Another '75 Tradewind

[55chevy]

I’ll start in with a couple of very recent exterior photos along with the first photo being what this jewel looked like about 9 months ago.

After about 2 years of serious searching and getting educated, I had come across one that was actually in great condition at an extremely good price. The interior, for which we’ll get into later, was completely original and just about perfect with the age considered. There were of course many items overall that needed to be upgraded, but this would be a fast start, as the truly hard restoration issues just did not exist. One of the main attractions for me was the window in the door. Going back to the old specifications, the door window came into the offerings about 2 years later, and there’s a high possibility the original owner was able to acquire this special window through a custom order, which is my serious belief for this unit.

To add, this is all original exterior skin. There's a bit of balding at the top of the ends which is common, but not to the point its a distraction. I had considered polishing, but she's in such great shape, I've decided to leave it as is for the time being.

[55chevy]

Here’s a shot of the roof. The original AC was yanked as it was on its last leg. As being on the West Coast and summers get a bit hot in places, I just did not want to fight AC issues. The replacement is a low profile Domestic 13,500 BTU unit. In the process, the front and rear vents were replaced with fantastic fans. Then the added benefit of natural light coming through tinted roof vent caps added some needed light into the interior for days.



The old TV antenna was junked and a Jack directional HDTV antenna was installed. Eventually I’m going to add an exterior directional WIFI antennae to grab signal at a good distance. One of the posters on the forum had put together a good set-up, and with the right equipment, you can get some serious distance. Once the roof retrofit items were completed, we applied a thick multi coat white elastomer coating and re-sealed all the vents, and AC


Back to the exterior, I junked the old tires and went with the Michelins. New shocks were installed and the axels inspected and bearing repacked. All of the running gear and brakes were in excellent shape. I’ve run the Michelins for years on vehicles, and there just one of the best tires you can get. Great ride and just about bullet proof.



The hitch, banana skins and all below the lower rub rail was complete refurbished and repainted with a couple of coats of the original dark grey Airstream paint. The propane bottles were polished out a bit with all new propane hoses and hardware. A new power jack was installed as the old one had gone to junk. I installed a new Reese SC Weight Distributing Hitch with Sway Control and have put about 800 miles on it. Tows straight as an arrow with no buffeting when a 10 wheeler does a pass. Very pleased with this Reese Hitch.


All of the exterior marker lights were replaced, as the old ones were showing signs of deterioration. The folding step was bent up quite a bit and we replaced that with used one from another Streamer and solved that issue. The front Plexiglas of the rock shield was crazed and had totally faded out. That was replaced with new plex and was not that difficult to complete. Just a lot of drilling and new rivets. All of the window frames were in great condition with no signs of corrosion and all the hardware worked perfect. I did replace all the screens and door screen, and this made a big difference as to the level of interior light and the overall appearance.


As being an old hot-rodder, I changed up the exterior appearance a bit by swapping out all of the blue rub rail rubber molding with black to match up the new grey Airstream paint below the lower rub rail. The front and rear Airstream lettering will remain blue and that’s the next on the list to freshen up with some new blue paint.



And of course I bought one of Sandlappers 3 hole flag pole mounts and mounted it to the power jack. The P.O had installed a storage box slung under the chassis from side to side, and I have great built in storage for the flagpoles and other items. All of the exterior locks were replaced as there were issues here and there. I was fortunate to get a complete spare front door lock assembly from the P.O. and had to use some parts from it to get the front door lock assembly in working order.

[Roadrunner]

Very nice Tradewind. We just picked up a "74" that needs a lot of work...but isn't that the FUN part! Do you have any pictures of the inside? I'm curious what your refrigerator area looks like as our was redone...and not very well. What type of roofing did you use? That will be on our list of things to do. You're Tradewind is the first I've seen with a window in the door...that will definitely give you some more light.

