Need Help: Where To Begin

[RM66caravel]

I have this obsession that says if I have a few bucks I must order something for the airstream! Must be an that one tract mind thing! I have daughters and have always pushed that there is nothing a male can do that a girl can not do just as well and an airstream rebuild is one of them! You all keep up awesome work safetly besides look at all the neat tools you get to buy and SHARE with us men!

[RM66caravel]

Oh yes plenty of solid cinder blocks! We in the south have them wonderful summer storms!

[GAStreamin]

I will get clecos, but I am not exactly sure when and how to use them. I know what the next big step is for me, but I am not REALLY sure how to do it. I am trying to do small little things to let me rest from Saturday and Sunday. Today, I took my original owner's manual that is falling apart to be rebound. I also took window screen frames to be powder coated. I will get those back next week. I scrubbed and lightly sanded the tub today and I will do it again tomorrow. I also plan on pressure washing the outside tomorrow then it is back to the BIG stuff for me. I appreciate all the encouragement because I feel so in over my head. Now, I have to get back to all my other responsibilities.

[GAStreamin]

Originally Posted by RM66caravel

Oh yes plenty of solid cinder blocks! We in the south have them wonderful summer storms!

Ahh, yes, cinder blocks. I hoping to keep it in the work garage so the summer storms won't mess with it too much. I also plan on someone else doing the frame work for me, so maybe the shell won't be off long. I am going to give me a deadline for how long the shell should be off.

[GAStreamin]

Originally Posted by RM66caravel

I have this obsession that says if I have a few bucks I must order something for the airstream! Must be an that one tract mind thing! I have daughters and have always pushed that there is nothing a male can do that a girl can not do just as well and an airstream rebuild is one of them! You all keep up awesome work safetly besides look at all the neat tools you get to buy and SHARE with us men!

I understand. I place my first big order today from VTS. Mostly, POR 15 stuff and clecos and cleco pliers. Here we go...

[GAStreamin]

Originally Posted by TouringDan

I am really impressed with your ability to just take one step at a time, even though sometimes you are not sure where you are going, to make the progress to just get the job done. You may not have the best background, but you have what it takes.

When I was in college, over 40 years ago, the most important word to me was motivation. I believed that if I were motivated that I could do anything that I wanted to.

Well, you really have three things going for you- motivation, your positive attitude and the help of this forum.

Great job so far!

Dan

Great encouragement! I used to say it wasn't intelligence that got me a college degree, it was endurance. I COULD NOT do it without the forum and the help of the great people on here! What a blessing!

[Aviator]

For Cleco's and other Aluminium stuff you may want to check outAircraft Spruce ans Specialty here in Peachtree City, GA. They also carry two part epoxy for sealing your floor. Sometimes they also offer classes which may be worth the trip when it comes time to rivit the inside back together

[RM66caravel]

I am using thompsons because the wood still has to breath and if water does penetrate through a screw or nail it has to be able to dry.

[RM66caravel]

When you are removing the inside skins put the clecos in to keep the skin from falling while you are drilling other rivets. Outside as you remove the bucked rivets (spring loaded center punch to pit or mark rivets) you can also use the spring loaded center punch in the car for emer escape will shatter the door windows with no effort. Put at least 1 cleco in every other hole as drill the buck rivets so no surprise with tension relief on the frame. And the cinder blocks are to support the shell while the frame is out! Love your fun loving energy filled younguns? Don't use sawhorses!!besides once the frame is out you will need a couple of blocks to support the jack while lowering the shell!

[SeeMore]

Go girl, you are so impressive! My aunt had your spirit and can do attitude.

Upon his retirement, they got the bug to do Alaska from California with the truck camper she rebuilt for the occasion. Eighteen months of prepping the decrepit shell she found into a cozy mobile haven surmounted many of the same challenges you face; from shell to mechanicals to sewing new fabrics.

All the family still tell tales of her fixing an electrical issue on my uncle's dead truck beside the roadway in Yukon Territories with her newly acquired electrical prowess. He loved saying he took his own builder/mechanic/technician along for the trip since he didn't know a screwdriver from a can opener.

