Floored!

This is a view we've wanted to see for two years!

We still have a zillion bolts and screws to drive down (isn't that what Sundays are for?), we have lots of other things to attend to (including the very dead battery in our tow vehicle) but our front end floor is in.

Ironically, it wasn't until Wednesday that we realized why we've been having such a hard time getting this stuff in...the 3/4" ply we used (we think it was that thickness, but remember--we bought it two years ago) was a little thicker than the old flooring material. If you notice, we've started planing edges to match. Well, we are still learning...

Our approach to installing the flooring was by partial sheet. Full sheets are a stronger option--but not always most practical for installation. For us, partial sheets were a necessary compromise: I cannot handle full sheets of plywood by myself--in this marine grade, it's just too heavy--and finally, smaller pieces are just easier to fit.

We solidified the joints by battens, strips of wood screwed underneath, mating up the new pieces to the old flooring. It's a technique we learned from other members of our unit of the Airstream club--and it seems to work. It has involved a whole lot of screw setting (and we still have a lot more to do). However, now that the new floor is down, it's feeling really solid. That's very, very nice.

Slicing Aluminum Like Butter

Rick was out tonight, at a late business meeting, so I was on my own. My assignment: prepare a replacement panel to cover the hole left when we took the furnace out two years ago. Since then, we've covered the hole up with plastic--which isn't really a roadworthy solution.

Today, I used a new tool (electric metal shears from Harbor Freight) and cut out a panel to fit. The job wasn't tough, but I was working with new, expensive materials (T3 aluminum) and an unfamiliar power tool. My earlier experiences with fabricating aluminum wasn't positive--using tin snips I got jagged edges and had trouble manipulating the metal on inward curves. I had none of that trouble today--I just followed the line and the shears just plowed into the metal. Pretty darn cool!

This aluminum is a lot thicker than I thought, but it cuts up nice. I achieved fairly smooth cuts, but I want to sand it to remove a little waviness in my line and to possibly round off the edges. I'm going to need a new sanding belt to do that, though. This task is pretty easy and fun! I may just get hooked on fabrication after all!

One More Portion Down

Today after work, we attended to the right side of the front panel. I drilled in an access hole (so Rick can pass wiring through to the tongue after it is welded), drilled in pilot holes for self-tapping screws.Then, after considerable pounding, the board slid in. It has a slight gap towards the front, but once screwed in and bolted down, the front ended up solid.

Whew. Fortunately tonight we set up a lamp, since we finished well after dark.

In accomplishing this, we made one last use of a very useful tool...our cardboard template of the front curve. Rick drafted this from a tracing of the old rotted floorboards, then marked it with the location of the frame members and the outriggers. It served as a cutting guide and as a drilling guide. It worked, but now we will retire it to the basement.

Now, I have one problem. A new writer left a comment last night. I approved it in the moderation screen (sorry, a necessary evil since spammers started entering advertisements there) and then could not see it online. Ergh. I regret I must have clicked wrong. Phooey.

Getting Floored for Easter

Two years ago, we started this job by cutting out flooring sections. Today--after putting down insulation and trimming--we set in our first flooring section back in.

But I must digress here. Insulation. Easy to cut. Annoying as all heck. Despite wearing full coverage clothing, a respirator and gloves, it left me feeling so itchy I had to jump right into the bath immediately after laying the stuff down. Ick. Thank goodness that stuff didn't go into my lungs! On the plus side, the Airstream now has a well-insulated front section (a welcome alternative to rodent poop and nut shells). Hopefully the effort will make cold nights a little warmer from here on in.

Bolting the flooring down was surprisingly laborious, but not particularly difficult. We needed to trim to get the piece to fit in, then we had to mark the location of the outriggers. Not having the access to use elevator bolts, we used self-tapping screws, setting them 3" apart (since we couldn't use the elevator bolts, we decided to set them fairly close. That means drilling lots of pilot holes and countersinking, which we took turns at. We found the countersink a slightly fiddly, since there was no effective way to gauge how deeply it went in. Rick (who drills with far more force than I do) felt he'd drilled some of his holes too deeply--but the screws still seemed to set fine. Getting the self-tapping screws to screw in--even with pilot holes--was also difficult. They were extremely wobbly. I couldn't handle this at all, but Rick managed--though that came with a few curses and retries.

There will be more bolts to set at the periphery, but we turned to attaching a batten (more screws!) and setting in the second half of the front section. Using a large sheet of cardboard to refine fit and map out the position of frame members, we raced to finalize the fit as dark fell.

Alongside that, we spent time on littler projects. Rick positioned the two new AGM batteries he purchased last week, set in the boxes and did small modifications to the trailer wiring. I scraped off old vulkem caulking and drilled out the broken rivets to clean up the old furnace hole (which we'd had covered by plastic). I don't quite know what to do there, but I will be covering it up with a new piece of aluminum. I may try placing the old radiator cover over it to disguise the patch, but that depends on whether I can pound the poor old dented piece into a reasonable shape.

