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Tazameir · 02-28-2011, 11:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NevadaGeo

Oh cool, I'm hearing a Juplaya expedition coming on! Last year on Juplaya I ran into some DPW guys just setting in a truck in the sun out there,

close to where I picked up my playa dust sample for my Airstreameri and Geologists presentation. Then Monday after the burn I ran into them again while I was looking at the ashes at the Man base. They said I had met them in July a few hundred feet from same spot.
When does the committee decide where the Man is going to be each year?

DPW are a unique bunch. I've been involved in the DPW for 15 years now. WAY longer then most of em.. Give em beer and they'll work hard in that hot sun for hours on end. (The Beer comes after work!). There is no "committee" on where the man is placed. The BLM dictates where we will have the city, which the man is the center pin. We currently are on a 2 year cycle where we rotate between 2 locations. So this year we'll be in the same spot as 2009.
The first week of August several of us will go out with a GPS or 5 and determine the center pin location, also true north. Then we'll have a little gathering for the center pin placement, and finally survey takes over. A week later we start to build the city, and install the fence, etc. The fence is put up in 1 day if you can believe that. 7.5 miles of it... It's a process, but we have most all of it down to a science.

C.

Chollabill · 03-04-2011, 09:12 AM

taz, welcome to the wonderful world of a/s. I have been around Airstreams since I was a baby (not tellin' how long). We've had a 28' A/S an 18' Casita and 13' Tab. We now have a 16' Bambi and I'm here to tell ya size does matter

. As far as I'm concerned the smaller the better. Easier and cheaper to tow and fewer places to dust and clean. We loved the small Tab but really wanted a shower so went with the Bambi. It's like momma bears porridge, just right. You really don't a lot of room. The idea of trailering is to be outside, hiking, biking or just sitting under the awning during a rainstorm enjoying a beverage of choice. the trailer is a place to sleep, cook and clean yourself up. As far as I'm concerned any space for anything else is wasted. Hope to meet you at the Burn, Chollabill

tbro · 03-04-2011, 12:41 PM

Just want to say welcome to Tazameir.

I haven't been to BM for a number of years now. I lived in the Gerlach area (North about 50 miles on Duck Flat) for many years. I went to the very first BM held on the playa, wasn't very large back then (92 I think it was) only about 100 people.

Before BM a bunch of us locals used to have a huge Memorial Day party with different themes (Croquet X Machina, The Tube Rodeo, et al) As I remember some of our friends from SF were Cachophony Society members and that's about the time they were getting hassled on the beaches in SF. Not certain but I always assumed it was some of them that spread the word about the playa.

Anyway BM has sure grown from those days. I knew Doobie (Dwayne Williams) very well. We were good friends and I helped him build a few of the pieces on Doobie Lane. Lots of heavy rock transporting. He carved them all by himself though.

I still have my own rock there as well. "The Man with a Vision" He told me the tales of how he came to build the various monuments out in the desert, but I won't go into that here. It's a long story but one I will remember for all time. I got married at the wedding chapel on the Lane and Doobie was at my wedding. What an event!

I'm planning on relocating back to the area in the next year. I still drop in and visit friends in Gerlach and up in Surprise Valley and vicinity. If you see me in town (1993 black and Red AS Land Yacht MH) flag me down and say hello. I usually go out to Planet X and hang out for awhile. I'm not much for crowds these days.

Tazameir · 05-14-2011, 12:03 AM

Finally got the AS plugged into power, and it looks like everything works! I still need to remove and fill the propane bottles, and check if the fridge works on it or not, and make some decisions on what I'm going to do if anything to the beds, and kitchen table area. I'd rather have a futon there, but for now, I may leave it as is. Tomorrow I plan on pulling and tossing out the carpet, as it's pretty bad.. Then a good wipe down on the inside will be next. Also still need to replace several of the screens, clean the windows, and make some new curtains. Trying to get it ready to use for memorial day. Oh, and I need to run through the brakes, and bearings. It made some grinding noises when I towed it home. I hear it's supposed to snow this weekend. If that's the case I'll probably work on it then. No gnats! If the weather is nice, you get eaten alive this time of year outside!!! Overall it all looks pretty promising though. Just will take me a couple of years to get it to 100%.

