New member with restoration overload...

[BambiII'64]

Hello all,
I've had my 64 Bambi II for a couple of years and have worked on it off and on. But now I have a deadline because I am getting married in Sept. and we have decided to take our honeymoon next June....and you guessed it we want to drive across the country in the Bambi!! So, it's time to get serious! We've taken out the gaucho and are half way through putting in a dinette of our own design. The floor all seems solid to me (could I be missing something?). I have a million questions but I'll start with the inside shell; there is damage on some of the panels is this something we can repair ourselves? My parents happen to live about a mile from an airstram dealer, and that is were Bambi is being stored and restored. Can anyone give me some guidelines on what they have left for a professional to do? I know we can do a lot of the work ourselves but time and quality is a concern.
Thanks!
Molly

[Stefrobrts]

Hi Molly, welcome to the forum! You age going to have the best honeymoon ever

What you leave to the pros is all about what you're comfortable with. I did the floor and most of the electrical in my caravel, but I left the propane to someone else.

What kind of shell damage are you dealing with? How are your appliances?

Sounds like you have a year to get it together, that's a lot of time, especially for a tiny trailer.

[uwe]

Originally Posted by BambiII'64

Hello all,
I've had my 64 Bambi II for a couple of years and have worked on it off and on. But now I have a deadline because I am getting married in Sept. and we have decided to take our honeymoon next June....and you guessed it we want to drive across the country in the Bambi!! So, it's time to get serious! We've taken out the gaucho and are half way through putting in a dinette of our own design. The floor all seems solid to me (could I be missing something?). I have a million questions but I'll start with the inside shell; there is damage on some of the panels is this something we can repair ourselves? My parents happen to live about a mile from an airstram dealer, and that is were Bambi is being stored and restored. Can anyone give me some guidelines on what they have left for a professional to do? I know we can do a lot of the work ourselves but time and quality is a concern.
Thanks!
Molly

Hello Molly,
Inside skin replacement is typically not very difficult, uinless you need to do interior end caps. Yiou can remove the damaged panels, and use them for templates on teh new metal. Your Airstream dealer or a local metal supplier can surely get you what you need. Interior skins are low grade aluminum, which then get painted with Zolatone. The thickness in my 63 is .022 . The inside panels can be pop riveted in place. To cut, you will need either a large shop type shear, or an electric sheet metal shear.
I am afraid that you need to be a little more specific to get good ansers to your other questions, perhaps a few photos would help as well.