1965 Safari love affair

[Dag68]

Originally Posted by BWH-Utah

If your restoration is anything like mine, serene is not the first word that comes to mind.
BWH

So true. Last weekend it was more like an episode of Seinfeld with me screaming "Serenity Now!" as I sopped up blood from the gash in my head. I walked into the metal edge of the door of an upper cabinet after removing the gauchos. I survived, but someday, when most of my hair is gone, the ladies in the nursing home will be asking me what that scar is from. At least I'll have a good story.

Please keep the encouragement coming, your post are showing me the way!

Dave the Rave!

[Dag68]

I made quite a bit od progress this weekend, dismantling the interior.

BTW tip for anyone else doing this, when you get to the panel over the fridge with the outlets and thermostat, don't start removing each item, just pop the whole panel, it's held in with staples.

Anyhow, I got about another third of the interior removed. The most frustrating part is not knowing where all the fasteners are or of you've removed them all. For instance once you've removed the metal trim around the top of the stove and disconnected the gas line alongside the burners, all that's left is to muscle it out. Hoo-ahh and out it comes but intil its out you find yourself concerned that you'll be ripping some unseen bits loose.

I wanted to leave in place all the trim that's riveted to the wall. Although I was able to do that with the vertical pieces that hold the partitions, when it came to the horizontal metal pieces at the back edge of the upper cabinets, I wish I had just drilled those rivets to start with. Instead I tried to unscrew the cabinets from those pieces only to discover you simple can't reach all the screws, so in the end, they had to come off anyway.



I sawzalled through the sink drain and that was definitely the way to go. I'll be replacing the drain anyway.

All that's left now is the rear closets, bath and the fridge. Anyone have any secret tips on those?



I unscrewed the access panel in the bottom of the closet to inspect the hot water tank and surrounding floor. As Tim suggested:

Originally Posted by tkasten

As far as the soft floor spot by the storage door my guess is that the door seal was leaking. Not uncommon problem. I changed out all of the door seals on mine and no more leaks.

He was right. The floor in there is fine, its just a little spot by the luggage door alongside. The door is a bit smooshed and doesn't close properly. A little duct tape will solve the problem temporarily and I'll have to fix or replace the door for the long haul. I guess I do have the magical trailer without floor rot! If only that smell would go away.

Dave the Rave!

[Dag68]

Ahh...

The weather is warming and I'm getting back to the renovations. I've been working on the house without wheels doing kitchen renovations but I'm ready to head to the driveway. I've got just about all the cabinetry out, except the tall cabinet on the curbside. Right now I'm looking for advice on how to pull out the original furnace and water heater.

Mostly, I'm wondering if the appliances are actually riveted to the outside skin, or if the units slide out cleanly, leaving the riveted trim behind. I've searched here and it seems like the trim has to be removed. I'm hoping I'm wrong.

[Tazameir]

I have the exact same trailer, with the manual too! It took me some time, but I scanned the whole thing, and it's online! Check it out!
1965-Safari-Manual

C.

Originally Posted by Dag68

So after about a month of life coming between me and the 'stream, I finally got to work. I'm about a third of the way (I hope) through stripping her down. The three gauchos are out as well as a few wood partitions, the fresh water tank and all the floor tiles. I got that all done in one night last weekend. After spending the day painting a bedroom and cooking dinner, I was finally free to go at it. So I started around 8pm and kept going till about 3am. I didn't stop because I was tired (I was so jazzed I could have worked for hours) - instead I ran out of brain power to figure out where all those damn screws were hidden.

Attachment 114531 Attachment 114532
Attachment 114533

I learned all the 110 outlets are disconnected, the line cut just outside the fuse box. Don't know why. I learned that in 1965 airstream had a strange mix of phillips and flat head screws, often on he same piece of the interior. I learned that 45 year old screws strip really easily. I learned that you can safely sawzall with just illumination from a head mounted led lamp.

I also discovered I don't have the magic trailer. Despite reading and hearing that all vintage airstreams have floor damage, I was certain mine didn't. I simply hadn't found any. But then I pulled the side gaucho and there, back in the corner, near the water heater, I found some crappy floor.
Attachment 114534
I haven't assessed the extent of the problem, since the water heater compartment is the one spot I haven't gotten inside yet. I'll know more when I get the rest of the cabinetry out this weekend. I'm surprised that the only access to that spot seems to be from the outside and requires removing a ton of screws. Does anyone have any tips for getting those rear corner cabs out?

I'm thrilled that the rest of the floor is solid as a rock. I'm also thrilled that the worst of that smell is gone since I took out that cushion that had a rat nest inside.

I look forward to testing the propane systems before I pull them out. Is my 1525 series furance deadly? It looks to be in very clean condition. I've read some posts that the older furnaces are dangerous. I'm hoping the fridge will work and the propane lamp. I expect to replace the water heater.

The best news? I found the original owner's manual!

Dag

[Dag68]

Hey Chris!
I just saw your post and looked at your manual. I have mine as well, with some different pages and inserts from yours. I'll have to send mine to you.

Even more interesting, our serial numbers are pretty close. Yours is J 0225 170 and mine is J 0225 253.

Dave

Originally Posted by Tazameir

I have the exact same trailer, with the manual too! It took me some time, but I scanned the whole thing, and it's online! Check it out!
1965-Safari-Manual

C.

[Tazameir]

Nice! How's the progress going?
C.