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overlander63 · 07-15-2007, 04:43 PM

The awning went over most of the windows in the front, mostly. It pretty much screamed "trash!", so that's probably where it will wind up.
I don't want anybody to get in trouble (there was a deal involved), so I'll just say it was less than $400 delivered.

**azflycaster** · 07-15-2007, 04:48 PM

Terry,
It was a pretty easy guess with the size and shape of the box. I didn't think that the low profile Air Conditioners had got that low profile yet. Great job on the install, shades are cool!
Mine look like this:

overlander63 · 07-15-2007, 04:55 PM

Y'all may have noticed we are still short an "M" for the front of Bertha (okay, I'm a sandwich short of a picnic, but that's another thread). Does anybody out there have an extra one in their parts bin? Brother, can you spare an M?

It's kind of wierd, having the only "AIRSTREA " running around.

If there are any "W's" out there, I can probably use one of those.

vswingfield · 07-15-2007, 07:46 PM

It’s lookin great, Terry! Thanks for the updates.

Vaughan

“You have a very fine color when you've got a spite on.” The Duke to Lauren Bacall in The Shootist. Don’t try this on at home folks! Remember Lauren Bacall was paid to be beguiled by this line.

Jim & Susan · 07-16-2007, 09:40 AM

Terry, I had the exact same problem with the missing "M". I found one at Colaw's. A few details in this post: http://www.airforums.com/forums/213395-post186.html

Jim

overlander63 · 07-22-2007, 06:07 PM

This weekend I took care of some odds and ends on Bertha, such as repairing the water leak in the water heater supply line, and installing a new holding tank drain cap. I was able to repair the "M", put it on, and in true Murphy fashion, the letter slipped just as the glue was curing. I also finished the outlet cover for the Winegard antenna, and put our WBCCI numbers on front and rear.
Tomorrow, after the storage lot has moved a utility trailer away from our storage spot (it is parked 6" from the curb side of Bertha, I had to crawl under, and use a wrench to raise the stabilizers), I'll drop her off.
Here is a photo showing the new WBCCI numbers:

overlander63 · 07-22-2007, 06:23 PM

As an afterthought, I thought I would share with you that we reserved a site in an RV park (resort?) in Tropical Gulf Acres for the winter. Our time there will start September 30, and go at least through March of '08, with a few strategic breaks, like our son's wedding in North Carolina at the end of October. It doesn't make much sense to start fulltiming further North just in time for cold weather.
If anybody wants to look around, or reserve a spot for a while, they have a website, it is Welcome To Sun'n'Shade RV Campground, Punta Gorda Florida.

Chuck · 07-23-2007, 07:56 AM

you can access the back side of those letters (and the marker lights, should you ever need to

) by taking out the cabinet up front. comes right out of the end cap, after loosening a few screws. You might be able to use a fastener to attach that "M" more securely.

overlander63 · 07-25-2007, 05:41 AM

Things have been a little slow at work this week (an understatement, they would have to get busier to be "slow"), so I have taken advantage of an understanding management to address a few minor issues with Bertha. First, the plug for the shore power connection was badly corroded, and the contacts were eroded away to almost nothing, so the plug got cut off and replaced. I got a new plug end from Camping World, the ones from Home Depot and Lowes will work, but they are a hard plastic (subject to shattering if dropped), and the Camping World plug has the wire colors painted right on the inside contacts. If you are not color blind, it is impossible to reverse the wires, and get the dreaded "orange light of imminent death" on the side of the coach to glow. Also, the Camping World version is only about a dollar more than the hardware store variety, and is much more substantial.
I also crawled underneath, and started dropping the belly pan, along with the two rear stabilizers. While I don't have the pan completely off, I took enough rivets out so I could view the frame, and got a rather unpleasant suprise. The frame is not bent like I thought it was. No, it is not rotten, either. When the shop performed the repair, they didn't bother putting the braces and elevator bolts in the frame and floor. This worked for a while, but when the frame was subjected to the aditional stress of being tied down with hurricane straps, it sagged downward. Now, in order to fix it, I've got to rip apart a bunch of stuff I have already fixed, so I can access the areas inside the coach, and install the elevator bolts that were supposed to be installed.
It's been ten years since the repair was performed, so the tech that did the work is not longer there, and it will do no good to name names, even though I have the receipts for the repair work ($2400+). I'll try to take and post some photos of the work in progress.

overlander63 · 07-25-2007, 04:23 PM

Here's a quick photo of Bertha up on a bumper jack. Who else besides me would have an antique air powered bumper jack to do this?...

