New member of the Club - 1954 Flying Cloud

[utee94]

I've seen Joe C at the Continental a couple of times, good shows, interesting that he has an AS.

You FC looks great, I'd like to see it in person one of these days. There are a couple of other Aistreamers in the Austin area who post on these forums, and hopefully I'll be getting one soon as well. We could arrange a mini-rally somewhere.

[aokamoto]

Hello Everyone,
Looking for some advice.

I have a 54 Flying Cloud. It has been in the family since it was new (Grandparents, then uncle, then dad, then cousin, now mine).

It sat in storage between hand me downs.
I've had it for about 4 years now, in the midwest.

Exterior is in good condition, needs new window seals, shell is in good shape.
Interior is mostly original (stove, sink, counter, woodwork, furnace)
Fridge is missing. Mattress was thrown out.
Bathroom was modified at some point, still has original yellow corner sink.
Has the bed in the rear, table in front, kitchen & bath in middle.
Has had some water damage on the front end (due to window seals leaking).

I would really like to fix this up, not sure I can do so on my own.
Working full-time with children in school & sports.

How do you find a reputable place to do the repair work, and get reasonable rates?

Or, should I sell(gasp) this great trailer to another who has the time to repair it correctly.

What I really don't want to see is it continue to sit without the needed repairs.
Thanks for any feedback/opinions you may have to offer.

Angie

[urbanfood]

hi angie and welcome to the boards!

honestly (as honestly as i can be since i'm partial to flying clouds) you should keep the flying cloud and have someone restore it for you (it won't be cheap but less than buying a new unit)

the fact that this trailer has been in your family since it was new. this is reason enough to keep your trailer

you also have a little jewel that sounds like it is in good shape. the 13 panel pre-57 flying clouds and safaris in decent shape are somewhat rare and quite desirable, especially to those who want to fix them up/restore.

you can check out david winick's website here vintage trailering he's a few states over from you but relatively close in airstream terms. he's also a forum member. there are other forum members who do renovation that will hopefully chime in here for you.

look around the website here and ask lots of questions. there's a great community here and a ton of information.

good luck!

[KeithC]

El JEFE,

What a stunning example of craftmanship. Please show us more photo's of the outside and inside! Please. It is just remarkable.

[urbanfood]

el,

great job! i didn't even realize this was your post when i posted my last response. it's been a year between posts. what extent of work did you end up doing to the interior? did you make it more major or were you able to keep it more simple?

congrats again, i'm mucho jealous, you got a beautiful polish job (the trick will be to figure out how to keep it looking like that).