1973 Tradewind Reno-Rehab

[Tony S]

Now some major money gets spent on new appliances. Norcold Refrig N841 2-way, Atwood GE9EXT 90071 water heater, Suburban NT Furnaces-NT30SP,
Airstream Power Jack The Jack was a splurge. The old one still worked fine but.... The old one is for sale if anyone needs a original AS jack

The refer is very large The water heater is Electronic ignition so I ran a new line to it. It also has a factory by pass. It is an Exothermal model.


I will very toasty with the new Suburban furnaces. Does take up a lot of space but that is standard.

I need to build platforms for the water heater and furnace so that was next. I again epoxy coated the one for the water heater. You may get the idea I have a thing about dry rot. This trailer will be hard pressed to suffer from it now.

Tony

[Tony S]

Might as well put a new shore power inlet in while I am at it. I have nothing better to do.

I bought a nice looking well made Furrion 30A stainless inlet. It is real nice but at $70.00 one has to flinch a bit.

What I have to cut a hole in the side of my Tradewind? How many chances do I get to get it right?

[Tony S]

Fun Time now. Making up new Sapale bulk heads and then on to cabinets and other woodwork.

The panels were all wood no heavy mdf core. I was very luck to get this stuff. I finished it with Captains Spar Varnish. 3 or 4 coats seem to do the trick. I sanded between coats. I don't usually go for a shinny finish but I think it works. I don't plan to put a high shine on the out side and I just want to be able to say, "my shine is on the inside".

The bulk heads that show in place in one of the pictures is just a test fit and not
fully finished.

Tony

[Tony S]

Now it is time get the Sapale bulk heads varnished and fitted in the Tradewind. Then it will be time to put some of that Sapale lumber, Clear VG lumber to work.

Again with weight being an issue I used clear vertical grain old growth western red cedar where strength was not needed. If I needed more holding power and strength I use Clear Ponderosa Pine. If I needed more holding power or strength I used Sapale. I am fortunate that I have a good supply of this high quality material on hand. For instance the pine I milled off my property. This high quality stuff usually goes to window manufacturers or the like. I was able to gather some very nice Sapale for this trailer too. This is material during the course of building furniture for customers I culled out and saved for myself. The best of the best you might say.

In actuality the Sapale is Ribbon Sapale which is the equivalent of vertical in other species. To this stock I faced with some exceptionally straight grained ribbon stock. I band sawed it into 1/8” pieces and face glued it to a Sapale substrate that was not as showy and that I picked for it being lightweight. Not all boards weigh the same. This was an arduous process but I believe it is worth it. I don’t plan on doing it again.

In the pictures you can see the ripping of face stock on the band saw, glueing of stock to some nice substrate (lots of clamp), and you can see how many boards I had to face glue. It will take most of them to build all the new cabinetry throughout the trailer. We shall see if it all worth it. I think it will be.

oh, I used the turpentine to get a peak at the color of the wood.
Tony

[TennTex]

Originally Posted by Tony S

A lot of the time on the this job is spent sitting on an upside down 5 gallon bucket, in the trailer, looking off into the near distance trying to figure out what needs to be done, what could be done, what I wanted to do and what could be done and what was I forgetting to do, and what was the implications of what I was forgetting to do. And oh, was there a better way to do it.

I laughed at this because that described me perfectly - I constantly lamented that my "bucket to work ratio" was about 10:1!

Thanks, Tony, for going through the trouble of posting this thread; everybody's rebuild is unique. What you've done with the bath so far is excellent - I would love to see that shower wall finish.

Thanks,
Alan

[ericpeltier]

Originally Posted by Tony S

Might as well put a new shore power inlet in while I am at it. I have nothing better to do.

I bought a nice looking well made Furrion 30A stainless inlet. It is real nice but at $70.00 one has to flinch a bit.

What I have to cut a hole in the side of my Tradewind? How many chances do I get to get it right?

Tony - Image 357 has a really nice reddish color to it. Is that the sapele bulkhead?

BTW - I want your workshop. And tools.

[Tony S]

yup, a lot of time sitting on the bucket.


The most brutal work is over, so I did some initial planning, figuring and scratching my head, asking questions, putting pencil to paper and saw to wood.

Here are some pictures of the resulting cabinets being built. They will show the exceptional quality of wood throughout. My intention is to have this work last another 50 years and bring enjoyment to more than just the current owners.

I would say that the ribbon mahogany with the multiple coats of Captain’s Spar Varnish has a nice glow to it when the sun (or camera flash is on it)

The picture shows some of the cabinet structure. Along the way to a finished cabinet it takes a lot of parts and pieces to produce a light weight and strong unit. A big part of the strength comes for the mortise and loose tenon joinery I used. I am pleased with the results and was glad to use my good wood on it. I don't alway like to let the "good" stuff go for any ole project. But as we all know our Airstreams are special to us.

