Around the World Airstream #6768

[aircooled4]

Very interesting. I dont think that i knew that trailers had to be 'prepped' at one of the 2 factories. Our 58 World Traveler (CA built) almost looks as though it wouldve been built specifically for the ATW or Africa-Holyland trips. Your point about your bumper got me wondering about this one and whether or not it was extended by the factory or if just the spare tire mount was done at the factory.

[66Overlander]

Originally Posted by safari62

Here is a photo of a 61' Tradewind Ohio built trailer with inboard tail lights. I always tend to (blame) the California factory for the wide tail lights. One of several strange styling modifications that seemed to come out of their factory.

I have seen two side by side spares mounted on vintage trailers which would more likely explain the light relocation.

You photo shows the more typical Ohio tail light locations in the early 60s.

[66Overlander]

Originally Posted by aircooled4

Very interesting. I dont think that i knew that trailers had to be 'prepped' at one of the 2 factories. Our 58 World Traveler (CA built) almost looks as though it wouldve been built specifically for the ATW or Africa-Holyland trips. Your point about your bumper got me wondering about this one and whether or not it was extended by the factory or if just the spare tire mount was done at the factory.

If the extended frame rails appear to be one piece and not had extensions welded on, I'd guess that was done at the factory. It looks like the exposed frame rails and cross members have some holes that maybe were originally used to mount some sort of storage box. The spare tire mount is harder to tell, but given that your trailer was a special order California built World Traveler, I might guess that the spare tire mount was put on at the factory, too, but that is really a guess. In any case, your spare tire mount is totally different that the one on my 1962 Ohio built trailer. Mine has a single hinged upright to mount the spare, with no bumper extension to protect the mounted spare tire.

[66Overlander]

I guess I have a couple of minor updates to announce . . .

1. Lorrie and I were able to get our WBCCI number changed to match our ATW Airstream Safari, so our WBCCI number is now 6768 (previously 5533). We were able to do this due to the generosity of the WBCCI members that were currently assigned this number. I will not post their names here for privacy reasons, but they changed their number to 5758 to allow us to keep #6768 on our trailer. Despite what some may claim, most WBCCI members are GREAT people. We have never met those members and yet they did this for us.

2. I have also got a thread running on the Vintage Airstream Club Forums about our ATW trailer. You may need to be a VAC member to see them, I am not sure. I have posted a couple of photos from the ATW caravan that were taken by the original owners of our ATW airstream. I got them from the son of the original owners. I hope to get more such photos over time. In case anyone wants to look, here is a link to that thread: http://vintageairstreamclub.com/comp...c,view/id,541/

[RamblinManGa]

Hi from GA. . . VERY cool trlr. So great that you are saving/restoring/using it ! Hope to see you (and trlr) one day on the road. Thanks for posting the pics. Regards, Craig

[66Overlander]

Time for an update. No new photos, but I have pulled #6768 home from the storage lot 3 of the last 4 weekends to start the process of getting it back into usable condition (took Father's Day weekend off). Recent accomplishments include:

1. Vacuuming and wiping down the interior to get rid out mouse debris and general dirt from years of being unused in the woods. Had no time to do this last fall as I was trying to get it weather tight before winter.
2. Got a key made yesterday so I can finally open the rear storage compartment. It actually took two locksmiths over two and a half hours in total over two different weekends to get a key made, but at least that's done now. Looking inside confirmed what I expected to find, the rear floor needs to be replaced - it's not totally gone, but enough is powdery that I don't think I can save it with penetrating epoxy.
3. Caulked a few more exterior seams.
4. Put a new gasket on the rear storage compartment door (other doors were done before winter).
5. I replaced all of the window gaskets with new bulb seal.

This means I finally may have the trailer water tight - all door and window gaskets replace and all "suspect" seams caulked. At least I think it's water tight until I can check it in a heavy rain.

Some of the "light work" is done, but I've got to get to some of the "heavy lifting" projects soon. Seeing that I am going to have to pull the bathroom and replace the rear floor, I am now looking for an indoor storage building for a couple of months to allow me to get the big projects done (axle replacement, rear floor replacement, front shell reattachment, front floor repair. I really do not want to tackle these projects when the trailer needs to go back to the storage lot each evening. Anyone know of a garage I can rent north of Detroit?

