Now It Starts... Rebuild of Audrey

[islandtrader]

Originally Posted by MsRivet

That answered my question. Thanks so much! Some, and that’s only a handful of people, have added wood cabinetry biscuits to the subfloor joints. Preventing vertical movement across the width of the long subfloor joints. Overkill? Probably. We are not far from adding the new decking subfloor onto the new frame. Just polling what others have done.

Enjoy that river cruise!

The neat thing about the forum is that you do get a lot of ideas. I saw the biscuit thing (and I am a wood worker) and said really? If you look at the number of bolts going through the sub floor I do not see how there can be any movement. That being said my wife has accused me many times of over engineering things on past projects. So you pick your battles....good luck.

[islandtrader]

Needed to move the airstream from outer bay to the middle bay for more room...

So much easier with the golf cart...

[islandtrader]

After buck riveting the body to the c channel ...the next little challenge is putting the wheel trim on. Three hours oh what a PIA😂...you have to cut the c channel and then heat it up. Then hold your breath while you bend it and hope it does not kink...all said and done. It turned out pretty good..

[steinVT]

Pretty good? I would say it came out great. I am hoping to reuse my old wheel trim, but we will see.

How did you apply the heat? Aluminum is tough as it doesn't change color right up the point of melting it. A little scary.

Mark

[islandtrader]

Originally Posted by steinVT

Pretty good? I would say it came out great. I am hoping to reuse my old wheel trim, but we will see.

How did you apply the heat? Aluminum is tough as it doesn't change color right up the point of melting it. A little scary.

Mark

I used a hand help propane torch. I just heated it up for maybe 10 seconds, just hot enough so I could not touch it. Then I just started bending it around a metal pipe until the radius was close. Once close I fitted it into the wheel well and used a leather hammer to tap it into place. Of course you have to use a lot of bad words otherwise it won't fit...

[DDickey]

Fortunately my trim was in good enough condition to reuse. I thought about replacing it, but heating and bending new trim scared me off

[islandtrader]

Today and I mean just about the whole day I worked at putting in my back escape window in. One of the problems I was facing is that the j hinge was cracked and not salvageable...after striking out numerous times in trying to find one or even make one, I decided to use aluminum piano hinge. The only real draw back I could see is that replacing the glass might be a PIA. Worst case scenario is drill the rivets out and replace. The other little challenge was the previous owner(s) thought the best way to fix a leak was to remove all the hardware and then caulk everything shut. IF that did not work then put more caulk on it and see what happens.

Anyway the trial fit seems to work out well, and now the next step is to get the gaskets in place, put the glass in and rivet it to the shell.

Oh yes and make a hinge cover...I have been check other threads and I have not seen one of these. Maybe it was something that was done on some trailers and not the others...feel free to chime in.

The pictures tell the story...

[57Vintage]

I had to do the same with my emergency window. After I installed it I found water would occasionally slip past the piano hinge, where the two pieces are tied together with the center pin. It's not a water tight connection. On mine the hinge point is far enough below the drip cap that if we have rain with wind in the right direction it gets wet and I'd get drips off the top of the window onto the floor.

My solution was to buy silicone rubber strip to lay on top of the hinge. I riveted it to the skin above and on the side of the window opening. just below the drip cap. Its flexible enough that it doesn't hinder opening the emergency window and lays flat enough to keep it tight against the hinge.

https://rubbersheetwarehouse.com/pro...edium-hardness

[islandtrader]

Originally Posted by 57Vintage

My solution was to buy silicone rubber strip to lay on top of the hinge. I riveted it to the skin above and on the side of the window opening. just below the drip cap. Its flexible enough that it doesn't hinder opening the emergency window and lays flat enough to keep it tight against the hinge.

https://rubbersheetwarehouse.com/pro...edium-hardness

KISS- keep it simple stupid

Your idea is a lot simpler and quicker than the aluminum shield, and most likely a better solution. Thanks.

[islandtrader]

Some time in its long storied life the trailer had a blow out and this destroyed the luggage compartment door opening. So I had to do a little rebuilding, but its coming along . I hope to get the door done before I head out on our summer hiatus for the next 8 weeks.

Blow out damage



Before



After

[islandtrader]

Getting ready for hurricane season...so time to move Audrey to a safe place under the house...

[MrRivet]

It’s good to have a secure place for the AS during H....... season. Our 2004 picked up a few extra dents and dings during Irma last year. We are considering hitting the road when the next one makes a direct strike to Central Florida just to prevent unnecessary damage to it and the 48 Liner.

Safe Travels!!
Tim

[islandtrader]

Originally Posted by islandtrader

getting ready for hurricane season...so time to move audrey to a safe place under the house...

The safe place...

[islandtrader]

Well after a summer hiatus we are now back in Florida. Time to get back working on the AS.

Before we left (the first week in Aug.) I put in the back window/screen for a trial fit. The glass was out. Anyway the screen was exposed to the outside air and within two months it is rusty as all get out. Now I do live on the intercostal waterway and I am about 1/4 mile away from the gulf of Mexico but gee whiz this is a little disturbing how fast things go to hell around here.

I think before I mount anymore screens and windows I will spray them with eastwoods Aluminum spray rust encapsulator. Then for the door I think I will use the bronze screen...more extra work...

[islandtrader]

As the saying goes life gets in the way...Wanted to get going on this in November when we were finally back home. However home remodeling and a boat that needed some TLC, plus the holidays...UGH

First thing I wanted to get done is replace the curb side rear panel and the back panel. They were too lumpy and beat up to try fixing.

So Today I took advantage of some free labor (son in law) as his family are staying with us over the Christmas break.

He started with the rivet tool remover and I followed up with the drill and punch for the ones that did not pop. This job really goes much faster with two people.

Hopefully before the end of the year I can cut the patterns and then install.

I plan on sealing the seams with a good shot of silver tempro and then use flex seal on the back side.

[Bubba L]

I thought you dropped off the earth. Glad you’re back at it. I think a lot of Renovators look at the exterior skin and figure it’s better to replace now than not do it and wished you had. Smart move. Ask your son in law if he would like to drop by central Texas on his way home. I need an extra hand shellacking the cabinets. Looking forward to seeing your progress.

[islandtrader]

Originally Posted by Bubba L

I thought you dropped off the earth. ...

Not quite that far but off the AS Radar Screen...LOL

Made a little progress yesterday...laid out the new aluminum and then trace the old panel.

I think I have every known sheer to man. However what I found that seems to work well is scoring the aluminum 7-10 times and then using a wide blade fat max sheer.

I have an electric dewalt metal sheer and that thing is a PIA to use. I wish I knew the trick to using that thing...

Now the fun part, lining the panel up, drilling the holes and then figure out how to spread the tempro 635 without making a complete MESS

[Hittenstiehl]

I've always wondered what the Airstream would look like it we only polished the lower/upper half. Thats a great visual of your shiney lower right rear with the oxidation on top. Now we know. Thx

[Camper Crazy]

I have really enjoyed your restoration journey to date. Looking forward to following your progress this year. Thank you for the great pictures.
Happy New Year and happy trails.

[islandtrader]

Well someone once said airstreams and onions are the same...the more you peel off the more you cry...

After taking off the curbside rear panel and trial fitting it. I said self you have removed a majority of the rivets on the back panels and the street side panel is not as good as it looked before. Soooo



I am a gluten for punishment...