New owner of a 1966 Tradewind - excited and now angst ridden, advice please!

[Trady66]

Hi all,
Been reading the forums for a while and finally went ahead and bought a 1966 airstream. Very excited to begin the project of bringing her back to life (I think it will be a 'her' name to be decided!).

The PO had placed wood panels on-top of the wooden sub-floor, and the sub floor is really dry and no signs of damp/rot (only done the front half so far, so not sure around wheel wells). However, yep, always a however, the belly pan had come away under the shower/bathroom, and well it is not looking good. A lot of rust which I can wire brush away, and the beams are still solid, I can't poke a screwdriver or anything through them. Also I could look further into the trailer and the rust seems to be just on the beams under the bathroom.

I just wanted to get advice from you guys, as looking at some of the renovations you have done, well I am in awe let's say, and mega excited to get going.

Just wondering what your opinions are/advice on:
1) Can I wire brush this rust away and apply POR 15. Will the beams be strong enough still? I have no welding experience etc...
2) Will the rest of the frame be ok if the floor is dry?
3) People talk a lot about the C channel, but where is it exactly? Will it be rusted, or how can I check easily?
4) Found a hole in the front covered in wire mesh. No idea what this is? Any ideas? (have attached pictures)
5) the box holding the black tank seems to have completely rusted, but I think this is fairly straight forward to fix?

I've attached pictures, hoping to get some friendly advice, as right now I am not sure if I have bought a lemon! Excited though non-the-less. Really don't want to take the shell off, as it is something I would have to get someone else to do, and guessing it would be expensive?!

Thanks all.

[Trady66]

Hi all,
So the rust on the frame seems to only be in the rear (phew). Found a welder, so going to replace entire back section hopefully and then por 15 the entire frame.

Next question though (seems like everything that I touch in the Airstream a question comes up!). I was cutting through the subfloor at the front to inspect the frame and on the bottom of the floor is aluminium sheeting. Is this normal. I thought that it was just going to be wood attached to the frame? How do you normally take this sheeting out etc. Searched the forums, and can't seem to find this mention. Thanks guys!

[ALANSD]

that box for the black tank need replacement. . Get a new box fabbed up by a local shop, try those that make ducts and such. Shouldn't cost more than 125 or so.
66 Was a great year...I have one too.

[Trady66]

Thank. Yes I was planning on doing that. I was also asking about aluminum that I found under the subfloor. Is this common?

[Minno]

Is that where your fresh water tank is located?

Kay

[blkmagikca]

Check out the video in this posting - http://www.airforums.com/forums/f44/...en-112149.html - You will see that the factory installed an aluminum sheet below the sub-flooring.

[Trady66]

Interesting. So everyone has aluminum in their airstreams? Weird it is not written about on the forums when removing the subfloor?

[Trady66]

Kay- it is not that close to the freshwater tank.

[falcon-N-Air]

Congratulations and welcome to the wonderful world of Airstreaming. CAUTION: Aluminitus is very contagious!

[Aviator]

The aluminum you found near the front is most likely over the spare tire compartment. Even if a trailer doesn't have the spare tire carrier installed, Airstream builds the trailer with an aluminum sheet over the section just behind the a-frame in the front.