Eventually, I'll need to start checking out the water and LP systems, too, but the structural stuff needs to come first. I suspect I won't get to polishing until next year. Got to get it usable first and usable means it is structural sound and most systems work - don't want it beating itself apart on every bump in the road and no aluminum tent camping for us.

That's all for now.

[slowmover]

Thanks for the update. A nice change from the last thread perused where a few complained that an A/S is just too small in which to full-time (ha!).

[66Overlander]

Work on #6768 is starting to ramp up. Over the weekend I was able to rent a garage stall to allow me to tackle some of the biggest challenges indoors where I do not have to pull the trailer back to the storage yard each night, which is a good thing because I won't want to be moving the trailer while in the middle of some of these projects. A bit pricey, but "ya gotta do what ya gotta do".

The major things I want to accomplish while it is indoors are:

• Reattach the front of the shell to the steel hold down plate
• Repair the hole in the floor in the front street side corner
• Remove the bathroom and replace the rear floor
• Replace the axle

I'll probably do a lot of other little things too, but these are the biggies.

Since getting the trailer indoors, I have replaced about 50-60 inner skin rivets that were completely sheared off or that were loose. That should reduce shell motion a little.

I have also pulled the front gaucho frame and the shelf under the front window so that I can remove the front lower inner skin to address the front shell attachment and floor hole. Haven't gotten the front lower skin off yet, but that will not take long next time I am there. Most of the front floor seems pretty firm other than near the hole. The floor hole was due to a hole in the outer skin that occurred during the ATW caravan - I repaired that hole last fall, so there is no more leak in that area.

The biggest challenge up front will be the front shell attachment, but I already have a plan in mind. The bucked rivets that originally held the front shell down were replaced a long time ago. My sense of adventure wants to say that this happened during the ATW caravan, but in reality it might have been some time afterward. The replacement rivets were all "blind" rivets (a.k.a."pop" rivets). Over the years these replacement rivets have completely worn thru the front skin and are now loose. The holes in the front skin are so large now that they cannot be reused with an hope of providing strength.

My plan is to make a small repair panel to cover this area of the lower front skin and drill two or three completely new rows of holes thru the new aluminum repair panel, the original skin and the steel hold down plate. The new holes will be offset slightly from the original holes so that I get good dimensional control of the holes in all layers of metal and then I will buck in new rivets. The reason for the repair panel will be to cover the old oversized rivet holes after they are completely filled with Vulkem.

Since the repair panel will be below the battery box, it will not be very noticeable. This plan will also allow me to not have to replace then entire front skin panel. I am trying to save as much of the original trailer as possible. This trailer is being restored as a "survivor", not as a 100% "as new" restoration.

[66Overlander]

I was going to post some progress photos last night, but then discovered that I lost my camera. I can't find it at the garage or at home. My best guess is that I set it on the side of the pickup bed when leaving the garage this afternoon in a hurry. It must have fallen off somewhere. Hours later, I spent an hour scouring the path from the garage to my home - all of about a mile - with no luck. No signs of a the camera or even the run over remains of a camera on the road or in the parking lot, so someone must have found it and kept it. I can only hope that someone will try to return it.

The camera was old, so the loss of it is not a big deal. What I hate to lose is the photos that had not yet been downloaded from the memory card. The included 40 or 50 progress shots of my work on the 62' Safari that would have allowed for easy reversal for reassembly. Worse yet are some lost family photos, including ones from my Aunt's 90th birthday party that cannot be duplicated.

Anyway, to get my mind off that, here is what I have done since my last post (most of it in rare for Michigan 100+F heat over the last couple of days!):

1. Ordered a new axle.
2. Removed the front lower inner skin (had to drill out almost 100 rivets to do so).
3. Made a paper template for the front hold down repair panel with locations for the new rivet holes marked.
4. Removed a few floor tiles around the front street side floor hole (right where the endcap meets the side panels). Slow progress - need a better technique - while the edges of some tiles are loose, the center sections are sill glued down very firmly.
5. Removed the toilet and the boxed floor section that covers the black tank.