[putback]

A little on clecos, rivits and rivit holes. Like many post of advice we sometimes don't think to mention the fundimentals. Keep that in mind now, and especially down the road when you are helping someone out! I'm sure guilty. Cleco sizes to some extent are task specific. 1/8" dia cleco for a 1/8th rivet hole. 5/32, 3/16 and so on. Length is also important. To long for the jointing thickness they let your work shift around. To small a dia. for the hole they tend to pop out. It can get frustrating. I expect they are still the same as when I bought mine a 100yrs ago, color coded. Copper, black, silver, ect. all different sizes. 1/8" dia. is the one you will use the most & it can work on a 5/32 hole, keep the grip length 1/4" or < . I pointed out the 5/32 rivit hole for good reason. Most all the rivits you deal with will be 1/8 dia. and you will replace with 1/8 rivits. BUT, no mater how good you are at drilling out the old ones some of the old holes will be distorted. When you go to replace with a 1/8" dia rivit it will be loose, hang out or "break long" [down the road break long will be your new cuss word!] The only way to solve this problem is re bore with a 5/32 bit and use 5/32 rivits. The interior panel rivit holes in our safari were so worn from the bad axle I replaced most with 5/32. A lot of referance here to Aircraft Spruce. Well deserved, very good quality. When the time comes for rivits I would urge you to avoid the well known chain that has the BLUE 500 to a BOX at a low price. Buy quality rivits once or do it twice. Another lesson I learned the hard way!!

[GAStreamin]

Originally Posted by SeeMore

Go girl, you are so impressive! My aunt had your spirit and can do attitude.

Upon his retirement, they got the bug to do Alaska from California with the truck camper she rebuilt for the occasion. Eighteen months of prepping the decrepit shell she found into a cozy mobile haven surmounted many of the same challenges you face; from shell to mechanicals to sewing new fabrics.

All the family still tell tales of her fixing an electrical issue on my uncle's dead truck beside the roadway in Yukon Territories with her newly acquired electrical prowess. He loved saying he took his own builder/mechanic/technician along for the trip since he didn't know a screwdriver from a can opener.

Great story! I love it! I just don't feel impressive. I am full of fear and self doubt and I think I just keep going forward out of sheer ignorance, but the positive comments sure do help.

[GAStreamin]

Originally Posted by putback

A little on clecos, rivits and rivit holes. Like many post of advice we sometimes don't think to mention the fundimentals. Keep that in mind now, and especially down the road when you are helping someone out! I'm sure guilty. Cleco sizes to some extent are task specific. 1/8" dia cleco for a 1/8th rivet hole. 5/32, 3/16 and so on. Length is also important. To long for the jointing thickness they let your work shift around. To small a dia. for the hole they tend to pop out. It can get frustrating. I expect they are still the same as when I bought mine a 100yrs ago, color coded. Copper, black, silver, ect. all different sizes. 1/8" dia. is the one you will use the most & it can work on a 5/32 hole, keep the grip length 1/4" or < . I pointed out the 5/32 rivit hole for good reason. Most all the rivits you deal with will be 1/8 dia. and you will replace with 1/8 rivits. BUT, no mater how good you are at drilling out the old ones some of the old holes will be distorted. When you go to replace with a 1/8" dia rivit it will be loose, hang out or "break long" [down the road break long will be your new cuss word!] The only way to solve this problem is re bore with a 5/32 bit and use 5/32 rivits. The interior panel rivit holes in our safari were so worn from the bad axle I replaced most with 5/32. A lot of referance here to Aircraft Spruce. Well deserved, very good quality. When the time comes for rivits I would urge you to avoid the well known chain that has the BLUE 500 to a BOX at a low price. Buy quality rivits once or do it twice. Another lesson I learned the hard way!!