All said and done (still a ways off) it is to be used, to travel and camp in. My hope is do a little photo shoot when it is at its best and then damn the Torpedoes.

One of the hardest things is to not be able to use the Airstream. This clearly a labor intensive project. I can see why having it done by a pro is so expensive. More than new I have been told many times.

I'll post more cabinet pictures.

Tony

[Tony S]

Yes, ericpeltier it is the bulkhead you will see more, larger shot of it.

[Tony S]

More Cabinet pictures. Again, more parts and pieces being varnished. This type of frame work is how it was done in the legacy trailers with the great wood interiors.

Tony

[Tony S]

Assembly process. Nice to have clamps. Small pieces into a unified whole.

Most was mortise and tenon joinery and some kreg jig used for face screwing my circumstances allowed

So what is being made is the base units A twin bed, a galley cabinet, a new front Gaucho (more on that later) and a side dinette, (more on that later, too)

One thing I will say, it is hard to out do what the Airstream Engineers already worked out. One time you can win is if they didn't do something for cost reasons or time. So if you are willing to do either or both you can improve the end product.

Tony

[Tony S]

My wife and I took a chance deciding to go with a new gaucho in front and a side dinette. The dinette is a little tight, just for two. The gaucho slides smooth as silk on 500 lbs drawer slides. These heavy ball bearing slides are relatively expensive and heavy. This was a rare weight splurge. They weight in at just over 30 lbs. But no jerking the bed out.

You can see the full scale drawing and functions as a mock up. I enjoyed designing it. The table top is customized for my wife and me, with our initials carved in the top and filled in with epoxy and ebony dust and then varnish with many coats.

Wood workers knows the thrill of applying that first coat of finish on the raw wood as shown in the next to the last picture.
Tony

[J. Morgan]

That is some very impressive work, lots of different skills all well done and detail oriented.

Nice work man!

It was worth letting all of those pictures load.


Brevi tempore!

[Tony S]

Thanks for the complement.

On to some upper cabinets. I went with sliding doors on the uppers. Some of the pictures show the track that the doors run in.

Also a couple pictures of door clamp ups.

But first some pics of the dinette table. Which I like a lot. It kind of a fun thing.

Tony

[Tony S]

Now you can see bulkheads are up and I am about to install some very nice lights from VTS. I believe there is 11 of them. 6 are led all have a steel chrome or stainless base. One picture show the cedar strip shower wall that was epoxied and fiberglassed. Another shows the bases I made to mount the lights to before attaching to the underside of a cabinet or a bulk head.

Tony

We are almost caught up now. Plumbing, Fantastic vents some other cabinetry. A bit of a journey from the original. Funny how none of this was in the plan when I bought the Tradewind.

[Aerowood]

Nice wood shop, you win.

[Tony S]

Aerowood

It is a place to get things done. Something I know you know how to do. You helped me by replying to my previous posts and I thank you for that. You and the many others who kept me moving forward.

We first timer don't do it alone.

Tony

[Hittenstiehl]

Holly caschmolly, what are you doing the rest of your life. Besides enjoying that Tradewind. Most excellent work and nice pictures. Even the trim pieces for the lights are gorgeous.

Sorry my little 65 Tradewind you'll just have to be happy being our nice very unfinished Aluminum tent.

[Tony S]

You can see the heavy duty slides I spoke of on the new gaucho. There is a picture of it closed and another open. Also there are pictures of some more cabinetry that gives some great cubbies for storage. Also the way the cabinetry was designed allows the installation of Marmoleum flooring that is
6' 7" wide without a seam.

Next to the last picture shows fitting the base of the cabinet with a plan to the true shape of the floor.

One picture shows a Sapale shelf that is above the new water heater and is the home of the new microwave. Above is a new 4 burner Atwood stove top. The two replaces the original Stove/oven. I will miss those fresh, warm biscuits.

Tony

[Tony S]

Thanks Hittenstiehl I am sure that 65 brings much pleasure.

Sometimes I feel real silly spending all the time I have on my Tradewind.

I am spending a lot of money and more importantly a lot of time. I just want to use it!!!

I was going to start building a 21 foot boat ( Tolman Skiff) but this Land Yacht may have cured me of that notion for good. If not I am asking for an intervention.

Tony

[Hittenstiehl]

You are welcome, very skilled and particular craftsman you are. Your pictures will be very helpful for some of our work in the future.

And yes our 65 brings pleasure. We camp in it as is and enjoy. We have two, both needing lots of work but the deal was to always keep one serviceable/tentable.

Enjoy