We are thrilled to have recently inherited a 34' Excella. Right now, it smells of cat urine on the very worn interior & surely has some field mice, but she looks pretty good on the outside. We have outgrown our 2009 30' Classic & are happy to be moving on to greater lengths. Our plan is to have her completely gutted & renovate to accommodate our family of 10. I cannot sleep for madly sketching layouts with with all that room! (From my searches and contacts made here on Airforums, I think we are the biggest Airstream family yet!)
A few questions:
Our new 34' is near Pittsburgh & will be towed any day to Airstream of Western PA (I read good things about them) to get her road-worthy. We would like to completely gut & re-build ASAP but do not know of where this should be done. Is it best to drive the 4+ hours to the Airstream factory shop to do this type of thing or is it much more $? I keep looking for renovators on the east coast but have been limited in my search...ideas?
Additionally, our tow vehicle is in Florida & filled daily with children. With the $/time/gas we spend getting up to PA, it would likely be cheaper to hire someone to tow it to wherever it is being renovated or to rent a tow vehicle & drive ourselves... Any thoughts?
My last question is about the door: it is windowless! I searched & found that a new door is upwards of 2K... What about a used door? Are there used parts somewhere? I'd really like a window there.
We are excited newbies to restoration. Our 2009 Classic was brand new when we drove it off the lot with that lovely new AS smell. This one is rather malodorous, sadly as a bed for transient cats for 7 years, but we are hopeful that she will look & smell good one day soon...
Thank you for any advice!