Bringing Home Flossy (68 Sovereign)

[dogmatix]

Hello all. My husband and I are the proud new parents of a 1968 Sovereign we've named "Flossy". We're picking her up on Saturday and are very excited. She's pretty rough so we'll be using the forum a lot for advice and support on our new Airstream journey. Amazing to see how many people are into this, "new to us", Airstream culture.

[Aage]

Congratulations on your new "baby", although at 30', that is a BIG baby

And welcome to airforum.com, repository of all things Airstream.

Now: where are the photos!??

[Seymour1971]

Hello,

Congratulations. We are in Durham just down the road from you. Let us know if you have any questions. We are also slowly rehabing a 1971 GT (Seymour). Again, welcome and you will love your AS.

[62bam]

Welcome.....I hope you have a great time with your new "baby". Be careful, we started with one "baby" 20 years ago, and now we have 3 of them.....they are habit forming!

[Dakota's Dad]

Congrats!! my wife and I are in a hotel right now, halfway between home and airstreamguy's home, where we will pick up our first, no name yet, a '79 Sovereign International.. I wish you luck on your first tow.. we are hopeful that ours in uneventful, but we have allowed 4 days to go 700 miles...

[dogmatix]

Thanks guys. We're bringing lots of tools, grease and a jack for the pick up AND enough cash to buy a new set of tires. We'll be driving about 200 miles with her.

Right now I'm thinking instead of Flossy we should call her Pandora. TeeHee

Seymour; I'm sure I'll be taking you up on that offer.

We're hoping this will be a great and lasting project for our family and we hope it will give us lots of lasting memories.

Pictures posted tomorrow!!!

[Blue Pearl]

Welcome to the 1968 family. A lot of us here. We are 6months into our rehab and polish of our 1968 Ambassador. LOTS to polish!!!

Have fun and keep us updated with pictures, we love to see others progress, it gets us off the computer and working on our trailers!!

[goswick]

Hi,

We are in Durham as well and just brought home "Lucy" yesterday (6/25/2009) and we are looking forward to many years of enjoyment with her.

We (dogmatix and Seymour1971) are close enough that we could meet for coffee sometime and "talk shop"

Pete & Jenny

[dogmatix]

Hi Goswick. Wow we've got a regular crowd here in the Triad. Well we're all set to leave in the morning. Can't wait to get her!

[dogmatix]

typing on my phone here. we got her. were at the tire store and shes getting four new ones. then weve got a one hundred fifty mile drive home on a hope and a prayer will post pics soon.

[Bowmans]

Congats on the purchases dogmatix, Dakota's Dad and goswick. My wife and I got our 79 Sovereign 31' (no name yet) 2 months ago and have spent every waking hour working on it. This site has been a wonderful find for everything you ever wanted to know about airstreams. Good luck to you all!

Tadd

[dogmatix]

Here she is. Made it home with no problems. Whew, we've got our work cut out for us.

[eubank]

Cool! Take the rehab in steps and use your Airstream as much you can!

Lynn

[Aage]

Originally Posted by dogmatix

Here she is. Made it home with no problems. Whew, we've got our work cut out for us.

Yeah, but always think forward to how nice it will be when it's done.

And also, your interior has a lot of flexibilty regarding décor in it, what with the all-wood walls and furniture. That's one thing I knew I would miss by buying a model newer than 1970: I get the metal frame with masonite interior.

Enjoy! Get out there and travel in it!

[Seymour1971]

Dogmatix,

Very exciting. I see what you will be doing every free minute. You will be amazed at what a little TLC can do. In my case, a good cleaning or three really made a difference. Once we recovered the couches/beds and added a new floor, it looked 100% better.

[Seymour1971]

Goswick,

Congratulations on 'Lucy'. You are correct, when the dust settles and you need a break from the AS projects, we should meet up just to exchange ideas. This weekend I am planning on researching a dump valve leak. Prior owner said the valve needed replacing. Wish me luck.

Regards,

Mike & Kelly

[dogmatix]

Count us in. We should all get together.

[Ronbo]

I just brought home a 1968 sovereign. Does anyone out there have an electrical diagram? or know where to get one? Our dealer in ther area just laughed?
Also has anyone ever replaced the shocks? do I have to drop the axle?

[eubank]

Originally Posted by Ronbo

I just brought home a 1968 sovereign. Does anyone out there have an electrical diagram? or know where to get one? Our dealer in ther area just laughed?
Also has anyone ever replaced the shocks? do I have to drop the axle?

Ronbo, the wiring diagram is in the owner's manual (at least in our 67). I'm sure that somebody here will have a copy for 68.

You might want to consider replacing the axles on the rig. They tend to get pretty stiff with that many years, and it doesn't do the body any favors by riding on them. We did a full axle-brake-shock replacement on ours last month. World of difference!


Lynn

[Ronbo]

It isn't in the manual I got with the rig. I don't really need it, I'm an Electrical engineer and will sketch one as I go along with the rebuild. I just thought it would be nice. I will need an almost complete rewire anyway. We're updating the old univolt and fluid level systems with newer state of the art stuff. I also want to add some of the new flexible type solar panels... Thanks for the advice on the axels...