Restoring Front End Stabilization

Rick's fall ended up being a blessing.

We came to realize that we attempted too much without providing compensating structural support. The upper shell was attached to the chassis by a couple of clecos--but we'd left the belly pan detatched. But as we pulled out wood, critical points of support got removed. It seemed manageable as we removed more and more rotted areas, until the cross-wise support of the belly pan got removed. Then we realized it had started to sink off the frame. Slowly the aluminum was dipping past the steel of the chassis frame where it was unsupported--causing it to rise elsewhere. The twist became clear when the door wouldn't shut easily.

So, this weekend has been a reconstruction effort.

First--we had errands to accomplish. For some odd reason, the little package containing the necessary hardware (except the hitch screws, which aren't included) and assembly instructions missing from our new power jack. Fortunately, our preferred parts supplier (Restless Wheels) is extremely reputable. They took a packet from an unsold jack and called Barker for a replacement for the missing one. So, we picked that up and picked up hitch screws (I had a chopped off piece of the old screws to match). While in Manassas, we went to Lowes (which doesn't have any closer stores) for a supply of insulation and aluminum tape. For some odd reason, our local orange big box store doesn't sell either Reflectix (reflective bubble wrap insulation) or aluminum tape. Once stocked up, we headed back home.

Since we had more exposed frame, we got cracking on getting it sealed. To be honest, we spent a good bit of time looking in on the hole, trying to figure out what went wrong. It quickly became clear that the problem was that by opening up so much of the floor, we lost stability in the upper shell. Cracking open the belly pan may have been a bit of a blessing. However, we still couldn't shut the door effectively.

So, taking a page from Frank's bathroom repair, we installed a jack to support the upper shell. However, since we hadn't completely opened the belly pan, we couldn't stabilize it against the ground. Instead, we used the frame as our base. That helped, but not quite enough. Our next thought was to put the lost rivets back in on the belly pan, but Rick felt we needed more space to get underneath. So, we started cranking on the new jack. Watching the frame, it became quickly clear it was still unattached, so we cranked it back down. However, as I uncranked, Rick let the door swing...and it shut. We stopped cranking, went up, went down. We shut the door again. It's never closed this well before. Result? The upper shell has been set at its best location. Both of us breathed much, much easier.

Based on that, we pulled out the clecos in the front, pulled the belly pan up and placed new rivets in. This required a bit of drilling (the holes were too small), but the aluminum went right up and the holes lined up perfectly. That was a good thing. There are more rivets to go up higher, on the belly pan and along the banana wrap line (the horizontal wrap at the base--you can see its shadow running laterally above the tongue in the photo above), but the process of stabilizing is in force. Rick squared and we cut out a new replacement panel for the floor.

So, now we're in reconstruction mode, which is a really good place to get to.

Opportunity Drops in (on our Belly Pan)

It was a dark, dark Friday night. The wind blew through the trees. Lonely dogs howled at the moon. It was, as they say, an ominous moment.

After supper, Rick and I continued discussing our heater paradox (we are having a tough time finding a solution), so we went out to examine the logistics of the interior. Standing in the doorway, Rick rocked on his feet and slipped. He fell right into the hole he had cut into the flooring to remove rotted wood only a few weeks early. His foot went through the crack at the center of the belly pan, where the two panels met.

Oh, no.



This morning we checked out the damage. Some rivets sheared in the bottom (replaceable). Fortunately, no metal was bent. However, trouble with the door showed that we altered a critical structural connection with the upper body. We pushed the belly pan as close as we could to its original position and that relieved the door stress.

Well, there are different ways to look at this. Riveting more of the belly pan back together, patching the places where it sheared will be a pain. However, the access gave us a good chance to look further back and to treat more of the frame. I quickly cleaned up the area, mixed up some rust converter and applied it to the frame.

So, our mission is to get the work in the front done as quickly as possible and to seal up the belly pan. Luckily, there isn't too much to do on that. We're in good shape, but the next few weeks will be busy ones.

On a related side note: A few months ago, I installed Google Analytics on this page. That's a service that gives information on traffic a site generates. It's a useful tool for understanding who an audience is and how to improve. To my surprise, there's a decent degree of traffic here, even though I've done little to promote this blog. Apparently, a couple of other sites link back here. A significant degree of traffic come from a link on VintageAirstream.com. Wow, I am so honored by this! Then I looked at the description given to my blog:

The Nightmare known as finding out just what a vintage trailer can hide...