Tazameir · 05-15-2011, 02:52 AM

Well here it is a day later.. I made some decisions today. Bed area up front removed! Carpet and floor tiles removed! Kitchen eating area removed! Water tank (was an old hot water heater tank!) removed! Along with alot of other random things I don't really need or want in there, like some towel racks in the shower area, and some weird side flip toilet cover thing. I've seen it on other 65's so it's probably stock. The bed and kitchen area didnt look too good for the workmanship, so I'm guessing they were add-ons. Oh, and I broke the freezer cover in the fridge. I think it was too brittle, as I really didn't do anything to it other then open it. It was freezing in there as well. So that's getting added to my list of things I need.
I think for now my only rush items I'm going to try to do before memorial day is figure out what new fresh water tank to put in there, and run some new pex instead of copper to the rear of the trailer. Also go shopping later this week for screen material and curtain material. I have a few nights of sewing ahead of me! Also I plan on building a queen size bed platform where the old 2 side narrow beds were and the water tank.

A few things I'm sorta stumped on, but I'll search the forum to learn more on are how the power cable is supposed to be run, and how the electrical in general works. There are 2 battery posts in the rear that are getting power, and I do not see any ports to run the 110 through. So as it stands I have the rear cover off completely while I have it plugged in.

C.

NevadaGeo · 05-15-2011, 10:54 PM

I think I've read where someone made their freezer cover after not finding one. Wonderful that you've got cold!
Was snowing here off and on today, frozen hard on my white truck hood this evening. Spring not supposed to come back till Wednesday.
So I put the tomatoes out...yesterday.

Tazameir · 05-16-2011, 02:33 AM

For us here in Gerlach, it's been a great break from the gnats! I got a ton of bites from only being outside a few minutes at a time last week. Then had to go to some BM meetings in the bay area (wifi summit) and missed out on more bites.. Darn! heh.. But we had snow too from 5-8 this morning.. All melted by noon of course. But, no gnats today!

As for the fridge I'll most likely do the same and fabricate a new cover for the freezer out of metal. Only if it works on propane. Haven't tested that yet. Great excuse to pick up a brake though!

Bummer on your tomatoes... Hopefully they'll survive!

Trailer update.. Today only finished the floor tile tear out, and more of the kitchen seating. Also decided to paint the floor as it stands, and also decided to build a temporary bed platform and a temp kitchen seating platform for this summer. I'll need to figure out an AC unit for the summer as well, and need to do some wire fishing as there was no roof mounted AC prior. I'll get a table saw in the fall, and build some nicer permanent cabinets for the kitchen and front bed space over the fall/winter.

Projects galore!

C.

Zeppelinium · 05-16-2011, 06:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tazameir

... I'll need to figure out an AC unit for the summer as well, and need to do some wire fishing as there was no roof mounted AC prior. ...

I don't know about the '60s, but the '70s models all have a drain line and power installed up to the AC location, whether or not they actually had an AC from the factory.

Zep

Tazameir · 05-16-2011, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zeppelinium

I don't know about the '60s, but the '70s models all have a drain line and power installed up to the AC location, whether or not they actually had an AC from the factory.

Zep

I'm pretty sure mine does not have either. But thanks for reminding me about the drain line! I forgot about those!!! I have a pretty good idea on how to run the power to it, but not the drain. That will be a bit more of a challenge. I really do not want to tear out the walls... So It will all be about how to snake it down to the bottom. One really nice thing about this forum is if you search long enough, You'll find that someone has done it already and posted pictures! Just need to dig a little.

C.

Tazameir · 05-19-2011, 04:41 AM

http://rawfire.torche.com/~taz/Airstream/2011-05-18/ Quick picture update on where I'm at. I did hit the store today, and pick up some caulking, paint, and cleaners. I plan on painting the floor as a temporary solution to the old tiles I pulled out. In the long run I plan on installing wood or a cork floor. I'm also thinking about painting the inside RED... Not 100% sure yet. For now just the basics are planned. Need also to fix a leak in one of the vents I noticed during a rain we had today. I'll go to town again in a few days again (town is 110 miles away (each way!)), and go material shopping. All the drapes were trashes, so I tossed them out. I'll need to crank out some new ones ASAP. Most likely I'll try to take half a day and break out the sewing machine next week, and try to get-er-done. I picked up the cleaning supplies to shine the outside up. I look forward to seeing how that comes out!

C.

Tazameir · 05-20-2011, 12:19 AM

Got my AS registered and title transferred over today. I also went shopping for drape material, and man.. So many choices. I never did pick a pattern I liked. I have a few though I'm thinking about. I did instead pick up some plain white material that I'll use to face outwards. My thought is plain white facing outside to lessen heat absorption, and some middle material, maybe even plastic to stop light from getting through (I'm a night owl!), then lastly a pattern I can handle facing the inside. At this point, I'll work on that after memorial day. Too many other things to try to get working before then. Basic privacy coverings will suffice for now.
C.

