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.

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.

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.

 

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.

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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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.

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.

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.

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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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.

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…… 🙂

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

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

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.

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.  

 

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.

And the travel position.

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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Started off this morning building my instrument panel for inside the pantry.  I went ahead and stained it along with my new improved stereo box.

While that was drying I had an idea about the DVD player.  I was originally going to put it in the pantry as well.  But that started taking up food space, and you would not be able to use the remote to control the DVD player.

So my new idea was to make an opening with a shelf in the cabinet below the TV.  This required removing the countertop and the cabinet door so I could run the router to make the opening.

Man, that router saw dust gets everywhere.  Anyway, I made a shelf out of 1/8″ oak, stained it and put it in.  I like the way it turned out.

This gave me an idea though.  I still was not really happy with my stereo box.  I just looked out of place and it took away valuable shelf space.  So…. I put it in the side of the cabinet as well, just under the DVD player.

I like it.  It sits a little low, but everything in a trailer is a comprimise anyway.  So now I don’t need my newly stained custom stereo box…  Only problem with moving the stereo here is that I had already cut the wires to length for it to be above the fridge.  So a little creative wiring is in order.

Speaking of wiring.  It was time to secure all those wires that I ran to the pantry.  I needed to start wiring all my devices but of course I did not label any wires.  I used my tone generator to hunt them out.  First you put the tone generator on one end of the wire.  And use the tracer on the other.  Makes simple work of it.

With all the wires sorted, I got the panel fixed up.  From left to right its the SeeLevel tank monitor, Tri-Metric battery system, and Xantech remote inverter switch.

The two red wires hanging there are waiting for a switch.  These will turn on the fans I put in the fridge chimney.

I’m pretty pleased with the way this turned out.  I can simply close the pantry door and all this high tech stuff goes away.  It keeps it from standing out too much, yet simple to get to when needed.

All the panels are now wired up and working.  The remote inverter switch turns on the inverter that’s under the curbside bed with the push of the button.  All the outlets on the curbside switch over to the inverted power automatically.   The DVD player and TV’s will be plugged into the curbside outlets so we can use them when we are not hooked to city power.

The tri-metric is hooked up and running as well.  I can monitor battery voltage, current to and from the battery, precentage of battery power available, number of days since fully charged, etc…  Its nice because now I can turn on any particular item and see how much power it’s drawing and decide if I need it or not.

The See Level gauge is wired up, but the tank sensors are not.  One neat thing about the gauge is that is has two switches.  One switch is labled heater, and another is labled pump.  I ran a two pair wire from the panel to the TwinTemp and another up to the front of the trailer where the water pump will be.

I wired the heater switch on the See Level to a relay located near the TwinTemp.  So now when you flip the switch on the See Level for heater, the TwinTemp turns on :-).  I used the second pair of wires in the cable to connect the Dometic Climate Control Center to the TwinTemp thermostat wiring.  So the CCC will now control the TwinTemp in furnace mode!

Here is the relay under the streetside bed that powers up the TwinTemp.

I also wired the same kind of relay up front near where the fresh water tank will be.  So the See Level pump switch, will control the Shurflo water pump.

Here’s a couple more shots of the entertainment center.  I still need to finish running the wires down to the stereo.

Overall I’m pretty happy about the days progress.  Stay tuned….

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The Ambassador had been missing the original sconces.  Through some help from some VAP listeners I was able to purchase a pair of 48 year old lamps :-).  I completely disassembled them, cleaned, and painted.  They turned out real nice. 

The real trick was finding the kind that takes two lamps.  Since the Ambassador is an International Landyaght, it has dual voltage everywhere.  So I have a 110vac light and a 12dc light.  These turned out to be a good match.

Here is a photo of the opening with two sets of wires like I talked about.

Here’s the light installed just like it would have looked in 1960.

Here is one with both a/c and dc lamps turned on.

I had a little time left to revisit the radio installation.  I agreed with Marc in the comments on the last post.  I don’t like the plasticy look after all. 

