1966 Caravel Restoration

[Dwwalker18]

Hollie, I love what you did with the old airstream sign! I’ve been looking for a way to house/hide an awkwardly placed outlet in my kitchen and I think I’m going to adapt your idea to do it!

[Flostream66]

Originally Posted by Dwwalker18

Hollie, I love what you did with the old airstream sign! I’ve been looking for a way to house/hide an awkwardly placed outlet in my kitchen and I think I’m going to adapt your idea to do it!

Thanks, Dwwalker18! We will look forward to seeing your solution...in the meantime, please share a photo of the oddly placed electrical outlet so that we all can better appreciate your design dilemma!

[Flostream66]

The custom light fixture installed.

[Dingo Girl]

Originally Posted by Flostream66

The custom light fixture installed.

Nice job! Love the old emblem incorporated in to it.

[docflyboy]

Hollie- the custom light looks good. I've got my project set up to work on it today, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. I'll get the fridge hooked up to some propane and give it a whirl one of those days. Today is another day of labeling wiring circuits before I button up the walls and insulating. What is your wood finish going to be? Jerry

[Atomic_13]

Awesome job, Hollie! I especially love the reading light fixture/book shelf. Really nice touch.

[Dwwalker18]

Originally Posted by Flostream66

Thanks, Dwwalker18! We will look forward to seeing your solution...in the meantime, please share a photo of the oddly placed electrical outlet so that we all can better appreciate your design dilemma!

Hollie, I appreciate your interest in my quandary. Below is a picture of my misplaced wires. Unfortunately a self-induced problem because I eliminated a bulkhead I had originally intended to place there. One of many minor errors I’ll address come spring.



-Dan

[Landshark]

Originally Posted by Flostream66

...doubles as a space to perch a plant or display collected treasures - though the sign makes me want to leave it empty. Attachment 383424 Light will be added and fixture hung this weekend ... full reveal to follow...

Hollie, had you thought about detaching the sign from the wood backing and instead attaching it (somehow) to the front of the "railing" of the shelf? That way, the sign would be in front of anything you put on the shelf. Would that work?

Vivian

And it is beautiful, and a very clever idea. It is all looking so terrific.

[Flostream66]

Originally Posted by docflyboy

Hollie- the custom light looks good. I've got my project set up to work on it today, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. I'll get the fridge hooked up to some propane and give it a whirl one of those days. Today is another day of labeling wiring circuits before I button up the walls and insulating. What is your wood finish going to be? Jerry

Jerry, thanks so much for making time for this, especially during your Thanksgiving break. The gas company has plugged the gas line to the refrig until I resolve the valve issue, so I appreciate the effort.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

[Flostream66]

Thanks, all, for the kind shout-outs about the light fixture - it isn't as cool as Atomic13's canvas map of the US that hides the refrigerator vent, but considering it cost me nothing but time, I am pretty happy with the way it turned out.

Landshark, good thought on moving the vintage sign to the front - however, I was going for an updated take on the mid-century string shelves!

Another fun, but subtle, detail of my resto is my new/old shower faucet. The "original" sink and shower faucets had seen their day, having largely rusted mounting bolts and hardware. While there are lots of nice 4" centerset faucets, the only ones that have a matching handheld shower faucet were the plastic ones from RV stores.

I finally decided to "make do" by replacing the sink faucet and living with the original shower faucet. So I ordered a centerset faucet from the mid-century selection at House of Antiques. But, when it arrived a couple of days later, it had a flaw at the gooseneck. I sent a photo to their customer service department (which is excellent, BTW), and they sent a new replacement faucet and said to just keep the original but flawed one. And that got me to thinking...

So I took the old RV shower faucet apart, saving as much of the original hardware as possible, and then I tapped into the network of a friend of mine to get the flawed faucet head removed with a precision steel cutter, and then had a hole drilled into the side of the piece that held the faucet head on, so that it would fit the original handheld shower diverter.

But this left the gaping hole where the damaged faucet head had been - I needed a way to seal it shut...ah, a silver dollar was the perfect fit...I chose to use one with the face of Sacajawea embedded on it, as a "fitting" tribute to an early woman explorer.

You see, in 1805-06, Sacajawea, then age 18, accompanied the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery expedition from North Dakota through the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean and back. Her skills as a native translator were invaluable to the expedition, as was her knowledge of some the more difficult mountainous terrain. She was the only woman who traveled with the expedition, and notably, she made the journey while carrying an infant son on her back.

So, Flo now has an embedded guide star for her travels.

[Bubba L]

Good idea on the silver dollar. If it wasn’t for the ability to think “outside the box”, these vintage Airstreams would never get back on the road. Looks great. Stay safe and Happy Thanksgiving.

[docflyboy]

Hollie- I like your faucet. Mine are functioning, but pretty corrodiody. I like what you and Disco Stu did to time stamp your restoration. In street rods, you can tell when they were done, by what stereo is in the dash. I ordered my head unit for the front locker, but I'm going to have to time stamp mine when I button up my skins and put my shower pan back in. Maybe some election memorabilia or just an N-95 mask taped to the insulation under a interior skin.

Question- what kind of shape was your handle in on the outside of the entrance? Mine sure could use some re-plating and I can wait on buttoning that up that corner, or put nut plates behind where the screws are.

