"No More Projects!", says I. And then...1972 Superior 2200. Couldn't pass it up.
- Thread starter dwh
- Start date
dwh
Tail-End Charlie
Good read, very cool but really f’n big project!
Thanks.
And aye, it's going to be quite a bit of work. But it's actually only a 22 footer, so it's not as big as it seems. Since it is complete, most of it will just involve taking things apart, cleaning and painting and putting back together, with little fixit jobs here and there. A couple of 50 gallon drums of elbow grease should cover it.
The mechanicals will be the big jobs. Brakes, tranny service, driveshaft service, rear axle service, probably a front suspension/steering rebuild, converting to electronic ignition, etc. The motor mounts look extremely Dodgy. (Dodge! Get it?) Also the front sits lower than the rear and no doubt the bushings are shot. I'll probably take it somewhere and have new springs made and installed fairly early in the project. Of course, if I do eventually add 4WD, I'd probably have to get the front springs redone, but that's years down the road so I can live with that in order to have it ride properly in the meantime.
And, being an old electrician, I'll be going through all the wiring. I can live with the Bryant 120v/240v breaker box, but the 12v aux fuse block with glass fuses will be getting replaced with a Blue Sea blade fuse block. I'll be shifting my 300w solar and 400ah battery bank over from my old camper (and possibly adding some more solar), as well as doing a proper inverter/charger setup and a new generator (most likely Onan Microquiet 2800).
And body and paint. I don't actually care much about that (I have a tendency to just plow through the underbrush), so I'll probably just do a bit of hammer work here and there and paint it with a roller. Years ago when I stuck a 460 in a Bronco, I found surplus battleship paint at Burbank Paints that I used to paint the engine compartment. Man, that stuff was amazing. It was like molasses and had to be cut like 50:1 with alcohol just to thin it enough to be able to apply it with a brush (forget rolling or spraying). Then it skinned over with a thick skin in like 5 seconds (no doubt it could be applied while under weigh...in the rain...in the North Atlantic), and took weeks to fully dry. But once it dried, I'm pretty sure that paint alone could stop a small caliber bullet. I'm thinking that stuff - if I can find it - over the galvanized steel should amply protect the truck for another 45 years. And I haven't seen many battleship grey campers around, so it would be both unique and understated. Plus black stuff like bumpers and wheels and whatnot would look good against the grey. (Actually, grey is a darker shade than gray. I might go two-tone; gray upper and grey lower.
)
dwh
Tail-End Charlie
They didn't. Superiors were top of the line motorhomes. Everthing I've seen so far was done right, except at some point someone added a CB radio on a removable slide mount. That's the only dodgy wiring I've seen so far, and I'm planning to replace the dash panel with a new panel using all Autometer gauges, so I'll be ripping out that little bit of hack wiring anyway.
dwh
Tail-End Charlie
The stuff I used wasn't two part, just really thick. The paint store cut it for me and mixed it on their shaker machine. I definately remember that it had to be cut with alcohol.
I'd say new roof n genny that way you have a solid and dry base to build from and won't have to do it after putting up more solar.
Even though The Valley is almost always sunny, not everywhere is like SoCal. Might be in your neck of the woods in a week or few (slowly moving out of it since August) n would love to check this out in person if time allows.
Even though The Valley is almost always sunny, not everywhere is like SoCal. Might be in your neck of the woods in a week or few (slowly moving out of it since August) n would love to check this out in person if time allows.
dwh
Tail-End Charlie
Yea. Plus after looking at that rear hatch a bit more, the storage area isn't even as deep as I first thought. More like 4". So I'd have to do some reworking of the rear wall between the couches to fit the outer part of a mini-split in there, as well as taking the hatch cover off and taking it somewhere to have louvers punched into it.
Which isn't a deal breaker - there's a small chest of drawers between the couches against the rear wall now, so if I removed that, or moved it forward a ways I could probably make a space.
I need to think about it some more and take some measurements and do some doodling. Either way, the a/c is way down on the todo list.
Well, even if I covered the roof in solar and put in enough battery to run a mini-split, I'd still have the genny, so the a/c could be run (and the batteries charged) even without sun.
It's a possibility. Drop me a PM when you know what's up.
Hoping to make time to tune it up and get started on cleaning it up some this weekend so I can drive it around as needed - DMV, tranny shop, driveshaft shop, rearend shop, spring shop, radiator shop, etc.
dwh
Tail-End Charlie
So this morning, about 0.0005 milliseconds before my alarm went off, I had a dream...
