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overlander63 · 04-22-2008, 04:13 PM

Let's see if I can upload the manual:

Distantdrummer · 04-22-2008, 04:49 PM

Juel, some odds & ends questions please.

Did you make your curtains? They look very professional.

Where did you get the replacement vinyl for the belt rails?

Is the stripe stock on that model and year?
I thought some years wide blue stripes were aluminum between two belt rails and were lower on the trailer sides.

Where did you get the stripe kit?
Was it pre punched to fit around indicator lamps etc.?
Putting on decals of any size is an art. I don't see one bubble in you alls work. Do you guys build Rose Bowl Parade floats also??

On the AIRSTREAM letters on the rear did you paint just the top of the raised letters or all the way down to the trailer skin?
That masking job looks very professional too.

Have you all had to replace anything on the Armstrong? If so what and where did you find the parts?

Do I understand you guys are goin to park this and make it a "park model" no pull weekend home?
Anyhow it looks wonderful.

thanks

juel · 04-22-2008, 06:04 PM

The 8" decal came from here Vinyl Striping,. It was a bugger to put on and yes there were bubbles in it but I got them out with several insulin syringes. Just takes patience. I used a wall paper knife to cut around what was in the way on that curb side and that was a nightmare. Two tries on the door alone. It did turn out very well and I do like it a lot. The reason I put that blue stripe on is that there was a nasty scratch down the side that I hated. Too deep to buff out. The vinyl inserts came from my local Airstream repair man Tom Griffin. No dealership in this state, but Tom and his wife work on Airstreams and can order what I need from the factory. Inland RV had it too. Two different widths, so you need to tell them what trailer you have. The curtains were made by the PO's daughter. Hate the pink but she did a wonderful job, so instead of paying $600. to replace them, they stay for now. And no, we are not making this a park model. We have property that we put it on in the Spring and then pull it home in the Fall. We have the 24ft Argosy if we want to travel, but it use to stay at the lake before we had the Sovereign. The rear blue letters were blue down to the skin on the trailer, so I taped around them, sprayed them, then sanded off the raised edges just like they were before. Took about an hour to tape those off! The Armstrong A/C works well, so we haven't done anything to it. I read where you should not trash them as they can be fixed, but that's all I know. All the installation and operation manuals are still in the trailer. Very detailed information. Pictures show the scratch and the blue letters after just painting. Edges haven't been sanded off yet in one picture but have in the other. Oops, sorry, I didn't include a picture of the sanded edges. May not have taken one yet.

juel · 04-22-2008, 06:08 PM

Maybe this shows the sanded letters.

juel · 04-27-2008, 03:06 PM

WOO HOO! The Sovereign's at the lake and everything worked perfectly on it. Even the old Armstrong A/C worked better than we ever could have hoped for and it is really, really quiet. What a difference from the Old Coleman and new Carrier in the Argosy. I will cry when this one stops working. Just a word of caution here....never follow your husband towing your 31ft Airstream at 70 MPH.

wahoonc · 04-27-2008, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by juel

WOO HOO! The Sovereign's at the lake and everything worked perfectly on it. Even the old Armstrong A/C worked better than we ever could have hoped for and it is really, really quiet. What a difference from the Old Coleman and new Carrier in the Argosy. I will cry when this one stops working. Just a word of caution here....never follow your husband towing your 31ft Airstream at 70 MPH.

Juel,
Find your self a GOOD commercial refrigeration mechanic. The Armstrong Baybreeze unit is very fixable with mostly off the shelf parts, if someone is willing to take the time to trouble shoot and repair it. Unlike the current disposable units

Aaron

juel · 04-27-2008, 03:55 PM

Thanks for the info. I was certainly surprised at how well this 1976 unit worked and how quiet it was. Why can't they make them that quiet now. I hate to turn that Carrier on in the Argosy. Can't hear the TV or anything else. People talk about generators being noisy, maybe Honda should market a quiet RV A/C unit. That would be a good seller I imagine. That and my inflatable hail cover could make me a fortune. Too bad I don't know how to make these things.

maccamper · 04-28-2008, 01:00 PM

Juel, the finish on your trailer looks really nice, I don't see any sign of fading clearcoat when I am looking at the pictures. Did you remove the clearcoat and then wax it or have a new clearcoat reapplied? How did you do that?
Thanks.

