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Rob&Julie · 06-29-2010, 06:42 PM

My wife and I bought an '88 Excella in 2008 at an auction about a week before her dream home came up for sale....100 yr old family farm house. Needless to say the Excella took the back burner until the reno's were complete, well "complete" will never happen but it is sufficiently "complete" :-) And I didn't really get into this forum too much back then, you will likely see more posts from me now...

The Excella was a DND Mobile Recruiting Office, so everything was ripped out and made into a 6 person "classroom" with a private office in the back.

Initially I thought it was a factory 2 door Excella, there is a previous post of mine on this, but I have recently figured out that DND installed the door. Our thoughts were to try and keep it in the master bedroom but if we do that it limits the rest of the trailer, also we have two small kids so we need two twin beds and the door would be in the way for one of them. Now we are thinking about making it an exterior access to a utility closet but all the floor plans I have seen don't have any storage for outside stuff like life jackets and other swimming apparel. We are scratching ourheads at the moment.

i just wanted to put this thread out there and pick your brains on options....

Any thoughts?

freejack5555 · 06-29-2010, 07:22 PM

Can you post some pics of your AS? It would be better to have an idea of what you see. There is so much you can do, especially with it already cleared out. The great thing about the AS is you can make it what you want. I do like the idea of the closet door but it would be best to be able to use it for a door. Its really a matter of thinking outside the box.

If it were me, I would think about possibly arranging the beds into a murphy bed style. You could do it on the one side that way you could get in and out of the door and then when you need the bed you could just lower it down. There is so much height compared to a twin mattress that you could pull it off. Then you could use the space when closed to also put a desk in.

Rob&Julie · 06-29-2010, 07:45 PM

Will do.

Rob&Julie · 06-29-2010, 07:48 PM

Oh and what the heck is the big "bumpy" vent thing on the roof of airstreams? its on the opposite side of the range fan and about 2/3rds of the way down from the centerline of the roof. its leaking, which is why I ask. I'll add pics for that as well

Aviator · 06-29-2010, 10:27 PM

I think you are asking about the vent for your refrigerator.

Rob&Julie · 06-30-2010, 08:07 PM

Well here she is....

The door doesn't have a step, a drip edge along the top, or inside trim....this makes me think its an after market install

i also added the bumpy thing

there are more pic in my gallery if you're interested

NJtoNC · 06-30-2010, 08:18 PM

totally aftermarket. no blue trim on bottom. an exterior access door for a closet is an awesome idea. maybe add a pull-out hose for cleaning dirty feet? or...

- keep it as an emergency exit
- use it as easy access to the bathroom
- put an 'entrance' sign on it and an "exit" sign on the other door
- turn it into a 'duplex' trailer, and rent out the back half

3 Dog Nite · 06-30-2010, 08:28 PM

I do like the bathroom access idea. It would generally keep inquisitive eyes from wandering through the TT when the campfire is hosted at your campsite. It would also keep the kids from tracking sand & water in after the trip to the beach. It could also serve as a mud room with an inside door.

With an open floor plan, you should let your imagination run wild before making any comitments. Who said the master bedroom had to be in the back? With many sites being pull through nowdays, you might want the privacy of sleeping in the front.

Ricky

Rob&Julie · 07-02-2010, 06:05 PM

Here is what I'm thinking so far....also I have most of this in the "sealant" sub-section....that thread meandered into a floor plan conversation.

After much searching, I am partial to having a wrap around dinette at the front with a table that would make a double or queen bed. We have about 6' 6" from the windows to the door, leaving a bit of space from the front door frame for extra large people. Also, we could leave a bit of ledge around the back for holding drinks, or for small children to climb and get their fingerprints in places that make you stand back and say, "Now, how in the heck did he get pudding prints up there???"

The range fan/vent is on the left side of the f/door so we thought that we would put the range there with the sink beside it, I think that is the original config. Fridge vent is opposite the range...sorta. so its likely destined to stay there.

The aftermarket door in the back remains the conundrum...its one of those things that regardless of the final decision it will limit the final design, possibly forever. Utility closet with outside access is at the top of the list right now....with an outside bathroom access coming in at a close second. With the dinette at the front this may free up the space for the bathroom to be a bit bigger on the curbside allowing for the sapce required for the outer door. weight distribution may be an issue at some point though if the range, bathroom, and sink are all on one side.