I love your website, but I beg to to differ, RJ! I'm enjoying myself way too much to consider this a nightmare. Certainly, there have been challenges with fixing this vintage pile of metal--but we've been able to face them. We repaired the front end relatively fast--we chose to do more, and then let the project fall into a hiatus. For me, I'm really enjoying learning more about the trailer and figuring out how to fix it. Both of us also feel that the result is worth it. When we are done, we'll know our trailer will be up to decades of serviceable miles on the road. We'll know how to do field repairs. But ultimately, we've learned repair is mostly a matter of attitude.

So, Rick slipped. Things like that are liable to happen. Yes, we do have an extra job ahead. But we also have access to places in our under-body that we've never previously had access to. We got to inspect a significantly larger amount of the frame (and found it's in pretty good shape. We get to replace more insulation. No significant damage was made.

And all of that is pretty excellent. I just hope our future mistakes are as productive!

My Grandmother's Century

It's hard to say goodbye, but sweet to appreciate all the joy that came from a long friendship and a deep love. Yesterday, my grandmother passed away peacefully after living more than a hundred years of wit and adventure. Short stature never stopped her from being an avid sportswoman. Born to a small rural town, she was a bright, spirited young girl who longed for bigger horizons. A nursing scholarship proved the ticket to life in the big city of Boston, the love of her life and eventually to achieve professional success that inwardly she desired but couldn't acknowledge until she was much older and retired. I got to know her as an adult while assisting her with caring for my grandfather as he died of cancer. I rediscovered her as a deep friend, someone with hidden inner strength, determination and tolerance. I can't say how lucky I feel to have had her in my life.

So, I'm skipping a week off from Airstream repairs. It's a delay that just has to be managed. As some readers may know, I spent most of this winter working in the Capitol of Virginia, during the legislative session. Before that, progress on the trailer slowed as I was pretty fairly overwhelmed in the fall during the reelection campaign. Now, I am back home in Northern Virginia, looking forward to repossessing my after work hours, but preparing to go to Boston. Fortunately, I was able to go up earlier this week and say goodbye while she was still alive and aware. Now I get to wish her off to her bigger journey. Looking at the shot above (incidently, she was almost my age when it was taken), it's pretty easy to see her reunited with my grandfather, taking on new off-road cycling adventures once again.

Maybe I Do Know Jack...

There is a deep satisfaction from recognizing that I have gained an atypical skill...that I am becoming proficient in something that isn't retiring and girly.

For me, that seems to be grinding. After cutting bolts, bar stock and flat steel...I don't feel much hesitation at all in putting on the goggles, whipping out the grinder (my trustworthy one is a cheap Harborfreight model) and letting it rip.

I can wear nail polish, ladylike suits and heels--heck, do it all the time! Inwardly, I know that I am the master of cold steel--well, that's just cool!

This weekend's mission was cleaning up the hitch. I am so appreciative of the comment to my last post, questioning bringing the bottles forward on the hitch. In fact, this really won't shift the location of the bottles much at all--they were fairly far forward, due to the (now removed) battery box. Even after removing the bottle box, they remained stable, despite the "aft forward" placement. However, we had to remove the holder to allow access to the front panel when we repaired the frame. Now we are just looking at replacing it. My half baked idea was to put the spare tire behind it.

To this end, I started drawing out template pieces for the tire carrier. Trouble is--I can't seem to find a way to position it so it doesn't interfere with the sway bar clamps. It's a bit maddening, since right now that darn tire is just a royal PITA (don't get me started ranting, it might never end).

My schematics got interupted by a bit of an emergency. I came in and found my kitty's face full of pollen in the early afternoon. A websearch and examination of the offending plant made me realize worst fears: she seemed to have ingested parts of lillies, a plant that will induce renal failure in cats within 16 hours. After a confirmation call to animal poison control, we rushed her off to the local emergency animal hospital for 48 hours of purgitives, fluids and observation. Morning blood tests showed we got her in time: she is miserable, but healthy, despite her near brush with death. We breathed easier today and I got serious about cleaning up that hitch.

Removing the deadman switch was easy. This original switch was a critical safetly element--if the trailer should become accidentially unhitched, the brakes would bring it to an immediate stop. Dutifully, past owners would connect the battery cables to the deadman switch. It was a ritual, confirmed even when we got the trailer in for its state inspection. Trouble is, nobody thought of how this original bit of engineering worked: just what would cause the brakes to engage? When I found an original schematic for this system, it suddenly made sense:


The circuit was obstructed by a clip, that connects by cable to the tow vehicle. If it's pulled out, the circuit complete and engages the trailer brakes. Getting a new one cost less than $20, offered greater reliability plus a lower profile. Excellent deal.


I ground on that and the bolts for the jack. We have a brand new Barker power hitch--maddenly missing its hardware, but we'll get that by next week. So, after ensuring the trailer weight was supported, I turned my grinder to that. I managed to free the jack, but two of the treaded bolts look like they will need specialty tools and more persistence. Still, I am overall, happy with the results.

