1962 Ambassador Hazel

[ckiela]

We are the proud new owners of the 1962 Airstream Ambassador lovingly named Hazel by its previous owners. Their post on it can be found here.

The list of past modifications by other owners include: outer shell lifted, frame worked on, inner shells removed, rewired, new sub floor, new flooring, fresh paint, new axels, new tanks, new wheels and more. She has a new jack, and rear bumper storage. The interior is fully gutted of furniture and we received all the old furniture with the purchase.

Below are photos of how we bought the trailer:








Since this is our first Airstream, we are taking our time to learn from previous owners before we begin internal renovation. Since we hope to post on social media as we do the renovation and appearance matters to get peoples' attention, we wanted to polish the trailer before starting. Because of how expensive professional polishing can be, we decided to polish by ourselves, first using an orbital polisher, then a random orbit dual-action polisher. The work is taxing and slow, since the weather in Tucson, AZ can reach 90 degrees by 8am. Working nearly every morning for a little less than a month from 5am-7:30am, below are progress pictures. The last one shows the only section that has been finished with the dual head polisher, for the mirror finish everyone loves.






We are so excited to have the opportunity to renovate this gorgeous trailer. Updates will be posted as they happen!

[Bubba L]

Welcome to the Airstream world. The trailer looks really good. A lot has been done by the PO. I know polishing is a pain, but I sure like the clean polished look. Having the interior finished to that point is a big plus. Especially having all the interior furnishings to reinstall. Have fun putting it back together. Take care

[Hittenstiehl]

Ckiela
[emoji9] We'll hello there so happy to see you here!!! We were hoping your summer travel went well. This will be so exciting for us to watch. The folks here are the best and their vintage knowledge is unsurpassed. We cheer you on, go forth and create.

[Hittenstiehl]

PS the polishing looks great, nice work, and what a nice parking spot.

[steinVT]

Wow, that looks like a great find. The best part of polishing it now, is that job will be behind you. I really don't like polishing....

Then maybe you can help polish my '62.


We seem to be at similar points in our restorations, so it will be fun to follow along. - Mark

[ckiela]

Originally Posted by Hittenstiehl

Ckiela
We'll hello there so happy to see you here!!! We were hoping your summer travel went well. This will be so exciting for us to watch. The folks here are the best and their vintage knowledge is unsurpassed. We cheer you on, go forth and create.

Thank you so much! Hope y'all are doing well Hazel will hopefully soon see some transformative days!

[ckiela]

Originally Posted by steinVT

Wow, that looks like a great find. The best part of polishing it now, is that job will be behind you. I really don't like polishing....

Then maybe you can help polish my '62.
Attachment 398456

We seem to be at similar points in our restorations, so it will be fun to follow along. - Mark

Awesome! Maybe we can compare notes at some point. Best of luck to you!

[ckiela]

Finally finished polishing, after many tens of hours of work. It looks like the previous attempt at polishing was done with polishing compound that was far too aggressive, so working over that surface proved to be an extensive challenge.

Here is the end product, though it will likely need another round of polishing before the full restoration is done.




We are excited to be starting the interior renovation plan and all the behind the scenes wiring!

[Hittenstiehl]

Nice work you've done, and in this summers blasting heat.

This months photo contest is reflections. Maybe you've got a nice image to post.

Looking forward to exciting interior process.

[steinVT]

Looks great. I dread even the little polish jobs I do anytime I add or replace something on the exterior.

Early posts said you used a rotary buffer and a dual action. What did you use for compounds? And how many passes? Thanks-Mark

[ckiela]

Originally Posted by Hittenstiehl

Nice work you've done, and in this summers blasting heat.

This months photo contest is reflections. Maybe you've got a nice image to post.

Looking forward to exciting interior process.

Yes I do! One from earlier in the process:

[ckiela]

Originally Posted by steinVT

Looks great. I dread even the little polish jobs I do anytime I add or replace something on the exterior.

Early posts said you used a rotary buffer and a dual action. What did you use for compounds? And how many passes? Thanks-Mark

I used Flitz International Multi Purpose Metal Polish. I used three and a half 2.2lb cans, possibly because I was using far too much, but it made taking the corrosion off quite fast. To be quite honest, I'm not sure how this compound holds up against others. It was a compromise on price, as well as folding to my fear of scratching too deep with very abrasive compounds. I did two passes with the big orbital polisher, with some more scratched areas requiring 3-4 passes. The dual action polisher very nicely cleaned up the reflection distortions caused by the orbital polisher, but was too gentle to do any major corrosion removal, so the surface basically had to be near perfect after orbital polishing. It definitely was a steep learning curve. (Also a very good way to build arm muscles!) My biggest piece of advice is to make sure for the love of god that your speed isn't so high that the polisher sprays dirty compound onto parts that you've already polished. You'll have to go over them again :')

[Hittenstiehl]

That's gorgeous!!

You might post that if you like,
(Community, Lifstyle, Photography) be careful you might win. That's also a great image of before and after and the contrast of oxidation and mirror finish.

Your arms must look like Popeye now.