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Old 04-28-2017, 07:52 AM   #1
Rivet Polisher
 
1973 31' Sovereign
Mt Pleasant , North Carolina
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 169
Tin Can Dreams - aka "What have we gotten ourselves into?!?!"

Howdy all,
My wife and I have renovated houses for years and thought that taking on a vintage Airstream would be a "piece of cake' - but we have learned that is not the case! Here are pictures of our progress, I will try to keep everyone updated as we go.
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Old 04-28-2017, 08:22 AM   #2
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1957 26' Overlander
Winston Salem , North Carolina
Join Date: Jan 2013
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Lookin' good! Can't wait to see the progress.
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Old 04-30-2017, 07:49 AM   #3
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1962 28' Ambassador
1961 19' Globetrotter
1962 26' Overlander
Mesa , Arizona
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We'll you look like you are doing just great. Love that first picture, nice composition.
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Old 04-30-2017, 08:28 AM   #4
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1983 31' Airstream310
Hillsburgh , Ontario
Join Date: Sep 2012
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Do you have the original interior? If so, did you record how much weight came out of what section of the trailer?

If not, then I hate to break it to you, but if you think you're at the hard part; you're not.

Rebuilding a trailer is far more science, than design. You almost have to have scale pads under both sides of the axles and tongue to accurately measure how much weight you're placing back into the trailer and where. If the trailer is not balanced properly, it will prove very difficult to tow and possibly very unstable in cross winds or passing trucks.

The other really hard part is to make things (gables, cabinets etc) as lightly as possible. My cabinets for example have no bottoms, no backs, interior gables only long enough to support hardware and my counter top is the top of the cabinet. Basically just a face frame, small gables and that's it.

Trust me, you haven't got to the tricky bit yet.

Cheers
Tony
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Old 04-30-2017, 10:53 AM   #5
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1974 Argosy 26
Morrill , Nebraska
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Tony is over thinking it. IMHO
My Argosy has all of the heavy stuff; water heater, battery, refer and closet space on the street side. Only the sink on the curb side. FW tank is up front, grey and black water tanks are in the rear.
It tows great.
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Old 04-30-2017, 11:00 AM   #6
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Solon , Ohio
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wildhorses View Post
Howdy all,
My wife and I have renovated houses for years and thought that taking on a vintage Airstream would be a "piece of cake' - but we have learned that is not the case! Here are pictures of our progress, I will try to keep everyone updated as we go.
Your progress is great! You can do this!! Do you have a Instagram account?

Mine is: @AirstreamLoving

I also am in the process of renovating and I would love to follow you or anyone else in the Instagram community of Airstreams!

Please Le me know your account and GOOD LUCK!
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Old 04-30-2017, 02:42 PM   #7
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2013 31' Classic
billings , Montana
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I hope you are younger than me.....I am wondering if I will finish my model AV8...
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Old 05-01-2017, 06:42 AM   #8
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1973 31' Sovereign
Mt Pleasant , North Carolina
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 169
Thanks! We have done numerous house renovations over the years so I know that even when we think we are 80% done there is 80% left to do! We are mid 50's, empty nesters and plan to simplify the layout to suit our preferences, so it should be lighter.

Our next issue is tanks - fresh water, black water, grey water...? We used to have a Bus motorhome that piped the grey water & black water into one tank.

Is there any advantages to separate tanks (black & grey) or is one tank good enough?

Also, where's a good source for the tanks, toilets and instructions on how to plumb it all?


PS. I do have an instagram account but don't know how to use it.
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Old 05-01-2017, 04:08 PM   #9
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1973 31' Sovereign
Mt Pleasant , North Carolina
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 169
My Instagram account is @Wildhorsesracing -

Does anyone know where to get these wire clips?
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Old 05-01-2017, 04:12 PM   #10
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1974 27' Overlander
Baltimore , Maryland
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wildhorses View Post
My Instagram account is @Wildhorsesracing -

Does anyone know where to get these wire clips?
Vintage trailer supply has them. Product code VTS-118.
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Old 05-01-2017, 05:45 PM   #11
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1972 31' Sovereign
Lexington , Minnesota
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Good sources for parts are:
Vintage Trailer
Out-of-Doors Mart
Inland RV
There are others, but these are the ones we used the most.
Grey tanks fill faster than black tank. We plumbed the bathroom sink into the black tank, and the rest into grey. Hubby built our black and grey tanks, taught himself plastic welding. It's definitely cheaper than buying them. Fresh tanks are better bought, because of the grade of the tank.
We, too, had done many home renovations prior to the Airstream. We put back major components into the same space they came out of (frig, furnace). It's not too difficult to balance things from our perspective. You just need to pay attention to them. Cabinet frames were built from basswood, face frames and other woodwork from red alder - light weight hardwood.
Good luck and post progress!

