1962 Ambassador Restoration – One Bite at a Time

[57Vintage]

Mark I have those pieces, if you want them I'll mail them to you. PM me with an address. Which is better for you USPS or UPS?

I'm replacing with a NOS Bargman H20-2 that I bought a few years ago. Not correct for my year, but I like the look.

[dbj216]

It is a bear to replace those old Bargman L-100 locksets with something new due to that long 3 1/2" setback. Vintage Trailer used to sell the long slider, one of the parts you need, so folks could take a short Bargman and convert it to the 3 1/2" set back. I did score a Bargman L-100 lockset and maybe have the parts you need. If Vintage57 doesn't have the right part.

https://vintagetrailersupply.com/cus...-lock-vts-116/


Very nice your shell dropped on smoothly. Someone did a lot of measuring to get the subfloor exactly right. That big Ambassador will make a comfortable long distance traveler for sure.

David

[steinVT]

Thanks to the generosity of 57Vintage, my Ambassador now has it's original Bargman L-100 lockset. My original plan was to use some of his parts to fix my lock. Then I saw he had even included a working key, time to try and fix his. You have to love the folks on this forum, I only hope I can pay it forward to someone in some way.

It was kind of fun reverse engineering the mechanism, I didn't even know how it functioned. Turns out the outside can turn CW or CCW to open the door, unless it is locked. The inside knob turns CW to unlock and open the door or CCW to lock it. Pretty clever.

There are basically four assemblies; the sliding bolt that secures the door (this was the part that was broken on mine), the outer handle with cam plate, the inner handle with cam plate and a sliding lock plate used to keep the outer handle from turning when locked. On 57Vintage's lock, a bolt that secures the cam plate onto the end of the shaft of the outer handle had sheared and was corroded in place. I carefully drilled out the bolt and then tapped the hole with a slightly larger screw size.

Once I figured out how to assemble it, it almost worked. Wouldn't open from the inside. Back apart and found a small tab had bent over and was in the way. Back together and now works like new.

Here it is installed on the door.


Thanks again Harold - Mark

[steinVT]

From the corrosion inside the shell, you can tell there were a lot of leaks. Originally I thought it was from the windows, but after hanging out inside during multiple heavy rain storms, I think it is mainly from the roof vents, end caps and items attached to the outside.

My plan is to seal the shell, both from water and rodents, insulate it, wire it and put up the inside walls before the snow flies. To that end, there are lots of little projects that have to be completed.

The photo below illustrates the reason the roof vents were a problem. The sealing compound was totally dried out and ineffective. I'll replace it with butyl tape. Surprisingly it didn't look too bad from the outside.


From internal water marks I could tell the outside electrical outlet and the door stop were leaking. Replaced both of those.



Even the Airstream signage was causing problems. Both were held on with pop rivets and sealing compound had be added in a way that tended to capture the water.


For the internal sealing I am using Eastwood's Seam Sealing compound. It is brush-able, kind of, but is some very tough stuff. It's the grey, the black is from the factory. All seams and rivets will be covered from the inside. Toying with the idea of using a hose to check for leaks when I'm done. Anyone tried this? - Mark

[dbj216]

Gee, I spent the better part of two afternoons playing with the Bargman lockset on my son's 69 Globetrotter. I finally did get it to work correctly. They are a nifty design as are many locksets. Some precision stampings in them too.

I have used my garden hose set on "shower" and worked my way up a seam or area of concern checking for leaks. I had one at the upper awning attachment hardware and finally found it by working my way up until I saw the drips coming down inside. I have also used a "bounce house" squirrl cage fan to blow air pressure into the trailer and then applied soap to the seams, windows and the like. This is when the trailer was all together. I think I found 7 leaks with this method.

I noticed you did some spot polishing as you added new exterior components. Have you decided on a polish process yet? Your trailer is Alclad, but my 75 is 6061 T6 aluminum. I'm leaning toward buffing it. I wonder if that is what you did.

David

[steinVT]

David, since you have used both methods, garden hose and bounce house blower, which do you think is better? Rather not do both.

Regarding polishing, there was a while I was considering leaving the shell the natural pewter. I dislike polishing with a passion. The Safari has had only the first step in the multi step process, but that is the one thing most people comment on.

To do the spot polish under the components, I am using a 1" wheel, 10" in diameter, chucked into a 1/2" drill. I did try something different this time. I rubber block sanded the surface with 600 grit wet sandpaper. Back in the day, I restored old cars and painted many of them with black lacquer. To get a perfect finish, we would wet sand with 600 and then buff with coarse and then fine compound. Figured if it worked for the lacquer, should work on the aluminum. I am happy with my first tests. It seemed the shine jumped out much quicker not having to remove the top oxidized layer with the buffer.

When it's time for the main body I will use the Eastwood SCT (Surface Conditioning Tool), basically a wheel that is 4" wide and 3" in diameter. Goes a little quicker. For a compound I am using Nuvite F7. - Mark

[57Vintage]

Mark are you going to use the Trizact Sanding Band (600 or 800 grit) with the SCT or one of the other drums?

I've been looking for an excuse to try the SCT, but was going to wait until I got back to work on my 61 Tbird.

[LaRoze]

Hooo boy! So basically it will be the shell and the windows, and you re do EVERYTHING else?! Wow. Thanks for saving (what you can of) the past! Keep us posted.

