  We’ll just have to see how it goes.

The power washer got a lot of dirt out from behind the decals and awning rail.  Good thing to get that dirt out before the buffing begins….

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Remove Most

I received my Removall paint stripper from Vintage Trailer Supply this past week.  I thought today would be a good time to give it a try.

I purchased two gallons and used about a gallon and a half.

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Of course this is to remove the clearcoat Colin and Rob said I would not have if I stayed vintage….  So much for that idea….

Its basically a brush on stripper that you leave on for 1-6 hours as the directions say.   It took me about four hours to apply it to the trailer.   Then I waited two hours before spraying it off.  So some parts got 6 hours others got a little over two.

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The directions call for a power washer and I did not have one. I was hopeing the hose with a jet sprayer would work.  It did in a lot of spots, but overall there is a lot of stubborn areas still there.

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I called around and found a buddy with an electric power washer, so I’m going to borrow that tomorrow.  The directions say for best results leave it on overnight, so I don’t think it will be a problem waiting for tomorrow afternoon with the power washer.

It does make a big mess with water all over, and the stripper residue, so be prepared.  I wore a rain coat!

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Some small stuff

Not much done today.  I did manage to mount the second TV bracket for the 15″ LCD that is for the rear of the trailer.  These mounts make for a clean and secure installation.

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I also used some split loom to tiddy up some of the wiring under the curbside bed.  I still need keys to that access door…. anyone….anyone…… 🙂

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And lastly I installed the glass cover Rob sent me for the rear center light.  Thanks Rob!

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I have also purchased replacement lens for the brake lights, but I’m not putting them on until after the strip and polish job.

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Front flat screen mounted ….sort of

I ordered the TV mounting plate from Airstream for $30 (left) and won an eBay auction for the cantilever Omnimount for less than $30..

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I was hoping the Airstream mounting plate would have a way to secure the TV while in transit.  I envisioned slots for velco straps but these plates did not have them.  So I’ll have to fashion something.  Nothing is ever easy.

First I had to hollow out some wood for the mounted screws to be resessed into the wall.  This is the location for the 20″ LCD flatscreen I bought last Thanksgiving.

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It’s just a matter of trying to keep things level.  Of course I put some backing behind the bulkhead realizing I’d be mounting this TV here.  

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I’m not quite ready to take the TV from my office and mount it in the trailer :-).  So this replica will have to do.  This is shown in the viewing position.

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And the travel position.

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So as long as the real TV’s mounting holes line up like this one, I’ll be all set.  I have a similar project to do in the back for a 15″ LCD….

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