overlander63 · 08-01-2007, 12:55 PM

Bertha is now back together,and the frame is close to prescribed distance from the body.
It turms out that not only did the original repairer not bother with any bolts, they used no sealers back there, and the floor at the very rear rotted away under the body. That, coupled with no bolts holding the frame up, caused the sag I saw. I sistered in a piece of 3/4" pressure treated plywood between the end of the "good" wood, and the shell. I attached everything back together, using a myriad of bolts, screws, rivets, and cursing. The rear is now solid again, with a slight sag evident (I couldn't perform the "raise it further than it goes, and attach" method, so it will always be a little low there, maybe 1/4-1/2".
When I got done, and lowered Bertha to the ground, I made yet another disturbing discovery. The right side of the trailer now is about 1 1/2" lower than the left side. With everything underneath in good order, that means only one thing:
Axles.

"Hello, Inland?"
I'll post pictures up to this point when I get home from work today, and pictures of the impending axle replacement. The axles have already been ordered, so let's not go there.

Alumatube · 08-01-2007, 01:00 PM

Don't feel bad, Terry, we have an "Airstrea" too.

Our Excella came like that, and we ordered one from the Dallas dealer from his used stock.

I am sorry about the issues you have been discovering! But look at it this way - when you are done, Bertha will be better than new!

Susan

overlander63 · 08-05-2007, 11:32 AM

Here are some photos showing part of the process of the frame repair. The belly pan got dropped to shore up the crack in the laft side of the frame over the left rear wheel. This was the damage that precipitated the gusset repair over the axles, a known weak point in the longer trailers beginning about 1974. The repair was performed to keep it from getting worse, but nothing was really done about the sag that was already there. The frame is now sturdy, with little of the curious backward tilt to the bathroom floor that Bertha had exhibited before. The tub now fills more or less evenly, and there is no longer that feeling of being about to drop through a hole while showering.

overlander63 · 08-05-2007, 11:34 AM

More photos of the process:

overlander63 · 08-05-2007, 12:07 PM

This weekend we were invited to join some other Airstreamers at the Red Coconut RV resort on Fort Myers Beach. We were expecting it to be a bit crowded, but it would have had to have a lower occupancy level to be considered "crowded". My first clue was when they told me I had to drop Bertha at the entrance, so they could use a tractor to park our trailer.

Say what? I don't think so, buddy. They insisted I do this, and assured me they would pay for any damaged they incurred while performing this operation.

Sooo, I dropped Bertha at the entrance, and they came tooling up on this little Ford 4wd tractor to move our trailer. You're kidding, right? THAT, move THIS? It looked like an overgrown lawn mower.

First attempt, they succeeded in picking up the front of the tractor, while Bertha remained firmly planted on the ground. After a hurried consultation, one of the gophers ran across the street, and came back dragging another helper, and a couple hundred pounds of weights, which they attached to the front of the tractor. Second attempt, the tractor grudgingly lifted Bertha a few inches, and they trundled off around the corner. My confidence is building with every creak and groan of the obviously overloaded tractor.

I went over to our campsite to await the arrival of our trailer, and a few minutes later, they came chugging around the corner with it. The next hurdle our brevet motor pool driver encountered was trying to stop his charge. Of course, he waited until nearly wiping out another Airstream and tow vehicle before trying, and managed to get the works stopped about an inch from the Escalade (TV). Another hurried consultation, and he backed up, and made another attempt. It was interesting watching the tractor perform a "wheelie" when he tried stopping suddenly while backing up. The knowledge it was our trailer on the back kept me from being actively amused, however.
They finally got Bertha shoehorned into her spot, and dropped her off. I then had to re-hook, and pull up onto leveling blocks so Marie wouldn't fall out of bed on top of me. After hooking up all the hoses, cables, etc, and deploying all the awnings, we had about a foot between our awnings, and the next RV's slide out. About two feet between the rear of Bertha and the chain link fence at the edge of the property, and about 2 inches at the front of the truck and the "street".
I attempted to use their advertised Wi-Fi, and found out it had been struck by lightning, and wasn't working. A water main ruptured about an hour after our arrival, and we were without water for our first night, and part of the next day. This lead me to realize that maybe we really do need to get that fresh water tank fixed, in case this happens again.
The beach itself was okay, a little crowded at times, but it's the beach, and to be expected.
I also personally had a problem with the rates, advertised as $75/ night with full hookups (but pets cost extra every night, and electricity was extra for every night, and if you had more than two people in your RV, it was extra per person). I realize they are in business to make money, but tell me how much it is, don't hit me with "extras" that shouldn't be. Like, $14 "extra" for electricity! And $4 "extra" for our 8 pound dog! Sheesh!
Okay, off the soapbox, the camping was fun, the beach was fun, and the company was good. I even won when we played mini golf. Here are some pictures of the campground, and a photo showing the Gulf of Mexico from the rear of our site:

sd90mac · 08-05-2007, 12:11 PM

Poor Bertha big butt!!

