New 1973 Airstream Owner - Big Project Ahead!

[FreedomPed]

Hello all!

We (Mark and Georgia, along with our two dogs Junebug and Biscuit) are excited to be Airstream owners as of today! Junebug is especially excited because there has been (might still be!) mice in the walls. We pulled the trigger on a 31' 1973 Sovereign Land Yacht.

It's going to be a big project for us, but we are looking forward to the work, much of which we want to do ourselves. We don't have any specialized knowledge, but with help we see from the folks on this forum, we hope to learn quick and well, we aren't afraid! Unlike those mice when it comes to Junebug.

Attached are a couple of pictures! We'll be posting questions in the appropriate forum very soon. Our goal is to get it "road worthy" so we can work on it while we travel.

Woohoo!

Mark and Georgia

[Belegedhel]

Welcome to the forums!

[FreedomPed]

Originally Posted by Belegedhel

Welcome to the forums!

Thanks! So glad to be part of this group!

[dbj216]

Hi and welcome to the vintage Airstream hobby. It is a hobby that drives most folks crazy, me included.

Air Forum members are happy to offer advice and solutions as you folks progress with your renovation. You may have found the Airstream Knowledgebase section of the Forums where folks start threads and post replies on specific Airstream models and years. It is toward the bottom of the AirForums page. Find Sovereign, and find early seventies, and then start reading. Here is a link I hope:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f185/

I thoroughly enjoyed Minno's build thread on his Sovereign. His story is typical of the problems encountered, and he and Kay do excellent work. It is a good read:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f185...urb-50967.html

The 71, 72,73 year trailers were pretty similar, so one year up or down won't make a lot of difference. So read a lot about your trailer. It's fun to learn all about it.

The Airstream company website also has good information in the "maintenance" tab where sometimes you can find additional literature.

Your trailer is the top of the line in 73. It offers plenty of room for comfortable traveling. Be prepared for a long journey as you work your project. I have 1200 hours and about $18,000 in my 66 Trade Wind over the last three years. It is now road worthy and fully functional.

David

[Dalwyn]

Welcome to the forums.

[FreedomPed]

Originally Posted by Dalwyn

Welcome to the forums.

Thanks! Glad to be here!

[FreedomPed]

Originally Posted by dbj216

Hi and welcome to the vintage Airstream hobby. It is a hobby that drives most folks crazy, me included.

Air Forum members are happy to offer advice and solutions as you folks progress with your renovation. You may have found the Airstream Knowledgebase section of the Forums where folks start threads and post replies on specific Airstream models and years. It is toward the bottom of the AirForums page. Find Sovereign, and find early seventies, and then start reading. Here is a link I hope:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f185/

I thoroughly enjoyed Minno's build thread on his Sovereign. His story is typical of the problems encountered, and he and Kay do excellent work. It is a good read:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f185...urb-50967.html

The 71, 72,73 year trailers were pretty similar, so one year up or down won't make a lot of difference. So read a lot about your trailer. It's fun to learn all about it.

The Airstream company website also has good information in the "maintenance" tab where sometimes you can find additional literature.

Your trailer is the top of the line in 73. It offers plenty of room for comfortable traveling. Be prepared for a long journey as you work your project. I have 1200 hours and about $18,000 in my 66 Trade Wind over the last three years. It is now road worthy and fully functional.

David

Wow, that is all great information! Stayed up way too late last night reading the posts from Minno and Kay. It's such fantastic work they are doing, and they are certainly blazing a great trail for us. Such positive attitudes too, we love that!

If we could get ours fully functional to our specifications for about the same cost as yours, we would be quite happy. We aim to live in it fulltime as soon as possible, so we know it's going to be a lot of work. Very excited to begin!

Thanks again for the informational post. Very helpful.

Mark and Georgia

[dbj216]

You are welcome. Happy I could help a little bit.

David

[Memas penny]

Hi, I have a1975 Land Yacht. Just finished repairs to make it road safe, and that was after we pulled it out of a pasture. We pull out tomorrow to take it home. Then the real work will begin. Good luck.

Tes

[FreedomPed]

Originally Posted by Memas penny

Hi, I have a1975 Land Yacht. Just finished repairs to make it road safe, and that was after we pulled it out of a pasture. We pull out tomorrow to take it home. Then the real work will begin. Good luck.

Tes

In transit with ours still, but on the first day the front part of the belly pan became unattached and started dragging. On the highway! Also has some of the rear parts close to the bumper separate and those are being held on with two tie down straps. Ah the adventure! How did your trip home go?

[dbj216]

Old belly pans become detached due to vibrations and galvanic corrosion over the years. The aluminum just "dissolves" around the rivet heads. My son lost a big chunk of his old belly pan under the front of his 69 Globetrotter. You can see the missing aluminum in the photo of the old belly pan. Another project!

I might add there are several threads on this forum discussing belly pan detachments on fairly new trailers, like 05s and the like. I'm surprised there is trouble on newer trailers.

Since you are renovating anyways, loosing some of the belly pan will just save you some work. Most likely you will put the trailer on jack stands, then the axles come off, and the belly pan comes down so you can inspect the frame and subfloor. This is also the time to add a gray water tank and replace the black water tank if you are so inclined.

Yes, let the renovation work begin!

David

[FreedomPed]

David,

We were in the process of renovation when we lost the belly pan section and didn't even know it! It's a good thing they used a thin guage of aluminum as we pretty much had to rip it.

Thanks for the encouragement. We should be in full swing by the end of the week!