We were also thinking about switching the inside skin to aluminum where it would be visible. If so, we would take out the front control panel, this may cause the "purists" to gasp

I am not a purist....to an extent. I do believe that the style should remain Airstreamy but she's an '88 Excella and I'm really not into the late '80's motif. I was there once before, skin tight jeans and "hair band" style mullets and all, I have no desire or need to go back.

With two kids that we would like to keep around for awhile, the rear bedroom needs two twins and we need to be able to close it off or there will be no "kid-free" time at any point which would add marital stress.

Oh, and what can go under the floor vs stay hidden somewhere in the cabinetry. I'm talking about pumps, inverters, generator, hot water units, etc..

Btw, is an Airstream a "she"? or is that completely politically INcorrect??

Thanks
Rob

emerger · 06-29-2011, 10:52 AM

I am making a airstream excel into a mobile showroom and I would like to find out where I could purchase a door for the exterior

Rob&Julie · 07-01-2011, 02:45 PM

I purchased this beast at a DND Gov't Surplus auction. The door was on it when I bought it.

I believe I received this link from someone here on the forum....or possibly from Craig Dorsey I spoke to him a few time as he lives relatively close to me. If you haven't heard of craig, google his name and you'll see he is pretty much the best renovator of AS's. I write like I know him...I don't I just spoke to him a few times ;-)

Any way here is the link it has pretty muck anything you need. VintageAirstream - Suppliers

Rob&Julie · 07-01-2011, 02:54 PM

oops "much" not "muck"

Condoluminum · 07-01-2011, 03:46 PM

FWIW, there are very few Airstreams headed for museums that need to represent perfect replica's of the original design, fitments, etc. Since yours is more than 20 years old, and was modified after sale into a completely non-standard trailer anyway, I'd be completely uninterested in "what people would think..." Figure out a floorplan and layout that works for you and family, and go with it... It is yours to enjoy, and I suspect you'll get more admiring looks than critical looks...

All you need do is attend a large rally with a variety of older trailers once to understand that peoples' tastes differ, but are just opinions after a certain point, and if you are happy with how it works for the family, decare victory and move on....

>> And yes, the long metal hump on roof was the vent fabricated for the refrigerator flame burner.. If you have no refrigerator, that would be the place to put one...

Rob&Julie · 07-02-2011, 08:35 PM

Thanks Condoluminum, You must be clairvoyant; that bump actually came off today! I haven't even thought about the AS for quite awhile and decided this morning to check the wiring and fix the bump. There is now a "nice" aluminum patch in its place that hopefully won't leak. I say "nice" because my power shears died on the first cut for the patch so I had to shake the rust off the metal shears. It's not pretty but it works and it's on top where most people won't see.

Condoluminum · 07-03-2011, 03:25 PM

I wasn't actually proposing to remove and seal the refrigerator vent.. Installation of any RV refigerator would require another similar one to be installed over back side of refrigerator wherever it ends up, in addition to a side vent/grill directly outside of the refrigerator... If you expect to always have electricity, you may not need an RV model with propane hookups...

Rob&Julie · 07-03-2011, 05:11 PM

Not to worry, it was off before I saw your post :-) It will be a number of years before we do a complete reno of the trailer....all the money is in the "pit" = century old farm house. So we are making it more of a mobile tent for the next little while. I will eventually gut it down and build it back up.

Thanks for the post.

Rob

Skatiero · 07-16-2011, 08:00 PM

How cool to have that extra door! Have you thought more about how to set up your interior? We have an 89 excella rear twin and ate making it into a bunkhouse since we have a large family.

Darkspeed · 07-16-2011, 08:06 PM

+7 difficulty for Chinese Fire Drill

Rob&Julie · 07-17-2011, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skatiero

How cool to have that extra door! Have you thought more about how to set up your interior? We have an 89 excella rear twin and ate making it into a bunkhouse since we have a large family.

We've been using it as is for the last few seasons. We have noticed that its nice for Thing 1 and Thing 2 to have a runway and they are getting more and more on each others nerves so the rear door may become a 2ndary escape route instead of an outside access utility closet. It may minimize the soft tissue damage and blood letting ;-)