What to Do When Far Away

The Toaster is half a state away and I am in working land. Yesterday at 5:30 pm, I managed to remember to order aluminum. I called Airparts, referenced the many people who referred me and ordered a combination of alclad and utility aluminum sheet goods. It was confusing, but it's on its way and I think I'm cool. They are also having a cleco sale (clecos being the rather cool "temporary rivets" that are really useful)--so I ordered 50 of them. The lady who helped me (I wondered if it might be the woman standing in the aluminum roll in the photo on their webpage) was reassuring. I needed that. I was totally confused by the options for shipping, specifications, etc. She fixed all that. It should arrive next week, so unfortunately, I was too late to get it for the weekend. It's ok. I still have to fit in ordering paint and the switch--the latter seems harder to figure out, so we may just head out shopping on Saturday.

Meanwhile, a quick shot from last weekend--our proposed tongue configuration...

The concept here is to have the bottle carrier up front, then have the tire behind it. To support the tire, I will weld a piece of steel lengthwise to the tongue, then attach some kind of holder that we can bolt the tire into. Getting the spare tire mounted will be a huge convenience--there really is no convenient place for it either in our truck or trailer (it ends up something we are constantly trying to accommodate).

We haven't quite figured out what we want to do with the old battery box traces (immediately behind the tire). There's a hole (for the wires) and that bit of molding--I'm thinking a patch may be needed, but maybe we could turn it into something functional. Are there any innovative ideas out there?

Wintertime Forward Motion

Winter improvements have been tough, due mostly to work that keeps me 130 miles away from home on weekdays (and a life that has kept me spending most weekends attending funerals)...

But things are shaping up (and thankfully fewer people are dying).

My biggest token victory came Saturday morning. An incipient leak was finally blocked (yeah!) after years of effort. Over several weeks, I took spare moments to clean out old caulking out of all the seams between panels at the front of the trailer, using a dremel tool and a nylon brush attachment (it was just small enough to get at the caulking with minimal impact to the aluminum). I cleaned all the channels up to just above the roof curve (that's all I could reach). I washed out the channels after that. Finally, I refilled the crevices with parbond. Saturday I woke to a rainy morning. I ran out to check. My leaky spot was cold--but quite dry. Victory!

This morning we went shopping and measuring. I realized that while we had the pieces of wood cut to fill in the floor, we had to finish up odd jobs that we needed to complete before covering it. Ironically, the shopping was sort of a waste--we ended up buying a harness that we didn't need and both of us decided the power jack we bought was just too flimsy for the cost. They will get returned to Camping World.

So, here in order is my checklist of priority actions I need to take on the front tongue of the trailer...at least as I see it today:

1. patch battery hole
2. weld in cross member for spare tire holder
3. remove crappy old deadman switch
4. weld new tank holder
5. paint new tank holder
6. attach new harness, connect to interior electrical 110 volt system
7. wire in 12v connection
8. drill hole and install new deadman switch
9. paint any exposed metal
10. finalize underfloor wiring and install flooring (already cut)

All of this will require a couple of supplies. I need a new deadman switch. I need a crossbar and tire carrier. I need more paint & aluminum tape. I need insulation. I have a tank holder, though. I figure I can order the steel that I need cut from a local metal supplier, so my last task today will be drawing up a mockup for it.

On the inside, I will also need to get some insulation for filling in the holes in the floor. We're also considering wiring some low voltage lights up into the overhead rack before replacing the inner wall. Finally, I need to build a big patch for the hole where the furnace used to be (and if I can hammer the old vent cover, it will go back in its place). Then I can put in the flooring.

Barring replacing the axles (I don't know quite how I'll get that done), what is ahead of me all seems fairly reasonable. I can accomplish this stuff with minimal assistance from Rick. Then I can put the furniture back into the trailer and maybe get some use--though non-urgent jobs will continue. With axles and this work, the trailer should be minimally roadworthy. We do need to work on the rear end, but honestly, it doesn't feel like the situation there is nearly as dire as what we faced up front. And, since we've been down this road before, it's not nearly as tough to fathom taking on the job. I just want to use my trailer first!

Recent activity, I have to admit, comes from prodding from Frank, the bathroom rebuilder of VAP fame. We went to view his efforts over the holiday season. To my surprise, Frank in person is quite different from the Frank I hear on the podcast. He is, by training, an artist. When I saw an antenna holder he fabricated by hand out of sheet metal, it clicked in my brain...his background in sculpture means metalworking training. It shows. Also, in person, he's much more serious. This guy has oodles of focus, which he manages to hide when he appears on the podcast. I don't doubt for a second that his trailer is going to be a showpiece.

