Visit our Popular Forums

uncle_bob · 10-13-2018, 07:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Isuzusweet

Ummmm. hate to burst your bubble, but your Ford has an aluminum body but the frame is steel, not aluminum.

Yes, frames can be made out of aluminum, BUT, the advantage over steel isn't as great as you'd think. In order to have the same tensile strength as a peticular piece of steel, the aluminum one must be thicker; thusly, there is very little weight reduction, if any, and the cost to build is much greater.

Cheers
Sidekick Tony

Hi

I have one of the aluminum body / steel frame F-250's. They significantly changed the design of the frame when they went to the aluminum body. It's actually heavier than the equivalent frame on an earlier truck. They depend less on the body for strength in the new design.

You don't see springs made out of aluminum. The heavy duty ones get made out of steel. If you have something like a spring the flexes all the time, you don't want aluminum. Frames flex (not much, but they do). Bodies can be designed so they don't flex.

Bob

Little Chick · 10-14-2018, 01:57 PM

Has an ID been determined on the “Woods” trailer? The rear and front look like my 1956 Bubble. In fact, it looks like the ends were cut off and a long midsection put in.

K9endgame · 10-14-2018, 08:20 PM

http://vintageairstream.com/photo-ar...overlander-26/

So stay with steel on a frame idea. Easy enough. We have it all cleared out getting ready to remove interior window trims/windows and then the skin. Will get pics soon enough.

To remove the windows from the inside I assume we just have to drill out all the rivets. Any other tricks? Same with all the ceiling vents.

Notebook was a good idea. Also the tank sizes from the newer models are a good start.

Thanks.

Bubba L · 10-15-2018, 05:16 AM

The fun begins. You are correct, remove the window trim then the interior panels. I would tag/flag the trim pieces from each window. I found it was much quicker and looked better to remake all the window trim pieces from scrap 3003 versus stripping the paint from the old. I bought a cheap bead roller and made a simple brake for simple angles. We stripped out the interior skin, insulation and wiring first, then removed the shell. I didn’t remove any windows until the shell was off the chassis and sitting on the barn floor. I was reluctant to remove the windows until the shell was removed because the shell was flimsy enough. The window frames used 1/8” buck rivets and were removed with an 1/8” drill bit. Went back with 5/32” rivets. Good luck and label everything, Bubba

steinVT · 10-15-2018, 07:34 AM

Welcome to the world of vintage restoration. When I got my '56, my plan was to patch the old frame. Talking with Colin Hyde he suggested that if I was going to replace the front 8 feet and the back 2 feet, why not just build all new. Glad I did, it was a big job, but now I know what I have. Below the level of the flooring, the only thing vintage is the rear bumper.

Maybe you probably already have, but I would suggest you spend many hours here on the forums reading what other people have done. We all have faced similar challenges and made some good decisions and some bad ones. No sense reinventing the wheel. A couple of the respondents to this thread are guys that do great work and do a good job of documenting it.

I think I heard on Vintage Airstream Podcast, also a great resource, that a restoration like you are beginning might be in more the 1000-1500 hour range. I tend to think 500 might be a little light. But who cares if you are having fun? I made a point of not trying to collect my hours. I didn't really want to know.

Anyway, good luck and above all have fun.
Mark

uncle_bob · 10-16-2018, 07:13 AM

Hi

One of my favorite questions to ask about a "restored" vintage aircraft - "what is from the original plane?". Often the original was a wreck when the process started. The answer typically gets down to a bit here and a bit there. Everything else was replaced with new.

Based on that, keeping the entire shell on an Airstream is doing *very* well !!! The frame (when new) was just welded up from a bunch of bits. There's very little the factory could do that a good local welding shop can't do. That goes double for a factory that's back in the 1950's and a modern shop ....

The big deal starting from scratch is to have a very good plan of what you are going to fab up. That's really not a lot more than you need for a rebuild that includes a bunch of mods (new tanks, new axle, new ....)

Bob