Bob
Indiana, PA

TAC PA-5
WBCCI-4871

[rogerdodger]

Very nice Tradewind, thanks for the pics, we like pics. Welcome to the forum. Where did you get the black rub rail molding, I want to do the same. Is it 1"?

[55chevy]

Here are some photos of the interior. Once the fantastic fans went in, I lost the lighting from the prior vent lights. Found a real trick LED dome light that’s used on boats. It has a dimmable feature where you just grab the light housing and twist it and it dims. I put one in the rear and the front. The interior is original. All of the tambour is just about perfect. Actually when you look around hard, there are no scratches or damage to any of the wood. A bit amazing. Again, I looked for a very long time and really lucked out on this one. The P.O. had also replaced all of the PVC pipe in the rear and the water lines back there were also replaced with the plastic flexible lines. The rear floors from the kitchen pass through to the bath were replaced with marine grade plywood. The battery was brought on board and mounted in the closet near the toilet with its own 3 stage charger. That actually leaves me the exterior battery compartment for more storage. All of serious electrical was upgraded with new fuse panel and so forth. I’m getting ready to start on the little the interior needs. New flooring for sure. The curtains you see hit the trash and I’m deciding on what window coverings are going to be the replacement. But compared to some of the hard restoration work I’ve seen on the forum, this stuff is a piece of cake.


As to the Black insert, I looked high and low for months for the molding. I had the Polishing Guru in Riverside, CA do some of the work I didn’t want to attempt myself, and he finally dug up the black mounding. Give him call and he’ll help you. When you mention the Tradewind with the Black molding, he’ll know exactly what you’re talking about. Google Polishing Guru and he’ll pop right up.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by 55chevy

As to the Black insert, I looked high and low for months for the molding. I had the Polishing Guru in Riverside, CA do some of the work I didn’t want to attempt myself, and he finally dug up the black mounding. Give him call and he’ll help you. When you mention the Tradewind with the Black molding, he’ll know exactly what you’re talking about. Google Polishing Guru and he’ll pop right up.

The vinyl inserts are available from most any Airstream dealer who sells parts.

Andy

[55chevy]

Andy, I did call quite a few Airstream dealers and they were no help. But you've been around a long time in this business and I would think you can help the gentlemen above to find the "Black" insert in the right width. And I did purchase a number of parts for my Airstream right from you as a walk in to your shop in Corona. Always a pleasure...

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by 55chevy

Andy, I did call quite a few Airstream dealers and they were no help. But you've been around a long time in this business and I would think you can help the gentlemen above to find the "Black" insert in the right width. And I did purchase a number of parts for my Airstream right from you as a walk in to your shop in Corona. Always a pleasure...

Thank you.

Andy

[55chevy]

As Rodger likes those pics, here's the '55 Chevy that goes with the Tradewind. I've been working on this baby for the last 10 years.

[rogerdodger]

Yea, nice 55 Chev. I owned 55 chev hardtop same colors. Brings back memories, met and dated my (now)wife in it. We are 49 years married and holding. Wish I still had the 55. Thanks for the pics. And on the molding, all the places I checked have blue, no black.

[tarh2o]

55Chevy -

Where did you get the elastomer coating for the roof and of you don't mind how much did it cost? I too have a 75 25' TradeWind and would like to do the same thing for protection.

Thanks

[55chevy]

I had the Polishing Guru in Riverside, Ca apply the coating. I believe it cost me $800. But after seeing what he had to do, it was money well spent. First they had to scuff up the complete roof with a sander for good adhesion. Then he reseals all of the vents and any other protrusions through the roof. From there I believe it was 3 coats of an elastomer with good flexibility... The other key is a product that won’t yellow over time. If you’re going to do this yourself, I’d get a piece of aluminum and experiment with a number of products. After you have done a couple of test patches, let it cure for a couple of weeks. Sometimes these products take time to achieve full adhesion. Then cut through it with a knife and see if you can peel it up. If not then you should be good. Sorry I don’t remember the name of the product he used.