Ending up the day, I just finished measuring and making up a template for a cross bracket for a tire carrier. Rick and I agreed on L bracket and I'm still figuring out what to do for the carrier itself. I still have 130 more miles to go before I rest tonight. With any luck, by next week, I'll be welding!

Heavy Metal Weekend

Work went forward this weekend, though with little observable results. We tore another hole in the floor, this time tearing up most of the wood at the doorway. I am realizing that while Rick is expert at the strength tasks like tearout, I am growing a talent for grinding metal--out rust, out bolts, etc. It's not exactly something I'd figure I'd be good at, but this restoration project always seems to make us aware of more unexpected capabilities.

Meanwhile, we also spent several hours trying to gain a new skill--welding. We'd bought a welding setup at Home Depot, but then couldn't find any classes in the area (save for a rather inconvenient metal sculpture class involving gas welding at a local art institute). So, we ended up reading and watching every intructional manual and video that we could find. Then Saturday, we strapped on safety clothing (long sleeves, jeans, hi tops, leather sleeve covers, bandanas, welders gloves, welding mask). Rick said I looked like a B-movie robot from the 50s! We set out some steel and checked that everything was correct. Westarted practice welding.

To be honest, the first time I tried, I was nearly overwhelmed by terror. There is a heck of a lot of power and danger in a welding machine--and you really have to trust the safety system. My first weld was downright intimidating to get started on...it really represented a big mental leap for me to arrive at a point where I could keep composure, hold the wirefeeder and squeeze the trigger. I hemmed, I breathed deeply, I squeezed. It worked: I didn't go blind, get electrocuted or burned.

Sunday we had a busy day away from the trailer, but we managed to squirrel away a full hour to do some practice welds. This time we practiced on a flat surface, eventually grinding out old welds to lay down new ones. I started to get the hang of shifting the wire feed speed and started to watch the pool of metal (apparently critical for controlling the welding operation). By the end of the hour, I started to feel that I was making progress. My welds aren't great, but they are getting significantly better. Next week we're thinking of attempting practice projects. This could get addictive!

Getting Dirty Again

We got really cranking the past two days. We ripped out the rest of the front and kitchen area flooring and cut out a replacement pieces. For the right front section, we worked from a cardboard template Rick had made from wood he ripped out when he replaced the left side of the front. Work was easy, but laborious. I helped with the sawing, but Rick did most of the demo, then I followed behind cleaning (pulling all sorts of yucky stuff, including a rodent nest), washing, wire brushing and finally painting the frame. We haven't actually set the panels in, since we have bolts on order from Vintage Trailer Supply and also need to purchase insulation to fill in the belly pan. We have no reason to doubt that this will be accomplished next weekend.

I also attended to a couple of "housekeeping" chores. First, I couldn't believe the filth that accumulated on the far side of the trailer in just two years. Even my precious windows had mold on them! Well, I set to scrubbing them. It left us both with two impressions--that we really have to go ahead and purchase the metal cover structure we'd been thinking about--certainly before polishing. Also, we probably have to consider a full out and out washdown as an annual maintenance punch item.

Anyhow, the good end of this is that I think that I isolated the leak allowing water to seep into the kitchen area (where we removed the rotted wood). Mopping up one seam shed water on Rick's new floor--so it looks like that might be the bad one. I'll make cleaning that and recaulking it my weekday project.

Oddly, our frame had two hitches attached to it. A year or so ago, Rick pounded and ground the old one hitches off. That left a couple of places on the hitch exposed and gathering rust. Also, there was a bit of rust on the parts of the frame we exposed in our tearout effort. So, I pulled out the wire brush drill attachment and started to work. First step--I brushed all involved sections, washed (and pulled out lots of yucky stuff out from the belly pan) and finally painted the rusted sections. Which leads to my next feature:

Consumer Report: Battle of the Rust Sealing Treatments

I have used two kinds of rust treatments on steel pieces. Outside, I used the POR-15 and Stirling Silver paint combination favored by many in the Airstream restoration community. On the interior parts of the frame, I started using Eastwood's rust encapsulator paint. Two years of exposure have passed and results are starting to emerge.

On the parts painted with POR-15, distinct pinpoint rust marks are starting to emerge, though there is no sign of paint damage. No damage is showing on the admittedly more protected places painted with Eastwoods.

Evaluation: I think both are quality products and far superior to Rustoleum. Durability seems to be slightly better for Eastwoods, since the more exposed parts painted with that did not breech rust. POR-15 involves a complicated process of setting down two base coats of POR-15, then following with a third cover layer of another paint (POR-15 is UV sensitive, so must be shielded). Eastwoods gets a bit of advantage in my mind since it only requires applying a single layer of paint and is available as an aerosol spray, which is exceptionally handy.

