Photos of my 1971 Streamline...before the work begins

[gmaof20]

I hope I am starting this thread in the proper place. If not, I sincerely apologize.

Now that the snow has gone, I was finally able to get to the trailer for pictures. Lots of them. Sorry if I over-do it, but I wanted to try and put up a pictures of all of my “issues”. The interior is all aluminum with the exception of the cabinet doors…oh, yes, and the bed frame that was “built in” in the living room. I just hope that I am able to cover up the screw holes this will leave behind. My thought for the living room wall is to fill the holes with a silicone (because it will be more flexible when in transport), smooth, and cover with a textured wall paper. The walls seem to be covered in vinyl. Any thoughts on wall cover adhesive or prep to assure adhesion will be appreciated. The wallpaper I have chosen is a paintable vinyl.
Close observation will show that we need to closely inspect the electrical. I was assured that this was a wire problem and was corrected. However, we will certainly go over it closely. I am unsure of the best way to go about this though. I have not examined it close enough to know if the wires are accessible without removing the wall. Is there an “easy” way to get to the wires?
The hot water heater was removed, but we have it. I am thinking however of one of those instant hot water systems as it will take up less space. I would love to hear some reviews from those of you who have done this.
The stove…no. It may work, I’m not sure, but it just isn’t what I want. It will come out…a 2 burner gas cooktop will go in as well as a convection microwave. When the stove comes out, the counter top will be shortened by 12” and an electric fireplace will be installed in the 12”, facing the living room. I may or may not extend the counter top over the fireplace, not sure yet.
The roof vents, while full of wasp nests, seem to seal very tight. The AC does not work and will need to be replaced. Is there a unit that delivers both heat and air?
The wheel bearings were packed 2 years ago and the brakes/axles are in excellent shape. I have the front window cover, just need to fabricate new mounting hardware. The door needs some TLC and I need to replace some of the outside lights. Is the TV antenna a stock option? I am thinking of removing it if not. We will be pulling this long distance and I am not sure how well this will travel. I plan on going with a satellite anyway.
I am new at trailer restoration/remodel, however, we have restored 3 vehicles and I certainly have learned that just because they made it “back then” does not mean they make it now…or that you can find it. I know that most of what we need will need to be fabricated, improvised or both. That said, I would appreciate any and all ideas and advice……….

[gmaof20]

more photos

[gmaof20]

more

[gmaof20]

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[gmaof20]

this is all for now...I am beginning to feel guilty

[slowmover]

I have really been looking forward to a Streamline renovation, and much appreciate being able to study this. Old brochures are great, but it's only with miles and years that we can see how things stood up.

Old car and old house repair/renovation experiences are probably the centerpoint of skills for many of us.

As to finding what you need: I rarely ran into the problem on our '83 Silver Streak that I could not find what I needed. Of course, that was a lightly used trailer, and newer. I assume that all appliances have to go past some point in time (let's call it 15-20 years), and on these was the least problem. For things like direct replacement of a particular lamp or formed metal piece, maybe not.

- See contributor Lewster on instant hot water heaters (also on powered roof vents as well as hot water heaters).

- Several of the roof A/C brands have heat strips.

- Are you certain the inner shell vinyl covering cannot be cleaned? (And I'd rather paint it, I think, than overlay it, but will leave that question to the more experienced). On an SS we didn't have the A/S problem of sticky/gooey vinyl from the '70's and I rather thought the same supplier was used. (Ok, on second viewing of photo #3 of covering by doorway I see that the finish is textured differently).

A three-bucket method of CASTROL Super Clean at two levels of strength plus a distilled water rinse and a huge stack of microfiber towels is what I use. Takes 4-5 days to hit every square inch in the two trailers I've had recently (a '34 and a '32). The advantage to this is (with shop vac) even though I think I've gotten it clean (or vacuumed) I still find more areas by being methodical and painstaking. These trailers had no end of areas where dirt/dust collect, and no owners ever seem to be thorough.

- My attitude toward these trailers is to get all the road performance issues first, when energy and budget are fresh: exterior LED lamps, new safety chains, breakaway switch, 7-way (conversion), jack, then axle alignment plus wheel/bearing service, etc. New brake wiring. Rust-busting. Suspension re-inforcement. Shock absorbers, etc. The spring packs should be broken out and re-done. Etc. Depending on length of renovation, tires can wait, but everything else should be done. The second level of this is in not losing doors or windows while going down the highway so that examination and decent repair is needed.

In the same vein (and at the same time) is the roof. Think of it this way: with road performance items made new (R&R), and the roof attended to, one has accomplished everything needed to go down the road plus what A/S owners have to do in replacing axles and repairing shell separation problems. So, by comparion: quick, easy, accessible, cheap and done!!

