Greetings, Vintage Trade Wind members:
Almost a year ago, I bought my
1968 Trade Wind (Twin). We have been enjoying it very much, camping a lot over the past year. We have been living with the trailer in order to get to know it from the inside out.
I knew from the outset that this trailer would be a labor of love. The hardest discovery so far is that none of the service companies in my city (Indianapolis) has anyone who remembers how to repair the trailer. So, except for major things, I have been using these forums for schooling in all aspects of my Airstream.
I've put together a set of photos about projects that I know will be ongoing. The challenge now is to set priorities.
Over the past summer, I had an air conditioner installed, which took almost two months! While it was in the shop, the wheel sets were checked out and repaired, new brakes added, and the electrical cable to hook up to the truck was re-wired correctly for current use.
As I have studied the forums, I realize how much I did not know when I bought the trailer from the very nice couple in Michigan. The tears in the skin from their wheel coming off is a minor matter compared to what I now know about all that is going on in just the rear end of the trailer, the bathroom and all that lies beneath and behind it...
If you want to take a look at these photos, click on the link, then once you're on the photo page, click for the Slideshow. Or, the captions drop down when you slide your cursor over the photos.
Picasa Web Albums - Indyanne - IndyAnne Airs...
I am posting this message and my photos, knowing that all sorts of advice will come along. So, I cast my bread upon the waters...
The photo captions have some of my questions and observations, but I won't presume that everyone will go there and page through about 75 photos that I am starting with. As I move through my priorities list, I will probably put together a blog with photos organized in a more logical way.
For now, one priority that has to be addressed before I can go camping again is the matter of a leaking t-joint in the rear of the trailer. It is hard to reach. I almost have it cut out by using a mini tube cutter and a Dremel with cutting disc, but there is just one little spot that I can't reach safely. I have to go in behind the toilet and try to reach it from above.
This is going to be difficult. I will have to drill out rivets and take apart the bathroom module, I think.
I have considered taking out all of the bathroom fixtures, anyway, because the floor has been damaged by previous owners. A big section is cut away from approximately the center of the back edge to two feet to the left, with a jagged cut about 8 inches to a foot. The cut-away appears to have been done to provide clearance for added plumbing for draining and winterizing the pipes.
The lack of flooring in this section, combined with a very cheesey belly skin in the rear area means the inside of the rear access is very grimy from road travel and 40 years of gathering normal dust, and windy extremes of weather.
I like projects, and I am eager to work on this trailer. I don't have the time and money that some have to completely gut the trailer and start from scratch, but I will try to accomplish the same or good-enough details to keep enjoying the Airstream.
Owning an Airstream in an affordable way like this has been my wish for a long time. I have been on the Forums for a long time now, and I know that purists will advise me to gut the trailer and work on it from the frame up. I'll try to do as well as I can with the space, time, and money I have, knowing that I am doing this as a hobby, not to make a profit if I should sell it one day.
Thanks for all the great discussions I have already had about projects I am working on. Adding these photos takes my commitment to a higher level.
Anne