Action: Since I have leftovers of both products, I cracked open a mini-can of POR-15 (I bought a six pack of sample sized cans, which is super, since a little goes a long way), applied a single layer of that yesterday and hoped to follow up with a spray coat of Eastwood's Rust Encapsulating paint in silver on the exterior. However, the nozzle failed, so I ended up using the Stirling Silver paint combination. I applied Eastwood's black paint on the exposed frame as with the rest of the frame.

Verdict: If you have any cans of POR-15 hanging around or recently applied it, feel confident that you have a high quality product on hand. However, if I need new supplies, I will probably prefer Eastwood's Rust Encapsulating Paint, since it is easier to use and seems to perform as well, if not better. Also, it's necessary to think of rotary brushing and repainting exposed areas as a normal maintenance activity.


So, the weekend is over. . .We have enjoyed some great food and stupendous weather... We've worked to the blues, crickets and cicadas...We are truly dirty and I have paint flecks on my wrist that may never come off. We are slightly sunburned and very, very tired... Together, that's all an exceptionally good thing. Happy Labor Day!

Tale of a Hiatus

Well, I'd like to say that we've done tons of work on the trailer since my last post, but honestly, that isn't quite right. It really gets progressively harder and harder to pick up on a neglected project. At first it was a case of simply not having any spare time to make progress. Then I picked up a moonlighting job and Rick hung in as his work escalated and he finished off his degree. At a certain point, though, life changed again. I got laid off from my day job and made my moonlight job full time. Rick graduated and shifted jobs as well. We are both vastly happier with our new positions and though we are still busy, time was no longer completely unavailable. But then the challenge of making sense of projects abandoned two years ago was daunting and a point of mutual dread. While our intentions were high, ironically, it was the purchase of new living room furniture that put us back in action. While seemingly unrelated, the process of shifting possessions around our home left us realizing that we really needed to put the trailer back together and reclaim the basement bedroom that is currently filled with the furniture and parts from the trailer.

Our first effort was to inventory just where the different projects stood. That was a surprisingly timestaking effort, involving several evenings of making lists, organizing parts and tallying. This journal was also valuable in tracking what we'd done. There are still several projects we just aren't sure about, so things may get interesting as we move forward.

We hope to plug ahead this fall. Rick has a plan for redoing the plumbing so that we have a greywater tank (operated by a pump, to be installed next to our water heater). We may rewire, though that effort may be limited to merely replacing the wiring we expose (interestingly, we haven't had problems with the wiring, but since it's so old, we figure it's worthwhile doing). We also need to tear up the rear end flooring and weld in new metal there.

So, we got started yesterday, installing a new door handle. It's a small item--but getting started again gave us a sense of accomplishment. As usual, it took a big of fiddling, drilling in new holes, and frustration, but it got done (I didn't document it, but it wasn't really anything other than drilling out rivets, removing the old one, than forcing the new one into the old unit's place. Finally, we have the trailer secured (the lock was broken on the old one). Today we get into meatier work, cutting out flooring in the front and replacing it with new plywood (marine grade). Wish us luck!

The Work Vacation Begins

Well, I have the week off (well, except for this morning, which I spent at the office), the weather finally has toned down a mite bit, so it's back to the drawing board. Picking up a project after a two month break is hard--but really, there was no humanly way to work inside that trailer without fans or air conditioning. But now the temps are in the mid 80s, forecast is for a nice week, so we should get a bunch of work done.

But right now I'm organizing. I'm setting out all the things we intend to do. After mucking around with the welder a bit, we agreed--neither of us feels confident about welding on a new coupler. So, we are going to reassemble the hitch, leaving an access panel so that Rick can pull the wiring harness when we take it to the shop to replace the coupler.

That makes the rest of the hitch reconstruction easier. We will replace the sway bar clamps (for some crazy reason one is further forward than the other). Other targets for the week--replace the flooring, redo the plumbing, rebuild the gas bottle carrier and weld in another reinforcement bar into the frame. That should leave us in a place where most of the rest of the work will be in the happy-to-glad category. Oh, yeah--we have a beautiful new fiberglass skylight (from our good friend Steve at airstreamdreams.com), a door handle to fit in, and another Fantastic Vent to install. Nothing for a week, right?

We are in agreement--we gotta get things back to a point where we can get back on the road and really enjoy this thing!

Getting Back to Work

It's been a month since I've really done any meaningful work on the trailer. A very hot month!

Yesterday, the muggiest day in a very long time, I went back into the shell and went back to working on woodwork. A hour later, I was covered head to toe in dampness. I don't think it was perspiration, since it was early and cool. All my dry clothes were just a wick for the humidity. I also think, but cannot verify, that the humidity impaired the refinishing chemicals--it all seemed to take longer.