I also felt the many different electical panels looked too busy and modern for this 1960 trailer.  I decided to put most of the components in the pantry.  I’ll make a special panel for them up out of the way.

I do want the radio within easy reach though.  So I opted to build a small oak box for it which will sit in the same spot above the refrigerator.  Still needs sanding and staining but it should pass.  The top is removable to gain access to the wiring.

That’s it for today.  Maybe tomorrow I can finish the radio install.  Although I need to order some speakers still.  JBL are you listening…. 🙂 ?

Oops.. almost forgot.  Here are the new aluminum wheels from www.trailertiresandwheels.com.

Pretty sweet!  I’m going to try to arrange it so when the axle work is done, I’ll get the wheels swapped out at the same time just to avoid extra work.  I just thought you might want to see them.

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Today the JVC HD car stereo showed up.  It was the last item I was waiting for so I could build the electronics panel.  Its an HD radio which is supposed to pick up the new digital broadcasts stations are now putting out.  It also has an auxliary input for the iPod and television.

The electronics panel is going over the fridge.  Here is a shot of the panel.

The idea is to leave the left side available for use.  Next I had to determine the layout of the electronics.  Besides the stereo I have the Tri-Metric, See Level gauge, and the remote turn on switch for the inverter.

I was thinking there was starting to be too much oak in the trailer so I decided to pick up a piece of plastic from a supply house and laminate the panel with it. 

It turned out like I expected, but now that I see it I’m not so sure I like it.  Here are a couple of shots.

Of course its not mounted yet, but you get the idea.  The other option is to make it in oak.

What do you think?

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Not much going on today with the trailer.  I did finish up the screens yesterday and they look pretty good.

I cleared out the front of the trailer and started measuring.  We are wanting to get a couch bed that will at least be a double in the bed position.  Funny how the front of the trailer gets really small when you start measuring it.

I’ve measured for a 74″ wide sofa that sits out at 32″.  When in the bed position it goes to 48″.  In this photo the solid tape line is the couch position and the dashed line is when its pulled out to a bed.

You can see it does not leave much room :-(.  I need to sit five people up here for watching TV at night and for eating as well.  So I will also need some kind of a table.

The tape measures are set to 25″ designating if I built a wrap around dinette from scratch.  That would give more seating area but utimately would not be as comforatable as a comercially built couch.

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I had a few windows left to replace the inner seals.  The originals were nasty and dried out, which makes them easy to remove.  The replacements were a contribution from Vintage Trailer Supply (tell them theVAP sent you 🙂 ).

Here is the before shot.

The new stuff just slips right it with an little help from a small flat blade screwdriver.

Just a few more to go and they are all done….

Now that the seals are finished, I had some time to replace some screens.  I knew I had a couple of bad ones that needed fixing.  I really like these 60’s Hehr windows.  The glass is flat so easy and cheap to replace, the hardware is still available and the screens just twist in place with 4 keepers.  My old ’71 each screen was rounded and had a million screws on each.

My first two are from the Joulise window.  I got the standard screen replacement tools.

Pushed the screen in with the spline tool.  I was able to use the original splines too.

Just trim the excess off and its done!

They turned out so nice and it was fairly simple to do, I decided to keep going.  My front door screen was shot to.  Here it is all fixed up.

I really was not planing on replacing them all, but since it was simple and they looked like this…..

I just kept going….

Until I ran out :-(.  I’ll pick up some more and finish them.  They really give the trailer a cleaner look.

 

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Not much going on today.  I’m actually in a small holding pattern waiting for supplies to arrive.  UPS should be busy here next week. 🙂

I took the opportunity to use the feed and wax on all the new wood I put in the trailer.  Here is a shot of the kitchen cabinet kind of dry looking.

Here it is again after the treatment.  Gives a richer look.

Next I decided to clean up and sweep out the trailer.  Lots of sawdust and screws all over.  And it won’t be the last time. 

Here are a few vanity shots.  Note my really flat screen TV.:-)

Its starting to look like a trailer again….

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