In this dream, I was looking at RV ads on the net. And every RV - new and used - was painted battleship grey. The ads were touting, "The hot new color that is sweeping the RV world!!! BATTLESHIP GREY!!!" I felt quite shocked, as I was about to paint mine that color, and here I find that everyone's doing it.
True story.
I'll leave it to the Freudians and the Jungians to argue over what it means...
In this dream, I was looking at RV ads on the net. And every RV - new and used - was painted battleship grey. The ads were touting, "The hot new color that is sweeping the RV world!!! BATTLESHIP GREY!!!" I felt quite shocked, as I was about to paint mine that color, and here I find that everyone's doing it.
True story.
I'll leave it to the Freudians and the Jungians to argue over what it means...
dwh
Tail-End Charlie
More pics! Everybody loves pics!
As usual, click to enlarge.
(The pics I've been uploading might look a bit grainy here and there, that's because I run them through a batch processing program (IrFanView64) to reduce them to 256kb filesize before I upload them. Everybody loves pics, but storage costs money and Overland Journal is paying the freight, so I'm trying to lighten the load while also hopefully avoiding a potential "Photobucket" scenario down the road.)
Okay, so I was thinking about that one option for "engine heat hot water" and wondering... So here's some pics:
Apparently that model of Atwood/Bowen water heater could be had with an optional engine coolant loop.
It's installed under the left rear gaucho couch/bed, so it's time to pull off the cushions and remove the plywood covers and have a look.
Left rear couch, forward of three hatches, against the rear head wall:
Um...wait, what? Belt driven water pump?
Better take a closer look.
Yea...okay that's some serious ******? Looks like a rather large propane line to that water heater. The brochure did mention copper plumbing and there's certainly some copper in there. I'm going to have to sit there with a cup of coffee and a flashlight and study that arrangement for a while to figure out exactly what is happening there.
Left rear couch, center hatch:
We're seeing the end of the (supposedly 40g) fresh water tank, sitting next to an externally accessible storage bay (the spray foam insulated box next to the water tank). A rubber line out of the water tank, and a small vent out of the top of the water tank to the outside. Also, apparently the water fill and city water connection (broken).
10 pic limit. More to come...
As usual, click to enlarge.
(The pics I've been uploading might look a bit grainy here and there, that's because I run them through a batch processing program (IrFanView64) to reduce them to 256kb filesize before I upload them. Everybody loves pics, but storage costs money and Overland Journal is paying the freight, so I'm trying to lighten the load while also hopefully avoiding a potential "Photobucket" scenario down the road.)
Okay, so I was thinking about that one option for "engine heat hot water" and wondering... So here's some pics:
Apparently that model of Atwood/Bowen water heater could be had with an optional engine coolant loop.
It's installed under the left rear gaucho couch/bed, so it's time to pull off the cushions and remove the plywood covers and have a look.
Left rear couch, forward of three hatches, against the rear head wall:
Um...wait, what? Belt driven water pump?
Better take a closer look.
Yea...okay that's some serious ******? Looks like a rather large propane line to that water heater. The brochure did mention copper plumbing and there's certainly some copper in there. I'm going to have to sit there with a cup of coffee and a flashlight and study that arrangement for a while to figure out exactly what is happening there.
Left rear couch, center hatch:
We're seeing the end of the (supposedly 40g) fresh water tank, sitting next to an externally accessible storage bay (the spray foam insulated box next to the water tank). A rubber line out of the water tank, and a small vent out of the top of the water tank to the outside. Also, apparently the water fill and city water connection (broken).
10 pic limit. More to come...
Last edited:
dwh
Tail-End Charlie
Left rear couch, rear hatch:
Huh... It's hinged. And what is that latch looking dookickey?
So there it is opened up, with the rear of the water tank and the storage bay. And the answer to the question about the hinge and the latch...
Optional "chaise lounge" arrangement. Raises the end of the couch/bed.
Okey dokey. Time to put it all back:
No idea if that's the proper cushion arrangement.
Another thing, above the forward end of that bed, is a missing cabinet/shelf which I think from the options list was for a TV (there is an ancient TV face down in the floor of the closet, I haven't dragged it out yet):
More to come...
Huh... It's hinged. And what is that latch looking dookickey?
So there it is opened up, with the rear of the water tank and the storage bay. And the answer to the question about the hinge and the latch...
Optional "chaise lounge" arrangement. Raises the end of the couch/bed.
Okey dokey. Time to put it all back:
No idea if that's the proper cushion arrangement.
Another thing, above the forward end of that bed, is a missing cabinet/shelf which I think from the options list was for a TV (there is an ancient TV face down in the floor of the closet, I haven't dragged it out yet):
More to come...