Earlier in the week, Rick ordered a new power jack. We've been wrestling with this, but it's a little luxury I think Rick will enjoy. Meanwhile, we are still figuring out how much we are going to replace on the toungue. One thing we did figure out--the sway bar clamps are not set symetrically on the trailer--so that's something we'll definitely replace. We'd like to also replace the receiver, since the old one is a little sticky. However, the old one is also very well attached to the frame--so cutting it off may end up becoming too much for us to accomplish.

Doing this is holding us back from finalizing the electric. Why? Because the harness has to pass through the frame--where we plan to weld. Rick is considering putting in a little access panel on the inside, which would allow him to pass the wiring through at a later date. Clever, huh?

Airstream Roadshow!

Well, just back from a super weekend up in New England! While we arrived too late at Antiques Roadshow for filming our valuations, I may be appearing on public television stations around the country next winter extolling my excitement over my dear, beloved Rubic's Cube. Yay! In the for what it's worth side of this blog, here are my tips for your next Antiques Roadshow appearance:

1. Try to get early entry tix. The experts are all on a race to claim airtime, so filming slots go fast.
2. Avoid bringing paintings or glass items, unless you are convinced they are really valuable and willing to stand in line forever.
3. You will not have a long wait if you have an ancient antiquity--however, Roadshow rules forbid coins. The antiquity guy needs more business!
   
4. The most familiar experts end up being the friendliest and most helpful. The dirt I got is that the newbies tend to get nervous about finding items that will get them airtime, not getting customers or supporters.
5. When I mentioned our trailer to the experts, most gave very envious sighs. Airstreams are really desireable to dealers, who have to tote their stuff around the country and have a sense of style.
6. Going to Antiques Roadshow is a blast (and we loved Noel Barrett), even if you don't make TV!

So, it's a crunch this week. Rick's going to pick up a new jack. I'm going to try to get everything clean in the house so I can do some woodwork after work the rest of the week. Yikes, but things are, in their very haphazard way, coming together.

Airstream Physics

It's a low week as far as the trailer is concerned. We're expecting house guests in a week--and I'm about to head off for a weekend in New England. Part of that has meant getting trailer stuff out of the guest areas in the house. Why is it that the stuff that fits easily into a 20'x8' (160 square feet) area requires about 1000 square feet of house space? There must be some kind of unique laws of physics that only occur in Airstream trailers--the way these items expand when remove from the trailer defies logic. I don't know if Wally thought of these, but here are some rules...

1. Things fit better in an Airstream than any other space...always
2. Outside the Airstream, tough, well built cabinets become rickety and delicate.
3. Things appear smaller in an Airstream, unless you have to repair them.

Well, by clearing out a closet, we were able to get a nice, neat place for most of our tool boxes. We still face moving all of the other stuff in the guest bedroom--I think it's going to end up making our basement pretty much a warren.

Meanwhile, there is the continous campaign for acquisition management. We received an order yesterday from Airstream Dreams. As I expected, the skylight cover looks nothing like the previous DIY job--and we are especially happy that it has a sealed in metal plate for riveting it in. As I suspected, the new bulb seal (what I had previously called the windows' "mystery gasket" is a whole lot more durable than the foam weatherstripping I had used when working on the windows. Slowly, I'm going to start replacing these. The package rounded out with a pair of tee shirts and (eeek) a tub of coarse aluminum polish. Someday soon, I will start down that evil path too...Another package brought a new can of Por-15's Stirling Silver and Marine Clean. Now, if Rick gets a new hitch and I track down more Fornby's, we'll have most of our supplies for the forseeable work (except plumbing, which seems to always be a figure as we go case).

But meanwhile, I'm off this weekend to New England. Highlight of my trip will be going to The Antiques Roadshow in Providence, RI! Sadly, they don't value vintage trailers on the Roadshow (nor, according to the instructions on my tickets, vehicles of any kind). Not that the Toaster is ready for the Keno brothers--we still have a lot of work to do. Rick's going to study while I'm gone, since he has final exams all next week. Unless I can find a night off for trailer work, I probably won't be posting much news until after June 26. Then we're bringing on the heat and getting cranking (as we face the summer heat)!

Ode to Working on the Trailer When it’s 90° with 100% Humidity

Restoring an Airstream
Isn’t always a pleasant dream,
It always seems that something unexpected bites me in the butt,
Leaving me irritated and occasionally in sobs.
I know if I get myself out of this darn rut,
I may finish up all these bleep bleep bleeping darn jobs

Rotozips and sawzalls
Leave me dog tired so I know well
A dream trailer is hard won when sauna conditions put me in a snit.
Yet, when I really want to unwind,
When summer’s heat leaves me truly unfit,
I wonder is it really the weather or do I just have beer on my mind?

