It has begun!

[MJMarkhams70]

Well we brought the AS home on Wednesday and decided to not let things sit around. We cleaned out the interior of the debris that was left over from the PO's attempt of removing the front floor. We have decided to replace the entire floor. We removed the cabinetry all the way back to the fiberglass in the bath... It was a crazy busy weekend for us. Next weekend should have more work in store. I am going to repaint all the glass and hope that it all goes back in with not a whole lot of hassle. The potable water tank will be replace, as I am not quite sure if I want to use an almost 40 year old water tank... The frame will have some metal work done and then the whole thing will get treated with POR15... lots to do...

[azflycaster]

Looks like you are off to a great start. You might want to think about a few other upgrades while you have everything apart. I would replace the Univolt with a modern 3 stage converter. I recently installed an Intelipower 9245 in my trailer and I am very pleased with the new unit.

I would also take a good look at your copper water lines and think about replacing them with PEX. It looks like you have at least one patched area, most likely from a freeze, there could be more. You will never have a better time then now to make the swap to PEX.

[MJMarkhams70]

Originally Posted by azflycaster

Looks like you are off to a great start. You might want to think about a few other upgrades while you have everything apart. I would replace the Univolt with a modern 3 stage converter. I recently installed an Intelipower 9245 in my trailer and I am very pleased with the new unit.

I would also take a good look at your copper water lines and think about replacing them with PEX. It looks like you have at least one patched area, most likely from a freeze, there could be more. You will never have a better time then now to make the swap to PEX.

Good thought on the PEX. I am most likely going to replace all the water line and the gas lines as well. I would just feel at ease that I would have a better chance to not have a leak... All of the sub-floor is getting coated with epoxy paint on the bottom before being screwed down then the top will get it as well. I have been reading quite a bit over the last week and i will paint all the edges of the floor as well. it wont rot again in my lifetime...

[dieseleagle]

Good luck. Its not just an adventure, its a heck of a job. But, keep in mind that its just the sum of a lot of little very doable projects. One day you will wake up and it'll be starting to look like something to be proud of.

[MJMarkhams70]

I am already proud to be a young member of the Airstream family... I really love projects like this. I hope that in the end, we have a fun, usable and comfortable camper that's better than original, that we can use for many years to come...

[AIR-Quarius]

well at least you can say that you know exactly where everything is located when you get finished...thats pretty neat-we were sitting here looking at how our bathroom looks without walls....cool. If you ever need any photos of our interior for reference, look me up. Bill

[MJMarkhams70]

quick update: floor is gone and we are almost ready to separate the body from the frame...

[moosetags]

It looks like you're making great progress.

Brian

[MJMarkhams70]

we are finding that we have a few more things to deal with than we would have liked, but in the long run, the AS will be all the better if we do. I will be doing some fab work on some new outriggers as well as the outriggers with the slide groves for the step. I am sure there are technical names used for these things, so bear with me... I am no stranger to the restoration process so I know the wife and I can do it... here is the last project I went through
before:


after:


this is gonna be fun...

[danalee]

You sure have talent! Its going to be fun to follow your journey!

[MJMarkhams70]

well, I appreciate that.

After some serious thought, the first major purchase will have to be a pair of drum to drum axles... after really looking at what i have, I cant put this thing on the road with what is there. too many issues. I would say that i have about 10 degrees of negative angle on the trailing arms. and the brakes and drums are gone. If it's worth doing might as well do it right. the frame will be blasted in the next few weeks and new metal welded in where needed (outriggers mainly). then I will treat the whole thing with rust preventative paint. Lots to do...

I was thinking of a few things that I want to try to do that will make things a little more functional. One of the things is to add an outside shower where the current door for the 12v converter is, since access to water is a very short distance away. I would create a shelf for the new converter that would be above that in the closet to be above any water that could possibly leak. thoughts?

[MJMarkhams70]

it was a great weekend for the AS... The shell is separated from the frame. Now the cleaning, cutting and welding of the frame is now the next step in the process.

The wife found a great combination of two Bio-Friendly products that are doing a fantastic job at removing the paint that a PO put on the interior panels...

It's HOT these days, temps hitting 100, so I get to sweat my gut off while getting work done...





let the stuff in the jug sit for 10 minutes, then spray it down with the spray bottle and it lifts right off. Arms still get tired doing a whole panel buy it's not bad if your trying to save the original stuff...

[utee94]

Looking good MJM. The work on your bug is fantastic, and I'm looking forward to seeing your Airstream renovation.

I like the idea of the outdoor shower. Looks like you might surf, and an outdoor shower would be a great help in keeping the sand out of the trailer.

Good luck and keep us posted.

-Marcus

[sempi2]

OMG, we went with a newer-used A/S.I am working on just replacing the cushion covers and bedcover. But do admire all the work you are doing, along with all the other vintage streamers. So much work, so much rewards.