Ok, I am still not exactly sure. I ordered some of all size clecos from VTS. I didn't know about the Aircraft Spruce at the time and yes, they are color coded. Do I need them now while taking apart? Or when I put back? Sorry if that is a dumb question. I am taking down all the interior walls, everything, almost done. Then, I want to remove subfloor. Then clean out that stuff, yuck! Then, drop the bellypan, then detach frame from shell. I am not exactly sure how I am going to do all that. I just keep reading thread after thread everyday. Hoping I figure it out when I get to that. I guess if I panic between now and before I take the shell off, I will load it and take it someone who knows what they are doing. At this point, I am still under the delusion I can do this. :-)

[putback]

You will absolutely need the clecos to reattach the interior panels, only way to hold them exactly in place to re rivit. There are no dumb questions here. The clecos will be somewhat usefull to remove the upper interior skins. But PLEASE don't try that alone. Those aluminum sheets are huge and easy to damage at best, dangerious at worst. Get help for that step. Real easy to make a trip to the E R for a little sewing session. You don't have to do much floor removal before you lift the body off. In fact its much easier to do that after you lift the body and pull the remaining trailer out from under it. There's many ways to do it. I'll post mine later, then you decide.

[GAStreamin]

Originally Posted by putback

You will absolutely need the clecos to reattach the interior panels, only way to hold them exactly in place to re rivit. There are no dumb questions here. The clecos will be somewhat usefull to remove the upper interior skins. But PLEASE don't try that alone. Those aluminum sheets are huge and easy to damage at best, dangerious at worst. Get help for that step. Real easy to make a trip to the E R for a little sewing session. You don't have to do much floor removal before you lift the body off. In fact its much easier to do that after you lift the body and pull the remaining trailer out from under it. There's many ways to do it. I'll post mine later, then you decide.

Ok, wow, I have tried to get down the upper interior skin, but it was hard on me and I got tired. I will get help for the rest of it. I don't plan on putting back the same interior skin. I am going use something else. I think I understand it better now, I use the clecos to temporarily hold panels until I rivet them back. Right? Yeah, I'd like to see your photos.

[Becky B.]

That's right. Clecos just temporarily hold things in place so you don't need four hands to hold them up! They're pretty handy things to have when you're rebuilding & riveting. Here is a picture of clecos around my doorway:

[OilnH2o]

You may already know this, but one of the biggest local users of "clecos" may be out at your local neighborhood airport - if there is one nearby. I'm not talking about Hartsfeld International - but your local small-town airport. Lot's of folks who own airplanes, especially "home-built" airplanes, use clecos and often they (the clecos, not the pilots!) are passed on to others at a far cheaper price then buying them new. That's why someone mentioned "Aircraft Spruce" which is a huge supply house for all things that home-builders and people who work on small airplanes use. Those local pilots and mechanics also know all about the in's and out's of riveting and such. After all, riveting two pieces of aluminum sheet together is the same process, regardless of what the vehicle is! Remember, our Airstreams were born from jets... well, from piston airplanes, but airplanes nonetheless!

Just a thought, but it may be you've already purchased what you need from VTS. Of course, if you aren't near a local, small airport... then 'never mind!'

[perryg114]

Get you one of these kits and maybe a pack or two of extra fasteners. You would waste more gas driving to the airport and time trying to find someone to sell you used ones at the Airport than the cost of this kit.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-g1850/overview/

http://www.summitracing.com/search/d...keyword=clecos

Perry

[GAStreamin]

Originally Posted by OilnH2o

You may already know this, but one of the biggest local users of "clecos" may be out at your local neighborhood airport - if there is one nearby. I'm not talking about Hartsfeld International - but your local small-town airport. Lot's of folks who own airplanes, especially "home-built" airplanes, use clecos and often they (the clecos, not the pilots!) are passed on to others at a far cheaper price then buying them new. That's why someone mentioned "Aircraft Spruce" which is a huge supply house for all things that home-builders and people who work on small airplanes use. Those local pilots and mechanics also know all about the in's and out's of riveting and such. After all, riveting two pieces of aluminum sheet together is the same process, regardless of what the vehicle is! Remember, our Airstreams were born from jets... well, from piston airplanes, but airplanes nonetheless!

Just a thought, but it may be you've already purchased what you need from VTS. Of course, if you aren't near a local, small airport... then 'never mind!'

We do have a small local airport and we also have Maule Air here near Spence Field, but I did not realize the connection until now. They may be a good source if I need more and if I have questions on how to use them. Thanks for the tip.

[GAStreamin]

Just a little cosmetic work. My daddy pressure washed the Airstream today. I need to think of a name soon. :-)