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mgm · 11-18-2009, 06:49 PM

No flatbed, needed just yet. I had it hauled to me that way because it was cheaper for me to do that, then to take off work and spend on the gas.

Surprisingly enough she rolls just fine and even after all her damage, every dam light and turn signal, works perfectly! haha

I made some progress tonite. I live in Ohio, but the Army has me stationed in Indiana for 6 more months, so i decided to find a garage down here to work on her in.

So on a HIGH note, i did find a 20 x 30 heated garage with a 14ft door to rent, 10 miles from Base. So now i have my own repair center at least. I will look at it after work tomorrow. The GPS has it 12 miles away, and for the price of $80 a month, i doubt i will be able to pass it up.

Found it on craigslist, so i will at least have a place to tear her down and start on her. It will be a 3 hour drive to the factory from there, but hopefully i like driving and will do my best to ferry parts down here.

So, I'm still in the fight. I will post some photos of the garage 2morrow

soldiermedic · 11-18-2009, 06:57 PM

MGM,

You are in Indiana at Benjamin Harrison or at DFAS????? At $80 a month you should be arrested and prosecuted under UCMJ for stealing . A garage like that here would run $400 per month, and I know since I have priced them!

Steve

mgm · 11-18-2009, 07:26 PM

i know it sounds too good to be true, but i called and talked to the guy and it all checked out, Its a bay, that he ussually leases to truckers, but it should be a nice place to repair my Airstream over the next 6 months.

It will be in Columbus, In. I'm stationed at Camp Atterbury currently. So its not too far at all

2airishuman · 11-18-2009, 08:31 PM

while U may not want to share the $ estimate...

the LIST of issues a/s identified and suggested repairs could be USEFUL

for everyone here.

and the list (if shared) might lead to some HELPful suggestions for DIY repair.

there are MANY experienced rebuilders here and the collective may be a better resource 4U, than ANY 1 shop.

also a detailed list will HELP the next person who sees a rolled stream and thinks it might be a good buy or EASY to fix...

so consider posting the details and depth of repairs needed.

cheers
2air'

mgm · 11-20-2009, 06:30 PM

An update.

In the hopes of helping the next guy. I will post the quote. There is nothing too revealing about it.

Just the fact that to repair my trailer correctly, it would require the complete intierior to be removed and the entire skin replaced.
($3000 to remove the interior, and another $3000 to reinstall it)
( new skin w/ door equals $17,000)

so that alone gets me up around $23000.

Compound that with all the labor required and a few thousand dollars of other misc parts. And my quote was close to its original price. As it should have been, with almost the whole trailer being replaced.

2airishuman · 11-20-2009, 06:49 PM

wow.

did they suggest no ribs needed replaced or that pulling the interior was necessary to FIND the extent of damage?

a DOOR/frame assembly is ~3k$ alone.

apparently they did NOT think new skin could be applied OVER some of the original skin?

or that olympic rivets would be adequate?
____________

have the SYSTEMS been tested/used?

plumbing, electrical, gas and TANKS???

it doesn't take much of a tumble to disconnect the holding tanks or pull apart some of the buried pipes and vents ?

YOU could do the interior removal/labor and take back a SHELL for repairs.

that would save SOME money, but really not reduce a 20k+ bid much.

good luck and keep us posted.

cheers
2air'

mgm · 11-20-2009, 06:51 PM

So here is the plan.

On monday i shall travel to Jackson Center, and bring my Bambi back to Indiana. I have rented a 20 x 35 ft garage and that will be my workshop for the next 6 months.

I'm going home for Thanksgiving and will bring back with me as many tools as i can.
-30 gallon air compressor
-power drills
-reciprocating saw
-wrenches, hammers, screwdrivers
-ratchet sets

It will be a start. And if anyone knows of any tools i will need - please post me a note and i will bring back what i have. I plan on buying an air riveter at some point and perhaps even a shaver.

My first plan of attack will be to remove some stuff from the interior. The cushions, mattress and the few parts that were stored in there.

I will then do my best to photograph the interior and will post some photos.