[dbj216]

Me again: I've been reading about buffing aluminum lately. I've read wet sanding is a good way to remove heavy oxidation. Maybe an aggressive grit size with a buffer is just as good. Anyway, I'm going to polish my 75 Overlander this winter with a buffing process. My wife says somewhat sarcastically that if you IQ is low enough, you can enjoy polishing an old Airstream.

I think spraying with a hose is better considering the condition of your shell. You would have a lot of holes to plug if you wanted to pressurize the thing with a blower fan. I start low and work my way up. I use a step ladder and clamp to hold the sprayer on an area for several minutes while checking for drips.

David

[steinVT]

Harold, I didn't even know about the Trizact wheels. I feel you need lots of water during sanding or the paper will fill right up. I was planning old school hand sanding with a rubber block. I like the SCT for polishing. The thing I don't like about it is the $58 replacement buffing wheel because you should really have a wheel for each grit. Doing the first pass with Nuvite F7 on the Safari trashed my first wheel.

LaRoze, our first restoration, the Safari was truly that. We worked hard to make it look like it might have looked from the factory. We loved the layout. The Ambassador, not so much. The Ambassador was built differently, less solid wood and more veneer, which is really messed up. I have saved all the interior for now to be used as templates if needed. We also want to change the layout from a double bed to twins and add "real" doors between the bath, bedroom and kitchen. I wake up early every morning, make my espresso and plan my day and my wife likes to sleep in. A little tough to do in a one room trailer.

David, water it will be. I want to make sure the windows casings aren't leaking and I was wondering how that would work with air pressure. I would think there would be a lot of bubbles around the window and tough to see a gravity leak from a corner.

I would be careful hitting the shell with any grit courser than 600, especially with a buffer/grinder. The pure aluminum cladding is not that thick and you could pretty easily sand down into the alloy which may show up as a slightly different color. - Mark

[islandtrader]

Originally Posted by steinVT

.
David, water it will be. I want to make sure the windows casings aren't leaking and I was wondering how that would work with air pressure. I would think there would be a lot of bubbles around the window and tough to see a gravity leak from a corner.

Check out my blog#123...for a picture. This is what I did. Easy and simple.

Today my wife and I did the seams and window air check for water leaks . I am sure there are a lot of ways to do this, but this is what we did.

She was on the outside spraying down every seam and rivet with soapy water. I was in side the trailer with a compressed air sprayer. Following along were she was doing her thing. Every time she saw bubbles I marked the inside with tape. Afterward I went back and/or use tempro or flex seal on the areas that showed some leakage.

[dbj216]

That's a dang good idea. It takes to people, but I can see where it would work pretty well for finding seam, gasket and rivet leaks.

David

[steinVT]

I agree, I think that is a great idea. I am about two thirds done covering every rivet and exposed seal from the inside with Eastwood Seam Sealer, but there are some seams I can't get to. This will be a good way to see if I need to work on them from the outside. I also like that it is very pinpoint pressure as compared to general pressurizing of the interior. Thanks everyone for your inputs. - Mark

[steinVT]

With the help of my beautiful assistant, we leak tested the top half of trailer using the bubble mixture on the outside and blowing compressed air from within. It really worked quite well. Found probably a half of dozen gaps in my interior sealing in areas I would not have expected. I marked all areas from inside and will touch up with seam sealer.

More important, I found significant leaks from the roof vent that I installed a week ago in a bed of butyl tape. I think the tape I used wasn't thick enough to completely take up the deformation of the flange when riveted to the roof. The Astrodome I re-bedded didn't have a problem, not sure why. I will give it a quick polish and then seal from the outside with Trempro 635. - Mark

[Atomic_13]

Stellar work and progress as usual, Mark. You are going to have to publish a book to share all your renovation experience. Add in David and a few others here as a co-authors and you’d have the definitive guide.

[steinVT]

Thanks Brian, coming from you that means a lot.

A book would be an interesting project if we could truly work out a collaboration. With a half a dozen or so authors, we could each write a couple of chapters. After the chapters were done, we could rotate the manuscripts, so other authors could add their tips, tricks and photos. Keep doing that until everyone had worked on all of the chapters. One final edit to make sure the story flows and we might have something.

Damn, that's all I need, another project. Brian, you would definitely would be on the short list, want to help organize it too? Anyone else interested or think it's a good idea? - Mark

[Bubba L]

Mark, good idea on a diy book. You could call it “One Bite at a Time, How to Conquer an Airstream Renovation”.

[Krek]

The book is a fabulous idea!

[MrRivet]

I’ll take a copy of that book! Outstanding work Mark! I was looking at the SCT in an Eastwood catalog a few months back and was wondering if anyone had used it to polish an Airstream and now I have my answer.

Safe travels!!
Tim

[Atomic_13]

If there is interest, writing a book about renovating these old beauties has been on my “someday maybe” list for a few years now. I hadn’t considered including multiple authors until now. It would be great for you and I to serve as editors of a renovation guide involving forum members with expertise in the various steps needed to complete this major undertaking.

I have some experience publishing manuscripts and textbook chapters in my day job as a university professor.

I’ll do a bit of background work on publishing options. Seems it’s much easier now to self publish. Give me a bit and I’ll start a separate thread gauging authorship and readership interest.