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bambibooth · 06-18-2015, 07:43 AM

We're gearing up for a week and a half long road trip in a big circle around the Southeastern USA.
I bought some new tires to replace the way old ones. I went with the 205/75/15 to replace the old 7.00x15 that were on there.
I thought about the 225s but they just looked goofy and now I'm thinking that the trailer looks goofy with these tires even though they are darn close to the 7.00 tires.

bilby05 · 06-18-2015, 05:11 PM

I bought some new tires to replace the way old ones. I went with the 205/75/15 to replace the old 7.00x15 that were on there.
I thought about the 225s but they just looked goofy and now I'm thinking that the trailer looks goofy with these tires even though they are darn close to the 7.00 tires?
>>>>>>>>>>>>
😀define goofy😀
I think that it may be a matter of relative appearance based on surrounding objects. The grass and shadows present a view that the tires look small. I just put a 225 on one wheel and a 205 on the other. Just to get away from the leaky 7.00s so I can move it around the yard and take it to weigh it, now that I have removed most of the innards. I think the 7.00s look huge, the 235s look smaller and the 205s look smaller yet, of course. I just happened to have a spare 235 from our old 31 ft. Sovereign and a bargain 205 from wal-mart, so I thought I would see how they look when I stick them on the trailer. I don't recommend using appearance as a criteria for tire selection, but since I have them on wheels, and I am sure not take it in the highway this way. I plan on using 235s on both sides and keep the 205 as an emergency spare. I also have heard that the profile of radial ply compared to bias ply affects clearance. There are lots threads discussing proper tires, but having a bit of extra time before I plan to use the Tradewind, I tend to enjoy fooling around (key word fool) with options.

bambibooth · 06-25-2015, 08:38 AM

The closets in the trailer were in pretty rough shape when I took them out of the trailer.
Since, I added the new black tank, the bottoms of the closets were going to need some work so I opted to replace them with prefinished/prebuilt cabinets from Ikea. They had the exact dimensions in width I needed for the space.
This space is about 14 inches wide and these cabinets are 13 3/4 wide.
They are not period perfect but I like them anyhow.

I haven't finished quite yet but here is one being installed. Most of it was put together before placing in the space, but the back and top have to be built while 'installed'.

You can see the legs I have added due to the black tank extending under the cabinet.

I plan to add another one on top of this cabinet. YOu can see the empty space here, and a creepy picture that was up on the wall when I bought the trailer. I decided to leave it for history's sake.

Behind these cabinets is where the breaker panel is and some wires for another 12 volt light. I plan to cut a hole in the back of the cabinet in order to flip the breakers when needed.

Cabinet installed , and view from the back window

And, I bought a Norcold RV fridge on CL and it is quite a bit lighter which is great but it also puts out a ton of heat in the back. I have a floor vent and the fridge chute but decided to make another side wall panel to vent out more heat.

I haven't been able to locate a service door for the two side doors. I bought an AC air return, painted it and installed for the time being.
It looks OK, but I'm still hopeful I will one day have the actual door or make a door that goes here properly.

I put some wire mesh and rope caulking behind this to keep the bugs and rain out. (hopefully)

That will be all for the restoring and repair for a bit since we are actually taking the trailer on the road for about 2 weeks. Guess I will see how much of my work doesn't fall apart.

55AS · 06-25-2015, 09:45 AM

I too dislike the look of roof A/C units on Airstreams, particularly small vintage ones. I also installed a portable unit but mounted mine on a closet shelf to get it as high up as I could. I connected the exhaust hose to the refrig chimney. The largest unit I could fit in the closet was 8000 BTU.
A few observations:
1. 8000 BTU is adequate to cool the trailer only if ambient temp is less than 80-85F and/or trailer is in the shade. Any hotter and the A/C is simply inadequate.
2. I have added a secondary fan to move the cold air around the trailer.
3. I have added several fans to the chimney air inlet to help keep air moving as the heat load is very high when running the frig and A/C together and hot air was actually being forced out the inlet.
4. Insulating the exhaust hose helps a lot.

bambibooth · 06-26-2015, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BambiTex

I too dislike the look of roof A/C units on Airstreams, particularly small vintage ones. I also installed a portable unit but mounted mine on a closet shelf to get it as high up as I could. I connected the exhaust hose to the refrig chimney. The largest unit I could fit in the closet was 8000 BTU.
A few observations:
1. 8000 BTU is adequate to cool the trailer only if ambient temp is less than 80-85F and/or trailer is in the shade. Any hotter and the A/C is simply inadequate.
2. I have added a secondary fan to move the cold air around the trailer.
3. I have added several fans to the chimney air inlet to help keep air moving as the heat load is very high when running the frig and A/C together and hot air was actually being forced out the inlet.
4. Insulating the exhaust hose helps a lot.

Hey BambiTex,

I LOVE BAMBI Airstreams. I am always on the hunt for one.
I see from your profile that you're in Clear Lake Shores? I grew up in in Houston near Baytown and never knew that Clear Lake was actually called "Clear Lake Shores", is that right?

