Friends of Dorothy

[DKB_SATX]

You guys better be careful... you'll end up with a trailer as big as a Chicago apartment and forget to go home someday!

[Nelson428]

Nice, VERY NICE

[DFDureiko]

Hi everyone! Dan Dureiko here, longtime member of WBCCI and former Region 1 VP (had to resign due to work) Any of you in FL? I'd like to organize some sort of rally. Used to be a "gaystreamers" rally at MARS Campground in Venus, FL but apparently that's fallen apart as the people bought other brands. I live about 10 miles from the Sawmill Campground,,,,but my very unique park, Camper's Holiday > Home, has a large campground so that could be done as well. My Airstream history: sold Dad's '77 Sovreign about 8 years ago, bought old WBCCI friends tired '96 Excella 34, bout four years ago got a 2004 Classic Limited 34, slide out lounge.......now guess what? I got a '77 Argosy 24ft rear bath twin, as I can no longer do every international and long haul trips.....

[briboy]

Originally Posted by blmitch5

Nice looking rig! Congrats.

Thanks Brad. We woulda driven over to KC but ran out of time.

[briboy]

Originally Posted by gtc6452

wow, Mark and Brian, what are you going to do with all that extra room. Congrats. enjoy.

More room = more toys Thanks. We may come stay at your place awhile!

[briboy]

Originally Posted by DKB_SATX

You guys better be careful... you'll end up with a trailer as big as a Chicago apartment and forget to go home someday!

LOL it cost nearly as much as a small apartment! LOL

[briboy]

Originally Posted by Nelson428

Nice, VERY NICE

Thanks Nelson. I'll be a proud peacock at open house at the next FOD rally!

[crazeevw]

Hi Dan,

Would love to see about a Florida FOD Rally. Maybe next spring at Fort DeSoto? Thinking about driving down there on my day off next week and speak with the Rangers.
Even with just a couple of Airstreams, think we'd stand out!
Thanks, Derek

[Frank&Mike]

Originally Posted by crazeevw

Hi Dan,

Would love to see about a Florida FOD Rally. Maybe next spring at Fort DeSoto? Thinking about driving down there on my day off next week and speak with the Rangers.
Even with just a couple of Airstreams, think we'd stand out!
Thanks, Derek

Hey Derek. We would definitely participate. With some advance notice to schedule enough time off from work.

[Myrtle lynn]

Originally Posted by crazeevw

Hi Dan,

Would love to see about a Florida FOD Rally. Maybe next spring at Fort DeSoto? Thinking about driving down there on my day off next week and speak with the Rangers.
Even with just a couple of Airstreams, think we'd stand out!
Thanks, Derek

Put it together I will be there too! Sounds fun and a bit closer to Georgia. :-)

[blmitch5]

I'd love to go to FL but too far for us Midwest boys.

[jleric]

Love the idea for Florida FOD. Count us in. We are in the Tampa area.We would be willing to help however we could. It would be our first. Need a space for our
95' 34ft Excella and dogs and we are a happy couple. Sounds fun and already looking forward to it. Peace, Jill and Lois

[overlander64]

Greetings Goin Retro!

Welcome to the Forums and the world of Vintage Airstreaming with Vintage Tow Vehicles!

Originally Posted by Goin Retro

Hey FOD's, My partner and I have just finished restoring Lucille Balls 1970 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham and are spending every weekend looking for a vintage Airstream to restore and the do some retro camping. Would love a 77 Sovereign 31'. We have been all through Mesa, Phoenix, Tucson, Scottsdale looking but nothing yet. Just joined this site today and was very pleased to see this FOD link. Looking forward to meeting new friends to "stream" around with.

Looking forward to seeing photos of your Cadillac! Lucille Ball is my favorite comedian/actress, and it would be very interesting to see one her automobiles restored. Many have remarked about my habit of playing the video, The Long, Long Trailer, whenever I have either of my coaches in a Vintage Airstream Club Open House (I also watch the movie several times during most of my Airstream adventures).

The biggest caution that I would make regarding utilizing your 1970 Cadillac for towing is to make sure that you have hardened valve seats in the heads. Towing an Airstream of any size will place stresses on the motor that can quickly cause valve seat erosion in heads without hardened valve seats. I experienced the valve seat erosion problem when I began towing with my 1965 Dodge Coronet 500 (383 cubic inch V8) in 1980, and it was a huge expense to repair the damage. Once repaired, I never experienced the problem again and the motor was still running like new when I sold the car earlier this year.

Your Fleetwood Broughman will allow you much greater flexibility in towing preparation than my '75 Eldorad has provided. The front wheel drive Eldorados only had two final drives available . . . 3.07 (pre-1974) and 2.70 (post-1974). Neither is particularly well-suited to towing, but the 3.07 is a necessity if a larger Airstream is to be towed in the mountains . . . with my 1975's 2.70 final drive, I must avoid severe grades and mountain towing if towing my Overlander. With your rear wheel drive Brougham, you have the option of changing differential gearing for better towing performance. You also won't have the problem of finessing the hitch adjustment to transfer more weight forward to keep from removing too much weight from the front wheels resulting in traction difficulties.

