General Restoration questions

[AnthonyHicks]

Hey guys, been reading on the forum for a few months now, finally saved up enough money to buy my first airstream !! I thought I was going to walk into a rats nest but surprisingly everything looks untouched from the 70s! The trailer has had a garage built over it and hasn't been used for ages. I'm buying it from a family member getting a a descent price. From research done I figured I'll definitely need new axles? How much does that run roughly and what other areas should I inspect? Thanks!

[Beaker63]

AH,
Top has a current thread going concerning axles.
By the way, welcome.
Tim

[Klatawa]

Congrats on your find! Half the fun is the dreaming and looking, but the "making it your own" is the really fun half.
www.vintageairstream.com has a pretty good chart on the cost of typical repairs.
You'll want to go through all of the plumbing for any leaks (as we found in ours) from frozen pipes, check propane lines for leaks, and the fun job of tracking down and sealing any leaks.
Welcome & have fun!
Dave & Debbie

[LawChick]

Welcome. We just got ours in January. We've had fun while we've been doing a lot of work to get our AS ready to travel. Some work has been done in a commercial shop, but most while parked at a friendly neighborhood campground near our house and hooked up to electricity with only two laborers. Husband and me. It really isn't work - it's a hobby and a labor of love. We've gotten more exercise, laughed more, talked more, and had a couple of good yelling, fighting matches about things such as how deep to plane the wood for the C channel. LOL (Anyone who has replaced or patched floor knows the reason for the argument - it depends on how much the C channel has collapsed in any particular area on rotten wood!).

Good luck, glad you're here. I've found just about every question has been addressed at some time or another on here. However, I sometimes need to ask for help in finding it.

Many of the "oldtimers" here are experts. Meaning, of course, not old in age, but old in time in the forums and owning Airstreams. We would be in deep trouble about now if we hadn't found the forum.

(Yes, we'll be "supporting" members as soon as I can remember to have hubby use his paypal account! Mostly when I remember, he's asleep. Only one nightowl in this family.)

[eldin]

I searched for days for a solution. I have a major leak inside the wall of my 26ft argosy (1976) TT. Its a rear bath. Its not visible, how can I get to it without major disassembly? any help greatly appreciated.

[pgr32e]

Welcome fellow Overlander. One thing you might want to look at is the condition of the furnace heat exchanger. Mine had one area that had corroded through and another where the manufactured joint had separated. Thankful for CO detectors.

[Splitrock]

Originally Posted by eldin

I searched for days for a solution. I have a major leak inside the wall of my 26ft argosy (1976) TT. Its a rear bath. Its not visible, how can I get to it without major disassembly? any help greatly appreciated.

Thanks for posting! I assume you mean you have re-sealed the sewer vents, replaced or at least installed new gaskets on the roof vents, replaced the window and door gaskets, sealed all the outside seams, and still have a leak. If that's the case, I'd probably have a pressure test done.

I've found that leaks are really pretty easy to find and once I find them, the source is pretty obvious. In my experience, my trailer leaks were just deferred maintenance. Some, like the back bumper area, and the step release slot, were designed to leak.

[2wheelin]

Check under the tub, some had water lines running under them. Thats where I found one of my freeze damaged leaks during restoration.

Curt