Introduction and A/C Question

[Joel Wilcox <jdubikins@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello everyone. I am a newbie on the list, lurking for
about a month. My name is Joel Wilcox, I live in Iowa
City, IA and have taken over my parents 1966
Overlander as my dad feels he is no longer able to
keep up with it. My parents purchased their A/S in
1968 when it was still quite new. I'm a little
handier than my dad at fixing things, and so I've had
plenty to do. I have many, many questions, but I
promise to ask only one at a time. You all are used
to this, but you would not believe how much I have
learned on this list in the last month. Wow!

The A/C on this trailer is original AFAIK. It hadn't
been used in 2 years and needed a charge before we
went out on a little vacation to NE Iowa in early
August. But then it became obvious that there were
other problems. Inside the coach, it was sagging
profoundly toward the rear-starboard side (opposite
the drain hose). The inside portion appears to be
riveted solely to the interior panel in most places,
and what rivets there were which had been in metal had
broken, especially on the starboard side, which is why
it was hanging askew. I renewed all those rivets and
then fixed stringers on both sides of the pan to
straighten it up.

Today I have just gotten up on top to check things
topside and discovered that the material that seals
the coolant lines going in and out from the compressor
to the inner coils had completely disintegrated.

What is this sealing material? It looks to me like
plumbers putty. In fact, it looks like an entire pint
of plumbers putty as used. I am pretty certain that
water has been coming in past this seal and is
probably the source of the problems I've been having
with the sagging of the interior pan portion. I've
got to replace this seal, pronto. I'm inclined to use
something like fiberized Black Jack, but I would like
to make sure the seal is repaired correctly.

Thanks for any help!

Joel W.
1966 Overlander
Tow: 1987 GMC Vandura 2500