Front gaucho conversion to dinette or L lounge

[jerryahyman]

My wife and I are thinking of getting an additional Airstream in the Overlander to Ambassador size range. Most likely in the mid 70's to 1983 range. Can anyone point me to any threads where someone has successfully taken out the front gaucho/lounge out and installed a dinette or L shaped lounge like on the current Airstreams?

I looked at what brochures I could find from those years but couldn't find where the factory produced a model like that in this size class. We prefer the looks of the 27 footers but would go to the 29' if we need the room for the dinette or L shaped lounge.

~jerry

[ddruker]

I am almost done with a U-shaped lounge in the front of my 1999 safari 27. It's looking great - when I finish I will post a bunch of pictures. I made it out of cherry hardwood with stainless steel accents. It's going to be far more usable than the old convertible couch and side table that it is replacing.

Basically I built three 24 inch deep, 14 inch high lightweight benches laid out a U shape that wrap around the front of the trailer - one across the front wall of the trailer, a shorter one from the door on the curb side to the front bench, and a third from the front bench to the pantry on the street side.

Each bench has a hinged top that lifts to provide storage access. To keep the weight down, I used stick construction with glued and screwed joints, and I used rubber upholstery webbing instead of plywood for the top surface.

I'm having five inch thick cushions made both as backrests and as seat cushions to bring the seating height to 19 inches.

A table in the middle of the U drops down to form a queen sized bed.

If you search the forum there are many threads on replacing the sofa with a lounge - not too many plans as each one is pretty custom.

The basic strategy is to go real slow and measure often - the interior of the trailer is quite irregular. There is also a lot of thought to put in if you want to make the lounge transform into a bed - you need to get the cushion sizes just right so the backrests are the right height and length to cover the tabletop.

[jerryahyman]

Ddrucker, any photos to post yet?

~jerry

[ddruker]

Here you go...

Working on the drop down table right now, and getting bids for cushions. While it's not obvious in this picture, the bench tops all open up on hinges for storage access.

Approximate sizes - facing the front of the trailer - leftmost bench is about five feet long, back bench is about 8 feet long, and right bench is about 3 feet long. All of the benches are 14 inches tall and 24 inches deep at the top of the bench. I'm planning on 5 or 6 inch thick cushions, to bring the seating height to 19 or 20 inches. The table is going to be 48 inches wide and 32 inches deep, and 30 inches high.

When the table is lowered, it rests on cleats you can see on the sides of the benches. Two of the backrests will then drop down onto the table to form a queen sized bed.

[jerryahyman]

Absolutely beautiful work! Please post photos when it is completed.

Thanks,

~jerry

[PhilipKS]

Very nice! I second the request for more photos when the work is complete.

Philip

[Skatiero]

WOW!!!!! Absolutely gorgeous!

[kevin242]

Our 1977 has a factory dinette. Browse the images in our profile for details.

[ASIcons]

I LOVE this! You have done a great job and have inspired my next renovation on my Tradewind. I chuckled when you said measure often, I have found no straight line, nothing plumb, square or otherwise bearing any relation to any other line in my Globetrotter. I refer to it as freeform carpentry.

[lizpickering]

My family of four just got back from our first time out in our 66 Ambassador. The first thing we decided was to get the goucho out of there. I drew a diagram of what I wanted exactly the shape you have done. What is the table going to stand on while in the upright position? I thought about the floor mount pockets and pipes but, I don't really want those floor brackets there all the time. Thanks for the info and pics.

[ddruker]

After getting a quote for more than $4,000 for upholstery at two local shops, I decided to go the DIY route.

I just finished cutting cushions out of six inch thick upholstery foam, and I found remnants of Naugahyde Nauga-Soft fake leather in the exact color I want on eBay for about $7 per yard. Total material cost about $500 vs. more than $2,000 in the bids from the upholstery shops.

I'm having a local seamstress sew the cushions - so my total cost will be about $1000 when all done.

Here's a picture with the cushions mostly done.

[jerryahyman]

Dan, I can't wait to see the finished product. Thanks so much for posting photos of you progress.

~jerry

[tinyhome]

This is one of the trailers where many of us can't wait to see the final pics!

[palmtreegirl]

Wow! I love that design.
I had a '92 Excella and did not like the gaucho looking toward the bedroom - here is what I did to mine (before I sold it) to make a dinette:
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f46/...one-82027.html

Hope you get it the way you want!

[ddruker]

Thanks !

A seamstress my family has used before is coming over this weekend to pick up the cushions and the Nauga-soft artificial leather. I expect the project will be complete in a couple of weeks.

The airstream color scheme is themed to match Stanford University - we do lots of tailgating during football season - here is roughly what the upholstery will look like:




Almost makes you feel sorry for the poor Naugas who gave their all to make my trailer beautiful...

[ddruker]

Got my cushions back from the seamstress today. Very happy with how the project turned out.

[palmtreegirl]

Very, very nice! You can be proud of that job! Enjoy those tailgating parties!

[Llamaluminum]

Oh my goodness!! This is SO beautiful! We have an '82 International 31' and two very quickly growing boys. The original gaucho is just not cutting it...especially when we are driven inside by the weather. I was just searching "wrap around couch" and your incredible work popped up. We can't wait to get started. If you don't mind, I have a few questions regarding the table: Do you have a photo of the table all set up? When the table top is down in the bedding position, did you have to support it in the center with anything? I know it's 7 months past, but if you have time to either post a photo of the table or just email it to me at stacyllamazales@comcast.net. Thank you so much!

[albert]

Originally Posted by ddruker

Got my cushions back from the seamstress today. Very happy with how the project turned out.

How tall are your back cushions?
Thanks

[mccrosti]

Drucker,
Fantastic, Beautiful, Inspirational! How will your table be mounted? Will you use a marine post that lowers and raises? Where did you get the bent wood corners on the frames?