1962 Bambi - Floor and Frame, or Skin. Which first?

[crazyhawk]

Hi. I'm new here and doing my first airstream restoration. This Bambi needs some of everything repaired, replaced or installed. I've stripped everything out of her, including the interior skin, and I need to make a decision on what I should do first.

I think the two major directions I need to go are as follows.

Choice 1: Shell off frame repair, axle replacement and floor replacement.

Choice 2: Skin and rib repair/replacement, as Bambi has substantial damage to her aft port quarter (that's rear street side in the local lingo).

I assumed I would start with Choice 1 once I got to this point, which means I'd now be moving towards taking off the belly skin and shell. However, once I exposed the ribs and the interior surface of the outer skin, I'm inclined to work on that.

My question as a first timer: Does it matter if I do one before the other? Is there a natural order to things, and if I do things out of that order, will I be making a mistake?

[pinkflamingoes]

The frame and floor are absolute essentials so I'm inclined to say think you should start there first. Plus, if somehow a rib or actually part of the shell is damaged in the procedure of the aforementioned essentials, you can fix it afterwards with all of the rest of your rib/shell work.

Think of it as a house; you do the foundation and floors before you start repairing walls.

Looking forward to pictures!

[TG Twinkie]

Leave the axle(s) until you are ready to travel. Not sure if this coach has torsion axle(s). If so, they will age just sitting.

[crazyhawk]

TG, although what you say makes sense, I don't think I'll be able to wait till I'm done with the rest of the repairs to fix the axle. Whoever did previous repairs on Bambi changed out the torsion axles for leaf spring axles, and also brilliantly cut the plate that the old torsion axles were attached to. So I will need to do substantial welding to prepare for my axle replacement. I will be better off doing this when I have everything taken apart.







Am I better off keeping leaf spring axles since this drastic alteration was done in the past? My inclination is to go back to the original torsion axles.

[putback]

If you're going back to a torsion X I'd get that done sooner rather than later. With the interior skins out measure up how the shell sits on the deck originally, don't expect it to be dead on perfect. Pay special attention to the door frame anchor points. You're gonna want this info when reset the shell on deck. Lift off the body set it aside. Drop the belly pan. Repair the frame. Consider waste tanks now. Make/weld torsion axle mounting plates, upper shock arms if you're gonna use shocks. . Square / align new X to frame, bolt up the X don't weld it on. Consider floor insulation, yes or no than redeck frame. Reattach the belly pan. Reset the shell. That gives you a solid platform to build whatever you what.

[crazyhawk]

Putback, you make it sound so easy. My girl wonders if 'putback' means putback the airstream, cause there's so much to it.

Actually, thank you very much for the summary of the sequence. That's what I was looking for. These airstream rebuilds don't seem to come with manuals. I'll have to think on what you said about measuring up how the shell sits on the deck and paying particular attention to the door frame anchor points. I'll probably build the internal frame that so many people build to keep the shell all in line while it's off, then make templates or detailed drawings of certain areas, such as the door frame to make sure I can put it back together later.

I'm guessing you agree with pink flamingoes above about waiting on any skin and rib work.

Again, thank you Putback and others for your advice.