Not sure what my next plan will be....

Currently, i think it will be best if i strip the exterior, of all the access doors and the Man door, take off the window rock guards and the stainless wrap protectors.

Then i will disect the exterior pieces that i wish to replace and see how badly the ribs are damaged...

I'm hoping to salvage what i can and see if i can do any work without removing the interior. At worse i hope only to remove the passenger side interior panels, as i intend to live with driver side damage for now, with exception to one of the radius panels in the rear.

thats my plan... please weigh in with tips or suggestions

Mike Leary · 11-20-2009, 07:00 PM

Don't be a wuss, a lot of us toured the country in the sixties with stuff that looked way worse than your coach.

That's odd, I just noticed you have no roof air; put that on the list. Did you ever get the story how they trashed both sides since it was not a roll-over? Good luck, duct tape is cheap.

mgm · 11-20-2009, 07:04 PM

here is yet another view of driver side, that i intend to leave...for characters sake....and my wallets lol.

I would like to change the front lower radius and the middle radius panel in the back. the rest i shall leave for another winter...at least thats the plan

Foiled Again · 11-20-2009, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mgm

An update.

In the hopes of helping the next guy. I will post the quote. There is nothing too revealing about it.

Just the fact that to repair my trailer correctly, it would require the complete intierior to be removed and the entire skin replaced.
($3000 to remove the interior, and another $3000 to reinstall it)
( new skin w/ door equals $17,000)

so that alone gets me up around $23000.

Compound that with all the labor required and a few thousand dollars of other misc parts. And my quote was close to its original price. As it should have been, with almost the whole trailer being replaced.

MGM... just a wierd thought. Call J C and ask them how much for an empty shell? (Plus you could supply the axle). Tell them you'll put in the current interior in the new shell. MIGHT BE LESS THAN the estimate?

AND you could "git 'er dun" faster! You'd have stuff to sell at salvage too. Windows form the wreck, etc, etc, etc. In the end you'd also have several hundred in scrap aluminim too.

Paula

mgm · 11-20-2009, 07:13 PM

i will take more photos of the curbside when i get it in the garage. The glare is bad in the ones i have but here is yet another look...for now

mgm · 11-20-2009, 07:27 PM

the ac- will be my last purchase- my quote for the stuff i need- drip pan, the ac unit, the shroud and the inside ac bottom will run me around $1100. so that will be the plan.

The new skin, runs $14,400 on my quote, with the new door coming in $1995.00. So if i remove the whole interior and replace the whole exterior myself it would run me At LEAST $16500.

Combine that with AC, and LP tanks and cover and all the small stuff, and i'm still well over $20000. Throw in my intial investment of $5000 and the $900 it cost me to have it delivered from Montana. And my costs are getting closer to $30k which is more then i can do.

So my hope is to replace the driver side damage for now and try to keep my repair costs under $15k.

2airishuman · 11-20-2009, 07:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mgm

...I'm hoping to salvage what i can and see if i can do any work without removing the interior. At worse i hope only to remove the passenger side interior panels, as i intend to live with driver side damage for now, with exception to one of the radius panels in the rear.

thats my plan... please weigh in with tips or suggestions

i can understand taking this approach.

but the reality is, removing MOST of the interior furnishing and cabinetry is a one day job.

at THAT point fixing exterior issues is EASIER and gives 2 way access.

going the next step, which is removal of INTERIOR skin is easy too...

and just means drilling out POP RIVETS mostly.
___________

once u start DRILLING bucked rivets from the exterior any structural integrity will be LOST and perhaps quickly.

in addition the exterior skin panels are held to the ribs with double sided really STICKY butyl tape...

according to the shop techs THAT tape is a real bugger when it comes to PEELING exterior skin off...

u MIGHT wanna take the factory TOUR 3-4 times while in j/c just to learn a LITTLE bit about how they are assembled.

reversing that process is somewhat like pulling the aces and jokers from a HOUSE of cards...

cheers
2air'

Airstream01 · 11-20-2009, 08:17 PM

I think if I were in your shoes, I'd just do whatever was required to upgrade the title from salvage to rebuilt. The dents add character and you got it for ~$6k delivered, just fix the necessities and camp the heck out of it.

mgm · 11-20-2009, 09:41 PM

So i have been reading all night on the site. Of all the different methods that people have used to do repairs. And i came across one technique, where people actually cut out the dented areas of their panels and then "scab" over them the new panels.

