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chefmardigan · 03-23-2010, 07:27 PM

Hello All!! After years of looking and doing my home work here I finally have joined!!My wife and I picked up our 75' 25' Tradewind last October. We were lucky to find one in good shape! I couldn't leave well enough alone and have started to change the decor and improve our new baby where we can! So far I have added new countertops, fixtures, stabilizer jacks, Fantastic fan, Added aluminum accents to the kitchen and entrance, some plumbing upgrades, tore out the flooring and planning a wrap around Dinette. The green tape outline on the floor in the picture with no flooring our fron Gaucho is where the new dinette will be. We are going to paint the interior with this cool aluminum paint, add new light fixtures,Polish the beast, replace the blue striping, new door seals, fix a section of the floor, put the new flooring in and finish the aluminum sheeting I've started! Here are some during and before pictures. Please tell me it's looking like something!! Webspinner you're a rookie with a Tradewind too! I hope some of my stuff will inspire not discourage!

**azflycaster** · 03-23-2010, 08:23 PM

75 Trade Winds are the best! I can't wait to see how the dinette comes out. That is one of the things my wife would love to change in ours.

**moosetags** · 03-23-2010, 08:38 PM

Congrats on your new baby! She looks great!

Brian

**Kevin245** · 03-23-2010, 08:43 PM

Good looking rig. Keep us posted as to your progress.

Kevin

Tom Nugler · 03-23-2010, 09:01 PM

Welcome to the Forum. Tradewinds are the perfect size.

Seems there are a bunch of us changing out gauchos for dinettes this season.
First pieces of new cabinetry for mine go in this weekend. Keep posting, we love pics.

Tom.

CanoeStream · 03-23-2010, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by azflycaster

75 Trade Winds are the best! I can't wait to see how the dinette comes out. That is one of the things my wife would love to change in ours.

Not surprising how much that kitchen looks like our old '74 Argosy.

chefmardigan -- But Good!!

chefmardigan · 03-23-2010, 10:43 PM

Did I say 75?Oops I meant 74!

bolerama · 03-23-2010, 11:54 PM

Hello from Saskatoon, Chefmardigan! There are quite a few of us here. We live in Greystone. There are 3 Airstreams in Greystone alone! Soon we'll be bringing home our Airstream, so you'll have to drop by when you see her in the driveway...you'll be blinded by the silver, so drive safely! ;-)

chefmardigan · 03-24-2010, 08:48 PM

You don't happen to live on Arlington and Main by chance??I know I have seen your trailer!!We need to have a Saskatoon Airstream get together!! I looked all over the country for ours and was lucky to find ours in Black Diamond AB!!! We will have to stay in touch!

kevin242 · 03-24-2010, 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chefmardigan

You don't happen to live on Arlington and Main by chance??I know I have seen your trailer!!We need to have a Saskatoon Airstream get together!! I looked all over the country for ours and was lucky to find ours in Black Diamond AB!!! We will have to stay in touch!

Waskesiu Lake is our home. Excellent choice going with a Tradewind (we're not biased... Nooooo.) We also have a dinette in ours. I'm sure we will bump into one another. Good luck with your reno's.

At the bottom of my profile at the left there are 4 Images. One shows the dinette.

Kevin

THEPILL · 03-24-2010, 09:41 PM

Welcome, Can't wait for more pics. Keep us posted, Please. I redid my ol 1976 Argosy. The counter tops in the Argosy were longer than what came from Home Depot. Made for a 2" more walk by room. Did you have the same issue? Looks nice so far.

Shane

chefmardigan · 03-24-2010, 10:13 PM

I built the countertops from scratch. And bought the granite laminate at the Home Depot.I did not know how they would turn out. My wife who is my biggest critic loves them!!I want to give the Airstream a more modern look but keep keeping it original at the same time. In the auto industry they call this a "Resto-mod".We have been lucky that we havent had to do tons of "Resto" so far.

THEPILL · 03-24-2010, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chefmardigan

I built the countertops from scratch. And bought the granite laminate at the Home Depot.I did not know how they would turn out. My wife who is my biggest critic loves them!!I want to give the Airstream a more modern look but keep keeping it original at the same time. In the auto industry they call this a "Resto-mod".We have been lucky that we havent had to do tons of "Resto" so far.

Guess I should have been more specific,my bad. The cabinets were longer than the counter tops. Has to cut the cabinets back to fit the home depot counter top. Came out nice.

