squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

[SuperBuickGuy]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

my dad owns a company that builds kitchen equipment for restaurants.... thus, everything in my life was stainless - their countertops, camper counter tops, work benches, toilet seats (ba dum bummm) so I mostly don't like it - you look at it wrong and it scratches; then 2 years from now it looks terrible. Works great for commercial applications because it's indestructable (sort of ) and is easy to clean, and transmission shops - the rest, not so much.... go with plastic, or even granite if you want the high-end feel (not that expensive for such a small space).

I agree with Tom - it's giving me ideas about doing another camper.... grrr, just what I need - another project.

[DanStokes]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

A little funny about living in the sticks. I'm not exactly in NYC either......

Dan

[squirrel]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

there's another Avion just like mine (serial number 31 campers lower than mine) in Phx right now, $1000, in better shape than mine is. Just sayin :P

[SuperBuickGuy]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

too cold down there ;D

[squirrel]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

yeah it is! I'm thinking of moving to Ohio where it's warm

[Weldangrind]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

Regarding the front edge of formica (or arborite) falling off, I got a lesson about that from an old handyman several years ago. He said that he had tried contact cement like most people use, but he had the best success with white glue. I'm sure I must have rolled my eyes at the thought of using white glue to apply laminate countertop, so he said that it gives you time to move it around, something you can't do with contact cement. Then he said the countertop in his kitchen is still holding fine, and it was 30 years old. :o

All that said, I've never tried it, but I believe him.

[rightpedal]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

If you have access to a interior shop buy contact adhesive from them. It will come in bulk and spray it through the cheapest hvlp primer gun you can find. That is how we do all our laminates....or anything else that needs quick gluing. The 3M spray is junk. There is the classic roll on (thin it slightly and you will have less glue pockets). Formica brand has some pretty funky colors I have bin dying to tryout. The website does not do it justice but there is a orange scribble pattern......what ever way you go cool camper!

Steve

[Weldangrind]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

Regarding the bottled water topic, my Dad taught me a good trick for that. Rather than buying several single use bottles or one litre bottles, he buys one gallon bottles of water with the pour spout. They're really economical, and they allow you to place them evenly around the camper, rather than a case of water in one spot.

You can even freeze one or two of them for use in your cooler / icebox. Of course they're useable once thawed.

[squirrel]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

I was thinking of the 2 gallon "bottles" with the tap, they're rectangular shape.

The freezing trick is a good one, I think you need to drain off a bit of water first so it wont' explode.

[squirrel]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

My new "blem" stove came today, it doesn't look too bad. Needs just a little sheet metal work. Although it is black....but I can live with that. Maybe I can make restoring the original Holiday stove a long term project. The new one has a knob to twist to run a piezo lighter, so no matches needed.

at least now I can finalize the countertop plans.

[squirrel]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

It is warming up a bit. Yesterday morning apparently set a new record for cold here, 3 degrees. Right now it's 45 out. But I still don't have water! the storage tank for our small shared well froze when it got real cold, and hasn't thawed out yet.

I decided I needed to build that battery box, which kind of requires a table saw. So I decided to drag out the old table saw I got from my grandpa 30 years ago, and get it running again. I had it going about 20 years ago, then a friend gave me a newer saw and I used that instead...but it died about a year ago, and I scrapped it in the great purge of 2010. But I did pull the fence and wing off it first. Here's the before picture



And the after picture. It works! but I need to mount the power switch.



btw the saw has a date code of K68 which I think is less than a year after the camper was built

[DanStokes]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

Cool. I have my Dad's old Craftsman that I use regularly. The saw looks similar but the base has 4 legs. I think the date is '72 or so.

Dan

[squirrel]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

The other saw I had was a Craftsman about the same size, it had legs and all sheet metal construction, plus an aluminum table. And it was direct drive. I think from the mid 80s?

the fence and wing from it fits this one OK. didn't have to drill any holes.

btw I got the power switch mounted on the front, nice and convenient. Hopefully I won't turn it on accidentally, it's still a light switch!

[Tom Slick]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

I was thinking of the 2 gallon "bottles" with the tap, they're rectangular shape.

The freezing trick is a good one, I think you need to drain off a bit of water first so it wont' explode.

x2 on freezing water bottles - works great.

we put 1 pint ozarka bottles in the freezer at work because I was too lazy to go to the cafeteria for ice ... I would put them in my cooler to cool the real drinks when the day was through. We had a very laid back environment and a lot of the guys would hang out at the end of the day bs'ing. We were also cheap and it was lots cheaper than happy hour. Anyway... about the bottles -

They "stretch" but don't split. I think the water bottles are actually designed for a "just in case" like this week has been where everything freezes and have stretch built into the bottle on purpose. If you're running a "dry" cooler for picnics, they work fantastic. Pack the cooler in the morning and they usually melted enought to drink by the afternoon.

If you're talking about the cube tangular ones with the taps, I think they would stretch too but I would be curious if the tap would have a problem. I'd probably try one with the tap up. Bet it works. Back in the day dad tought me to use 1 gallon cardboard milk cartons filled with water to freeze for ice. We would smack them on the concrete for crushed ice. The plastic jugs these days to the same but it's a lot bigger pain. You beat the crap out of them with a hammer and it splits the plastic enough to get the ice out.

You probably already thought about it as another potential downside, but they will sweat when they are thawing - does that area have a drip pan?

[squirrel]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

The ice box I'm getting has a drip pan. I would only freeze as much water as I needed for ice in the ice box.

I can drink water at room temp, even if room temp is pretty warm.