New Owner in Albuquerque

[knightmccabe]

We just purchased a tired 1963 Safari. I have a bill-of-sale, but no title. Will begin the titling process this week. She is a bit tired, not having been moved in over twelve years. The previous owners are good friends of ours that had been using it as a little office at their automobile shop in Tucson.

Replaced the tires, greased the bearings and removed a home AC unit from the rear window opening. There was a packrat nest in the aft section. We brought it to Albuquerque on Father's day with a bit of trouble from windows, bottom skin, forward air vent and the AC cover.

I am absolutely amazed at the tremendous amount of data available here. I look forward to moving this project forward. First, the aft belly skin must come off to remove the packrat nest.

[Got Briards]

welcome (i`m new too )

looks like you got yourself a project for father`s day

oh yes, towing a trailer that has not been moved for some time can be very entertaining ... i recovered a 64 Streamline that was parked for years next to a bunch of orange tree`s
... a packrat filled the complete underbelly with oranges... and i spread them all over the freeway when the pan ruptured over a bump

[Airstream25]

An annual event that you may be interested in attending is the restoration rally held in ABQ.

[Dave Park]

I expect to be stopping in Albuquerque at Enchanted Trails in 4-5 days on my return trip to Texas from Washington, with a '56 Sovereign of the Road in tow. If you want to meet up for food or to compare notes, I'd be happy to see you. The same goes for anyone else in the ABQ area.

[knightmccabe]

Originally Posted by Got Briards

welcome (i`m new too )

looks like you got yourself a project for father`s day

oh yes, towing a trailer that has not been moved for some time can be very entertaining ... i recovered a 64 Streamline that was parked for years next to a bunch of orange tree`s
... a packrat filled the complete underbelly with oranges... and i spread them all over the freeway when the pan ruptured over a bump

lol - we left a trail of corn cobs, kitty crunchies and mesquite beans (or rat droppings - hard to tell apart)

I dropped the belly skins today and removed about thirty pounds of material. -jm

[knightmccabe]

Originally Posted by Airstream25

An annual event that you may be interested in attending is the restoration rally held in ABQ.

Looks like I just missed this event by a couple weeks. I'll certainly be there next year.

[knightmccabe]

I've searched here and am probably searching for the wrong thing. I see a lot of Airstreams have a series of black numbers on the back above the rear window. What is the significance of this number? The number on ours is '68'.

[Phoenix]

As you probably already know, use care cleaning up rodent droppings and urine because of possible exposure to the Hantavirus, which is common in the desert southwest. See this link for more information: Hantavirus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[chowman2011]

Originally Posted by Phoenix

As you probably already know, use care cleaning up rodent droppings and urine because of possible exposure to the Hantavirus, which is common in the desert southwest. See this link for more information: Hantavirus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

That's Nice...

Did My part in cleaning out 'old' pack rat leftover habitat in the underbelly of My Vintage Kin....

Should I see a Doc now?? 3+ weeks later

[Phoenix]

I am not a healthcare expert. However, the link below suggests that one should "Call your health care provider if you develop flu-like symptoms after you come in contact with rodent droppings or rodent urine, or dust that is contaminated with these substances".

Hantavirus - PubMed Health

[Dave Park]

I have arrived in ABQ. Do I have lunch or dinner plans or should I drive through?

[Lumatic]

I think, only deer mice carry Hanta virus. I cleaned out a 30 footer that had rat midden knee deep and I'm still here. The worse part was the choya needles that the packrats loved. For packrat a simple dust mask should suffice.

[Dave Park]

That's nice, but the trailer I am towing came from Washington, which is where deer mice are a particular problem!

I'm sure my nose is starting to schniffle as I type!

[knightmccabe]

Thank you all for your sage advice. I was very careful with dust-mask, eye protection, gloves, etc. (I looked like I was going to the moon) The trailer smells so much better. Before we cleaned, the stench during the heat of the day was oppressive!

The belly is now clean and dry. Will ensure trailer end of tow vehicle wire harness is intact (rodents love wire insulation) before I button-up the belly skin again.