The things removed have allowed me to assess the condition of various other things as follows:

• The front hold down plate has loose pop rivets (already knew that from the outside), but only limited corrosion to the front floor channel and no significant front floor rot (yeah) suggesting that water leakage was not a major issue in this area.
• Floor rot around the front street side floor hole does not extend much beyond about a 12" x 12" area. Will likely replace a slightly larger area, but the rest should be able to be shored up with some penetrating epoxy.
• The black tank itself looks to be in good condition (but I still need to replace the floor under it).

Guess I need to take same current photos with my phone camera when I get back to the trailer today. And then go shopping for a new digital camera soon.

I am bummed by the loss of the photos on my camera (and the camera itself), but it feels good to be making progress on the Airstream.

[66Overlander]

I am spending all of my free time working on the trailer, so not much time to post progress updates and photos, but I'll try to post some tonight.

To some extent I am juggling a variety of projects simultaneously as my time permits:

• Working to reattach the shell to the front hold down plate
• Replacing the Battery Box
• Fixing the front street side floor hole
• Removing old floor tiles
• Removing the bathroom to allow the rear floor to be replaced
• Assessing the frame condition and planning to add a gray water tank

This and the following posts will show progress on these tasks.

Attached to this post are photos of the garage I rented and photos related to reattaching the front shell and replacing the battery box with one I got from another 1962 Safari. The "new" battery box is from a California Airstream and differs slightly from an Ohio Battery Box, but it will still be better than keeping the modified stainless stell and rusty rivet battery box that is currently on #6768.

Work on the front shell attachement and battery box stalled because I did not have a rivet gun to "buck" in new rivets. I now have bought a rivet gun, but am waiting for a friend to help me buck the rivets. I am waiting until I get the new axle to call in that favor - I hope to replace the axle and buck the rivets the same day so that I don't have to call in favors too often.

[66Overlander]

Here are some photos of fixing the front floor hole (which is still in progress), removing the old floor tiles (a time consuning task, even with a heat gun), a sampling of the orignal floor tiles and the replacement tiles I am considering, and a discovery related to how the water tank is held down.

As I have removed floor tiles, the floor does not seem too bad near the door. I have not made a decision yet, but I may be able to firm it up with penetrating epoxy rather than replace the section near the door.

The old floor tiles were a mix of brown hues. The replacement VCT tiles from Mannington I am considering have a tan/brown base, but mix in some more virbrant colors like blue and purple. The pattern is the closest to original that I can find, although they are 12"x12" rather than 9"x9". The colors should coordinate well with whatever fabric colors we eventually choose.

I assume the tank hold down modification was made during the ATW caravan as the bumpy roads (and lack of roads in some places) may have very well caused the tank to come loose. I do not have photos from below, but the large threaded rods extend thru the frame rails and cross members and stick out the belly pan where large nuts secure everything in place. I will keep this modification unless the tank leaks and I need to replace it with a newer plastic tank.

[66Overlander]

Here are some photos related to removing the bathroom. I still have to remove the black tank. The worst floor rot is below that tank - there is an actual hole thru the floor between the tank and inner skin in the rear curb side corner.

[66Overlander]

Final photos for tonight of the removal of the belly pan access panel below the dump valve and plumbing pipes. After the yucky insulation, dirt, and rotted chunks of floor were removed, I could assess the condition of the frame and begin thinking about how to hide a gray water tank in the belly pan.

The frame is not too bad from what I can see. There are no missing sections, but the metal has thinned on a couple of places, so I may have to have a few welding repairs made.

There, now you are all up to date.

[66Overlander]

Had a busy weekend:

• Got the front streetside corner floor repair section screwed and glued in place after epoxying the edges to seal them.
• Removed the modified stainless battery box insert and remnants of the original aluminum battery box.
• Was surprised to see the two circuit breakers paralleled togather in the old battery box - not sure that that is how they were supposed to be connected.
• Made a front repair panel to allow the front hold down plate rivets to be relocated to fresh metal and and to cover the old oversized rivet holes. This panel is currently clecoed in place.
• Temporarily propped the new Battery Box in place to see how it will eventually look.

