Honeymoon Airstream!

[mccrosti]

Nice to hear from you folks again! Progress at any step is good !!

[WesAndSteph]

Finally we had a whole weekend of lovely weather. Sunny and 70s!

We were able to:

-Insulate and install the black water tank

-Install subfloor patch and get it all bolted down super secure (Wes tends to enjoy overkill on repairs, probably to my benefit I suppose)

-Remove all the old gross gaskets from the windows and doors and replace with new (have 2 windows left to do that we couldn't access to remove because the airstream is close to the house on that side and the ground is pretty soft to try to move it at the moment.)

-Drill out all the empty rivet holes that won't be covered, sanded the holes down and filled them with bondo

-Started stripping the paint off the window frames, we'd like to make them polished aluminum, though that has not been an enjoyable process

-Installed the last new fan vent

Next on the agenda is:

- Finish epoxying the rest of the subfloor (? Can I make epoxy a verb? I just did)

-Remove the tambour door shelvey box things from the fiberglass overhead in the end cap.

-Repair crack in the fiberglass overhead in the end cap

-Sand everything to prep for painting

-Prime! We bought STIX brand bonding primer

Of course I am learning that although that is the rough agenda, it is likely that we will come across a mandatory step that we haven't thought of before we can move on to anything else. Absolutely everything takes longer than you think it will.

Also, update on the axels- They arrived, but were wrong. Wes added a small amount of height to them, so the camper would sit a bit higher, since the old axels were pretty saggy. They did the angle on the axels incorrectly, and so the camper would have sat even lower than it did on the saggy axels from 1972. So, now we have about 2 more weeks to wait for the new, new axels.

We are starting to try to figure out what materials we will be using once we actually get going on adding an interior back in. We've bought the STIX primer, as I've stated. Benjamin Moore paint on top of that. We are thinking of going with the Allure Ultra flooring. The cabinets will be painted, so we will just be using some kind of higher grade plywood, since we won't have a wood finish on them. Need to also figure out a countertop...

More immediately, we will need to figure out a good shower pan and walls... I would like a bench seat in the shower, and I think Wes is going to fabricate the shower walls out of aluminum... I keep having second thoughts about this, as I imagine those walls will be pretty cold to bump into. :/

So that's pretty much where we are at. I will post some updated photos when I get the chance. The inside looks largely the same at this point. I will be excited to start on projects that will make a visual change, though it's nice to know that the trailer will be sound underneath the cosmetic improvements.

[WesAndSteph]

One more thing I forgot: Window tinting.... We are looking to get ours done. Has anyone ever gotten colored tinting? Is that an Airstream no no? I havn't seen any but the dark black, and we arent sure if thats what we want to go with...

[Condoluminum]

Not sure how colorful you are intending to go... There have been quite a few Airstreams with silver/metalized tinting film, which makes it impossible to see in during daylight hours.. Darker limo tints in varying shades of gray are also possible, though corner windows have some compound curvatures that might make film tinting a challenge... Even with tinting, you'll need some form of blinds or curtains or shades at night for privacy.. You can do search here, but members have used everything from home made curtains to mini-blinds or wood shutters to professional fitted curtains...


Don't think anyone here would object to the aesthetics.. I could imagine a blue-haired lady at a WBCCI rally looking askance, but that is just a generational thing...

[laducky]

I'm in the process of diy tinting. I'm starting with yucky dual pain... errr pane windows that have the crumbly material inside so I'm taking them out and as I am replacing them tinting them 15% I love how Streams look with the black tinting personally, idk if that qualifies me as 'new school' but for the heat and privacy issues I think it's awesome.

[WesAndSteph]

I think we will end up going with a regular tint, seems difficult to find a place near us that is willing to do color... and I have to say that the heat reduction is the selling point for me.

Also, here are a few update photos:

These are some split before and after shots of both end caps. I believe these show results after two coats of primer. We now have paint on, a bright white with yellow undertones, but I dont have pics of that yet.

[WesAndSteph]

And here are our lovely new wheel well covers. They have since been painted to prevent oxidation. They look prettier silver.

[jbknowso]

Originally Posted by ventport

If you are using it on your honeymoon, be sure to have 4 good stabilizers installed on it!

Lol