She gave Terry a run for his money. He did a beautiful job on the repairs to her rear end despite her fighting him all the way.

We took her to Red Coconut RV resort this weekend in Fort Myers beach and marbles placed in the floor did not race to the back of the coach. The downward slope is no more. I was impressed with her for not blowing any lines, a/c, or anything else, she held together very well. She was very much toured and envied by people who "always wanted an airstream, do they still make those" Yes. She strutted her stuff with the best of them, and made her parents proud.

We were 1 of 3 airstreams in attendance, including Brett's Argosy motor home. We were packed in like sardines, to the point I felt like swimming upstream to spawn. Our awning almost touched the slide out of the SOB next to us.

All in all we had a great weekend. Oh Yeah of the 4 who played mini golf I cam in 4th with a score of 64. Normaly mine runs 85 to 90, and I got a hole in one. Terry's score was less than 45

More to follow.

Marie

Sugarfoot · 08-05-2007, 06:54 PM

Congrats on your repair job. It must have been a bear. I'm glad to hear you two had a good time at the beach. I was chuckling all the way through your "tractor pull" story, Terry, but I'm sure I would have acted like a mother hen that lost her bitties if I'd been in your shoes.

overlander63 · 08-12-2007, 06:43 PM

Those of you paying close attention to these things have noticed the counter where the sink and stove are located have an unintended slope to them. I thought it was partly because the right side of Bertha is in the process of emulating the Andrea Doria in her final hours, aka, executing a severe list to the right. Since I didn't have anything better to do today

, I toddled over and picked up Bertha for a work day.
I parked on a slope that was quite steep to the left, and when I checked the onboard level, Bertha was sitting flat. Then I pulled out my pocket level, and checked the counter. I can set a coffee pot on the counter, and pour a cup without lifting the pot, guess I'd better take care of this before a sinkful of dishes winds up on the floor.
I started by removing the lid from the stove, and the burner cover, and access cover for the stove. I then removed the LP line from the stove, and the 4 retaining screws that hold the stove into the counter. It was suprisingly easy to do, I was expecting more of a hassle. After removing the screws, all that is needed is to lift the cooktop out, and move on tot he next step.
I then unloaded the cabinets under the sink, and crawled underneath to disconnect the water and drain pipes from it. After doing this, I started unbolting the hold-down clamps for the sink. There were a lot of them. And they were hard to get to. Now I'm feeling better, it's been going too easy to this point, I was concerned something bad was going to happen. I pulled the sink out, and studied the situation for a moment. Here are photos up to this point (note the drunken lean of the counter):

overlander63 · 08-12-2007, 06:54 PM

After getting the sink out of the counter without doing more than konking my noggin a dozen times, I was ready to make the repair. I looked around, and found that not only was the counter pulled off the wall, but the bracket for the cutting board was as well. Not only that, the little cabinet for the silverware drawer was just kind of hanging in space. It's not wonder the silverware we put in there have never again been seen, it all was piled in the back, at the low point of the cabinet. First thing I did was install some screws to hold the cabinet up, and move over to look at the cutting board's bracket. A few new, larger screws later, the cutting board is again fixed. Now we can use it without everything sliding off it onto the floor, a fact that will disappoint our dog immensely. I then lifted the counter to proper height using the same hydraulic bottle jack I use to lift Bertha when changing tires, and applied several longer, bigger screws to hold everything where it is supposed to go. It's interesting that there were no screws at all holding the sink area of the counter up. Here are more photos up to this point:

overlander63 · 08-12-2007, 07:01 PM

After increasing the stock value of a sheet metal screw company by using a prodigious amount of screws to hold this rig together, I reinstalled the sink, and bathed the stove in Oven Cleaner. I found out that one corner of the stove is severely rusted, so we will be shopping for a new one in the future. As I was getting ready to drop the stove back in, I noticed something odd in the wall. I will be fixing what I found. The 120 volt feed wire goes through the skin with nothing to keep the wires from abraiding. Nothing like electrocuting yourself while doing the dishes.
Here's photos of the rest of the story: