All,
This little note is to let you all know that I just finished fitting a
vintage Zip Dee awning to my 1969 Caravel. On the face of it, that's not
earth shattering news but instead of attaching the bottom arm brackets
partially up the side of the unit in line with the ribs, I attached mine at
the beltline, where the banana skin meets the vertical sides of the trailer.
The 2 1/2" stainless sheet metal screws actually screw right into the side
of the 3/4" plywood flooring.
I chose to attach the bottom arm brackets there because I had previously
fitted a vintage, factory Airstream access door to the curb side right in
line with the aft end cap and side seam. With that door there, I would have
had to attach the bottom Zip Dee arm bracket to the door itself therefore I
had no choice but to attach the bottom brackets to the beltline.
I worked closely with the good and patient folks at Zip Dee and today I
finally finished the installation. I might add that the awning I bought was
almost 15 feet long and I had to cut the tube and everything else down to
less than eight feet for it to fit my Caravel.
It was a lot of fun with the usual measure 50 times, cut once issues and
I took waaay longer than I really needed to because I couldn't figure out
where in the heck to begin but once I jumped in, I was on my way and
everything fell into place. The only custom parts needed were the lower
ribbed aluminum bars that had to be much longer than stock. I got a pair
locally (actually ratcheted rafter arm bars) that I cut down to the extra
length I needed but much longer than the ones used to attach the arms to the
side ribs.
So should any of you need or want details and photos, please email me
back channel and I'll share photos of it fitted with the pair of special
horizontal bottom brackets Zip Dee supplied me with.
Later,
Glyn Judson
1969 Caravel #508
Santa Monica, CA