1978 Sovereign International 31'

[DeLaney]

Hi all, my name is DeLaney and I live in Grand Rapids, MI with my fiancée, Mike. We have recently purchased a 1978 Airstream 31' and are in the process of making it inhabitable. First off we are peeling off all the old caulk and resealing the windows and the seams. We recently discovered that our front room couch was molding so we pulled that out and are trying to assess if it is anywhere else. It seems like it is just the couch and the floor to the right of the arm, so we are cleaning this and planning on building custom benches that fold into a picnic table. All of the appliances seem like they work fine- haven't been able to test the fridge but we are looking at used Dometics as the fridge currently isn't in great shape. The plumbing seems solid, and the wiring seems good. We aren't getting any light in the back bedroom but suspect it may be a blown fuse, the floor seems to be in good condition, no soft spots that we can find. We are going to tear up the carpet and put laminate wood flooring down. We plan on repainting the interior with latex paint- something like a light orange/ beige over the icky vinyl wallpaper. Then we are moving on to resealing the caulk indoors in the shower area and around the sinks. Lots to do before we live in this baby full time but I am looking forward to getting her all fixed up and ready. Currently it is parked in my fiancées parents driveway- as we rent in the city and there is no driveway to speak of. We are looking at getting an acre or so of land in the country and moving her out there eventually. My dream is to homestead and eventually have a small scale farm running- but that is a ways off in the future. We both work full time so weekends are our main days that we get to work on the trailer

[judflor]

Enjoy your trailer rehab. We are fixing up our 1977 31" Sovereign. Once it is ready we plan to go camping but also plan to place it on our 1 acre property in the country where we will be building a Quonset hut type of home. We plan to use the trailer as temporary housing; we may even place it in the Quonset hut until it is finished. We also are planning to do some small scale farming and use the local co-op. Wish you well.

[DeLaney]

Very nice It seems like you and I are doing similar things. Although I don't have the land yet and definitely don't have the money I am saving up and dreaming of my own parcel someday. We don't think we're going to stay in Michigan so there's a question of where exactly we'll end up too. So for now we are going to fix the ol' girl up and give her some new life. It seems like the owner previously made small repairs/ build some furniture but it doesn't seem like quality design, just a cheap/ dirty solution to the issue. SO it will be interesting seeing what we find down the road.

Also quick question- is your land zoned for mobile home use? I was thinking that most land needs to be zoned in a certain way for an Airstream to be legally parked there. Or does it not matter? Thanks in advance!

[Jim Lee]

My wife and I own a 1978 31' Sovereign.... rear bath.... just got down putting new axles under it. Today I modified a bike rack to fit on the back....ala the Airstream Bike rack.

While we didn't plan on doing it, we ended up replacing the floor....look at our photo gallery.

Had it polished in 2011...

Re your Dometic... buy a new one don't mess with used or rebuilts. I know

Enjoy your trailer.

We're heading out this week for the grand tour....

[judflor]

Our plot of land is not zoned to use a travel trailer for living in; we of course can store it there. That is why we may put the Airstream in the Quonset hut as we build/finish it if we have to move to the property before it is finished.

[RM66caravel]

Habitable and welcome, no my writing is bad but do on occasion make some minor corrections which I hope does not offend! Okay my writing is terrible! Pictures? We all love them and really are helpful when answering questions. Take many pictures for your reference your memories and a few for posting. Again welcome to the forums and have some fun!
Cliff

[DeLaney]

Quick question- I am confused as to how to upload pictures to this forum. I have some on my computer and facebook page. It seems like you need to link it, but every time I try and link from my fb profile it doesn't seem like the picture is posting. Is there a way to add a gallery? Sorry about all of the questions- I am usually pretty good with this kind of thing, but these forums are different than many I've used in the past. Thanks for all of the input! I really want to take as many pictures as possible to remember how we remodeled everything. Like I have read on this forum, I don't think I can have just one Airstream!

[RM66caravel]

On internet use advanced post and the paper clip add attachment.
Cliff


Yes I said that! Or did I?

[DeLaney]

attached is a picture of the outside of my Airstream

[OilnH2o]

Before you paint your "icky vinyl wallpaper" I suggest you insure the paint will adhere.

Our 38 year-old "icky vinyl" felt sticky to the touch, but cleaned up nicely with "Krud-Kutter" and lots of elbow grease. The sticky feel we had was a combination of the vinyl breaking down over time and then dust, grease (from cooking) and grime adhering to the surface. (Others on the forums have reported the same thing.)

If you have what we had in our '76 then I doubt a coat of paint would have adhered to our vinyl much less dried completely. Just a heads-up...

[steve46]

I suggest that you contact Craig Carlson at Woodland Travel, your local Airstream dealer right there in Grand Rapids. He is extremely knowledgeable and great to work with--a very good resource. He should be able to help you sort and prioritize as you move forward.

[Jim Lee]

Airstream Interiors for $5.00

use a bottle of Pledge Floor Care Wood Floor Finish with Future Shine --

It not only looks nicer, but it helps keep the your walls clean and free of that awful sticky film.