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chiefair · 01-23-2017, 08:15 AM

Very impressive!

Keyair · 01-25-2017, 11:12 PM

Thanks Chief!

The seat trimming is moving forward with the backrest and armrest stripped and ready for patterning.

Decided to change it up tonight with some wheel work.
#1 Alcoa on the bench for some love. The other side is already polished, but thought I better do the other side to allow me to rotate the tires at will if I need to.
I was a little surprised to note that the unpolished side is quite rough machined with obvious grooves in the machining that required me to DA the surface with 220g. Visible in these pics.

Progress, and one side better, but I need some finer grit for the DA, as it left some swirls.

Only 5 1/2 more to go....

Toddnazus · 02-08-2017, 07:23 AM

We also had to replace our windshields (both sides) do to some cracks...

First, when we insured our 1985 345, we got windshield replacement policy.

When we took it to a local airstream service center, they contacted a windshield replacement company and had them custom made.

The total cost of replacement was ~$2,500, however, since we had the window replacement policy, we only paid $500.

Hope this helps.

Todd

Keyair · 02-08-2017, 09:32 AM

Thanks Todd, good info, that I will investigate.

Quick update.
New Carb is due to arrive tomorrow from Cliff Ruggles!
New thread arrived for the upholstery too.

On a side note, or Family gained a new member on Saturday, to help heal the hole left by the loss of our beloved Moose.

Meet Latte!
She is a 4 1/2 month old Rescue mutt, that was found as a stray. The whole story is in the pet section.

Kreimer · 02-08-2017, 10:35 AM

Beautiful!!!!! Congratulations on the new kid!!!

Keyair · 02-08-2017, 10:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kreimer

Beautiful!!!!! Congratulations on the new kid!!!

Thanks!

Hope to have some pics of Cole and his little sister hanging together soon....

At the moment, he is not impressed or happy, and avoiding her after he snapped, and got corrected by me on day 1.
His attitude is like "What did you guys do?", followed by "Ok, i'm not looking at the Puppy, not smelling the puppy..." Total avoidance... LOL.
We had a trainer in today to assess and advise, and are making a few changes to help him accept the new addition.

gaiaenviro · 02-15-2017, 12:53 AM

Keyair
For what it's worth I replaced all 8 tires last year with traction style metrics and have liked them. I have 1-1/2 miles of gravel road from my place to pavement, and hoped they would hold up better on that. We have about 10k miles on them so far with no issues. Also, no additional road noise from the tread for what that's worth...

-Bill
Sent from my iPhone using Airstream Forums

Keyair · 02-15-2017, 03:18 AM

Thanks Bill!
What make and model did you put on?

Keyair · 04-07-2017, 03:42 PM

Well, I thought I was gonna get back to it....

GF needed an upgrade to her daily driver, so after a few test drives and searching we decided on a Mercedes ML320 Bluetec Diesel.

We finally decided on one in FL, on Ebay.
2009, 56k miles, Metallic Black, Premium 1 and 2 packages, HID headlamp options that we wanted. Seller had stellar feedback.
We won it at we thought was a reasonable price, and it took a further 2 weeks to organize/ship.
At first sight, we were happy...

However...
Not Obsidian Black Metallic, No Premium 2 Package(Parktronic, Mem seats, etc), No HID headlamps, undisclosed damage, and worst of all, the CEL light was on.
3 months of battle ensued, which is not completely finished.
We were unable to return the vehicle and get a refund, so we dug in and got a substantial refund from Ebay VPP to cover the damage, and CEL.
The CEL condition, meant we could not Smog and therefor register it in CA, and it turned out to be the "Adblue Tank Heater" had failed, which Mercedes Benz Dealer quoted $2100 to fix...
Dealer is now out of business, and there is quite the investigation going on...

Anyway, it was a battle, but we got there, and now we have quite a nice Mercedes with a 7200# towing capacity... so who knows what might sit nicely behind that in the future!

On top of that, we have my Son's Wedding coming up, and family arriving , so we have the guest bathroom torn out and contractors to watch over!
Never a dull moment!

mayco · 04-08-2017, 06:36 AM

I too have purchased a daily driver, sight unseen other than pictures, on EBay. Sorry to hear of the pita it has been for you. Drag! I got lucky and didn't have any surprises. It was a Cadillac Eldorado that we drove for several years. I think the only thing we replaced was a water pump. Hope the Benz works out and you get satisfaction on the purchase. Sounds like you've got an overflowing plate right now......looking forward to seeing progress on the upholstery when you get back to it.

Mike

Keyair · 04-08-2017, 11:56 AM

Yup, it was just an added distraction that I didn't need.
Its a great vehicle at its core, but the missing Memory seats, Mirrors, steering column, KeylessGO, and parking sensors is a pain, and not what we planned.

We ended up replacing the whole Adblue tank assembly, as it is common for the failures to cascade. The heater goes, so you replace that, then the pump goes, then the level sensor. I gather that the synthetic urea solution is corrosive, an causes crystals to form in the tank if its not flushed and changed every 2 years. As this was a low mileage vehicle, I think that was the issue.

