Newb advice - 1977 Sovereign 31' renovation

[mkeilx2]

Our non profit was donated a 31' Soverign Trailer to convert to a mobile SN Trailer. So where to start.

Wiring and plumbing schematics would be great.
Need info on repairing some damage to the panels.

Exterio parts like the plastic accents.
Where can we find parts for the trailer like a new door?

Can you add a second door? Even if you could is that considered blasphemy.

We will start by gutting her and re-flooring.

WHERE DO WE START?

~Martina

[kevin242]

Hi Martina,

If you send me a personal message (PM) via. this forum, I will mail you a CD with the 1977 owner's manual and the 1977 Airstream factory service manual which has the info you need for the schematics.

Kevin

[idroba]

New doors are going to be VERY expensive, hope you understand that prior to starting the project.

[Disneysue925]

Originally Posted by mkeilx2

Our non profit was donated a 31' Soverign Trailer to convert to a mobile SN Trailer. So where to start.

Wiring and plumbing schematics would be great.
Need info on repairing some damage to the panels.

Exterio parts like the plastic accents.
Where can we find parts for the trailer like a new door?

Can you add a second door? Even if you could is that considered blasphemy.

We will start by gutting her and re-flooring.

WHERE DO WE START?

~Martina

I have no advice, just curiosity. What's an SN trailer?

Thanks,
Sue

[mkeilx2]

SORRY - SN is Spay and Neuter - the number one thing we can all do to improve the lives of animals....have your pet Spayed and Neutered....your weird friends and relatives too ;-)

OK so the door thing. What is expensive. Can you fix a door that is kind of busted up but still functional? Where do I even look for parts etc......

thanks!

[mrflegel]

Martina:
post some pictures, I am new here also. The guys and gals on this forum will help but pictures will give them an Idea of what you will need.
Mike

[Skatiero]

Before you gut or do anything else, spend a lot of time on the forum, especially reading posts about doing a full monty shelff- off restoration. Read, read, read read read.

[Skatiero]

Also, is it a rear bath? Be sure to look up rear end separation.

[mkeilx2]

It is a rear bath.
We would like to keep the plumbing back there so the Veterinarians will have access to a water supply (sink) during surgery.

We would also like to keep sink access up front for the techs doing the surgery prep.

I will post pictures later today.

Do we really needs to take the entire shell off?

~MK

[mkeilx2]

OMG What have we done......

Tell me to stop hyperventelating.

I have a handy husband that can weld and is a mechanic and all around handy man (electric/plumbing etc). I am pretty handy myself.

[Minno]

Ok, you can stop hyperventilating now! Post some pics, especially of the door and floor, and let us help you figure out how to get this trailer set up the way you want it. Depending on the damage to the door, you may be able to re-skin it, as long as the frame is intact. Nothing is insurmountable!

Chris

[mkeilx2]

Thank You Everyone......

[mkeilx2]

BTW - the droop on the end was primarily due to the fact whne I took that particular picture the trailer was hooked up to a hitch that was WAY too high for it on the tow vehicle. It was not hauled like that and teh trailer looks pretty level form front to back.

[pbearsailor]

Darn, that is a pretty rough looking old trailer.

Most of us that are looking for a restoration candidate would probably put a good mostly dent free shell high on the list. The door is a very big issue. It will certainly need new axles and a new subfloor. For what you want it for, will the original electrical and plumbing systems be at all up to the task?

At the very least, you've got a multi year project and I'd think more than $10,000 to fix if you do all the work yourselves. I'm thinking it is probably worse than that, but I have the flu so maybe things are a little too black for me right now. Pretty sure my trailer was in much better shape when I started, but it was still a two and a half year project and lots of dollars. Realize the trailer was a donation, but I'd sure think you could find a much better example to start with for only a few thousand dollars and end up much ahead of the game when you're done.

Apologies for the negative post. I just about never do that here, but I just hope that you guys have your eyes wide open about what you'd be getting into.

cheers,
steve

[Atraveler]

I have same model am restoring inside and plumbing need diagram as plumbing fell apart with very little assistance

[kevin242]

If you send me your mailing address via. a personal message on Airforums, I'll send you a CD with the owner's manual and factory service manual that has all the info on the 1977 models.

Kevin

[mkeilx2]

What we need is a trailer that is pretty much empty with a good floor and axles. Need electrical and plumbing working (plumbing for two sinks back and front). The only electrical things that will be used for now are a anesthetic machine, shop vac and clipper charger. And lights. Plan on using LEDs and the vet thinks with all the windows on most days natural light will be better anyway. We also have a supporter/volunteer who is our county's renewable energy guy. He is looking into grants to turn it solar eventually.

ALL the inside original will go - couches, cabinets, window treatments, dividers. As far as the door, at this point it works. We can worry about it being easy to use later.

We already have sub floor and flooring donated.

Can live with exterior cosmetic blemishes for now, as we have time and $$$ we can fix those. THAT can be multi year as far as we are concerned.

To give you all an idea of where we are now - we do feral cat (wild kitties) SN surgeries in a tack room (a place where we keep our saddles and other horsey stuff) that is about 200' feet of working space - with a space heater, old wiring and plastic over the windows. The electrical needs are fewer than you would guess.

So for us the trailer just like it is, cleaned up and with a good floor, plumbing and electric working is like a palace. BIG so the vet and I could actually have someone else help without crawling all over each other. We could plug it in on my property (we have an RV hook up) and it could work for feral cats.

NOW - the questions are
1. Is there anyone who could come out and do an inspection?

If it truly will cost $10,000 to gut it and get the floor/axles, electric and plumbing working we need to know before we start to rip into it.

2. If it is WAY more to just get it into the order we currently need, what are the odds we could sell it and find a decent maybe smaller shell that will not require as much $$$ or work?

Thanks and sorry but I am not TOTALLY deflated about the project quite yet. I believe what we need and what someone who wants to really get one of these restored may be two different things, but I could be totally wrong.

Thanks guys!

~Martina

www.oregonoutbackhumane.org

[Minno]

Sounds like a good purpose and goal!

How exactly do you plan on using the surgery trailer? Do you need to tow it different places? If yes, then you probably need new axels assuming that you still have the original ones on her. Figure between $400 and $800 each, plus shipping. Price varies depending on which brand axel you get and to some extent where you get them from.

Also, will you have electric, water, and sewer hookups? Electric and water are fairly easy to supply for the trailer. A sewer hookup to drain the gray and black water might be more difficult, depending on where you live and access to a sewer/septic system, zoning laws, etc.

Good that you have flooring donated. Replacing the plywood subfloor is a major undertaking, and the two methods are a shell off and a shell on. We did a shell on, which presents different challenges than lifting the shell off to replace the floor. Either way, you'll want to remove the belly pan and clean out under the floor before you remove the floor. Be prepared for a fairly disgusting job in removing the belly pan.

Regarding the door, you say it's functional? I'm surprised! But, that's good news for now. I'm not sure if a 77 door frame is cast aluminum or not, but it can probably be repaired by a competent aluminum welder if you can find one. Is the door frame bent? That might be an issue if it's a cast frame.

Have you read through some of the major restoration threads? They can give you a pretty good idea of the work involved. Here's a few of links:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f185...urb-50967.html
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f261...ins-67532.html
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f91/...irl-31084.html
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f36/...ent-38289.html

And the all important thread that contains links to almost all of them:
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f44/...ons-35399.html

Lots of reading, but well worth it.

Chris