New owner of excella 500.. bit off more than I can chew?

[truebebeblue]

Ive been looking for an airstream for a couple years and this morning I bought one. I dunno what year it is picking up the title in a few hours ... Landyacht excelle 500.. with tambour doors so i'm thinking late 70s?
Anyway floor is the problem ....
you can see it from the OUTSIDE rear.
the rea tub side.... sitting on the ground nearly along with that side of the bumper.
every where else is solidl... I walked/stomped through and Im a BIG girl alot bigger than most men.
I stuck my hand through the gap in the floor and shell though.
I know its rotten needs replaced ect but why on earth is the bumperhanging like that too?
Did I make a huge un fixable mistake?
Thanksfor input/info,
True

[Chaplain Kent]

Welcome to the forums and congratulations on your purchase. Your description is intersting at best but pictures would be better. Also the year and length would be very helpful as well. As for fixing it, anything can be fixed if your wallet is big enough.

[Zed2]

Congragulations! Don't get discouraged,.
What part of Texas do you call home?
Keith

[truebebeblue]

Originally Posted by Zed2

Congragulations! Don't get discouraged,.
What part of Texas do you call home?
Keith

Corpus Christi at the moment!

[rebel beck]

We all have thought the same thing (Did we bite of to much) about a month ago I was at the point of giving up, the folks on here are soooooo nice and helpfull. My husband fell through the floor by the front window we cried then, but now we just laugh about it. We are not handy folks and it has been fun to see how much we can do. It's amazing how quick you can turn into a handy person when you own a Airstream. Hang in there and post pictures you will get all the advice you need.


Becky

[truebebeblue]

Originally Posted by Chaplain Kent

Welcome to the forums and congratulations on your purchase. Your description is intersting at best but pictures would be better. Also the year and length would be very helpful as well. As for fixing it, anything can be fixed if your wallet is big enough.

I didn't pick up the title after all will have to wait until monday...
Can you decipher the year by the numbers on the side?
off the plate I got
E31 ll7j 2400 cerritos ca
I assume the E 31 is excella 31 Any idea on the rest?
On the repairs... A welder we know is going over to take a look @ the bumper and the belly skin that is peeled back... he works on trailers and airstreams so I trust him... I didn't know that until today he had fixed a metal bed and a few other things for me previously.He is towing it to his place on monday. The trailer is REALLY solid..Skin is pretty straight.. few dings and a clean small dent in the curbside upper. I went to look again and all the glass is intact and everything even the central vac. So I think only the bathroom floor is a large problem... I think we can handle it tho.
Im very excited... it was just overwhelming when I wrote the original message.

[davidz71]

Welcome truebebeblue,
I was born and raised in Corpus Christi then went away to a military high school then college in Tennessee where I reside to this day. I make it down there every Thanksgiving.

According to your serial #:

E is for Excella
31 is the length
11 is probably a messed up D which stands for Rear Bath, Double Bed (if not tell me what configuation you have and I can give you the correct letter)
7 stands for 7th year of the 1970's so you have a 1977 Excella 500
J stands for Assembly Plant in Jackson Center, Ohio
2400 stands for the sequential Serial Number for the 1970's

Hope this helps.

[truebebeblue]

Originally Posted by davidz71

Welcome truebebeblue,
I was born and raised in Corpus Christi then went away to a military high school then college in Tennessee where I reside to this day. I make it down there every Thanksgiving.

According to your serial #:

E is for Excella
31 is the length
11 is probably a messed up D which stands for Rear Bath, Double Bed (if not tell me what configuation you have and I can give you the correct letter)
7 stands for 7th year of the 1970's so you have a 1977 Excella 500
J stands for Assembly Plant in Jackson Center, Ohio
2400 stands for the sequential Serial Number for the 1970's

Hope this helps.

very helpful It's a mid gaucho with two closets and a vanity opposite.
Thank you VERY much

[overlander63]

Your bumper lying on the ground, and the floor on top of it, sound like a broken or rusted-through frame rail. Your friend can probably tack it back together to get it back to his place without further damage. After you get it back there, I would want to know how far the rotten floor extends forward, how bad the frame and stringers (side braces) are, and what leaked to cause the damage, so you can get it fixed.
Good luck with it, and be sure to post pictures.

[davidz71]

Originally Posted by truebebeblue

very helpful It's a mid gaucho with two closets and a vanity opposite.
Thank you VERY much

That explains it. The 11 is probably an H. The vin # on my '77 was E31HS0619. It was a 31' Excella with curbside bed, streetside dresser with wardrobe cabinets on each side of the dresser. While it was a rear bath and what appeared to be larger than a twin bed, the T designation in the vin# was definately not there (H as noted above). My trailer may have had a gaucho at one time or another that was replaced by a different bed arrangement. Maybe someone else with a similar '77 can shed some light on this.

[66Overlander]

Originally Posted by davidz71

That explains it. The 11 is probably an H. The vin # on my '77 was E31HS0619. It was a 31' Excella with curbside bed, streetside dresser with wardrobe cabinets on each side of the dresser. While it was a rear bath and what appeared to be larger than a twin bed, the T designation in the vin# was definately not there (H as noted above). My trailer may have had a gaucho at one time or another that was replaced by a different bed arrangement. Maybe someone else with a similar '77 can shed some light on this.

I am working on a much more detailed and accurate 1959-1980 Serial Number decoder with Airstream. I have found a 1977 Excella 500 with a "G" (rather than an A, B, D, or T) for layout posted here on AirForums, but unfortunately that trailer was purchased gutted:
https://www.airforums.com/forums/f35...lp-132464.html

Now you note that you had a 1977 Excella 500 with an "H". I am trying to figure out what this means and have a guess that I hope you can confirm. It seems that in 1977 only, Airstream offered Excella 500s (and maybe 31' Sovereigns?) with an unusual front end layout. While typical 31' Airstreams had either gaucho across the front or an L-shaped gaucho in front with the sink and stove on the curbside and the fridge on the streetside, these unusual 1977 Excella 500s instead had the door located further rearward so that the gaucho could be on the curbside forward of the door facing to the streetside. The kitchen layout was reversed on these models with the sink and stove streetside and the fridge on the curbside.

You can see some photos of this unusual front end layout here:
http://vintageairstream.com/photo-ar...xcella-500-31/

And this layout is shown in the 1977 Excella 500 Owners Manual on page 44:
https://www.airstream.com/wp-content...manual-138.pdf

It can be seen in the 1977 Excella 500 Brochure, too:
https://www.airforums.com/forums/f17...re-129030.html

What was the front end layout of your 1977 "H" Excella 500?

My hunch is that "G" was twin beds with this front end layout and "H" was for double beds with this front end layout. Please search those memory banks. And maybe provide an old photo if you have one. Thanks in advance.