Anyway, it is a pleasant ride, and goes like a storm with its 3.0L V6, with 210hp, but 400ftlb of torque. Its kinda "Upsidedown" with its power band... what I mean is the power is all at the bottom end of the rev band and falls off as the engine speed rises. When the 7 speed transmission changes up it pulls hard each change... Kinda fun. Last week it did a 250 mile round trip to Palm Springs and it was averaging over 30mpg, which is pretty impressive for a 5000lb SUV. Around town we are getting 24mpg is so which is double what the Range Rover does on Premium gas, and diesel is currently 30c cheaper here! Same motor as in the Sprinter Van I believe.

I spent some time, easing out some dents in the bumper trims, replacing the wheel badges, and doing some touch ups to to some chips and scratches. An early oil and filter change and we are all set for the Wedding in May, which will be a 1000 miles round trip, with 5 adults to Sedona!

Other new... The Subaru Outback is gone from the fold... the Boy graduated UCLA and got a job, so got himself and new Subaru with a maintenance package!

On another note, the new puppy has settled in to our household nicely and Cole has finally realized she is staying so he made peace with her!

Isuzusweet · 04-08-2017, 01:25 PM

Great find on the wheels and the paws.

Buying a vehicle through Ebay is hit or miss, mostly miss, and you're in a different state and it's a pain to rectify. I've told a few people thinking about buying an Ebay vehicle that having the person selling the vehicle send you a detailed description, right down to warning lamps lit, is mandatory, BEFORE you think about bidding.

Make sure you keep changing the oil as turbo's hate dirty oil.

Cheers
Tony

Keyair · 04-08-2017, 03:12 PM

Thanks Tony,
Yeah, we thought we were safe buying from a dealer, with a detailed description....
The oil was only 3k old, and Mercedes system says it will do 10k between changes, but I plan to limit it to 5k, or once a year, whatever comes first. I have a stash of filters at the ready, but the oil is kinda special and harder to find, Mobil 1 ESP synthetic. Good news is that the 2 weaknesses on this model is the engine oil cooler seals(Done at 48k), and the Adblue tank issues... so fingers crossed we will be in good shape for another 50k.

Keyair · 07-03-2017, 12:09 PM

Wow, just WOW.

Photobucket is where every single pic on my threads was hosted...
Now they have shut off all 3rd party hosted images unless you pay them $400/year.

This is extortion.

Not happening, and I doubt I will find a way to reintroduce all the images into this forum or others...
It sickening.

I have no words.

bkahler · 07-03-2017, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keyair

Wow, just WOW.

Photobucket is where every single pic on my threads was hosted...
Now they have shut off all 3rd party hosted images unless you pay them $400/year.

This is extortion.

Not happening, and I doubt I will find a way to reintroduce all the images into this forum or others...
It sickening.

I have no words.

Ouch, definitely extortion.

I never trusted the photo hosting websites. I guess that's why I just upload photos to Airforums.

Contact one of the moderators and see if there's a way to rebuild your posts with photos hosted by Airforums. Bound to be a hassle but I don't know what else you could do.

Boom Sounds · 07-03-2017, 05:13 PM

Shocker, they took your content and personal info and then charged you for the privilege; that is extortion.

DaveFL · 07-04-2017, 06:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keyair

Wow, just WOW.

Photobucket is where every single pic on my threads was hosted...
Now they have shut off all 3rd party hosted images unless you pay them $400/year.

This is extortion.

Not happening, and I doubt I will find a way to reintroduce all the images into this forum or others...
It sickening.

I have no words.

Sorry to hear of your loss(and ours)
When you find a good thing on the internet for free enjoy it while you can, anything posted including this forum will be at a charge. When members have donated enough to write an encylopedia of fixes they will charge, starts with ads, then upgrades;(
Look at the news of the day with ad blockers and see how many now require subscriptions.
Did you copyright any of your pictures? Did you incorporate a watermark?
Extortion it is! But for those holding the cards or the files it is a waiting game waiting for the right moment to act.
Right now they have an irritating marker here getting in the way of edits at the end of the line offering better edits by upgrading;(
Dave
PS. started with computers 50 years ago for free and not too surprised by this EXTORTION!

martin300662 · 07-04-2017, 11:32 AM

Something strange going on.

All my photos are on Photobucket as well, and are still showing, and I have had no notice to say anything is about to change.

Keyair · 07-04-2017, 11:39 AM

Martin,
You might be lucky...
All my pics are still there and I have copies on my computer anyway, so not worried.
Its just the loss of descriptive photos in each post that hurts the thread... and others... I remember what I did, others now cant see.

Lets see if the mounting pressure brings them to reality.

bkahler · 07-04-2017, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by martin300662

Something strange going on.

All my photos are on Photobucket as well, and are still showing, and I have had no notice to say anything is about to change.

Martin, this might be a case where Photobucket is just rolling out this "change" and they just haven't' gotten to you yet. It could be something as simple as working their way through the alphabet