Mind Over Matter... Just Think it's Cold Outside

Refinish my brain, please

Remove that adhesive in two applications! Hahahaha! That darn wall took three hours of endurance scraping and endless reapplications! They really used fantastic glue, back in the day. Tough part is, it is a truly purgatorial task to remove it. But eventually, persuasive treatment with steel wool prevailed. Then I managed to eek out two cabinets of refinishing before running out of Fornby’s furniture refinisher. Now I have to find more of that stuff—they don’t sell it at Home Depot any more, so I’ll be shopping hardware stores this weekend. Still, I think I’ll be able to finish the rest of the woodworking in fairly fast fashion, though I know how this blog will start to sound:

Day 1: detailed description of refinishing the furniture

Day 2: discussion of some of the discoveries of refinishing the furniture

Day 3: rant about frustrating elements of refinishing the furniture

Day 4: poetry about refinishing furniture

Day 5: hey, I’m working on refinishing the furniture, but doing this darn task has me utterly bored, so let me tell you about the crazy things I’m thinking about while refinishing the furniture.

I’m going to stop and jump to step 5 (oh, heck, if inspiration strikes, I may even do step 4). It isn’t as if refinishing the furniture is any stupendously mysterious process. It’s the same darn process everyone uses with Fornby’s (rub in the stuff with steel wool, following the grain until its clean).. Here are the tips I have learned—wear a sealed respirator, lots of protective clothing and wield a big fan. Crank up NPR and get working!

Meanwhile, Rick removed more of the doodads on the hitch. He got everything off except the coupler, which will probably be an epic adventure.

Tow vehicle?

I ended early today at 4 pm to catch the end of my neighbor’s block party. Actually, the party ended up making our trailer efforts a bit of a tourist attraction. A couple of folks came up and started asking me questions—which I couldn’t respond to while wearing a respirator and goggles. I”d try to lift the respirator and sputter off answers—but fortunately Rick saved me and I got back to work. One guy actually came over to try to get Rick to sell him our old '49 Chrysler. Rick’s seriously considering the offer, but I do hope we still can trick it into my dream tow vehicle! Anyways, the block party was a fun take-in and we learned that there may be another vintage Airstream in Vienna.

Mandatory Work Break!

It’s exceptionally nice when a messy job requires taking a break! Today is fume day—I’ve set up a big fan in the trailer (mostly for ventilation purposes), strapped on my respirator (outfitted with new filters) and I’m doing the solvent dance! Presently, I have a half hour break while the adhesive remover gets working. Because of the fire danger (this stuff can spontaneously combust), I’m dividing my work into two sections, so that will mean two breaks. Then I get to work with the really nasty stuff—Fornby’s refinisher. Goal: Get all the woodwork cleaned and refinished today. It sounds like a big order, but I am excluding the cabinetry we removed, the panels I intend to replace—plus, it’s pretty easy when I don’t have to worry about drips!

I am not quite certain how to remove the doors from the overhead compartments. They are a bit complicated, but I’m sure once I get my head up into them, I’ll figure it out.

Yesterday, I bounced between working on the trailer and going to a Toastmaster’s convention. I’ve been a Toastmaster (a group that helps adults learn public speaking and leadership skills) for the past three years and as it turns out, the convention for all the clubs from Virginia up to Canada occurred three miles from my house. So, I changed clothes three times over the day and bumped off to various sessions! One minute might find me scrubbing aluminum, but a half hour later, I’d be sitting in a session dealing with, say, the finer points of motivating volunteers!

Friday I made it out to my local powdercoat specialist. It wasn’t exactly what I expected, this operation was HUGE! They do everything from small motorcycle parts to battleship hulls! Still, I can’t say how nice these folks are. The owner came out, looked at my range and told me that he couldn’t safely coat the stovetop. Now, I know other folks have had this done, but he explained to me that really, the paint is only good to 400 degrees and that even the high temperature paint would not stand the heat of a gas burner. He suggested going to an enameller, but indicated that he didn’t know of one, and that the fellow who used to do it locally closed shop. Anyone know of a decent enameller near Virginia?

Afterwards, I headed off to the local trailer parts shop, to pick up parts for overhauling the hitch. We plan to add in a new spare tire holder, move the propane bottles and possibly replace the coupler.

Before Changing the Hitch

Earlier in the week, we had a fun time cutting off the old bottle rack—I had my first experience with a sawzall. I’d been rather afraid of them, but Rick persuaded me to give it a try. Once I got started up, I had a great time cutting—why the heck was I afraid of this? My fear was utterly irrational (considering I’m not afraid of other saws). It wasn’t even hard to handle. Anyways, we ended up joking around afterwards and celebrated frosty cold cokes on a warm summers evening…

Donate blood today!

Ok, well, it’s time to get scraping that adhesive remover off! I’ll check in later!