Seems as if fixing the frame will be a DYI job

[ND10CentCan]

Today we bucked our first rivets and have almost all of the channel on the shell. The rest will be done tomorrow and then we can attach it to the floor. Some things were harder than we expected (getting the shell down without catching the ribs and getting all of the holes in the shell to line up with the channel) and other things were easier (bucking is more fun than it sounds). It is great to see some progress on this project!

One question I have is about a number of free floating aluminum segments that are between the ribs of the outer shell. They are just lengths of channel type material (some has holes and others don't) that sit in between the ribs on the shell. We can't see that any of them have ever been attached but they just kind of sit there cross ways between the ribs. These pieces can be taken out and put back in with no trouble but we can't see what they are meant to be.

Another question is why there are some areas where there is no channel. There are three spots where there was no channel for a couple of inches. My husband says there has never been channel in those areas for no known reason. I wonder if they just didn't measure well and decided to use the too short channel pieces anyway. I think my husband is going to try to figure out a patch for those areas but I am concerned that it be able to keep the mice out and is sealed up well. Any ideas out there?

A final item from today is if I should go around on the top of each segment of channel with sealant before we start insulating and running wires? I didn't see any sealant above the channel from before but thought it was a good idea. I have also been entertaining thouights of how to seal every hole from the inside before we do anything else like wiring or insulation. Thoughts?
Rosie

[marzboy]

Ahhh yes the bucking of rivets. I actually love doing it. Lowering the shell and lineing it all up is tricky. I was supprised that I got most of it matched up. I don't think you can go wrong with running a bead of sealant above the inside channel. I'm gonna do it.

[clancy_boy]

Seal everything, then go back with the leftover sealant and seal again. If you still have time then go buy more sealant and seal again.

[ND10CentCan]

Originally Posted by marzboy

Ahhh yes the bucking of rivets. I actually love doing it. Lowering the shell and lineing it all up is tricky. I was supprised that I got most of it matched up. I don't think you can go wrong with running a bead of sealant above the inside channel. I'm gonna do it.

How are you planning to put the sealant on the inside channel? Do you have a special way to do it? We have a large syringe that my husband used to seal each of the rivet holes. I was thinking of just using that unless you have a better way.
Sandy

[ND10CentCan]

Originally Posted by clancy_boy

Seal everything, then go back with the leftover sealant and seal again. If you still have time then go buy more sealant and seal again.

I will definitely use plenty of sealant. I am wondering if I should seal all of the not replaced rivets as well. The windows all have to come out and that will mean we can't do the insulation just yet. We are trying to think of all the possible things to do before we start rebuilding the inside.
Sandy

[ND10CentCan]

If you can believe it, we have a shell attached to a floor!! Yippee!!

[Lance M]

Wow! That's great Sandy. Congratulations on a big accomplishment!

[wasagachris]

Uh Sandy I don't see any wheel wells. I hope you hubby has a plan on how to get them under the edge of the floor with the shell in place. The black outer whell wells have a lip that goes under the edge of the floor between the floor and the outriggers. That way they seal the opening between the floor and the wheels keeping the road water and debris away from the floor.
This may be an UFFDA moment.

[ND10CentCan]

Originally Posted by wasagachris

Uh Sandy I don't see any wheel wells. I hope you hubby has a plan on how to get them under the edge of the floor with the shell in place. The black outer whell wells have a lip that goes under the edge of the floor between the floor and the outriggers. That way they seal the opening between the floor and the wheels keeping the road water and debris away from the floor.
This may be an UFFDA moment.

I hope my husband has a plan for that; he usually has about 39 steps ahead of me all figured out. I know the wheel wells don't fit the same channel as we had before and we have to either order some parts or figure out something that will work. I don't want to be unhooking the shell at this point but I guess if we have to, then it will truly be an Uffda!

Another uffda is that I made 120 rounds of lefse today in preparation for Thanksgiving. Just like we didn't have anything better to do this weekend. The show must go on....
Sandy

[Wabbiteer]

I'm glued to this thread to see y'alls answer to well liner installation!

I'm locked into the same, I omitted wheel well liners on reassembly.

