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ankornuta · 10-17-2006, 10:24 PM

Wow, thanks for all of the encouragement everyone! I'm still not totally sure what I'm going to do. My list of personal and professional projects is just daunting right now. However, I do know that I'll take some time and think about it. When I don't get to work on the trailer it just brings me down to look at it. Maybe I need to make some time and spend a few quality hours with the trailer this weekend.

Also, I'm all for the Gentlemen Jack! Maybe that's just what I need...

NorCal Bambi · 10-17-2006, 10:34 PM

My two cents. I'm 66 and I have enough projects to keep me busy until I'm 200. What I do each day is get up decide which project I will work on for the day and get started. Once I've started all the other projects just go away. And I get lost in the project of the moment. There is always another day for another project.
Don

ankornuta · 10-17-2006, 11:06 PM

I forgot to mention that part of my frustration is due to the fact that even though my new house is bigger and the yard is bigger, I somehow wound up with an even smaller area to work on my trailer! I didn't know that was possible. In fact, due to the way the trailer had to be backed into the yard through the turn in the alley, and how the alley comes into my backyard via a "channel" (photo attached) that is barely wider than the Airstream (it's literally three inches wider in total than the width of the marker lights), the curbside of my trailer is almost right up against my back fence (photo attached). I can't even open the door all the way which makes it hard to take all the stuff out of it which I need to do in order to keep working on it.

Alright, now I'm kind of just venting!

This weekend I guess I can see if I can somehow manuever the trailer out into the yard a bit more so that I can actually get into it to get some work done. I don't think I can move it with the Jeep because there's just not enough room. I'll see if I can do it by hand or with a come-along.

Oh, and I'm also including a nice picture of when I moved it over to the new place. A few additional new pics are also posted at: http://picasaweb.google.com/andrew.k...iforniaCruiser

dmaiden · 10-18-2006, 04:02 PM

Just park it in that nice grassy area in front. Nice and smooth to lay on and plenty of room to pile junk up.

You may get elected president of the Homeowner's Association!

ankornuta · 10-18-2006, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dmaiden

Just park it in that nice grassy area in front. Nice and smooth to lay on and plenty of room to pile junk up.

You may get elected president of the Homeowner's Association!

ha! Actually, that's the one picture that was at my old house. That's pretty much what I did there: http://picasaweb.google.com/andrew.k...65988271669266

For some reason they were all cheering when I moved...

The new house doesn't have anywhere to park in the front except for the rather short driveway. The garage is too low to get the trailer into...

3Ms75Argosy · 10-18-2006, 09:09 PM

seriously, summit racing sells some cradles for tires that may work with some modificatins on the axles, lowering the trailer ... I think there was a picture of Collins' GSM shop in the Vintage Thunder blog (search the pics page) where he has a dolly setup to wheel the trailers in and out of the workshop, as his door was too low with the tires on.

ankornuta · 10-19-2006, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3Ms75Argosy

seriously, summit racing sells some cradles for tires that may work with some modificatins on the axles, lowering the trailer ... I think there was a picture of Collins' GSM shop in the Vintage Thunder blog (search the pics page) where he has a dolly setup to wheel the trailers in and out of the workshop, as his door was too low with the tires on.

That is a really good idea. See, it's so helpful to have these forums to bounce ideas around. Sometimes I get stuck thinking along the same lines. I'm going to go home and measure my garage on my lunch break.

And actually, my garage is supposed to be a carport, one of my home projects is to convert it back into a carport so that it matches the mid-century modern ranch house look that the house was designed to have. When converting it back, I wonder if I could raise the roof a little bit, if needed....

ankornuta · 10-19-2006, 01:30 PM

Nuts! I went home and measured it and there's no way. My trailer is about 9 feet tall. Taking the wheels and tires off will buy me about 6-7". The carport is only 7 1/2 feet tall, so no dice.

I guess I'm back to plan A which is trying to maneuver it around my backyard a little (to the demise of the newly planted grass) to see if I can get it away from the wall enough to work on it.

ankornuta · 10-21-2006, 12:38 PM

I went out today to move the trailer around a bit, if I could, and start working on taking all of the stuff out of it that I had to pack in for the move to the new house.

Lo and behold, the front curbside tire was flat. So I jacked the trailer up a bit, took the tire off, and brought it to Discount Tire, where they patch leaks for free. They told me it would be a couple of hours, so I came home, had a beer, and was doing some yardwork. They called me back within about two hours and told me that the tire wasn't leaking at all, that it was actually the rim. Apparently it has a rust hole in it. Gotta love the Pacific Northwest. I didn't know rims could rust out like that. Luckily it's only about $33 for a new one just like the one that was on there. I should have that by Monday, they say. I guess I won't be working on the trailer anymore this weekend.

I don't think the pictures I previously posted really did justice to the difficulty involved in backing my trailer into this insanely tight spot it is in now. So I took some new ones, attached. And, as always, even more pictures are at http://picasaweb.google.com/andrew.k...iforniaCruiser

3Ms75Argosy · 10-21-2006, 06:58 PM

that is tight! Now I see what you mean. I'm assuming your yard is on the right of the trailer. Some thoughts. I have a "powercaster" http://powercaster.com/ to move my boat into my left/right/left townhome parking spot. It works great! You drive up to the gate as far as you can, unhook, and pull (not push) the trailer into it's spot with the powercaster. By pulling, you can bring it further into the yard, away from the wall. The only issue I see would be running a thick (less electrical resistance) to the powercaster from the plug.

