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epperp · 01-31-2013, 09:13 PM

We have been restoring a 59' Tradewind we purchased in November of 2011. I have been meaning to start a thread for awhile and am finally ready to get started. Please bear me as I try and get used to posting pictures, etc.
Ed

webspinner · 01-31-2013, 09:54 PM

Posting pictures is easiest if you click the "Go Advanced" button below the reply box. Then click the paper clip in the bar at the top of the new box that opens. Follow instructions for uploading or linking to pictures.

If you upload a bunch of pictures, you can select them from that same paper clip drop down menu and put them wherever you want in your text.

Good luck. I'm looking forward to pictures. We all love pictures!

epperp · 01-31-2013, 09:57 PM

Pictures from the weekend we picked it up (Nov2011). It was dirty but the aluminum is excellent. More to follow.
Ed

epperp · 01-31-2013, 10:01 PM

Barbie,

Thanks for the help. I was successful after I moved to the Mac from the iPad.

Ed

TG Twinkie · 02-01-2013, 07:53 AM

I see the door handle is broken. If you want a replacement. PM me and I will provide details.
Looks like you have a good unit there.

epperp · 02-01-2013, 11:26 AM

Thanks, TG Twinkie. Your door handle was our first procurement of rebuild parts, about a year ago when we thought we'd be moving a lot faster

.
Eileen

epperp · 02-01-2013, 08:50 PM

Based on the condition of the floor and the fact that we planned on a complete redo of the interior, a body off restoration seemed the way to go. We bought the trailer while we were in the middle of putting up a new shed. This ended up changing the final details of the building as you will see as we move along. I am not going to dwell on taking out the interior and drilling out a lot of rivets. Others have described it much better than I could. I will only say that it comes apart as you would expect and the last two rivets will hold the whole body on (those that have done it know what I mean). If you are considering a body off, the worst part is not taking the interior out and drilling out all of the rivets, but it can be time consuming. I did all of it in December and January of 2011 and 2012 with very little heat (a light beer would get slushy). I was in an enclosed building and having read a number of threads, many others have done the same work in much worse conditions. With that in mind, here are the next set of pictures.
Ed

epperp · 02-01-2013, 09:02 PM

These pictures take me up to about the middle of January 2012. The body is off and the floor is gone. As you can see, we built a bracing for the body before I pulled it off. To get the body off the frame, I wrapped a chain around a 12' doorway header (sheetrock was not yet up) and attached a heavy duty nylon rope through a pulley and through the middle roof vent to a beam in the trailer made from a 12' 2X12 and a 12' 2X4 screwed together. I attached the other end of the rope to a come along which was attached to the hook under the front bumper of the F250. It actually worked very well. The body is now sitting on six 4 wheel dollies. We have literally rolled it all around the building very easily by hand with no damage to the body.
Ed

epperp · 02-01-2013, 09:32 PM

Please be patient as I am still trying to get used to attaching pictures and writing the post. I forgot to upload the last batch of pictures and when I went to find them, somehow got one twice. Oh well!

I will now move along closer to the present. The body and frame sat while the building was being finished, which took most of the summer. That and attending our first boondocking rally with the Heart of Texas group (a really great group of people!). We had a great time and look forward to getting together with them at some point in the future.

We also attended our first resto rally and that was one of the best experiences we have had since we bought our first Airstream. We are really looking forward to this year's resto rally (which has been a great motivator for me on this trailer). If you are considering a trailer renovation it will be an invaluable experience. The people who put it on are great! We enjoy the area and the people so much that we have joined the 4CU unit. We are both close to the end of our 40 hour working life and look forward to heading southwest for at least part of the winter.

epperp · 02-01-2013, 09:48 PM

The last group included a shot of wire brushing the frame. I had to include it since I think I have more time in cleaning the frame than anything else. I must be overdoing it. In any case, the sideways picture (I will try and catch these in the future) is the I beam and twin hoists we put up before we finished the building. You can not believe how nice this is to work with. Later pictures will show how I hooked up the balls on the ends of the frame to rotate the frame for working on it. Airstream and Colin really know what they are talking about (it works great!!!!).

The other two previous pictures are of the stainless steel tanks. Eileen and I are still not in total agreement on stainless, but I think they are going to really work out well. The second of the tank pictures shows the cross members we had made to support the tanks. I will admit they are not cheap but everyone seems to splurge on something.

By the way, before I forget we do have a fairly complete interior from this trailer that we will not be using (except it did not have a water heater when we bought the trailer). We are not sure what actually worked (refrig for example) but please contact us if you are interested. We will not ship but would consider bringing to a rally (such as the resto rally).
Ed

epperp · 02-01-2013, 10:04 PM

It seems like I am going to be doing a lot of explaining after the fact. The previous 4 pictures are pretty self explanatory. Placing the axle (it worked well to mark the top of the frame with heavy packaging tape and make accurate lines and descriptions of where things were supposed to go. A lot of welding by my cousin Tom a professional welder from California and one of the finest people you will ever meet. We had a great time doing this and he showed me how to mig weld (I had done a fair bit of stick welding in my past). I have really put his lessons to use (I am in the middle of my second 11 lb roll of wire and tank of gas).

