Scott's "Lucky Dog"
Finishing Up
Spring 2007
Hat's Off April 23 2007
The winter cover came off and the little bit of caulking left to do I did and then it rained. No leaks I could see but we will need to have an on going check. The plastic tarp cover I made being on for near 5 months did leave rub marks on the old paint and aluminum. I'll have to line the tarps with some type of soft cloth material or get a new tarp. Anyway I'm glad I did not paint first then have that cover on over the winter. There are still modifications and this and that and who knows what else I'll be doing on her so some new paint is still a ways off. I used some polish cleaner and an electric buffer to take some of the chalk and dirt off. Above is Lucky Dog's good side and notice the shinny new moon hub cabs.
I think the dog was once black, there are decals on the front and back. I'd guess these are likely the original decals.
Fridge and AC Now Functioning
The little A/C unit was $99 from Appliance Center in Maumee and has a 2 speed fan and 2 speeds on A/C cooling. It's quiet when running so I'm more than happy with the low db output level. I made the wood trim cover out of lumina for the gaps and used a bit of plastic paneling trim around the fridge.
Maintenance Hatch
The drip pan for the A/C was fashioned from heat duct. I got threaded plastic fittings from the Andersons I was able to use through holes for drainage. There is a good inch of tilt in A/C shelf so any water drains to the back. Two holes connect to 1/2" tubing that runs down and out back of the wheel well along side the now unused gas line. The electric box is what was there so this all seemed to have worked out fine.
Please note this 77 Highlander had a gas fridge and thus at the back of this cabinet is a 22 x 7 vent going up to the roof vent. You can see the roof vent on top of the trailer in the first picture on this page. An A/C unit gives off a bunch of heat when running. The 1/4 reflective foil insulation keeps the walls from warming up and acting like an oven. Additionally and very necessary is a bathroom exhaust fan that blows up and out the old gas refrigerator vent. This is enough to keep air circulating and prevent heat build up. There is a separate switch for the fan on the wall behind it.
Bottom Side Painted
What ever paint and rust proofing there was underneath was pretty much long gone. I used a wire brush then hosed with car brush to clean the bottom up then a few weeks later on a dry day I painted. I used a quart of Rust-oleum Rusty Metal primer on the metal parts and then slopped on one gallon of Rust-oleum black flat paint on everything underneath. This should help greatly to protect the metal frame parts and to seal the wood underneath. The metal angle iron frame parts looked good to me. The wood looked ok but was a little soft on the surface. It was definitely time for a good coat of paint. I could of starred on that TV show "Dirty Jobs" as painting on your back underneath a Scotty is ... "let's just say I wasn't a pretty site when finished".
New Electric Brakes
I don't know if original but this trailer has a Dexter axle on it. I put new electric brakes from Dexter on the wheels and then installed the Dexter Predator II Controler in the Caravan. The new brake wiring is visible in the bottom picture. As I did not knowing anything about electric brakes beforehand this seemed like a huge undertaking at first. But luck was with me and I didn't really have any technical problems. It did take quite a bit of time to do it all but it's a reassurring feeling when you hit the brakes hard and feel the trailer brakes kick in.
Trailer Coupler Lever
The springs were shot and the catch didn't work in the coupler lever so I ordered a new coupler repair kit from etrailer.com.
Propane Tank Filler
I'm avoiding the weight of a 2nd propane tank. With a two tank rack you got to have something on both sides for the clamp to set on thus I fashioned a quick solution from 2x4 wood with a auto exhaust clamp on top. I think it will hold fine.
City Water Faucet
The pump faucet still worked fine but there was no city water faucet and finding one was not so easy. The people at Walters Travel Trailers in Swanton OH located just 10 miles from me ordered one from a catalog. The hole in the sink top was just 5/8" and this fixture needed a 1 1/4" hole. There wasn't much clearance between the counter top and cabinet above so I had to buy a new right angle drill and hole drill bit and finally got it in and hooked up all for about $70. I could have bought a lot of jugs of water for that!