For me it was seeing the cheesy tuck-in the factory executed, leaving one to two-inch gaps between floor edge and the liner filled with tubes-worth of vulkem dumped in each side complete with snared rivets, shavings and paper from the assembly line... that had failed to glue the slick plastic anyway.

When I pulled them out the asphalt-based sealer/adhesive tape had totally failed from the amount of flexing heave and shrink they'd experienced, picture rubbing a wet paper label off a glass jar and thats how it looked. Plus they certainly interrupt the level of the floor.

I have the originals to model the new ones from - thinking maybe reinforced diamond-plate aluminum to handle possible tire problems...

[marzboy]

Originally Posted by ND10CentCan

I will definitely use plenty of sealant. I am wondering if I should seal all of the not replaced rivets as well. The windows all have to come out and that will mean we can't do the insulation just yet. We are trying to think of all the possible things to do before we start rebuilding the inside.
Sandy

I am gonna run a bead of sealent on the very top of the channel where it meets the inner skin. I was thinking about going with rain gutter seal. It is suppose to wick into cracks, as the trempro doesnt. I was reading a thread by Truckasauras he thinned the trempro down with some kind of thinner. I think I am going to pm him and arrowood.
You guys are knocking it out! This is quickly becomming my fav thread!

[ND10CentCan]

Originally Posted by wasagachris

Uh Sandy I don't see any wheel wells. I hope you hubby has a plan on how to get them under the edge of the floor with the shell in place. The black outer whell wells have a lip that goes under the edge of the floor between the floor and the outriggers. That way they seal the opening between the floor and the wheels keeping the road water and debris away from the floor.
This may be an UFFDA moment.

Hey Chris,
I asked the boss and he said the wheel wells are attached by a channel that fits over the subfloor and has a channel on the top that the plastic wheel wells sits in. Our replacement wheel wells are different than the originals so that whole affair had to be modified anyway. He said he thinks he will put on aluminum angle iron and then attach the wheel well on top with more aluminum channel. That and lots of sealant. Hopefully this works....we should probably be investing in sealant factories by the time all is said and done.
Sandy

[ND10CentCan]

Originally Posted by Wabbiteer

I'm glued to this thread to see y'alls answer to well liner installation!

I'm locked into the same, I omitted wheel well liners on reassembly.

For me it was seeing the cheesy tuck-in the factory executed, leaving one to two-inch gaps between floor edge and the liner filled with tubes-worth of vulkem dumped in each side complete with snared rivets, shavings and paper from the assembly line... that had failed to glue the slick plastic anyway.

When I pulled them out the asphalt-based sealer/adhesive tape had totally failed from the amount of flexing heave and shrink they'd experienced, picture rubbing a wet paper label off a glass jar and thats how it looked. Plus they certainly interrupt the level of the floor.

I have the originals to model the new ones from - thinking maybe reinforced diamond-plate aluminum to handle possible tire problems...

For some reason, our wheel wells were about shot on this trailer. I am not sure how that happened but my guess is that when the back fell out somewhere a few decades ago, that might have contributed to the wheel well failure. First thing my husband said when we got the first look at my Ebay purchase "What happened to that thing?". He noticed the rear curbside was dropped and little did we know the problems that caused.

We ordered new wheel wells awhile back and they have been here patiently waiting for us to start moving ahead. I spent a few hours cleaning "stuff" out of the wheel well channels before we thought to check the new ones against the old ones. They are different in the way they fit so we had to devise Plan B.

The coolest repair I have ever seen on this trailer was the 2 by 4 wedged in the rear end holding the black tank up. That was not something suggested by my dearest and despite his prowess as a woodworker, he did not endorse that method of frame repair to the Albatross. I don't think he is going to try to this method for the wheel wells either.

I would stay tuned on this placement of the wheel wells. Right now he is figuring out the banana wraps so the wheel wells will be happening shortly. If it doesn't work, we will be back to the drawing board. I think your idea may be a good one. We are learning as we go..and stealing lots of great ideas off of the good folks from the AS Forums.
Sandy

[wasagachris]

Well that solves the mystery, but I thought you were the BOSS. LOL
Sorry I didn't mention it yesterday but your trailer is looking really good. The floor looks fantastic especially with a shell attached.
I'm back on polishing now. Spent 6 hrs on it today and let me tell you i don't miss it one bit.