On to your AC setup:
That's a great way to conceal the AC, in the closet. Mine was too big for that and now sits in the space where the original heater was. I had it on a little shelf/cabinet but that wasn't really working that well.

And, here in Austin, it's pretty hot out there already (90s) and the trailer isn't in the shade. 8k BTU would certainly not work. However, the 12k btu AC does cool down the trailer when you let it run. I also have a fan to circulate the cold air around the trailer. I bet if you let the AC run for hours, it will certainly be cool at night but I'd rather do that on a campground electric plug rather than run up my own energy bill.

I actually had an AC man out to repair my house AC and he said with these units, it is best to crack a window as to not create a 'vacuum'.

I am about to hit the road starting tomorrow, so my experience with the portable AC unit will be put to the test out in state parks.

I'll be posting and updating this thread and a "On the Road" thread as I can.

B

bambibooth · 06-26-2015, 04:24 PM

Tomorrow, I am heading out of Austin on my first road/camping trip in the Airstream.
Should be interesting! I guess I'll find out how much my work holds up to the conditions of the road.

I put in an anti-sway bar to keep her steady:

And, I have the 'gray tank'/ portable tank loaded up on the top of my SUV:

Starstream · 06-26-2015, 05:04 PM

Good luck on your trip.

I look forward to hearing and seeing the updates.

bambibooth · 03-19-2017, 07:43 PM

TL;DR – I tried to sell my Globetrotter with no luck, so I decided to start over on the remodel. See full post below.

I tried to sell her. I really did. TWICE, in fact.

Before the big trip:
I put her on the market before I left on a 6 month to 1 year long adventure in a much newer and larger Airstream (full-time, www.tincanplan.com if you're so inclined to read). People visited & people loved her. But, no one wanted to take her home. So, there she sat, in a lonely but not so alone storage facility living out her days under hot sun and stormy skies. So long friend, see you soon.

After the trip:
I brought her home after the long trip and put her up for sale again. Take it or leave it, I said! I'm not fixin' nothin'! The price is the price! Maybe it was too much or maybe she wasn't ready to leave just yet, because there she sat in that same lonely storage yard. Finally, I moved out of the newer Airstream and back in to a house built with sticks and brought the Globetrotter back to the front yard, determined to make her look her best. Actually, we brought her to Lowe's first while we were there to pick up some appliances for our stick house. Not the first time I've brought an Airstream to the local hardware store.

Now:
I gutted her again and decided to start fresh. This time, Mrs. Bambi Booth decided to get involved. She started with tenacity but now it has been a week's worth of hard work and I hardly see HER around the workplace (our front yard) any more. I shall continue without her!

New Flooring:

The flooring came out again! Last time, I used a click clack laminate flooring that I had from a duplex remodel. Neither of us liked it very much so we decided to change it up. It was a floating floor so it came up very easily. We went with some stick on vinyl “wood” planks this time around. This is about when I found out just how many imperfections were in the subfloor I replaced. I didn’t realize it, but the padding and the old laminate flooring really “tightened” everything up. This vinyl? Not so much. There are some pits and hobbers poking up a bit in places, but I can live with it. I am probably keeping her for a LONG TIME after this 2nd go round. Plus, the sticky floor is stuck good for now.

New Cabinets:
I went with some of those prefab cabs from Home Depot. I like the way they look and and they fit nicely with some modification. Some may say they won't hold up to the rigors of the road. For that, we will have to wait and see. I got them on clearance and the measurements fit so I'm pretty happy with how they are looking. I await the day I go to hop in there after a road trip to snuggle up and the cabinets are shattered! Fingers crossed.

New Counter
The Mrs. wanted a lightweight thin counter top she could DIY and I thought it might not work. It does have some worries but I think I can get past them. The sink from Ikea.

Moved the bed/gaucho
When we spent 3 weeks in the Globetrotter 2 summers ago, we both hated the folding gaucho bed. I decided to go with a super lightweight platform bed with some drawers underneath. IKEA had a nice twin that was lightweight and fit the bill. Again, the prefab might not last but it looks nice. Right now, I have a futon mattress on there but plan to get a nicer mattress. I stabilized the back part of the bed with some cross beams for the larger mattress with a curved back side. I forgot to grab a photo of that for now, but I'll post it soon.

I have the old interior cabinets and parts for sale locally, though I'm not sure how much value they really have.

Much more to come!

Hittenstiehl · 03-19-2017, 09:19 PM

We're following you in both places as we also have a GT (61) and will be looking for some ideas. Looking good so far.

dbj216 · 03-21-2017, 06:56 PM

We have a 66 Trade Wind and a 69 Globetrotter. If we mix them, it might be a 66 Globetrotter. We did not do a total make over like you folks, but we made both trailers functional for traveling. I guess that's the main purpose of an Airstream trailer. There was a lot of fixing on these old trailers as you can imagine.

Here is a couple of photos just for fun. I thought you might be interested, as the make your trailer look real good.

David