New "old" Airstream owners....

[Dorothy]

Hi there

We just bought a 1960 Safari, and had her towed all the way from Kansas to Vancouver Island.....hence the name Dorothy!! Anyways, older Airstreams are really not all that common in these parts and we have a few questions about her, which is how we ended up here. I will make my way over to the techie forums with my questions, but I just wanted to introduce us.

Kristine and Kyle.....and Henry the Hound

[Van]

Welcome to the forums. You will find there is a large contingent of us Pacific Northwesters on the foums. Most of us with older trailers.

[safari57]

Welcome Kristine, Kyle and HTH. It's nice to see another vintage Airstream hit the roads of the west coast. We have a 1951 (we live in Cloverdale/Surrey) and our friends have the twin to ours and live in Mission. I see you use a '69 T-Bird for your TV. We use a '57 Pontiac wagon and our friends use a '35 Ford and a '54 Ford wagon for the TV for their current 17' Boler and I understand the wagon is the designated TV for the Flying Cloud.

Did you use a commercial firm to tow your trailer to the island? And Dorothy is a great name given the location at purchase. You may have to give your travel companion the nickname of Toto.

Pictures are always welcomed. We all love to see pictures of what people have and are doing to them.

Barry and Donna

[dudebb]

Wecome and good luck! These older ones are just a bucket of fun to get going. Hope you enjoy the adventures.

[moosetags]

Welcome to the Forums. Were glad to have you with us. Best of luck and good times with Dorothy.

[Dorothy]

Originally Posted by dudebb

These older ones are just a bucket of fun to get going.

Yeah, um we are figuring that out

Night before last we took the bathroom counter off, with the intention of refinishing it because someone had painted with layers of latex paint, which was a bubbling, peeling mess!!!

Taking off the bathroom counter turned into, "Well let's get the tub out of here as well.".......Then, "Mays well take the cabinets out and tidy them up as well!!"......Then, "Huh, the floor is pretty bad under here, let's fix that too!!!"

Our bathroom is now gutted!!!


It seems to have a few projects in it that may turn into bigger projects than we expect. And a little more $$ than we expect!!

Barry and Donna:

As far as towing it here: the guy that we bought it off of happened to have one sitting and waiting for him to pick up in Seattle (what were the chances of that!!!), so, he and his family towed it to Seattle for us and we picked it up there.

We payed $6800 for it, plus $1200 for him to tow it for us. Not a great deal, but not a bad one either. As you are in Cloverdale, you know how few of these there actually are around our parts. In fact, I stopped at an RV sales place yesterday to look at the first vintage one I had seen around these parts since we started looking!!! It was a 1964 Globetrotter, and it was in ROUGH shape......but they wanted $14,500 for it!!!! I couldn't believe it!!

Anyways, the other reason we had it towed up was because it was, in our eyes, the "perfect layout."

Dinette to the right and in the front when you walk in......kitchen and a wall of drawers and cupboards on one side when you walk down the little hall....and a PROPER BED on the other side!!!!(this is my favorite part, I don't like the pull out ones)......then a full bath in the back.

Other then the messed up bathroom counters, and someone installing laminate floors, the inside is untouched!!! I love it, it has all of the original wood and appliances, although it seems that we will be replacing the fridge

It had the original matress in it (which we have since taken to the dump...who wants to sleep on a 50 yo mattress, yuck!!)......and original curtains and cushions. I am updating these, because they are kind of grungy.

Out of curiosity, your friends' 34 Ford, what model is it??? Kyle is working on a 32 Ford B pickup at the moment (though he has been sidetracked by Dorothy), and I would LOVE for it to be able to tow the Airstream!!!

I will certainly post pictures as we go. In fact, on one of the airstream sites there are pics of Dorothy!!!!! We think the guy we bounght it off of put them up. I will see if I can find the link and attach it here.

Thanks for the warm welcome.....it sure is nice to know you guys are here for questions and help

[Dorothy]

Here, I found her pictures!!!!!

I am definetly in love with her


1960Safari5

See, she does need some TLC.....we don't think she has ever been polished(which we are working on now, most boring chore ever!!!)....and I am so excited about cleaning up the inside, but we still want to keep her true to her era

[safari57]

Hi guys,

What luck finding someone who was willing to tow the trailer to Seattle for you. We found my friends in Seattle two months ago and I found mine in north Surrey almost four years ago - and they are exactly 30 serial numbers apart. Scary. Did the fellow who sold you yours buy another Airstream? You are right, they do not show up very often in this area and when they do they are either very high priced (great when you are selling but bummer when buying) or in brutal shape. I looked at a '57 five or six years ago that I really wanted till we opened the door and the roof was so covered with mold we wouldn't even go inside. He wanted $7,500 firm and it did not stay in the paper for more than a few weeks so I believe he did sell it. Anything was too much to pay for that one in my humble opinion.

I know the layout you have and it is really functional. Once you get your restoration done I'm sure you will enjoy it immensely. Here's a few pictures of ours after I'd completed round one of the build out. Since this time I've redone the counter area, grenaded the oven, replaced lights, and done a bunch of other things to complete it a bit more.

1951FlyingCloud2

Our buddy has a 35 Ford fordor he uses to tow. I'll attach a picture of his car with his 17' Boler on back taken this summer on our trip to Osoyoos with our car club.

I guess you will be attending the big deuce days event in Victoria this weekend celebrating the 75th anniversary of the 32 Ford? I sold a 32 Ford Tudor body and frame in really tough shape a few years ago, as well as a 32 Chev 2 door as well in a lot better shape but still needing to be hot rodded and will eventually get another but will likely buy something that needs freshening rather than a field car due to health getting in the way of ability to take on major projects.

If you are headed over this way email and let us know. Would love to see your rig. We do get to the island on occasion as we have friends in Chemainus and I have a sister in Qualicum Beach, but it has been quite a while (oops!). Not sure if we'd bring the trailer over but may. We love Gold Stream campground near Victoria and then we are pretty much obligated to camp at my sisters and our friends places when anywhere north of the Malahat (dang).

Barry

[safari57]

Oh man, the interior of your trailer is gorgeous. I love the wood.

It's like our friends Flying Cloud - where mine I built out his is all original in gorgeous wood like yours and it looks so rich and homey. I keep telling him I hate him and should have bought it before telling him, swapped out the beautiful woodwork with my meager efforts, and then sold it to him. It would appear that you got yourself a really nice unit.

Barry

[cameront120]

Welcome from North Vancouver! My black Labrador Samm was rescued from a shelter in Kansas!

[GetOutDoors]

Originally Posted by Dorothy

Yeah, um we are figuring that out

Taking off the bathroom counter turned into, "Well let's get the tub out of here as well.".......Then, "Mays well take the cabinets out and tidy them up as well!!"......Then, "Huh, the floor is pretty bad under here, let's fix that too!!!"

Our bathroom is now gutted!!!


It seems to have a few projects in it that may turn into bigger projects than we expect. And a little more $$ than we expect!!

OH YEAH . . . BEEN THERE, DONE THAT!!!

May your pockets be deep, patience be long, free time be much, and your long-term vision be great!!

May your skills be polished, and supply shops be close.

Enjoy the experience, and don't stress when unfilled deadlines come and go.

Welcome to the vintage Airstream savior league.