My first post !

[Naddy]

Ooops - double posting. How embarrassing. Sorry, will learn my way around here.

[Mulligan]

Hi Mark,
Good luck with the old lady, i have a 59 built Avion H24 (actually 25ft long!)
very similar layout to you, i'm just replacing the floor at the moment.
I notice on your Blog, that you had the tubular bumper, my Avion also has this, i believe this was for the Sewer hose storage, i think you call them "stinky slinkys" ?
BTW, how straight forward is it to do a blog ? as i would love to do it with the Avion, i had a 73 Overlander and regretted not doing one with the Airstream.

Cheers for now
Tim

[RM66caravel]

Sounds like your doing great so far will go to your blog for the pictures! Remember don't let yourself get frustrated or overwhelmed by the project when you do take a break! Then once refreshed you will see things in a different light and the fun starts all over!
Cliff

[RM66caravel]

I just refreshed my view of that awesome blog and wanted to tell you before you pop the top (shell off) or remove that floor make a template because you do not have enough floor to use as a template! Paper cardboard or cheap paneling will work from the inside! Things relax and flex without the floor and since the belly pan may need to come off anyway do the templat now and save some frustration.

[RM66caravel]

Belly pan removal for frame repair sometimes it is necessary.
Cliff

[Naddy]

Originally Posted by RM66caravel

I just refreshed my view of that awesome blog and wanted to tell you before you pop the top (shell off) or remove that floor make a template because you do not have enough floor to use as a template! Paper cardboard or cheap paneling will work from the inside! Things relax and flex without the floor and since the belly pan may need to come off anyway do the templat now and save some frustration.

Hi Cliff,
Thanks for your great advice. I just had yesterday the same realization. AT least in the front and also in the back I will need a template and I should make them now.
I want - well I have to replace the belly pan anyway so that one will at some point come off. That said I really really would like to leave the shell on. Mostly because it is getting really wet, stormy and cold in fall and winter here and I would like to work in the trailer throughout the winter (and so does my wife ). My trailer sits on my driveway and now I wish I would have a big old barn - but I don't.

Thanks also for pointing out that you have to bleed on your trailer. That post made me laugh and sure enough I cut myself on a piece of metal in the trailer the next day. That made me laugh even harder

[Naddy]

Originally Posted by Mulligan

Hi Mark,
Good luck with the old lady, i have a 59 built Avion H24 (actually 25ft long!)
very similar layout to you, i'm just replacing the floor at the moment.
I notice on your Blog, that you had the tubular bumper, my Avion also has this, i believe this was for the Sewer hose storage, i think you call them "stinky slinkys" ?
BTW, how straight forward is it to do a blog ? as i would love to do it with the Avion, i had a 73 Overlander and regretted not doing one with the Airstream.

Cheers for now
Tim

Hi Tim,
Blogs have become super super easy. I think most folks here on the forum use www.blogspot.com and that is basically Google's blogger application. So in case you have a Gmail email account you just use just that as your log on. Or you create a new account. It's all fee. Blogspot has a bunch of templates to choose from and you can basically start typing away. If you want you can customize templates (text, fonts , colors and so on but you don't have to and you learn that on the go but again they make it really a simple thing.
Try it out. Cheers - Mark

[RM66caravel]

Don't forget to add for the c channel but I am betting that you know that already! I am kinda glad that mine is a caravel cause at my age I can not afford more than a pint of blood! Lol
Cliff

[Naddy]

I have not posted here in a while because I also have the blog but I also don't wanted to make the impression nothing is happening to the '57 Overlander. So here are a few photos of the horribly slow progress on Naddy. I can not be thankful enough to all you people posting incredible advice on literally any and everything airstream. Helpful beyond words.
What i did
1) Taking Naddy apart carefully see pics, trying to keep all cabinets as intact as possible for reuse and/or templating;
2) Stripping paint. Such a tedious job and I am only two-thirds done.

Next step is to take the shell off for frame repair/axle switch and tank fitting. All happening in September. I am horrified by some posts of shells blown away by storms but I try not to panic. I also wonder how to best template the floor given how rotten it is.

I also figured out that Naddy had a clearcoat, hence the strips of more shiny aluminum in the first pic. The clear coat has been stripped with Citristrip.

[Naddy]

The pic below show what appears to be a repair of a PO of a LP line that is not entirely to code.

[Naddy]

The matrasses were original and made out of foamy rubber. they had the airstream factory labels on them with delivery stamp of Jan 3, 1957. They also said 'all materials sterilized' I wish! The rubber was crumbling at the outsides and so they went to the landfill. But wait - now that I am writing this I bet someone will reply, saying 'Dont you know that you could have had those restored?' Please dont...