Have fun. I still miss my Argosy, put a lot of blood sweat long hours and tear into her. She went to a great guy though.

Shane

webspinner · 03-25-2010, 02:21 AM

Hi Chefmardigan and welcome!

Our TradeWind odyssey is chronicled by my better half here: Airstream Forums - Tin Pickle Tales
We're definitely not wedded to keeping what was left of the 1971 plastic, but we will change for functionality, not for decor. That means the Harvest Gold counter gets to stay, at least until we run out of necessary stuff to work on.

We love the size and the feel of our Tin Pickle. Versatile size, lots of potential (we're also planning a dinette), big enough for 4 but not too big for a small campsite.

Best of luck with all your progress.

- Barbie

bolerama · 03-25-2010, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chefmardigan

You don't happen to live on Arlington and Main by chance??I know I have seen your trailer!!We need to have a Saskatoon Airstream get together!! I looked all over the country for ours and was lucky to find ours in Black Diamond AB!!! We will have to stay in touch!

Yes, that's us! We're an Airstream billboard sitting out there! ha ha! We give tours regularly, and love every minute of it.

I'm so glad you were able to find one in Alberta. I've known some people to arrange transport from Ontario. I want a tour!

Did you know that TRX-RV is now able to replace panels? They just told us that this past weekend. Very good to know.

See you around! We're hopefully picking up our Airstream on the long weekend. We are almost done our warranty, so we want to go over everything, but if we don't get some warmer weather, the antifreeze will have to stay in the tanks and we won't be able to test the water systems. Ahh....if only we lived somewhere warmer!

Lisa

chefmardigan · 03-25-2010, 12:36 PM

What panels can TRX replace? We were going to buy a new one from them but got cold feet when they kept talking about the price changing every week! I called up Can Am RV in London ONT. one of the biggest Airstream dealers in the world to confirm or disprove what we were told about drastic price fluctuations and they called B.S. on this. In addition, I went in with our Tradewind when we got it to see if I could get them to give it a once over and was told because I did not buy it there that they would not be able to service it there.

So I went over to Glenwood trailer sales and they were more than happy to help.

Actually excited about a vintage Airstream!

They have seen a good chunk of parts buisiness from me ! So has Inland R.V. in California! I need to get a new awning and roll next.I hope TRX has taken care of you well. After looking for over 5 years for an Airstream, what a drag to have the local authorized dealership treat you like dirt.

kevin242 · 03-25-2010, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chefmardigan

We were going to buy a new one from them but got cold feet when they kept talking about the price changing every week!

I went to the TRX parts department last year in Saskatoon to order some AS parts for our old 1977 and they wanted nothing to do with me. Told me outright that they don't handle parts for those old models. Didn't even offer a "You could try over at..." or a "We can order it in for you".

I found "Out-of-Doors-Mart" down in the U.S. easy to deal with via. online purchasing and THEY seem to understand customer service... good, personal communication, prompt shipping and actually only charge you the actual shipping costs - not some inflated set shipping price.

chefmardigan · 03-25-2010, 09:11 PM

I used to work for Pleasure Way (Glenwood is owned by the same family). They have always cared abut their customers and are a class act group of people. I wish that they were the Airstream dealer!!!

bolerama · 03-25-2010, 09:32 PM

Hi Chefmardigan and Kevin242,
When we went on the weekend, they were really excited about being able to replace panels. We thought that they were moving into "service" rather than only "sales". You can only sell so many trailers. Eventually everything needs service. There were several new workers and they were very optimistic. We really felt good. However, last year, we had lots of issues with the service manager, whose only response to all our warranty issues was, "No. That's not covered." Thankfully, Jackson Center backed us up every time. This year when we went, we brought in a photo of something plastic that had cracked over the winter, and within a few weeks, the new part was in. No problems whatsoever. We thought that there were big changes happening. Chefmardigan, it's so bad that they didn't do a check for you. It would be easy money. Hmmm.... Kevin242, I'm not surprised about your experience last year, but I hope things are different this year. Good to know that there are good places out there for shipping. Hope to see you both around this summer.

chefmardigan · 03-26-2010, 08:09 AM

Enough Negatives! Going to paint the interior this weekend! This will open up Pandora's Decorating box!!I will keep you all posted with photos!Hey Kevin 242 our first trip with the Stream was out to waskesiu last October. Nothing like the Northern fall sunset reflecting off the aluminum!