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Old 06-23-2010, 04:53 PM   #1
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1968 30' Sovereign
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Cool Hello there

I am now the proud owner of a 1968 sovereign international. My thoughts are "Oh no what have I gotten myself into?" Haha I have wanted one for a couple years actually and I've always liked them. I'm 20 years old and in college and I got tired of throwing money away on rent and having nothing to show for it. So I decided to buy an Airstream to live in. I did a little research (it felt like a lot but now I'm beginning to wonder) and I looked at a LOT of adds. I found mine on craigslist and I just brought it home from Oklahoma (7.5 hours from where I live)

I plan on living in it and the AC and fridge don't work, most of the windows leak and the water/sewer system has problems which I do not know the extent of... But I am still excited and I dont have to live in it until the end of the summer we'll see what happens
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Old 06-23-2010, 07:14 PM   #2
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Greetings from the Florida Panhandle

Welcome to the Forums. We're glad to have you with us.
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Old 06-23-2010, 07:27 PM   #3
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Congrats and welcome to the forums. There are plenty of people on this forum who have done what you are about to do. There are many of them in Texas as well. I have the same type of windows and sometimes its darn near impossible to get them to stop leaking. Good luck.
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Old 06-23-2010, 07:40 PM   #4
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Congrats and welcome,

Hope your adventures in airstream ownership are rewarding and you're able to enjoy the time spent living in an RV. We look forward to your participation here.

Best of luck,

Kevin
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Old 06-23-2010, 09:43 PM   #5
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Welcome to the forum. One thing for sure is that there is a lot of help here and you will learn a lot. If the fridge is original it may be a Dometic rm-52. They are not like regular fridges. They are expensive, but also quite simple. They use an ammonia system and a heater. The heat is either provided by lp gas or electricity. If there is no heat in the "chimney" than the fridge will not cool. If the chimney is hot then the closed ammonia system may have a leak (this is bad) or there could be a thermostat problem. Good luck.

My son lives in Fort Worth with his girl friend. I guess you will need to get the ac fixed too. Check the furnace before it gets too cold, but first cold ac and cold fridge are mandatory.

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Old 06-24-2010, 02:20 PM   #6
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1968 30' Sovereign
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Thanks yall

Ok so today I plugged it in and the AC is blowing air, just not cold air. The fridge was hot on the back (the chimney?? i guess) was pretty hot so I turned it off. The inside of the door is cracked really bad so I dont know if it will get a good seal even if I can get it running. It is a Dometic M70b.

I found replacement windows at vintage trailer supply for the 66, 67, and 68 years. They just havent started selling them yet

Im about an hour north of houston, does anyone know of a good place (or person) to take it to? I'm trying to do as much as I can myself and keep the cost down but I think I need and expert for the electrical/plumbing aspect
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Old 06-24-2010, 06:04 PM   #7
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Don't count the fridge out yet. It takes a couple of hours before they really start to chill. The heat in the chimney is part of the chilling process.

Ricky
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Old 06-24-2010, 07:37 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shiloh View Post
Thanks yall

Ok so today I plugged it in and the AC is blowing air, just not cold air. The fridge was hot on the back (the chimney?? i guess) was pretty hot so I turned it off. The inside of the door is cracked really bad so I dont know if it will get a good seal even if I can get it running. It is a Dometic M70b.

I found replacement windows at vintage trailer supply for the 66, 67, and 68 years. They just havent started selling them yet

Im about an hour north of houston, does anyone know of a good place (or person) to take it to? I'm trying to do as much as I can myself and keep the cost down but I think I need and expert for the electrical/plumbing aspect
Andy Rogozinski (at InlandRV.com) is a wealth of Airstream knowledge on line or by phone. He also sells '66 thru '68 curved replacement window glass. I bought all mine from VTS a few years back. At that time Inland wasn't selling them yet. The ones at Inland are made by Airstream. You can see his prices on line @ the web site above. I had the two flat glass ones made from a local glass shop. just ask for a quote on heat tempered safety glass 1/8 inch thick with round bottom corners and pencil sanded edges. It will cost you less than the two sites above, and there may not be any shipping charges for the 2 glass panels to be made. Steve H. at VTS is probably just waiting for a new shipment. Hope this helps. Happy Trails and Welcome, Ed

P.S. A good RV dealer can help with most issues but some won't touch Airstreams so check first. Airstream of Arkansas in Searcy would be a great first place to ask about issues and perhaps help in finding a place for service closer to you.
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Old 06-25-2010, 11:14 AM   #9
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1968 30' Sovereign
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On the refridgerator, It seemed like it was getting pretty hot on the back. Should I just leave it on all day and see what happens or will something explode? With the crack, will it work ok if I'm not worried about aesthetics? I'm really dreading replacing the fridge.