The most important function of a trailer is its' mobility. All else flows from that. Second is water, then propane, then electricity as to order of importance. The work order may be different, but this is -- short of a philosophical discussion in it's own thread -- the relativistic "importance".

- I would not shorten the kitchen counter. All trailers are deceptive as to how much space there is, and horizontal work surfaces are at a premium. If we take seriously the idea of being independent, then work areas are crucial. The Streamline kitchen arrangement with diagonal sink both adds and subtracts from this. IOW, give it time to percolate, and do some reading around here. There have been some good discussions (and CAD drawings) on this very subject.

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[gmaof20]

Thank you so much for your advice. While I want to rush out and clean it all up and make it pretty, I realize that you are right. Haste most definately makes waste and I want a trailer that will last. I will temper my impatience and study all the writings of experience.

There is so much to learn and I enjoy the reading. I stumbled across the thread by lewster in which he described his bench test of the water heater. Wow, so much information. It is a great thread...and one I will need to read more than once!

I plan on beginning a hard core, through cleaning this weekend. Again, I will take your advice and use the Castrol. There are so many nooks and cranies to clean I can see it taking a while!

If I come accross anything interesting I will post a new picture.

Oh, and I kind of mispoke about the counter top. What I would like to do is remove the stove and the small "cabinet" beside the stove. I want to install a solid countertop the full length of the existing counter top. I would like to install a 2-burner cooktop, with a convection/microwave under the counter.The space that holds the small cabinet is where I would like to install a small electric fireplace (wood cabinet), under the overhanging counter top. Did that make sense? I do realize the value of workspace which is the main reason I want to remove the stove and install a 2-burner cooktop. Honestly, I dont even use all 4 burners on my stove at home. I am looking for an induction type cooktop so that there will be no danger of getting burnt. Installing the 2 burner sysytem will free up more counter space and just seemed more practical for us.

In all seriousness, though. You have no idea how much I appreciate your insight and advice. I hope I don't make a pest of myself

[slowmover]

Keep posting. I've read a pretty fair number of resto threads (I recommend this approach) and I've noted questions asked openly by others doing their own work when the subject is the same, and my assumption is that PM's work well for asking questions on older subjects. The pleasure of forums like these is the willingness of folks to share their work with others.

I had questions asked of me in re a Silver Streak purchase recently and the best I could do was be of guidance in a general sense, the "order of importance" kind of thinking above in whether to buy a particular coach or not. To that end, if one is bought, I would also advise that person (now, you) to simply use the listing of forums here (Table of Contents) and divide out the work so that searching for answers/solutions parallels this existing structure.

Water heaters, for instance. Several brands, several sizes, several differences in otherwise almost identical appliances. Worth noting what they are. A lightly used one might be a good purchase, but it would be good to know in contacting a salvage yard (COLAW or other) what I could use (dimensions or perceived reliability). That would take care of that problem for the foreseeable future until a great other amount of work is done; i.e., I'd rather have the coach re-plumbed (if that is on the work list) than worry over changes to appliance type. IOW, I would determine that I want X-brand, in C-capacity and would need T-bypass kit if purchased. Now, no more brain power for that question in the foreseeable future once notes are completed.

That change, that "upgrade" to something different, could wait till later . . as this coach needs substantial work. But I would have reliable hot water for that indefinite future. And keep the brain occupied by the actual task at hand. Dividing and sub-dividing things down to the actual work is, I suspect, the real reason projects like these are abandoned. So, a step or three at a time.

Thus the investigations, paralleling forum layout, would have answers close to hand to get the coach back to op status quickest. (And this was the reason I was always happiest to work as the general contractor, leaving problem-solving to the most experienced guy. What he needs I'll ask for and get for him. It's a different hat when doing the work, and keeping this separate is difficult).

The "kitchen counter change" sounds intriguing.

And cleaning is it's own reward as one accummulates a detailed visual record of what is present, close up. I would think photo's and notes below when printed out (I'm old fashioned) would head up each of the Forum section "parallels" in my bound looseleaf notebook. I'm also sure someone else has a better take on all this than I do, ha!

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[68Streamline]

Hello,
I've got a 1968 Streamline that I'm also working on. Just curious on the recent progress of your project. Any updates? Let me know if I could help.

[jgbyler]

I have a 1971 Streamline I just inherited. I got all of the appliances fired up this weekend and fixed some electrical things that had gone wrong. I'm about to take my first trip. I have one question... The water inlet...where you add water to the water tank...is there some kind of humongous wrench for this or? It seems odd that you wouldn't be able to twist it off with your hand, rather, it requires some kind of wrench... If you or anyone has info on this (and it's not covered anywhere in the trailer manual!), I would really appreciate it. I was also looking for information on how to gently clean the exterior/has mild oxidation and hasn't been looked after for 20 years... Thanks!