The Next Weekend

Once we got back to Atlanta I of course got on my laptop and I finally found out what we had bought. 1955 Flying Cloud ! California built whaletail! At that moment I realized that I was truly lucky and we had found something really special. During the next week I collected everything I could think of to get it roadworthy for the retrieval the next weekend. I got on the the phone and located some tires and wheels from a guy who had switched his on a fifth wheel. Four tires and white spoke wheels for $150. What a deal they were brand new, they only had 50 miles on them and yes I know they are not original and wiil be replaced in the future. On friday we loaded everything in the truck and early saturday morning we headed back to the hunt club. Once we arrived I jacked it up to start checking the bearings which I knew would be bad from nonuse. Boy was I right! The grease had solidified into this black glue with oil laying on top. Pulled the hubs off and headed to the parts store to get new ones. Oh yeah, didn't I already mention that we were in south Georgia and it is a really small town. Guess what? "WE don't stock that item sir but we can order them for you but that might take a few days". Did I mention that we had planned this as a one day adventure and while we had tried to bring everything we hadn' t brought any extra clothes or anything for a overnight stay! At that point we had a decision to make, wait until the parts came in or drive home and come back when they showed up."Lets go get a motel room".Decision made. Also, upon removing the hubs and pulling the bearings I had seen that the races the bearings ride on were scored from nonuse, literally the bearings had pressed themselves into the races,Man am I glad we didn't just tow it home! I have done worked on wheels before but removing the races I wasn't prepared for. We had to find another parts place because the first one didn't do any work on stuff. Finally found one in town got them out then made our way to Wally World to get stuff for our unplanned overnight stay. Next morning ( don't forget this is sunday in south GA) made our way back to the parts store, they had actually gotten the parts in overnight. YES!!! Now the fun begins. Drove back to the club and while I started working on the bearings my wife went in the AS and set a bug bomb off. So here I am laying on my side regreasing the spindle when all of a sudden here come the roaches, and they weren't just the little ones either! For the next hour they literally ran down my arms and died around me. Not just one but hundreds! Quick!!! Run for the hills!!!. BTW I had only had the races driven out and the second parts store was closed on sunday so I had to drive the new ones back in myself . Of course the first one I did I drove it in backwards! Now I'm stuck I don't have anything to remove it with so I searched the camp and found a really large screwdriver. After hitting my hand a couple of times I got it removed, reversed and reinstalled it. Well that only took an hour and a half !! I got the bearings on and then mounted the wheels and let her down off the jack. I had purchased emergency tow lights because I knew the lights wouldn't work so I started hooking them up, at that time my wife said to just try the ones on the AS, maybe they work. Believe it or not after 20 years sitting they worked!!! Lets get out of here!! Hooked her up and slowly pulled through the camp listening for any scraping noises, pops or bangs. WOW, nothing! Got out on the road and carefully sped up, went about a mile and checked the hubs( nice and cool). Lets roll. Its about 45 miles back to I-20 and I would stop every 4 or five miles to make sure nothing was flying off. Got to the interstate and stopped at the Flying J to get some drinks for the leg home and upon coming out of the store we had our first "vintage airstream" moment. There around the trailer were all these people looking at her! We walked up and ended up sitting there another 30 minutes so everyone could check her out. MAN HOW COOL IS THIS !!! We hit the 4 lane and I found out just what Airstream means! Started slowly at first but built speed up as my confidence gained. Cool, the faster I go the better it drives. Check out the pics if you look close you can probably see some of the roaches on the ground me.YUCK!! The rest of the pics are the AS sitting after we gave her the first bath in 20 years! The rest of the trip was uneventful so now she resides at my mothers house patiently waiting for me to take her back to her former glory.

Attached Thumbnails