Most of the Fleetwood Brougham's dating to the era of your's had special heavy duty radiators similar to those utilized in ambulance/hearse applications. If your Brougham doesn't have the heavy duty radiator with four-row core, you may find that you need more cooling capacity. I don't know whether the Brougham has the same tendency as the Eldorado when it gets too hot, but with the Eldorado if the motor runs too hot (not necessarily overheating), the firewall can get hot enough to boil the fluid in the brake master cylinder which result if greatly reduced braking power (if you have any at all). Close attention to keeping the Exhuast Heat Riser Valve is also important in this regard as an improperly operating exhaust heat riser valve can also result in the firewall getting hot enough to boil the brake fluid in the master cylinder. I have had this issue with each of the 1970s Eldorados that I have owned, but don't know whether it was also an issue with rear wheel drive Broughams.

I suspect that you will find that there aren't any factory made trailer hitches that will fit your Brougham. There is a very slim chance that a hitch for the 1990s Brough deElegance may fit your 1970 Brougham, but I suspect that it is a very long shot. There is also a long shot that a hitch for a GM 1/2-ton pickup may be a possible fit as well. For my Eldorado, a custom weld-up Reese Receiver was required as none of the factory made hitches would mate to its frame. Locating a welder with experience fabricating hitches who is willing to fabricate a hitch today is quite a challenge. I had to look for years to find such a welder. I finally lucked out when I asked the owner of the shop where I had exhaust work done on my Eldorado . . . as it turned out he had fabricated Reese Hitches for years and was willing to do so for my Eldorado. He fabricated a hitch that actually fit the car better than any bolt-on factory hitch could have done. His charge was also much less than the cost of a typical off-the-shelf bolt-on receiver. He told me that fabricating Reese Receiver Hitches is still a rather common task in muffler shops that serve farming communities . . . he was located in the Illinois Cornbelt.

Good luck with your rig!

Kevin

The photos below are of my 1975 Eldorado with my Vintage Airstreams:



The photo above is of the Eldorad with my 1978 Argosy Minuet 6.0 Metre. This is the rig that I took to the 2008 WBCCI International Rally in Wyoming . . . averaged about 7 MPG and was in first gear at 20 MPH on some of the steepest grades (almost all travel was on secondary roads). Prior to departure, I had to switch out the Boyd Coddington custom wheels for standard Eldorado wheels as the custom wheels didn't have enough clearance when the weight distributing hitch was adjusted.



The photo above is the Eldorado in its role as tow vehicle for the very first time. We had just returned from the trip to Cedar Falls, Iowa (Ace Fogdall RV . . . a long-time Airstream Dealer and now Authorized Service Center) to pick up the rig after the Cadillac's hitch and wiring had been setup to tow the Overlander in 2002. You may note that there is something unusual about the headlights . . . the dimmer switch had failed at the beginning of the trip so the high beams are covered with duct tape so that the headlights could be used as required due to the rain keeping the windshield wipers in use during the trip. At the time, I had high hopes that I could use the combination for a trip to the West coast, but I just don't think that there is sufficent reserve power to tow the Overlander across mountain grades with the Eldorado's 2.70 final drive.



You can see the custom Reese Weld-Up Hitch Receiver as installed on my 1975 Eldorado. The hitch does make clearances a bit tighter for the custom dual exhaust system (includes dual catalytic converters), and does make removal of the fuel tank a little more complicated. My Eldorado is so low that installing the ball mount is a task that I dislike so it typically remains on the car whenever it is being used to tow either coach.



The photo above illustrates that more complicated "H" design of the Reese Weld-Up Receiver Hitch on my 1965 Dodge Coronet. Due to the Unibody construction on the Dodge, the hitch had to be more elaborate with additional attaching points on the unibody to properly distribute the stresses of towing.

P.S.:

My partner and I will be restoring a Dodge D100 Adventurer Club Cab pickup that he has owned since purchasing from the original owner when the truck was eight years old. It is the same color combination as the truck in the advertisement below and will be used to tow either Airstream, but its color combination is a match to the Argosy:

[BeachHouse]

We are interested in a Florida FOD rally also.

[DFDureiko]

There are a number of places we could have a rally, my "place" Camper's Holiday > Home
Camp MARS, gay campground
Helen, GA "top of Georgia Airstream Park"
Land Yacht Harbor Airstream Park Melborne....
but,,,,,,Fort DeSoto seems to most scenic area by far

[crazeevw]

Pinellas County, Florida, Park & Conservation Resources - Fort De Soto Park

[crazeevw]

Just checking calender for 2013, Easter 2013 is March 31, which by that time, most Spring Breakers and Snow Birds have left the area.
Any thoughts to what weekend in April anyone fancies? Just remember, the closer to May, the more it starts getting HOT here in West Central Florida.
As well, the Fort DeSoto campground has pet campsites, and non-pet campsites. The non-pet are the better sites concerning waterfront, but as for me, I could never leave my Westie behind, so I'll be in a pet campsite. Rates do decrease after April 30 though. Maybe I'll just start a seperate thread in the FOD section and start getting everyone's thoughts and ideas.
Thanks, Derek

[crazeevw]

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f523...3-a-94930.html

Ok, so I've started a new thread about this possible Rally. If anyone is interested, please reply on the thread. Just getting started on this. Will wait on a reply from County Parks Administration, or better yet, drive to the Campground and ask questions.
Thanks, Derek

[crazeevw]

Anyone seen this new group on Yahoo?

gayairstreamers : Gay Airstreamers

[BeachHouse]

I didn't know about it. Trying to reactivate my yahoo account to join it.