1977 Safari restoration

[Zeppelinium]

I don't know if this will become a full monte project or not--got the banana skins off and the frame looks good. I rented this space just in case I need to lift the shell off the floor. Next effort will be to drop the belly pan.



One thing about this model really amazes me--the fresh tank drain is in the center of the belly pan behind a square 1/4" steel plate about 10" on a side. I don't have a clue if this is original, but the frame around the plate appears to be integral with the cross members of the ladder frame, so I assume it is. I can't imagine that the designer thought this was user friendly, having to crawl under the belly with a wrench to get the plate off, then open the drain (which is a cap on a "T" fitting). However, per the usual Airstream 70s design, the drain line is on the order of 3/8", requiring hours to drain the tank.

I already know there is a 2" crack in the fresh water tank right next to the vent fitting. So I'm prepared to take down the whole support frame to get at the tank from below.

Zep

[azflycaster]

Nice looking spot you have. Do you rent the whole thing or just a section?

The drain on my 75 TW is under the kitchen sink and under the floor. It is where the fill line comes in and it is a regular water valve.

I thought my tank was the only slow one to drain.

[uwe]

Whatever happens, please make sure that there is an uninterrupted supply of 2-buck. You will need it. Trust me, been there - 2 bucked a bunch of stuff back into shape.

[Aerowood]

Neat space Zep, but I'm sure its closer to your place then mine. I though the 2 buck was higher now Chuck.

[Zeppelinium]

I just rented a section. Quite reasonable and the owner is very easy to deal with. It's about 20 miles east of Palmer Lake, which is a bit of a hike, but it means I have to (1) plan ahead and (2) commit a good part of the day to the task. These are good things, I'm told.

Originally Posted by uwe

Whatever happens, please make sure that there is an uninterrupted supply of 2-buck. You will need it. Trust me, been there - 2 bucked a bunch of stuff back into shape.

I think I have 23 cases of 2Buck in the cellar. It may not be enough. My big disappointment this year has been that I've missed the Pinot Grigio. I need someone to buy 12 cases and hold it for me, whenever it shows up at the Traders. That is not to say, of course, that I would ever succumb to drinking more white than red, on average.

Twenty-three cases may sound like a lot, but that's why a person has a 3/4 ton truck--so that when he passes through California, he can get real 2Buck, not 3Buck like they sell in Nevada and New Mexico.

Zep

[uwe]

Originally Posted by Zeppelinium

I just rented a section. Quite reasonable and the owner is very easy to deal with. It's about 20 miles east of Palmer Lake, which is a bit of a hike, but it means I have to (1) plan ahead and (2) commit a good part of the day to the task. These are good things, I'm told.



I think I have 23 cases of 2Buck in the cellar. It may not be enough. My big disappointment this year has been that I've missed the Pinot Grigio. I need someone to buy 12 cases and hold it for me, whenever it shows up at the Traders. That is not to say, of course, that I would ever succumb to drinking more white than red, on average.

Twenty-three cases may sound like a lot, but that's why a person has a 3/4 ton truck--so that when he passes through California, he can get real 2Buck, not 3Buck like they sell in Nevada and New Mexico.

Zep

Oh Zep,
A man after my own heart - with all the priorities in perfect alignment...

If you do the research, I get the merch for you. I only have a half ton truck, but without the trailer, I can carry 12 cases easily. There's 6 SoCal traders in easy driving distance. Heaven on Earth, I say. 2-Buck's not just for breakfast any more.

[Zeppelinium]

Another outstanding and educational visit with AeroWood today. I am convinced that unless I find a frame problem, I can get the floor in good shape without lifting the shell. Step (1) get the belly skin off. Step (2) take down the lower inside skins, which I'll call the inside skirt. You can see [from this photo of AeroWood's Safari] how accessible the hold-down bolts are in the C-channel if you get the inside skirt off.



I'm going to have to also replace a section of the rib at the junction of the stright side and rear end cap. Being able to inspect this area on AeroWood's Safari helped me make a better plan.



Hopefully the belly skin and some of the inside skirt comes off Monday.

Zep

[Zeppelinium]

I got the forward skins off today to look at the C channel. The fiberglass insultation was in perfect condition--not discolored, no mold, not sagging, completely filled the spaces. The C channel is also in great shape around the front hemisphere. The puzzle is the rotted floor about 2' in front of the door.
There is absolutely no sign of a leak in the shell in that area. It's too far from the door, too. I would almost think a PO cut the hole for some reason, but it's clearly rotted (crumbling uneven edge, black wood fragments). I thought or sure I'd see sagging, moldy insulation at that location, but it was perfectly fine.



Hmm, I just noticed the pattern to the black stain. Something was sitting there, but when I took the goucho out, the only thing there was the goucho and frame.

