1975 31ft International Sovereign project

[Okotoks]

Hello all, I Unfortunately purchased a 75 31ft international rear bath for too much money based on it's condition . Currently have a 76 22ft Argosy and wanted something with more room for the kids, would have liked a 24-26 ft with twin center beds but they arent easy to come by around here.
The 31ft has a decent body, no major damage , couple small dents/dings but should clean up nice, interior has black mold on some areas which we have cleaned and disinfected, needs front and rear subfloor, bathroom has everything there but has to be rebuilt. Needs new roof vent covers, interior light covers, curtains, really the only nice thing inside is the countertop, sinks, most interior skins and all cupboards .
Furnace works nicely , fridge very cold on electricity but haven't tested on propane and the knobs are broken. Needs new matresses and front couch mattress which we had a quote done for $830 for just the couch, probably will replace the twin beds with regular bed mattresses . What else....

[Airslide]

Welcome to the airforums Okotoks!

Dont be too hard on yourself... she will polish up nice and a 31' give you lots of room to move around. As far as the "to do list".. just take it a little at a time until your satisfied. It doesnt have to end up Concours de elegance to enjoy the open road and wonderful camping experiences. If questions come up im sure you will find lots of advice here.

Congrats on the new (to you) airstream!

Vinnie

[wahoonc]

Good news is there are a lot of the mid 70's Sovereigns out there, also there are quite a few of us on this board that are in the process of repairing/revamping ours and can help you out. The Bad News...You are getting ready to join us.

Seriously the more I dig into my Airstream the better I like it. I have rebuilt quite a few things over the years, out side of some poor design and material choices and some unreal QC issues from the Airstream factory these things are really pretty decent to work on and can be rebuilt better than new for a fraction of what one of the new units cost.

Aaron

[Kevin245]

Don't fret the price. You're not alone, or the first. I know I overpaid for our 31' center bath. It was worth it for me.

Looks like she has good bones and that's great news. Keep us posted on your progress.

[Okotoks]

Here are some more pictures I found.

[AL’ UM- MONEY]

I think soon you will be especially glad you took on this project. I got through a family member a 1976 31 foot rear bath. It took 16 months of hard work to bring mine back to a place where My most enjoyable thing to do is show off my work to anyone that sees it and understand what an Airstream really is. Don't be shy to ask questions on this forum. You will get lots of great advise and in many times will save you money and important time. Welcome

[Splitrock]

I kept the locker over the kitchen sink with the command center in it, kept the shower and the vanity sink/top. The rest of that "original" interior the seller was so proud of went in the dumpster. Looked good there too.

I'm still working on mine. Third summer. Now I'm polishing the outside skin.

[Mrs.Mod]

In your opinions, did I overpay for my 1977 31 center bath? We paid $8500. We replaced the toilet ($200), and did about $600 worth of brake work. We still need to repair the fridge which will cost us about $700. Next on the list is new axles.
Besides that we added our own decor and hit the road. I would say it is in 'great condition'. It is super clean and no weird smells.
The PO was asking $10K when we got it in January. I thought we did good at $8500.
What do you think?

[nairnchyz]

Greetings from Manitoba.

Our 74 31' Sovereign is just about ready to go on the road. It's been a long haul getting it done up. We have the rare centre bath and rear bedroom.
Don't fret about your purchase. You have a good base to start on and bit by bit you'll end up with a classic to be proud of.

Bob

[Okotoks]

I paid $3200 but after getting it home and really had a good look I think $2500 would have been better.
I made a day trip to Washington state from Alberta to get it , I knew it needed work as I got the PO to send pics and let me know what he thought it needed.
I new the flooring was down to the sub floor and from the pictures it all looked solid and felt good when I walked around inside of it but then I got it home and started prepping it for engineered hardwood and found the edges on the front sheet were DONE and the bottom exterior trim is dented above the bumper , I'm guessing from bouncing off the number due to rear end separation.
I am an Auto mechanic and am not afraid to tear into it, I have rebuilt classic vehicles . The problem is time and mostly money, I figured I would sell our Argosy and have this one ready for july long weekend camping, not the case now, so I will have to go into the line of credit to pay for the Airstream repairs because I am not going to sell the Argosy and not camp! That would be ridiculous!
Anyway, thanks everyone for the support and kind words, I will post updates as they happen which won't be as soon as I had hoped due to me having a pinched siaitic and possible bulged disk. I was walking up the stairs on Saturday on my way to start replacing the floors when I had a stabbing pain in my butt/leg area and almost fell down the stairs! This has never happened to me before and I am worried as I am not even 30 and falling apart worse than my Airstream.

[Mrs.Mod]

Originally Posted by Okotoks

Anyway, thanks everyone for the support and kind words, I will post updates as they happen which won't be as soon as I had hoped due to me having a pinched siaitic and possible bulged disk. I was walking up the stairs on Saturday on my way to start replacing the floors when I had a stabbing pain in my butt/leg area and almost fell down the stairs! This has never happened to me before and I am worried as I am not even 30 and falling apart worse than my Airstream.

So sorry to hear about the pain. Try this, lay on your back on the floor, bend your legs, cross you legs so that your left ankle is resting on your right knee, gently stretch by moving your left knee toward the opposite shoulder. Don't pull it, just gently stretch it. (or switch legs depending on which side hurts.) I hope it works for you, it surely helped to relieve my pain. I had a tad bit of siaitic issues a couple years ago when I was about 26-27.
Age is nothing, be kind to your body. My husband is 38 but has been hard on his body his whole life, playing hockey, lifting things he shouldn't, etc, now he's a bit of a wreck at times.

Good luck on the AS! We'll be waiting on those update pics!