Obviously i have some major panel replacement, but is that method commonly done?

2airishuman · 11-20-2009, 09:51 PM

it's not the common diy approach and there are limits to where/how much and on what sort of dent this technique may work.

but the factory service center uses the overlay technique is SOME repairs.

get some eye drops...

you're gonna find a LOT of info here on repair and rebuilds.

the archive is truly amazing and the efforts to document/share by those members exceptionally good.

cheers
2air'

3Ms75Argosy · 11-21-2009, 01:27 AM

Wow... kinda like building a new one, isn't it!

Don't dispair.. I think you still can have a fun trailer... I too say guy the interior, and pull the interior skins.. are all the front windows still intact? If so, I think you might be "golden."

Some thoughts...
1) the "worse" area is that front curbside quarter panel.. maybe JC could replace that whole corner for you... top, side (the one just adjacent to the front window to the door) and front lower curbside corner.

2) Go home, and get to work. I bet you have 3-4 broken ribs on the curbside.. just front of the door "may" be ok.. I'm betting it's cracked. Then the one just aft the door with the hinges, and the two after that. Take them down one by one... I think I might start with the rear one first... drill out the rivets from outside, and then use fishing line from inside to separate the skin from the rib. Then replace with new .. (get some ribs while at JC).

3) Once you have the ribs in place, you need a bodyman's "roller" tool to SLOWLY and gently roll out the aluminum... it won't ever be perfect, but with new ribs to help hold the metal out, you should get a semi-decent appearance.

4) Do the same to the rear cornerpanel and streetside dents...
5) Call it quits, reassemble, break a bottle of beer over the hitch, and go camping.

What's wrong with the door?

3Ms75Argosy · 11-21-2009, 01:41 AM

I remembered this post from a bit ago.. scroll down to see what was done to repair this Bambi...
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f381...ost-47390.html

Also look up photos from Campcollector.. he rebuilt the roof of his Bambi after a tree fell on it.. rib repairs and everything.. no posts, but in the photo section...
Good luck!
Marc

mgm · 11-21-2009, 06:06 PM

Excited for monday to come. I get the keys to my garage and will be at the Facory as early as possible.

I'm going to take my notebook and i have a list of questions for those guys when i pick her up.

Not sure exactly what parts i will be picking up on Monday. I m going to try and make a list of the things i know i need, no matter what.

new step...bumper, curbside window, manual jack and a few other things

I'm going to take the advice of a few of you and get in touch with P & S trailer in Ohio as well.

I already touched base with the factory about hanging out in the corner and trying to pick up some tips, and they really couldn't let me.

So i'm hoping to get in touch with the guys at P & S and see if i can get some tips and ideas from them as well.

Regardless, i will have my trailer back in 48 hours and i'm EXCITED to start on her.

I guess after all my reading on here. I have a rough idea of my repair options. And it seems that no matter what route i choose, i should remove the bulk of the interior, at least on the curbside. So that is my intent. I need to see whats going on with the ribs and will have some photos to post on monday.

obxgal · 11-21-2009, 07:29 PM

Sounds to me like you could handle the restoration/would enjoy the restoration/are already hooked ;=) (Misery loves company!) Be sure to browse the Toastie's saga (http://www.airforums.com/forums/f36/...ent-38289.html) and also check out utee's project (anyone have his url??)...he did a lot of aluminum work on his Overlander?. There are several who have done an excellent job of picturing every step. I would LOVE to have found your Bambi at that price, and I would redo her myself and enjoy the obsession. Sounds like a good project during your Short-timer winter....

Please get good with a digital camera and post, post, post...we be nosey!