I thought it strange that the C channel is held down by regular bolts inserted from below, rather than elevator bolts inserted from above. (I'm thinking that they would be installed in the same direction as the ones in the middle of the floor, right?) There's no sign that the floor has ever been replaced.

Zep

[Aerowood]

I had bolts installed from both directions also for no reason that I could figure out. I installed all new with the heads coming in from the top. I also riveted clips to the frames in order to tie the "C"channel to the frame and in someplaces to the outrigger.

[Zeppelinium]

Kip, what did you seal the plywood with?

Roger

[Aerowood]

I mixed all the partial cans of poly together that I have left over from other projects. I,ve got exterior, interior, gloss, semi gloss, satin, tinted polys you name it (all minwax) and squeeged it on with a piece of dry wall shim cardboard. Had enough to put on 3 coats top and bottom. I'm going to put on another couple of coats on the top after the exterior is done. I,ve also got some old epoxy resin here at work that is out of date that I might slam on instead. You know what a scrounger I can be.

[Zeppelinium]

I'm not quite ready to tackle the floor, so I thought I'd see how big a problem it would be to access this dent under the aft Zip Dee arm.



Unbelievably, a hidden rivet in a small section of skin aft of the window required the removal of the upper cabinet, curb side bathroom wall, bathroom door, and sliding door rail. All this in order to peel the upper skin back far enough to access the rivet. A small job turned into a major tear down, thanks to thoughtless maintenance planning on the part of you-know-who (@%*$*%&$#). The happy news is that the next section of skin aft came out pretty easy (now that the bathroom is apart)--this piece of skin only went half way to the floor from the dome. Thank goodness the dome doesn't have to come down!



It appears to me that the skin damage can be rolled out.



But the rib at the junction of the side skin and aft dome will have to be repaired. I think about 2' of rib will need to be removed and replaced. Since access to the bottom of this rib is so easy, I may replace it all the way to the floor. It is curious that the horizontal stringers end before reaching the aft rib. I think if you look at Aerowood's posts you'll see quite a few places where the ribs or stringers end "prematurely" and he's made changes to his shell to "correct" this.



Next task is to get rid of more parts! The white tambours from the upper cabinet look to be in very good shape.



Zep

[Aerowood]

Well Zep you are progressing right along. I need to go down there. We finally finished boring holes in central Wyoming clouds Sunday, so I have some time off. Hows the week after Xmas look for you?

[Zeppelinium]

I can definitely make the time, especially if you might have your roller in your back pocket!

Zep

[Aerowood]

I will bring all of my magic.

[HiHoAgRV]

Originally Posted by Zeppelinium

...especially if you might have your roller in your back pocket!

Zep

In case things don't workout, here is the way I made a magic roller. It's a worn out skateboard wheel, some all-thread, a couple of nuts and a piece of 1x6. I made it to roll a boo-boo out of my RR banana wrap.
I wonder when the neighbors kid is gonna try (Tri?) skateboarding again?

[Zeppelinium]

HiHo, thanks for the idea. I immediately went to the local ice rink/climbing wall thinking they'd have roller blades, but no. Guess I'll have to go to the bigger city...

Hey, the temperature is way up here, like almost 50 after three weeks of Siberia (not to mention that the holiday frenzy is over), so I devoted a few hours to the Safari.

Cut the floor and removed part of the forward section. Wow! Almost no rust. One good tap with the hammer and all the elevator bolts screwed right out. But MAJOR BUMMER is the floor is 15/32"! Hello? And no space in the frame members for splices between floor sections. I as hoping to retain all the good '5/8" flooring', but now that it's clearly less than 1/2" I'm going to 3/4" it throughout. Holy cow.



Most of the work was in getting the forward dome down. The next big effort in this area will be putting in the segments to replace it. I'm going aluminum all the way. Many "hidden &#*$(%*$&^#^#" rivets were found during this exercise. Urge to maim, but reached for the 2-Buck instead.



Anyone need parts from the dome? The dome itself has a big of a crack, but the cabinet/shelf came out intact. The spotlights are spoken for.

I've been thinking about the interior and have almost decided that the place where the old [useless] bath closet was could be a nifty little computer corner, if the aft dinnette seat was able to shift from side-saddle to aft-facing. Note toilet in the left photo to give you some perspective. Yes, I'm sitting on the heater--it was handy, but a little low. A new water heater goes there. A suitably angled wall will isolate the computer from the pooper room.




Zep

[goransons]

There guages/clock from that beast?

[Zeppelinium]

no gauges. just a early protonewage (pro tow new age) digital clock with 7-segment LEDs.

[goransons]

hey thanks anyway, looks like you're making great progress though! Any luck on the wiring?