[ND10CentCan]

Originally Posted by marzboy

I am gonna run a bead of sealent on the very top of the channel where it meets the inner skin. I was thinking about going with rain gutter seal. It is suppose to wick into cracks, as the trempro doesnt. I was reading a thread by Truckasauras he thinned the trempro down with some kind of thinner. I think I am going to pm him and arrowood.
You guys are knocking it out! This is quickly becomming my fav thread!

Glad you are enjoying it and I am enjoying telling it blow by blow. Well maybe "Bang, bang, bang, bang" as the rivets hit the channel. This has most definitely been a learning experience every step of the way. We spend considerable time thinking things over and I am constantly consulting the Forums for information on each dilemma as we face it.

I think it is great that people are willing to offer up their time and experience to help others. We have gained so much from the people here. I think we serve more as an example of a turtle in the sand working against the tide. I keep telling my dearest that the next ten Airstreams we do will go much faster! Somehow he is not amused....
Sandy

[ND10CentCan]

Originally Posted by wasagachris

Well that solves the mystery, but I thought you were the BOSS. LOL
Sorry I didn't mention it yesterday but your trailer is looking really good. The floor looks fantastic especially with a shell attached.
I'm back on polishing now. Spent 6 hrs on it today and let me tell you i don't miss it one bit.

I like that he thinks he's the boss because then he doesn't realize that I am really the boss . I think he knows but let's all pretend he is Mr. Boss just for fun...

Thanks for the support on this project. It is slow going and everything seems to take a lot longer than we expected. And a lot more money and time. We are counting this as our entertainment as well. We must be the saddest couple to find this amount of work entertaining.

Dearest got one wheel well attached and is about done with the second one. He took angle aluminum and put it under the wood and up to the plastic of the wheel well. I can't describe it very well but I think his plan is going to work. He spent most of the day working on it so I hope it is good to go. My part is to go around and paint all the surfaces and then put sealant down as we go.

Meanwhile, I have undertaken the renovation of the emblems on the outside of the trailer. I have read that some people sand theirs down but not exactly sure about that step. I got the "Airstream" letters all taped up and ready to go. I am thinking I will use an artist's brush to put the blue in the letters. Any other suggestions?

I also got the red and white paint for the Airstream logo on the side. I think it is going to take longer to do the taping than the painting. I am sure other people are going to do it faster and better but I am going to give it a whirl.

I will post some pictures of that little part in the next few days. Depends upon how far I get tomorrow. I seem to end up doing a fair amount of running into town to get this and get that. Gopher is my name...
Sandy

[ND10CentCan]

Here are some pictures of the new wheel wells and some of the other progress on the Albatross. It doesn't seem like we have been accomplishing much at all but we have been busy all day over the holiday break. Except for me....I was cooking on Thursday and running for supplies and painting the rest of the time. My husband has been the hardest worker on this project so far.

WS Chris:
I tried and tried to convince him to order a new segment for the big hole in the front but he insisted on a patch. This one looks better than the old one but I would have preferred a new segment. Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose....
Sandy

[wasagachris]

Sandy really looking good. The patch will look better than a replacement if you want to polish the trailer.
About your question on the emblems and letters. I removed mine to paint them and then sanded down the face to get that part to shine.

[ND10CentCan]

Originally Posted by wasagachris

Sandy really looking good. The patch will look better than a replacement if you want to polish the trailer.
About your question on the emblems and letters. I removed mine to paint them and then sanded down the face to get that part to shine.

I as usual did it the hard way. I have to leave them on the trailer because dearest said he wasn't taking them off. I worked all day on them and they are not close to being done. Maybe by Christmas....I have been handpainting them bit by bit. I tried the Vaseline trick shared on the Forums...I think I did something wrong because I couldn't get it to work. Back to the drawing board.
Sandy

[wasagachris]

I still have a few placards to deal with. they are the ones with the raised painted letters. Haven't figured out how to get them painted after polishing them.