Kay
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Old 05-02-2017, 01:44 PM   #12
Rivet Polisher
 
1973 31' Sovereign
Mt Pleasant , North Carolina
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 169
Quote:
Originally Posted by Minno View Post
Good sources for parts are:
Vintage Trailer
Out-of-Doors Mart
Inland RV
There are others, but these are the ones we used the most.
Grey tanks fill faster than black tank. We plumbed the bathroom sink into the black tank, and the rest into grey. Hubby built our black and grey tanks, taught himself plastic welding. It's definitely cheaper than buying them. Fresh tanks are better bought, because of the grade of the tank.
We, too, had done many home renovations prior to the Airstream. We put back major components into the same space they came out of (frig, furnace). It's not too difficult to balance things from our perspective. You just need to pay attention to them. Cabinet frames were built from basswood, face frames and other woodwork from red alder - light weight hardwood.
Good luck and post progress!

Kay
Awesome, thanks! Where did he find out how to plastic weld? I would prefer custom tanks that fit better.
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Old 05-03-2017, 06:16 AM   #13
Rivet Polisher
 
1973 31' Sovereign
Mt Pleasant , North Carolina
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Posts: 169
Had a slight delay on the work at one end until the current residents move out.
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Old 05-03-2017, 06:17 AM   #14
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1973 31' Sovereign
Mt Pleasant , North Carolina
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Posts: 169
Had a breakthru today! - literally broke thru the subfloor when I stepped on it. We are thinking about leaving it off as it would be easier to do repairs. Has anyone run the 110v wiring under the floor?
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Old 05-03-2017, 06:46 AM   #15
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1984 31' Excella
Lenexa , Kansas
Join Date: Jan 2017
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Hey there! My wife and I did a lot of home remodeling too and we thought the same exact thing . Totally worth it though!

If you have the original interior, do not throw anything away yet - even if you don't reuse it, a lot of the original stuff is great for using as templates (including the subfloor pieces when tracing out the curves). And if you have a side bath and the original shower liner, KEEP IT (we threw ours away and have regretted that decision). They are impossible to find replacements for.

Regarding your question about running 110 through the floor, you certainly can, the only debatable issue there is access (if you run it through the top center panel, access can remain relatively easy in that you just have to pop out a few rivets, whereas if it's in the floor you have to remove the belly pan underneath and hope you ran it to the sides of your holding tank rather than over the top of them/et cetera.

You will have a ton of decisions to make. Feel free to read through our blog (linked in my signature) to get an idea of some of the things we had to figure out along the way, including electrical system upgrades, lighting, et cetera.

Like I said above, the project was 100% worth for us, and we're not even 100% there yet!
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Old 05-04-2017, 07:30 AM   #16
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1972 31' Sovereign
Lexington , Minnesota
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Chris found plastic welding info on the internet. There's a place in our area that sells the plastic sheets and rods. He made a heat tape "brake" to heat up the sheets and make 45 degree corners. The tanks have held up for 5 years now with no problems in leakage. The info he used and pictures are somewhere in our thread "Little Girl Refurb". It is stinky work! Vintage Trailer sells tanks that are styled after what he did. (We met the owner at Vintage Restoration Rally a few years ago). For us, making the tanks was definitely cheaper than anything we'd seen on the market at the time. AND, we could configure them exactly the right size. He made 2 grey tanks and they are ganged together. Our black tank still held fluids (we know that because it was full when we bought the trailer), but he made a new one just because.

Kay
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Old 05-14-2017, 05:23 AM   #17
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1973 31' Sovereign
Mt Pleasant , North Carolina
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 169
Pulled up some more flooring and found more and more mouse poo

Makes me think about all the unrestored Airstreams out there and how many probably carry full rodent communities with them. Kind of like a bad case of bedbugs...
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Old 05-14-2017, 05:27 AM   #18
Rivet Polisher
 
1973 31' Sovereign
Mt Pleasant , North Carolina
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Finished pulling up the floor and started repairing the worst parts of the frame that had rusted away.
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Old 05-16-2017, 08:06 AM   #19
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1973 31' Sovereign
Mt Pleasant , North Carolina
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Still welding in stiffeners for the rusty frame.
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Old 05-17-2017, 08:17 PM   #20
Rivet Polisher
 
1973 31' Sovereign
Mt Pleasant , North Carolina
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Got some flooring done today
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