The procedure I used to make the repair panel was as follows:

• Used a paper template to make the front repair panel and locate the rivet holes.
• Initially drilled 1/8" holes temporaraily clecoeing it in place as I went.
• Removed the repair panel and drilled out the old rivets so that the repair panel would lay flush on the front skin.
• Then enlarged the new rivet holes to 5/23" drilling from the inside out thru the steel hold down panel first to precisely locate the holes in the outer skin and repair panel, again clecoeing as I went.
• The repair panel still has it's clear plastic covering on it and it's edges taped to protect it and the front skin from damage during the fitting process. These wll be removed before it is finally buck riveted in place.

It feels good to finally be repairing something and see things going back together rather than just be removing things.

[66Overlander]

Time for a little update. Other projects have limited my time to work on #6768 recently, but over the weekend I filinally got the front end reattached and the new battery box installed.

Lorrie has renamed herself "Lorrie the Riveter" after helping me buck all of the rivets on the front. First we practiced by bucking rivets to fill all of the holes from the old battery box that would be hidden behind the new battery box. Lorrie did fantastic. Then we reattached the front of the shell thru the repair plate, front skin, and steel hold down plate. Finally we attached the new battery box using bucked rivets rather than the pop rivets the original box was attached with to make sure it would be secure if I choose to put an original style battery in it.

It sure feels good to be getting something put back together even if I still have more to do than I've gotten done so far. It sure beats the slow process of removing the old floor tiles - a task that I work on frequently in my free time but still only have about 25% of them removed.

My next significant project should be installtion of the new axle. It is due to finally be delivered tomorrow, so hopefully I can get that installed over Labor Day weekend. Wish me luck.

[goransons]

Joe, you're making great progress!! It's great to see this amazing piece of history in your hands getting a gentle new lease on life! I also find it really interesting to see what one that hasn't been all ripped apart like ours was. Thanks for all you do to preserve history of the 63 Around the World Caravan. Can't wait to see your trailer in person next summer.

P.S. I wish I had shop space like that!

[66Overlander]

Today I completed one more step to make sure the front of the shell is firmed attached. I added an aluminum angle behind the front hold down plate and bolted it down through the front cross member. I managed to do this without having to cut a hole in the belly pan by working through the small access opening where the umbilical cord is attached to the trailer wiring.

I drilled clearance holes to allow a single peice of aluminum angle to span past the existing bolts attaching the floor channel to the front cross member.

I also added a reverse angle in the center to provide a flange to which the front inner skin can be riveted. This replaces a short missing section of the front floor channel inner flange.

I now think the front of the shell is attached as good or possibly better than when new.

[HiHoAgRV]

Thanks for all of the detailed photos. It's amazing that the interior is in such great shape, my '63's cabinets were so de-laminated they simply fell apart (except for the ones with layers of laytex that were holding them together).
It's even more incredible considering that the trailer has been 'round the world!

[66Overlander]

Originally Posted by HiHoAgRV

Thanks for all of the detailed photos. It's amazing that the interior is in such great shape, my '63's cabinets were so de-laminated they simply fell apart (except for the ones with layers of laytex that were holding them together).
It's even more incredible considering that the trailer has been 'round the world!

One of the great things about this trailer was that all of the interior cabinets are salvageable, although there is some delamination in places, most if not all that can be re-glued or covered with a shoe molding at the floor rather than requiring replacement or re-skinning. Cabinet condition was definitely one of the pluses when I first saw this ATW Airstream.

[66Overlander]

Family commitments slowed progress during the week, but I did get the new axle modified, cutting off part of the inner flange for access and drilling new mounting holes. Had to do that because the existing holes in the new axle were too far away from the flange and would miss the axle mounting plate on the trailer.

Today I got assistance from Lorrie's brother Larry and we got trailer lifted up and stabilized up on jack stands near the axle and rear bumper and a pile of wood under the tongue. We had two more jack stands to stabilze the axle while we removed it. We tried to unbolt the axle, but ended up having to cut off 3 of the 4 of the mounting bolts to remove it. By the time we got the old axle out, it was too late to do anything more.

Tomorrow I'll paint the axle mounting plate on the trailer and we should be able to get the new axle installed.