NevadaGeo · 05-20-2011, 10:48 PM

Lowes has an aluminized heat reflecting film that would work for your curtain outside layer.

Tazameir · 05-21-2011, 11:34 PM

Yea I noticed the windows had a film protection on them that is wearing out. I'm thinking I'll strip those out, and replace it with new, along with do that layer idea on the actual curtains. As you know (NVGeo) it's a bit hotter where we live then most of the others on the forum!

A friend from Washoe Valley was over, and we were doing some last bit's of stripping out the old woodwork I want to remove when sudden hailstorm kicked in. MAN it was loud inside there!

On a side note I found the original book and documentation on the AC. I'm pretty stocked on that. I'll probably scan all the documents and get them online. I noticed yesterday that there was nothing listed for mine on: Airstream, Inc :: Specs - 1960 I'll have to give them a copy so they can add it to their website.

C.

Tazameir · 05-27-2011, 01:30 AM

Ack! I did not spell very good in that last post! I meant AS as in Air Stream not AC.. And Stoked... Meaning Happy.. In any case I've discovered that my sewage side plumbing is ok, just there is not gray tank! Only black. The manual states that you can put a cap on the outlet, and leave the valve wide open to use the black for everything, then when draining, close the valve and remove the cap with a bucket under it. Then connect hose, and drain. I dunno about that. I think that's something to figure out this winter is where and how to add a gray tank as well. For now I'll probably just use one of those portable roll around tanks when I do need to have gray use/storage.

Anyways, I'm done with the stripping out, and I'm packing for this weekend to give it a test run. I towed it 20 miles the other night at 60 MPH and it tows very nicely with just a plain hitch. I'll pick up a Weight Distributing Hitch at some point, and I'm sure it will be even better then. Mainly I wanted to make sure the bearings and brakes were ok. All seems good! Even tested the power system with a single 12V battery and that seems good to go as well. I'll have to wait on the propane until my next planned trip which will be in 2 more weeks.

C.

NevadaGeo · 05-27-2011, 10:26 PM

Taz, you might want some sway control on that 22 footer.
Looks like a typical Memorial Day weekend for Nevada, will probly be snow sometime this weekend. Sure had some on the hill yesterday.

Tazameir · 05-28-2011, 03:19 AM

Yea, down the road I will pick up that hitch for it. It already has the mounts on it, but I'll just get a whole new setup for it. All in all it towed fine to our camping location which is about 60 miles down the road towards Wadsworth on 447. I have it setup and all ready for use. I'll take my car out tomorrow for the long weekend for the "run".. I *really* need a truck! I'll fix my old one, but for now I'm shopping for something newer then my broken '78. There are camp's setup all over the place right now. All BLM land seems to have little camps setup all around. Not many AS's though.. People already have commented on mine. One couple even noticed my little patch between the kitchen seating windows that I started to polish. I'll work on it a bit more before our free fishing camping trip (June 11 @ Squaw res). Good times!!!!

All in all I'm REALLY happy with that trailer even though I still haven't slept in it!, but in about 20 hours I'll be testing it out.

C.

tbro · 06-09-2011, 11:24 AM

Sounds like you're putting that baby to good use... Maybe I'll see you in Gerlach sometime. Planning a trip to Duck Flat in a month or so... Need to stop and say hi to my friends at Planet X..

NevadaGeo · 06-09-2011, 10:58 PM

What's the latest on the playa condition after the rain last weekend, I think there was about 2" rain here. They say Reno got 1".

Tazameir · 01-19-2012, 01:01 AM

Welp, tomorrow I do the drive into town with my new pickup (New to me) to get a tow package installed! Woot! Then I'll be finally fully mobile with my Safari... However I still need to track down a new set of wheels/tires first. But after that once, the weather stays above freezing it will be time to set out on many weekends for 2012.
C.

Tazameir · 02-28-2012, 04:20 AM

Hello everyone, I hope your winter has not been to harsh for ya! I decided to get something done that I've been wanting to for a while. Mostly as a backup, but also to help others that may not be as lucky as I was. What I am referring to is scanning my manual! I was lucky enough to have all the paperwork that came with my 1965 all in a binder, in pretty good shape. So here it is! 1965-Safari-Manual Feel free to poke through there. All the pictures are in order like they were in the manual. If you want a copy of the whole thing, let me know, and I'll zip them into a single file.