Front lounge-73 international

[markus]

Hello there! New member az of today.A new owner of a 1973 International,31'. I believe I'am the secound owner.And yes you
all will be hearing alot from me!Its in real good condition considering the age. Here gos! My first request for opinions is, the original front lounge is missing being replaced with some pipe thing. Does anyone have a suggestion as to a replacement, perhaps a castro or of egual conformaty? perhaps theres a set of plans out there that I might build one?

Thank you
Markus

[Tripp]

Sounds like you have the same model as my '73. Get yourself a service manual and it'll give you the various floorplans that were available.

You should be able to put together something from that.


Tripp

[garry]

markus I suggest you browse thru the picture forum for some ideas on what others have done lots of ideas and pictures tell better than words.

Garry

[N.J 74 sovereign]

HI Markus,
IM in Essex County, NJ! When a bought my 74 the sofa (gaucho) Was gone, replaced by two recliners. I bought a replacement sofa from Ikea, it is not all that comfortable but it does covert into a double bed. After I looked for a while I settled on this because all the other sofas I looked at would not fit trough the door. If you go to the photo section there is a pic of it under N. J 74 sovereign
Look at the name plate by the door, if it says Sovereign, that is the model of your trailer
International is the trim level kinda like LX or DX on a car. Does your 73 have a gray water tank?

Good luck with your Airstream.........Thomas

[markus]

thank you all! No my 73 soverign does not have a grey water tank. It came with a portable[blue].Read a few ideas on what the options are but have not decided on any thing yet.
thanxs again ~Markus

[N.J 74 sovereign]

Markus
my trailer is probably the same as yours. The only difference is the 74's have a gray water tank
Does yours have twin beds or a or a full size? Do u have vista view windows? If so what is the condition of them? I do have a service manual if your need info i can fax/copy it for you
I bought my A/S two years ago and it has been vary reliable...... wish every thing in my life was as reliable as that trailer............Thomas

[markus]

Thanks, I have the "service manual" and "owners manual" they both came with the AS, an boy are they gettin a work out!!
Have the big bed in the back.Like that lay out.
Grey water tank huh? Just were exactly is the location of that there tank? markus

[markus]

Oh yea, the windows,yes I have those vista-views. there not in bad shape at all. As to be expected one or two is starting to fog
inbetween. Today I recaulked the three on the street side.
Cleaned out , silicone, and used "butyl-flex" rubber sealent.
Don't know if it was a good choice but after the rain last night and more on the way, had to do something.

markus

[N.J 74 sovereign]

Markus

The gray water tank is forward of the black tank, one value for each,thay share the same outlet.
Markus wrote
"used "butyl-flex" rubber sealent.
Don't know if it was a good choice"

I used a caulk made for aluminum gutters. I think that butyl caulk might collect a lot of dirt. If your are near Lakewood you might want to swing by Colonial Airstream and see what they have in there parts Dept, in the way of caulk.
The fogged up vista views can be fixed by removing the snap rind and
replacing the gasket between the panes...fairly easy fix
When I did it, I also took a Razor and scraped off the film on the outer pane.
Be sure to check the front and rear of the trailer for leaks. My floor had some rot in these areas...........Thomas

[markus]

Actually, that was a really big name for" aluminum gutter sealent".
It skinned well before dust and stuff could get to it.As for rot, so far so good, one bad spot next to hot water heater, have not checked it yet but I would say its "ng". Did not get to see any of the photos, I'll wait till the new server is installed and working, can't seem to get to that site.

Mark

[Navigator]

Hello Markus
Also just bought a AS like yours, only in dredful shape. No manuals. Am doing a complete rehab. Towed it from MN w/o brakes!! Damn ebay seller said the brakes were fine. Turns out they werent even connected. Just finished brakes and now am focusing on leaks. It leaks like a seive.
Also no front sofa/bed, and rear bed is a toss-out. Cant decide wether to make it a double (hard to make up) or 2 singles.
I find that the leaks (bad wood) are generally under the windows.
Am retired so I have all the time in the world to work on it.
The J.C. Whitney catalog has an interesting section on RV's also WallMart has a suprising amount of stuff, like power cables, bottle jacks, lug wrenches, maintenance chemicals, etc.
Dick

[markus]

I was following many an AS in e-bay, and thought when I new enough to bid, was gonna go for it. Kinda glad I did'nt. Been hearing many 0 horror story. Lucky we happened to find this 73 totally by luck! We really wanted something a little smaller but not sorry at all we grabbed our new monster!If ya need me to scan and e-mail or fax some pages from the manuals, I would sure give it a try! Good luck on your project.Lord knows this site is full of help and suport.

Markus