David & Diane's '68 Safari Milestone

[dbj216]

Holly cow! Beautiful renovation! You folks are so talented. There's nothing you can't do on your kitchen table!

Congratulations! You have completed the "Full Monte" shell off restroration of your 68 Safari. Another vintage Airstream is back on the road looking for adventures. Enjoy the rally. I'm sure you'll have a long line of folks wanting to take a gander at your new old trailer.

Maybe someone will offer you $30 k for it. You probably wouldn't let it go. I'm guessing it's worth a lot more than you put into it. Better check your insurance coverage.

Have a great holiday season. And enjoy 2015 traveling in your new Safari. You earned it!

David

[DFlores]

David, thank you for your kind words. The people who have stopped in for the "tour" are echoing what you have said.......I might be getting a big head if this continues.

Thank you again


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David & Diane

[Lance M]

That is just AWESOME!

Enjoy yourselves!

[m.nolte]

Congrats! It's beautiful! You deserve all those compliments, so enjoy.


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[DFlores]

Still going strong.....just complete a 1500 mile trip. Everything we accomplished in our rebuild has worked out great.


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David & Diane

[dbj216]

Success! Watching hot air balloon races maybe. Is that like watching corn grow? We saw hot air balloons lift off early one morning in Reno. It was very interesting. The Reno air races were the next weekend and I think I would like that better.

It takes some perseverance to see a big project to the end. I've followed some rebuild threads where they just go cold, and some old Airstream sits. Often it is after the demolition phase. I think demolition is fun and cheap, there is a lot of change in the trailer for very little work. This goes on while people dream about how great their vintage Airstream is going to be. Then reality hits home. My frame is rusted, my floor is rotted, my plumbing is shot, and a new fridge costs $1300. Ugh, maybe I'll start tomorrow.

But you folks cleared off your kitchen table and went to work knowing full well what the job requires, and the surprises encountered. A lot of this trailer was built on your kitchen table, no? Now you travel in a very nice vintage Airstream, and probably turn down offers to buy it. I love your white picket fence.

Nice you gave us a little update.

David

[DFlores]

Yes, David we worked many hours on our kitchen table. These balloons were at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, First week of October 2016.

We thought an update was in order, just to let everyone know that new appliances and new products insulation plus all elements detailed herein worked for us and to quote a recently deceased friend "spend the money and do it right" (87MH)


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David & Diane

[dbj216]

My Reno hot air balloons travel horizontal, like aircraft are supposed to do. This is duly noted in my photo. It does take a "turbo fan" to get the balloons to do this. These balloons are much faster than traditional balloons.

David

[JRF0st3r]

David & Diane,
Your project was well underway when we were just starting so your outstanding renovation has been not just informational but inspirational. Like so many, we were surprised with the extent of reconstruction our Safari needed. Now we are glad we accepted the challenge now that it is roadworthy, although it may never be FINISHED. We owe much to you and other Air Forums participants.

We just returned from back to back trips to Hot Springs and Branson, the latter being with the Air Forums Mid West Fall Rally.

Jim & Jane

[DFlores]

Your Safari looks great, we are also still adding and modifying, plus maintaining what we have. Maybe we will run into each other on the road someday.


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David & Diane

[Monza]

Thanks for your thread! Lots of great info for my own reno.
Your trailer came together looking perfect.

I'd love to hear more info on fixing up the old plastics.

"Diane has refurbished all interior ABS plastic pieces, with mesh plastic and PVC glue patches and reinforcement. She developed a real talent for this repair."

Some details on this would be great.

Thanks

[Bubba L]

Monza, we've seen Diane's spectacular work on the ABS up close and personal. It looks great. Hope she divulges her technique. Lots of luck. Bubba L

[DFlores]

Monza, process is as follows:
1) Clean the backside of piece
2) Rough up the surface with sand paper
3) Pull cracked parts together and clamp if possible
4) Apply PVC glue along crack
5) Put mesh type drywall tape into glue
6) Apply more PVC glue over mesh
7) Allow to dry
8) Do another layer of the mesh if necessary
9) Sand glued mesh down a bit for smoother finish, it will look like a grid, but it is on back side.
10) Paint with Krylon Fusion paint

Diane

[Monza]

Thank you.

[Libtech]

It was nice meeting you this weekend. Just checked out your whole build. Hoping mine turns out half as nice as yours looks. Can't wait to get mine done and maybe meet up with your group of "old guys" sometime.

[dbj216]

Hi Libtech: Gee, we meet again. I didn't realize you were new to Airstream Forums. Welcome from Colorado.

I too followed Dave and his wife's renovation of their trailer. It appears they built a lot of it on their kitchen table! They are very skilled builders. They have a very nice Safari.

I had a 66 Trade Wind, and now have a 75 Overlander. We also have a 86 Limited. I have enjoyed working on these old trailers through the years. And I enjoy traveling with them. The vintage Airstream hobby is a lot of fun for me.

Hope to see you around the Forums.

David

[bsaa10bill]

What did you use to make 1/2 inch air space for wiring? Where did you mount your power control center and battery? I'm doing over my '68 Safari twin that I bought gutted, so I don't know where everything went originally. Pioctures would be helpful. Thanks

[JRF0st3r]

Welcome to Air Forums!

Do the rewiring with interior skin off and it's important to totally rewire for your requirements, not try to patch into existing aluminum. In general wiring will compress new insulation enough so as to not require an extra space and your Safari could use all the insulation it can hold.

SketchUp model attached shows our overall design, all new except for bathroom fixtures. Batteries and 12V fuse panel are beneath the aft bench seat for the dinette / gaucho. Control panel is forward of the dinette on top of our AC/DC Isotherm marine drawer refrigerator. Converter is beneath the forward bench seat, sharing the vent chimney with the refrigerator.

The full story of our restoration including lots of pics is under the same 1966-68 Safari category listed as Jim + Jane's 1967 Safari, or something like that. Please let me know when I might be helpful to your adventure.

Jim

[Bubba L]

Originally Posted by bsaa10bill

What did you use to make 1/2 inch air space for wiring? Where did you mount your power control center and battery? I'm doing over my '68 Safari twin that I bought gutted, so I don't know where everything went originally. Pioctures would be helpful. Thanks

I’ve read all of David’s thread and followed through on the means and method of insulating. We used Prodex, though some use Reflectix. He installed the first layer against the outer skin then ran his wiring. I believe he ran 1” or 3/4” X 2” styrofoam strips. Then he installed the top sheet of Prodex. The objective is to create a dead air space as a thermal break for heat and cold. I’ve been in his trailer and the insulation is working great and also keeps outside noises at a minimum. Good luck, Bubba

[DFlores]

Bubba L is right on the mark, we used 2” wide strips of The “fomumalar” sheets available from Home Depot to create the air gap. We used many rolls of double stick carpet tape to adhere everything, plus one layer of R-max panel as the most interior layer. As for the control center, I put it behind the wall where the old water heater was located, the new water heater did not occupy the space the original did. I put my trailer back together as per original floor plan, was concerned about weight distribution. Sorry for the delayed response.....we are camping with the kids again....cold front blew in last night maybe 35 degrees...testing the insulation again...works great.