Best money I ever spent. It moves at a walking pace, so you don't have to worry about scratching up your trailer on those walls!

Marc

ankornuta · 10-23-2006, 02:29 PM

Holy cow, that thing is awesome. I've always thought it would be cool to have a machine like that. Or better yet, a robot that could park your trailer for you

But at $900, that's really expensive. I wonder if there's a place around here that would rent one to me....

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3Ms75Argosy

that is tight! Now I see what you mean. I'm assuming your yard is on the right of the trailer. Some thoughts. I have a "powercaster" http://powercaster.com/ to move my boat into my left/right/left townhome parking spot. It works great! You drive up to the gate as far as you can, unhook, and pull (not push) the trailer into it's spot with the powercaster. By pulling, you can bring it further into the yard, away from the wall. The only issue I see would be running a thick (less electrical resistance) to the powercaster from the plug.

Best money I ever spent. It moves at a walking pace, so you don't have to worry about scratching up your trailer on those walls!

Marc

3Ms75Argosy · 10-23-2006, 09:55 PM

Uwe bought a used forklift.. I think I remember he thought it was pretty cheap. You could probably find one to rent for cheaper than buying though.. just find out if it has a ball attachment at the end of the fork leg.
Marc

Aerowood · 10-24-2006, 09:37 AM

You could always put a reciever and ball on the front of your tow vehical. Sometimes easier to push a trailer then trying to back it.

ankornuta · 10-24-2006, 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aerowood

You could always put a reciever and ball on the front of your tow vehical. Sometimes easier to push a trailer then trying to back it.

Hmmm... that's an interesting idea. Probably cheaper still than the forklift.

However, I think I'm going to just cut down a tree that's in my front yard, knock down the fence in front of the house's side yard, and put a gate in there. there's tons of room for my Airstream over there. I just need to make sure I'm not breaking any codes by doing that, since I'm in an historical neighborhood....

ankornuta · 11-06-2006, 04:34 PM

Bah. I'm going to be selling my trailer. In addition to all of the other stuff going on right now with my house and work, there's a good chance that I'll be moving to San Francisco soon (for my work). It's just the right trailer, wrong time, unfortunately. I'm still going to keep working on it if I am able to find the time periodically, until it sells.

But anyhow, thank you to everyone for all of your encouragement and great feedback. I've placed an ad for it on this website at: http://www.airforums.com/class...uct=2812&cat=6

I'd like to recoup my investment, but the whole interior is taken apart right now and the most important thing to me is that the trailer goes to a good home.

Some day, when I'm at a different point in my life, I will tackle a project like this again. This has definitely been the most fun non-work project that I've ever taken on.

**azflycaster** · 11-06-2006, 05:05 PM

This is a sad story. Too bad things are not working out the way you wanted them to. Have you looked into the possibility of storing the trailer untill you can get some of these other issues ironed out. You have alot of time and money invested in this project. You might come out better in the long run.

ankornuta · 11-06-2006, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by azflycaster

This is a sad story. Too bad things are not working out the way you wanted them to. Have you looked into the possibility of storing the trailer untill you can get some of these other issues ironed out. You have alot of time and money invested in this project. You might come out better in the long run.

Yes, I've thought about that. If worse comes to worst, that's what I'll do, but I have a feeling that it would be quite a few years before I could come back to the project.

Safari Tim · 11-06-2006, 08:53 PM

Please reconsider.

This just has bad mojo all over it. It feels like it will be one of those decisions you will look back on in a few years and wish you never sold it.

I'm sending you karma to help your decision....

scottanlily · 11-06-2006, 11:29 PM

hello ankornuta , Ive not posted on your thread before now ,Great job !!
by the way ,but I must say that this decision while seemingly important right
at the moment may be the wrong one .I feel that a project with as much hard work and effort as you have invested and with so much progress is a
keeper .You may never get back to another trailer to do ,there will always
be some reason to not have this or that .I personally know quite a few people that regreted terribly getting rid of these kinds of things and never having
another chance .Now thats not to say you will not have one ,I certainly
don't know the situation ,but maybe you can store your trailer somewhere
for the future ,when you can get to it .From the 25 or more pages of threads
you certainly have some passion in this project as you have actively posted
to us regularly on your great progress .Id go for the storage ,not the sale. most always the one chance you have ,as now you won't have again .

All the best

Scott of scottanlily

till · 11-07-2006, 10:18 AM

Ankornuta,

I can feel your pain. I have had some major issues with the locals with my Airstream project(s). It is a hard choice to make. My wife has always told me to sleep on it before making a major choice. Some times it takes a few nights sleep to sort out what to do.

This may sound stupid, but write out your options and list the pro's and con's of each. At our age I add a cost to the list also. Have the wife and kids help with the input to the list. Then when all is said and done, you know that you looked at all the options you could come up with. Some times you srtill go with the first gut reaction, but at least you had time to think it through before throwing in the towl.

Best of luck with your future and I will be pulling for you. I still love them two door models. Too bad you are so far away. I would try to store it for you.