1973 Rebuild

[Fresh73]

Hello from Northern California, I am fairly new to the AS world. My wife and daughter got this baby free from our contractor that built our house. It was sitting in his lot, intended to be his office but realized it was more than he wanted to deal with. The interior was half-gone, and my daughter went at it full blown and ripped everything out. The floor was about half rotted, so we watched some videos, but not enough, and took it all out to realize the frame was in terrible shape, so like many of you, decided to remove the shell. Got the gantries built this weekend, so Tuesday is the big day! Wish us luck, I plan on relying on this forum for a lot of good advice .

[Bubba L]

Congratulations on your 73. It will be a fun project. Be safe with the gantries and make sure you anchor the shell when it’s free of the chassis. Good luck

[Landshark]

I had a 1972 Sovereign and loved it! It's a generous size for traveling and you can fit most any floor plan into its length. Good luck and enjoy it!

Vivian

[dbj216]

Hello from Colorado: Gee, the price was right. Your daughter is a hard worker, keep her on the job. You're embarking on a big project, maybe 1200 daughter hours and $15000 to get it travel ready. But it is fun and rewarding family work.

These Forums may help you along the way. You might like to start a "project thread" in the Knowledgebase found near the bottom of the Forums page. Select Sovereign and your year, and start documenting the project. You can also read about others who have done what you're going to do. There are many good threads to read over.

We're working on a 76 Sovereign this winter. We didn't take the the shell off, but certainly did a lot of work to this old girl. We hope to finish in the next several weeks. Been at it since October. Our project thread is linked below.

Here is a nice photo of a very well renovated Sovereign. It is our goal.

David

[Fresh73]

Wow dbj, that is nice! Here's our situation. I know most of you love to travel with your AS, but this will actually be home for my daughter. So I may get flack for saying it, but we're not restoring it to enjoy time on the road. She'll be connected for power, sewer, and water. We want just a nice cozy home for her. There is so much help on here, so I'm sure we'll be able to build a great little place.

[21Airstream]

^^^ Now that is a beautiful trailer!

[dbj216]

Building out an Airstream for full time living will likely change some of the things Airstream did to make a travel trailer. Actually Airstream built "park models" back in the early sixties that were designed with full time living in mind.

Things to consider will be a good insulation system as Airstream walls are only about 1 1/2" thick and made of highly conductive aluminum. You will want a good heating and cooling system. Airstreams are best in "temperate" climates. Minnesota winters and Arizona summers are not comfortable in an Airstream. The electrical system needs enough power to run a microwave and an air conditioner at the same time. Consider upgrading to a 50 amp system with extra outlets in convenient places. Design the bathroom to be comfortable and able to handle the moisture okay. Provide extra storage room. The Airstream "double bed" models had a nice wardrobe and chest of drawers in the bedroom where the "twin bed" models used this space for the second bed. I'd want a permanent eating space as well as a relaxing space. Maybe a recliner makes more sense than a gaucho that unfolds to a bed that takes up a lot of room.

Well, the list would go on and on. Many folks build their trailers for full timing and there is no reason you can't do it too. A big Airstream is what, maybe 220 square foot space. Gotta be efficient.

David