About to pull the trigger on '86 Excella 32 (PICS))

[DustDom]

Hello all,

My wife and I are about to pull the trigger on a '86 Excella 32, and I thought I'd get some opinions on it first. The outside is in great shape, but the inside has some fire/ smoke damage. This is OK with us, as our plans for it are to fully gut and renovate the inside (sorry, purists), and then park it and live in it for the next few years. The most it may be moved is from one site to another here in town.

My main questions are, how do the exterior pics look to you "trained eyes" out there? I've been lurking for a couple months now and have learned a LOT, but just want to be sure there are no other red flags that I'm missing before we go pick it up this weekend..

Link to auction I won: 1986 airstream excella 31ft | eBay

Thanks!

[Wabbiteer]

Wow - you got a lot of trailer for your money, keep your goals man-sized and do-able then keep chipping away at details to make them happen! I see a lot of small stuff sure, but that loose wiring under the trailer frightened me 800 miles away - good luck and remember no questions are the stupid questions, ask away!

[DustDom]

The loose wiring underneath is just a temporary run for the tail lights. The current owner said that when they got it the wiring harness was cut off, so they wired in a pair of temporary lights and ziptied them onto the bumper.

What do y'all think about the slight body separation in the rear part of the wheelwells? Is that what it is? And how bad does that look? The only thing I have to compare this one to are two other 31 foot 70's models I saw recently that were in far worse shape..

[Alsupp]

Not sure what you are pointing to with the body separation. Do you mean the underbelly pan coming off from the step rib? Overall, the unit looks in good shape. Our '83 Sovereign looks creepingly familar (less the "smoked" feature of the interior).

For what you are describing to do with it, and for the plans of redoing the interior, it looks like a good platform.

[Bill M.]

Exterior looks great to me. My understanding is that seperation occurs at the front or rear. I think you are just looking at the fit of the wheel well liner with those pictures.
Looks to me like you did well. I bought a 32', 88 Excella, paid a lot more than that for it, and had to make a frame repair. Yours looks to be in great condition outside.

[DustDom]

Yes, my concern was really with the small gap on both sides by the wheels where the exterior trim piece is separated from the steel beam. But that's great to hear, thanks y'all!