"The Tube's" Adventure Begins

[myboyburt]

Leon and I are heading up to Plattsburgh, NY this afternoon. Trying to beat the winter weather that is moving in tonight. We will be dropping off "The Tube" at GSM Vehichles for Colin and company to do an exterior restoration for us. Here are some "before" pictures, she has major clearcoat failure:

[myboyburt]

Here's a few additional "before" pictures + the pile of stuff I just took out of her. I have promised myself that only about a third of the stuff is going to be put back in when she comes home in the spring. I'll need to wait until we get home to box up all this crap as we need to get up the road.

[safari57]

And it looks to me like your kitties are taking things under control and finding a purpose for everything. New toys, new things to sleep on, new smells to keep them alert. Look forward to seeing the finished polish. Some day mine, too, will get a proper polish.
Barry

[myboyburt]

Lucky for us the weather held off unit we crossed Lake Champlain on the Grand Isle ferry this evening. Wish it was daytime when we got up here, I bet it's beautiful to see! Anyway, we plan on getting to GSM first thing tomorrow morning. Not only will we drop off "The Tube" but I plan to take a peek at all the vintage Airstreams that are being restored there. Will take and post pictures.

[balrgn]

Originally Posted by myboyburt

Leon and I are heading up to Plattsburgh, NY this afternoon.

Good Luck there you two! Can't wait to see how it comes out!!!!

[axleman]

Michelle & Leon,

I don't think that you could be in better hands. GSM has done a lot of great work. Colin is a perfectionist and takes great pride in his work.

Be sure to update us on the outcome. Also, when you see what he is capable of - I wonder if you'll stop at just the clear coat - ha!

Regards,
Henry

[robandzoe]

Yes, Colin does a great job...just look at our SOTR that is up there. What did you think myBoyBurt, did you see it?

http://sweetsovereign.blogspot.com

Rob

[Colin H]

Greetings all,
Michelle & Leon just dropped off their Baby! Michelle said that she would be posting some photos later today.
Rob, your SOTR is coming along well & should have all of it's rebuilt windows back in sometime next week. The complete interior skin, along with the overhead cabinets have been removed & are currently being stripped of all of the latex paint & remains of the original Zolatone.
Henry & Rob, thanks very much for your vote of confidence!

Colin
www.theVAP.com

[myboyburt]

Originally Posted by robandzoe

Yes, Colin does a great job...just look at our SOTR that is up there. What did you think myBoyBurt, did you see it?

http://sweetsovereign.blogspot.com

Rob

Did I see it? You bet! And in fact I got to stand inside her door saying "wow!, fantastic!" I think she is beautiful, and here are my pictures of her to prove it:

[axleman]

Originally Posted by Colin H

Henry & Rob, thanks very much for your vote of confidence!

Colin
www.theVAP.com

Colin,

You earned it pal! I got to see "Vintage Thunder" in person!

"Rebuild it - and they will come" I wish you and your business the best.

Your Friend,
Henry

[myboyburt]

I thought I took pictures of the 1950 Limited and the Vanabond that are onsite at GSM, but they are not on my photo card. I must have been so drunk with Airstream overload that my mind was not working properly.

Here are the pictures (besides SOTR, posted earlier) I did manage to take. Pretty fantastic group of trailers and clients having them restored! The neatest one (from my point of view) is the 50s model without windows that was built for Henry Ford to use as a wardrobe (and guys think us girls have a lot of clothes we cannot travel without ).

[myboyburt]

The trailer owned by Henry Ford was used as a rolling wardrobe for cast members of movies, not his personal clothing.

[Chuck]

cool!

so, what is Colin going to do to your trailer? strip and polish? re-clearcoat? can't wait to see the results in the spring...

(say, there's a 62gt for sale in your town. saw it in the "want ads". I think you should buy it. )

[myboyburt]

Colin and company at a minimum will be stripping what's left of the clearcoat, fixing dents (from a PO, really! We did not dent her), polishing and whatever else needs to be done on the exterior to make her look beautiful again. Also, if he finds anything wrong with her when he inspects her we will have GSM fix the problem(s). No point in being beautiful if she is not also safe.

Colin and I have talked about coating our propane cover with the POR 15 product "Glisten" after it's been polished. We will see how it holds up for a couple of years and if the product does well we will send "The Tube" back up to GSM to have the polish touched up and then have the entire rig coated. I really hope this product will work out. Cannot see having it clearcoated with the same product Airstream used when she was built as it failed so badly.

Colin showed us a custom interior they are doing to a 17' vintage Airstream and I now really, really want the same sofa he has installed in it for "The Tube". Oh well, it's only money.....

[robandzoe]

Michelle,

Everyone can see that sofa on theVAP restoration web site, where we are following that 1965 17' Caravel restoration / upgrade on our shows. www.theVAP.com and there is a link to the Colin's Caravel restoration you can follow.

Rob

[axleman]

Originally Posted by myboyburt

The neatest one (from my point of view) is the 50s model without windows that was built for Henry Ford to use as a wardrobe (and guys think us girls have a lot of clothes we cannot travel without ).

That just exudes coolness!

Just when you think that you have seen it all!

Thanks for sharing,
Henry

[myboyburt]

I've asked Colin and company to coat the entire exterior of our trailer with POR 15's Glisten product after they have finished restoring it.

He is going to do some pre-testing to insure the finish looks good and he is going to check to make sure it can be stripped if it fails. I'm wondering if we are the first to actually do this. Will let folks know what Colin think's after he tested the product.

[myboyburt]

Just got off the phone with Colin of GSM. They began stripping "The Tube" this morning. Hopefully he can get some pictures to me today or tomorrow (their internet service is down due to high winds). I'll post them as soon as I get them.

Current rehab plans:

• Strip failed clearcoat
• Push out dents in panels (from the inside)
• Polish
• Clean up/paint hitch
• Coat trailer with POR-15 Glisten (clearcoat)

Colin thinks they can save the vinyl blue stripe that goes around the trailer. That would be good....

[balrgn]

Can't wait to see the pics! You 2 must be getting very lonely....

[myboyburt]

Sounds wrong, doesn't it?

Anyway, here are the pictures Colin sent me today. He tells me the stripper they are using is pretty gentle and should not impact the vinyl stripe.

I think that's robandzoe's SOTR in the background, is that correct Rob?