Turns out the AC is broken and it was the heater that was blowing
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Old 06-25-2010, 11:55 AM   #10
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Those old fridges have a different feel to them on the inside than regular fridges in your house. To tell if its cooling, put a warm soda can(your too young for beer) in it. Or just check the freezer. It will get some frost on the inside. And it will take at least a few hours to notice a chill in it.
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Old 06-25-2010, 02:44 PM   #11
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If your planning on living in it full time and need to replace the ac, check online for a good deal on an ac/heat pump unit. I'm currently in alaska and us the heat pump every nite/twilight. I replaced the ac on mine and it takes two people lifting the old unit out and putting the new unit in. Wiring is basic, just make sure the power is off. If the refr. is broken, you might want to replace it with an apartment refg., it should fit,cools quicker and you only need electric. If you plan on boon dogging it spend the money on the gas/electric range. If your hot water heater goes out replace it with a gas/electric model. with the windows, have a glass man come out and give you an estimate on repair. Good luck
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Old 06-25-2010, 03:15 PM   #12
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68 is a great year! I've replace all the windows in my Trade Wind. If you need any info or time saving tips, let me know.
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Old 06-25-2010, 03:25 PM   #13
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I've just about broke down and decided to take it in to an rv service center. Theres a lot more to do than I originally thought and i dont know anything about electrical and plumbing, AC etc. I just hope it doesnt wind up costing an arm and a leg
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Old 06-25-2010, 03:35 PM   #14
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Just make sure you take it to an airstream dealer for fixing...those other guys don't know squat about airstreams. Hope your fridge works---ours runs on propane. Everything you fix will be your solid investment into the future. And you probably won't have to go back and fix anything after it's fixed once. There are inspectors on this site that hopfully are near you and would be glad to come over and inspect the 'whole enchilada'. But you are with good people here and they will be here for you anytime you want. So now your rent is going towards the home and that is the right thing to do...and one day you will have everything fixed up to where you can virtually go anywhere at any time...and you will look back at all the thousands of people who are stuck in thier apartments paying all that rent...so you are making the right choice for what it's worth. you know--one day you will be an old man and you will be eying the neighbor with the weed eater..........ha!
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Old 06-25-2010, 06:02 PM   #15
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Fridge info gold mine

Check out rvmobile.com for detailed, simple discussions and great diagrams of how RV fridges work. Lots of knowledge there for free. If it's not there, call them--although they do expect you to look at the website first.

They rebuilt our fridge's cooling unit, and did good work. Not cheap, but we had a working fridge when it was finished.
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Old 06-25-2010, 06:38 PM   #16
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Shiloh mentioned taking his "new" AS to an RV repair shop . . . .

Shiloh - Check out Bob Jones RV in So. Houston, somewhere off the Gulf Freeway. They have a great reputation for quality work. They can also have a full backlog of work, because of their reputation. Sure, cost is a factor for most of us. But most of us have found "getting a deal" can sometimes cost a bundle getting yet another repair. As this is to be your home, get it done right the 1st time. Even if you have to trade out some of your sweat equity to pay for it.

All of us would also hope you'll keep the Airstream after college. There is no better way to experience our country and give your kids great memories that will last them a lifetime.
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Old 06-26-2010, 05:28 PM   #17
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Thanks redhawker this whole project is getting a little daunting but you helped me remember why I started it in the first place
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Old 06-27-2010, 11:11 PM   #18
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Hey!

Just keep saying to yourself... "It's only a movie, It can't really hurt me!" And you'll be fine! Happy Trails, Ed
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Old 06-29-2010, 04:11 AM   #19
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Congrats on your new rig! Keep the "stream'n dream" alive... Welcome to the forums!
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