We had pieces of 14 gauge steel made up for frame reinforcement and to give us a place to weld the new cross members to (the new cross members were also 14 gauge stainless). More explanation of this area coming up. It is getting late so I think I will start again later tomorrow. By the way, the last series of pictures were taken in mid November.
Ed

markdoane · 02-02-2013, 01:06 PM

I see you converted to a torsion axle. Good Idea. However, I would suggest you open up the wheel well if you haven't already done so. The wheel well on my '59 is only a little over 30 inches, and limits your choice of wheels and tires. I would especially do this for a torsion axle, where the wheel travels in an arc instead of up and down on leaf springs.

Also, ditch the Goodyear mattresses. I got a king sized memory foam matress and cut it to size, much more comfortable.

epperp · 02-02-2013, 06:51 PM

Hi Mark,

You are correct that the axle has to be very carefully placed if you are going with a larger tire and wheel. We have just about 31" and that will give us a little over 1/2' clearance. As a matter of fact, we were out tonight with a 16" aluminum rim and 275 16 tires and we confirmed enough clearance.

More important in my opinion is the hub to hub measurement. We were told to measure our old hub to hub and order the same (which we did). It is going to work but it was a hassle to get in and we could not get both bolts in. We finally just welded the axle mounting backet to the plate and frame.

Here is what I would recommend to anyone with an older leaf spring. If your hub to hub is less than 73" I would make it at least 73" but optimum would be closer to 73 1/2". Ours was 72 3/4" and it is too tight. We have a 64' in our shed belonging to a friend and the hub to hub is (twin axle) 74 3/4" on one (front axle) and 75" on the other (rear axle). We could not get the tire out or in on the rear without letting out the air and pulling on the aluminum to give extra clearance. The 64' has the same 58" frame as our 59' and the same 14 1/2" outrigger so now you see where I get the optimum hub to hub.

I welcome any comments from others with these years AS.

Another comment about the axle which we bought from Colin. One mounting bracket was a 1/4" out of square with the axle. We had to do a bit of grinding to get the axle to fit right. Since we were working on a bare frame without brackets it wasn't too bad. I feel sorry for people that get an axle like this and are putting it on from underneath the trailer especially if they are outside. This is not Colin's fault; from what I have heard getting an axle with slight imperfections is not uncommon.

Ed

epperp · 02-02-2013, 07:13 PM

Mark,
The mattresses were the first items on the dumpster--they were pretty lumpy and musty. With floor completely rotted, the mice had free entrance passes.
Plus, we are also completely rearranging the interior. We will have a queen bed across the back and a center bath. That way all the tanks will be close to the axle. Also trying to work out details for a dinette instead of the sofa in the front.
Eileen

rasmuw · 02-03-2013, 09:46 PM

>>We also attended our first resto rally and that was one of the best experiences we have had since we bought our first Airstream. We are really looking forward to this year's resto rally<<

Ed--how does one find out where the resto rallies are? I've checked the Rally Forum on the website and put a search in for 2013 Restoration Rally and came up empty, except for one hit on the 2013 Texas Vintage Rally in October.

Thanks,
Wayne

epperp · 02-03-2013, 10:34 PM

Wayne,
They have not announced the dates for this years rally but we have heard it might be the first weekend in May. Ken J and the 4CU put on the rally so whatch for an announcement from him.
Ed

Lance M · 02-04-2013, 08:00 PM

Hi Ed,
You are doing some great work there. Nice shop! The overhead hoist is sweet.
Also, thanks for the kind words about the Lonestar VAC campout. We're glad you were able to make it and had a great time. This year's Lonestar VAC rally will be held at the Barefoot fish camp and RV park in Bend, TX 16-19 May. Hope you can make it!

epperp · 02-04-2013, 10:07 PM

Lance,
Looks like you have a great new trailer.
We are going to see if we can make it down to the VAC rally in Texas this year. With the resto rally being moved we are busy rearranging the schedule.
Others have asked about the ball mount I use to rotate the frame so here are some pictures. The ball sticking up goes into the trailer coupler to keep it wedged in tight and keeps it from moving around which could be pretty scary as I keep adding weight. The ball mount was made from parts I cut off an old cultivator sitting in the back of our property. It has worked really well although I had to modify it when I made a new plate for the bottom of the A-frame/coupler. The one picture shows it as I am putting it in and the last picture is looking toward the front of the coupler from inside to show how the end fits in. It probably is going to take a bit to figure out how it works by looking at these pictures so good luck.
Hope to see you soon.
Ed

epperp · 02-07-2013, 07:57 PM

As you could tell in earlier pictures, we removed the center cross members and replaced them with new cross members made of 14ga steel and the same depth profile as the new stainless steel tanks and the exact distance needed between for each tank.

The overhead hoists are handy for a lot of things including lifting the axle and holding it in place while we welded.

One of the really bad parts of the frame was the rear under the bath. I replaced part of the rear main frame on both sides and the two rear cross members with new 11ga box tubing.

Ed

epperp · 02-07-2013, 08:13 PM

I changed the front cross members to allow installation of a spare tire carrier. It turned out to be one of the more time consuming tasks because I also welded a steel plate over the opening (more pictures to come of the tire carrier itself). My measurements show it only goes in one spot if you place a cross member exactly 4' on center from the front of the trailer (front of the plywood floor). We felt the tire is best placed under the trailer in the front, but I understand other peoples desire for rear or front mount. I personally don't want the weight of the tire on the rear and we are going to mount the batteries in the front behind the LP cylinders so did not have space for the front tire there.

I used 1/2X1/2" square tubing to reinforce the bottom of the frame reinforcement (the frame is upside down in this picture).

This is the first trial fit of the tanks and the final picture is our first look at how well we measured for the piping and valve (it looks like everything is going to fit perfectly).