Real costs of redo of mid 1970s AS

[Silverflames]

Well for what it is worth, for $1250 I would buy it, put new tires bearings and fix the leaks. Patch it up and use it.

Check the front frame as closely as you can, if the frame in the front it is good then two trips a year should be ok. There is no requirement that you do a full restore, just fix what you need to make it useable. Fix it up as you go. Many AS of this age is being towed around with rotted floors and rusty frames.

Consider new axles as well. That will keep from beating up the unit to badly. 2x that is you got rough roads leading into the camp.

Great camp!! Something to pass on to family..

[Bbelk]

Originally Posted by perryg114

.....Old Airstreams are like old cars, it is much cheaper to buy a restored one or a newer one than restore one from scratch. There is nothing economical about the process and nothing is cheap about it. If you figure the time and money to rebuild on of these things, you can buy a new one. You can't justify buying old with the hope of making it new. It is something you want to do, not something that makes any sense at all. .......

Perry

Thats a great answer. I have about $7,000 in a 1975 BMW R90 that is now easily worth $2 or $3 thousand.

For me, going new on an Airstream was not an option, but I did just replace my 1977 29 footer with a 2010 27FB that was never used by the original owner. I probably spent at least twice what I would have spent restoring the old one, but I had more time to work on things when I was working full time. Now I just want to use them.

[Tony S]

Great info,


Still what if they want to use one of the Top outfits in the country. The real renovator/restorers. Not an Airstream dealer.

Can anyone speak to what they got done and what it cost them.

Tony

[lesleyness]

Well, I'm crossing our fingers that the Airstream GODS are going to be blessing us with a better fitting Airstream to purchase. It's a 1960 Tradewind 24'... New floor over a repaired frame, new skin, painted and installed correctly, and all the guts to reuse or use as templates.... Add to this that the restorations so far have been done professionally, and by a fellow AS connoisseur... To say we're excited, is an understatement! We've wanted a vintage AS for so long, that getting this, and finishing it, is a dream come true! Now, cross your fingers we're the lucky buyers of this beauty!!!