[OilnH2o]

Okotoks, I think I need to buy you a beer - "Big Rock" if I recall is your local brew?

We saw a 31' Sovereign on Craigslist and were on the way to Spokane on our "long" Memorial Day weekend to take a look, when the guy emailed and said he'd "just sold the 31' Sovereign and it was on it's way to Alberta." Coincidence? Hmmm...

Of course, if it's the same one, that doesn't mean we'd have bought it, but if it was, whenever we next meet, the first Big Rock's on me!

[Okotoks]

Yes it was the same one! The PO received several calls while I was there but I couldn't travel all that way and come home empty handed.
Beer sounds good to me! Big Rock is good stuff and hasn't been corrupted by selling out to the big guys (yet) you absolutely can buy me 1 or 12? Haha.
I am mostly disappointed with how gross it is inside, must have sat for a while with windows closed! I am excited to pull belly pan down( crazy?) and see what's in there

I went to the hospital today as my sciatic took a turn for the worse, was getting up from putting the hoist arms under a jeep when I got a sharp stabbing pain in my left side leg again , Doctor wants me to take 1 month off! dam!

[perryg114]

Get you a good Chiropractor and an inversion table.

Perry

[Taylormade]

Originally Posted by Mrs.Mod

In your opinions, did I overpay for my 1977 31 center bath? We paid $8500. What do you think?

The correct answer is, of course, only if YOU think you overpaid.

Value is tough to assign to projects, and there's really no use in crying over spilled cash, but I will say this: Reading your post makes me feel like I got a steal on my '78 at $3k. I've already put another $2k in it (tires, rims, flooring, couch, power converter, polish, fridge, lumber for cabinetry, power jack, etc) and I couldn't be happier to do so.

If it makes you feel better, there's a 70s Sov down here on CL that the seller is asking 30k for, so by that logic, you got a great deal!

Originally Posted by Okotoks

I paid $3200 but after getting it home and really had a good look I think $2500 would have been better.

You did fine. Check out the axles and the rear end (did you say you'd confirmed separation??) as they'll be pricey fixes.

Someone's done the hard work of removing the striping and your windows all appear to be single pane, so you're ahead in the game as far as I can tell.

Here's a good source for your interior light covers, unless you're planning on going a different route.

Have a blast and keep us informed of your progress, hope you get to feeling better soon!

[Okotoks]

All windows are still dual pane they just don't look as bad as some I have seen, apparently you can take them apart and remove the tinting? I just haven't read up on how to do that yet.
Tires are good, good depth, no cracking, angle on the spindle arm is about flat but I can see most of the tire above the top of the rim and axles have good movement so I'm not to worried about that right now.
Definitely has rear end separation as the rear access door has moss In the top edge And the lower trim is dented up above the rear frame I'm guessing from the shell moving and bouncing on the frame( pics to come)
The rear bath is all loose and crappy so I'm not too sad about having to disassemble it to fix the flooring. Going to refinish the bathroom plastics with POR15 white flex coat and new wooden frame work or whatever I find that supports underneath all that stuff.
Found a nice Jensen radio/CD/DVD head unit with video out, only $125 (remanufactured) which will go in the stock radio location and make it easy to connect to a small 12v TV to put on counter right by the 12v socket.
Received an order from vintage trailer supply today which contains 5 amber led clearance lights, the aluminum colored RTV silicone , all the curtain tabs. Placing big order to OoDM tomorrow for everything else I can find that they carry.
Bought 2 barely used twin mattresses for the center beds for $40.
Looking for somewhere to get a new or in good condition furnace inlet/outlet cover, mine is badly corroded, any ideas?
Going to get the stove top sandblasted as it is rusted and paint it with POR15 high heat aluminum paint , advertised to withstand 1400 deg F, also sand blast and powerboat the fridge grills as they are rusty, unless anyone know if you can buy them new for
Less $?
It poured rain tonight so tomorrow I will see what is wet inside.

[Okotoks]

I meant powder coat the fridge grills! Dam IPhone auto correct sometimes! I also just figured out you can edit your posts so this entire new post is really unnecessary! Powerboat, haha

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by Okotoks

I meant powder coat the fridge grills! Dam IPhone auto correct sometimes! I also just figured out you can edit your posts so this entire new post is really unnecessary! Powerboat, haha

Speel chekker wurks 4 me...

I hate that auto correct stuff, really want to have fun use something like Motospeak...the only thing it gets right the first time are the cuss words.

Sounds like you have a plan, let me know if you need an pictures of the rear end in progress. I got mine torn apart last week, still chasing parts. There is not a whole lot of wood in the rear bath, most of what you have is laminate over thin plywood that fits into extruded aluminum channels, the plastic bits are riveted to the walls for the main form of support.

Aaron

[Okotoks]

Here is a rot hole behind the curb side counter where the stock radio would be mounted, also has rot on street side, hole is about 8-10 inch long and 5 inch wide on curb side and 4 by 4 on street side with everything around it solid! What would this be from? It was a torrential downpour last night and no signs of any water there.

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by Okotoks

Here is a rot hole behind the curb side counter where the stock radio would be mounted, also has rot on street side, hole is about 8-10 inch long and 5 inch wide on curb side and 4 by 4 on street side with everything around it solid! What would this be from? It was a torrential downpour last night and no signs of any water there.

Lights, windows, vent stacks, loose/missing rivets and awning rails are always suspect. With the way an Airstream is framed water can get in at a single point then run along a horizontal stringer. I would start at the top and work my way down sealing things. One of my worst leaks was from the sunshade over the front windows, apparently it was the second or possibly third one on the trailer, they didn't bother to plug the old holes prior to installing the newest one. I had to take it off, plug the holes and use the proper sealant when I put it back on. Leak gone for the time being.

Aaron