Laird

Distantdrummer · 04-28-2008, 02:57 PM

Juel congrats, every thing looks great. I keep wondering one thing I didn't ask you. You say that big blue stripe is not a decal but a strip of rolled vinyl. Ok what makes it stay on?

Also what was so scary about following the speeding Airstream?

overlander63 · 04-28-2008, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by juel

Thanks for the info. I was certainly surprised at how well this 1976 unit worked and how quiet it was. Why can't they make them that quiet now. I hate to turn that Carrier on in the Argosy. Can't hear the TV or anything else.

Our Armstrong in the '74 is a great unit as well. It's not as quiet as some, but quieter than most. I was able to find the data tag on ours, it's only a 12,000 btu unit!

juel · 04-28-2008, 04:06 PM

Laird...The trailer is in great shape; however, the pictures make the finish look better than it really is. Clearcoat is off on the top and the finish isn't perfect, but it photographs wonderfully.

Distantdrummer....The strip is a vinyl decal that has adhesive on one side. You spray the trailer with soapy water and apply the decal. Then you use a wall paper tool to smooth out as many air bubbles as you can before the water dries. This is a premium vinyl that has a paper overlay on the front, making it "easier" to work with. After you have worked all the bubbles you can detect out and smoothed the vinyl into place, you let it sit for several hours or a day or two. Then you peel off the paper front being very careful it doesn't pull the vinyl too much to bubble it again. Then you go over the decal inch by inch with an insulin syringe to pull out the trapped air. Just suck it out and press the vinyl down. You will continue to see bubbles for what seems like forever, especially around the rivets. You have to pull the air out of all of those and let the vinyl settle in around them. This decal material comes in 150ft rolls in the 8" width, and costs about $150.00. I may have used about 50ft of it, but there were times I was glad I had extra because I thought I might need it. The street side stripe is 20ft and the curb side is a little longer. Surely you're kidding about the speeding Airstream! After all the work I put into that trailer, watching it dart around semis and drift a little pulling back in front of them, made me really nervous. That's way too fast to travel the interstate, WITH YOUR WIFE BEHIND YOU!

juel · 04-29-2008, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by overlander63

Our Armstrong in the '74 is a great unit as well. It's not as quiet as some, but quieter than most. I was able to find the data tag on ours, it's only a 12,000 btu unit!

What brands are quieter than the Armstrong? Also, have you had any trouble with yours? I would like to think this one would run for years, but is that too much to hope for? I am guessing they no longer make A/C units, but they certainly should. Do you have the snaps on the side for the wheel covers? I am trying to find snaps to make my own wheel covers, but I have no idea as to size. There are so many different snaps available. Anyone know what I should buy to attach to material for wheel covers.

maccamper · 08-04-2008, 07:36 AM

Hi Judy. I was wondering if I could ask a favor of you? I would like to look for a center arm for our Carefree awning the next time we go to Colaws, but I am not sure I would recognize one. Could you take a picture of yours the next time you have your camera out and post it on this thread? Thanks very much.

Laird

wahoonc · 08-04-2008, 08:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by juel

What brands are quieter than the Armstrong? Also, have you had any trouble with yours? I would like to think this one would run for years, but is that too much to hope for? I am guessing they no longer make A/C units, but they certainly should. Do you have the snaps on the side for the wheel covers? I am trying to find snaps to make my own wheel covers, but I have no idea as to size. There are so many different snaps available. Anyone know what I should buy to attach to material for wheel covers.

Juel,
Just about any of the newer brand A/C units are quieter than that Bay Breeze

However the Bay Breeze can be repaired unlike the newer units. You will have to find someone that is familiar with commercial refrigeration units. There are many universal parts that can be used.

As far as the wheel covers, my 75 doesn't have them. My 81 does. It uses the turnbutton type fastener they are about 3/8" wide by 1/2"-3/4" long...I will get a scaled picture later today.

Aaron