I'm taking my little Magic Chef into Independence Porcelain Enamel, a local shop that specializes in vintage resurfacing with porcelain. They work with a plating shop that takes the time and effort on delicate pieces. I've got a Marmoleum floor and the color is called Almost Dark, my casegoods will all be mahogany with just an oil finish or a touch of brown toner. I don't like my stove color. Mrs flyboy doesn't care for yellow, which was my first choice for the Magic Chef redo, so let's see what the forum thinks about Coppertone vs Black vs Maroon (like some Coleman Lanterns were done in) What ever color it is is how I'm doing the face of my HydroFlame furnace. My original sink is Stainless Steel and in good shape, so no need for a change there. My Vitrifrigo AC/DC fridge is stainless steel and doesn't allow for a front panel insert. Jerry

[Dingo Girl]

This is what I did with the original shower faucet for my 67 Caravel..
Since i put in an icebox instead of a fridge i used the access area for an outdoor shower...
The faucet has new o-rings in and i re-wrapped the stems with the graphite string... No leaks. 😊

[docflyboy]

Hollie- the fridge fired up very easily hooking it up to my propane tank that I used on my HydroFlame rebuild. All the combustion parts look pretty good. It took a bowl of water in the freezer down 30 degrees in the three hours that it took to get Thanksgiving dinner on the table and cleaned up. I'll disassemble everything and then send you pics to see what you want shipped and then put everything else up for grabs. I'll start taking it apart tomorrow night. I've got some stuff to get ready for my helper, who I get on Monday to button up my walls and get my shower pan installed. Jerry

[Landshark]

Originally Posted by Flostream66

Landshark, good thought on moving the vintage sign to the front - however, I was going for an updated take on the mid-century string shelves!

...But this left the gaping hole where the damaged faucet head had been - I needed a way to seal it shut...ah, a silver dollar was the perfect fit...I chose to use one with the face of Sacajawea embedded on it, as a "fitting" tribute to an early woman explorer.

So, Flo now has an embedded guide star for her travels.

I'm afraid I was around at mid-century, but I don't know what "string shelves" are. Good thing you are more up on this stuff than I am! LOL!!

And what a clever and excellent idea of the silver dollar! Really terrific!

Vivian

[Flostream66]

Originally Posted by Dingo Girl

Attachment 383858
This is what I did with the original shower faucet for my 67 Caravel..
Since i put in an icebox instead of a fridge i used the access area for an outdoor shower...
The faucet has new o-rings in and i re-wrapped the stems with the graphite string... No leaks. 😊

Dingo Girl, that outdoor shower set up is a slick feature - what model is this shower unit? I am looking to get a longer hose in just that stainless finish for my Dura faucet.

I decided to use the "dead" space behind the oven for storage (hiking boots, rivet tools, etc.), and so I was unable to have a unit like this that is nice and finished on the outside, but I have been trying to maximize every bit of available storage space...

[Flostream66]

Doc and Vivian, thanks so much for the shout outs! I am very happy with the way this project turned out, and the best news is, I will always have that last dollar...if they will take it, faucet and all.

Jerry, again, thank you for your kindness in sharing your refrigerator parts. I am still waiting to hear if you want the original wheel well cover from Flo, or whether you have headed in a different direction. Also, I have John Corson on stand by to make another refrigerator chimney using the mold I had him create to make mine. Let me know if you want that as well. Best, H

[Dingo Girl]

Originally Posted by Flostream66

Dingo Girl, that outdoor shower set up is a slick feature - what model is this shower unit? I am looking to get a longer hose in just that stainless finish for my Dura faucet.

I decided to use the "dead" space behind the oven for storage (hiking boots, rivet tools, etc.), and so I was unable to have a unit like this that is nice and finished on the outside, but I have been trying to maximize every bit of available storage space...

The faucet is original to the 67 Caravel, the piece to wrap the hose around is a stainless steel part for boat rope. (ebay)
The hose i got from my local plumbing supplier... It's two high quality metal Delta hoses hooked together.. Ends up being about 12 feet long.
The shower head,not seen in picture is also the original.
The box for it is aluminum & that i made.
Glad you liked it & i hope my info helps you.

[docflyboy]

Hollie- I definitely need the wheel well cover. Mine hasn't been located in Texas, although my BAL stabilizers were found. I buttoned up the street side today, and the flange on the wheel wells is all that stabilizes the skin on the cutout of the galvanized wheel well. I think I'll paint them both splatter OEM so that the color matches. My '68 was ABS green which matches the liner in my forward locker, and your '66 is brown. I painted my '67 Camaro trunk with the paint, and it looks a lot like the paint that was used in pre-66 Airstreams, only a darker color. I think I've got a box that everything will fit in at the office. I worked all day in the hangar today, but will let you know when I get all the fridge parts boxed and headed your way. I'm going to do my kitchen in the vinyl clad skins that I had an extra without holes in the wrong places, so when your guy makes the chimney, I can spray it my matching color if that makes it an easier build without the gelcoat. Jerry

[Landshark]

Hollie, Do you have a way of keeping the shower water from overspraying between the shower pan and the folding privacy door? And to keep the commode, lavatory and counter, window curtain and walls from getting wet?

If so, please could you post some pics and how it is mounted, etc? And if there is a shower curtain, would you be willing to make a pattern of some kind available to the rest of us? A paper pattern would be great, I would promise to copy it and return to you right away. Please please.

Vivian