Here we go! Gutted 1963 Sovereign Land Yacht reno

[pryner]

Wow, you have a major project ahead! I'm getting close to finishing our '62 Bambi. Had to remove the shell to repair the frame and modify for a new axle. Been working on it for several years. Feel free to contact me if you want access to my dropbox pictures of the project. I started at the bottom and had the frame blasted and powder coated after having several new pieces of frame replaced. I had to have new mounts for the axles installed as the old axle was over springs and had shocks. Went with a torsion axle which easily bolted on the frame after new flanges were installed. If you want to tow right away you'll have to do the exterior lighting first which needs to go in before the walls anyway. After you figure our your layout you can do the AC and DC wiring and plumbing. Did you get the interior walls or just the end caps? If just the caps you have a lot of metal work to complete if you're going to finish in aluminum. Before installing the walls water check the entire outside to check for leaks. I found more than a dozen on ours, one was from a missing rivet from the factory. It was half covered by another piece of skin and could barely be seen from the outside. You can't water check with the interior walls installed. Don't use a pressure washer, you can blow out the sealant between the skins. We're in Florida so it was a priority to get the AC installed even temporarily while working the interior. Made a huge difference. Good luck!!

[G-Ranch]

. I tried to document the complete process with photos which came in very handy when we had our trailer appraised. We could prove everything we had.

Would you share the “appraisal” outfit contact information? Thanks

G-Ranch.

[steinVT]

Originally Posted by G-Ranch

Would you share the “appraisal” outfit contact information? Thanks
G-Ranch.

When it comes to vintage Airstreams, Polk Associates is the best choice. This is their web site. https://polkassociates-llc.com/ . No questions from the insurance companies when the appraisal comes from him. - Mark

[wagvan]

Originally Posted by finchbird

I would not trust the tires, new looks don't mean much with a trailer. There should be a date stamp on them. If they are over 3 years old replace them before you take any kind of trip. Speaking from experience a blow-out is no fun....

Yeah, been there done that, twice with another camper. Not fun. It appears that the tires are too wide for this. Hubby tried taking the wheels off to check out the brakes etc. and it was near impossible. Asked elsewhere on the forum and it was suggested that our tires are probably too wide.

[wagvan]

Originally Posted by Airwave503

Hey Wagvan,

Welcome to the adventure. Been down this road and you can check out my blog/log for the order I went through. The first winter after I got it was the "road-worthy aluminum tent" phase, after which we spent a summer enjoying it with air mattresses and fold up tables etc. If you're really going to hit the road with it, replace and upgrade everything.

The biggest thing that wasted my time and money was I started wiring it up myself just trying to follow the original design and later decided to go fully modern.

Have fun!
--503

We are tentatively planning on paying for shinytinyhome's electrical plans as a starting point. They included internet, solar, etc. We figure that starting with that is better than reinventing the wheel and his stuff seem pretty well done from what I saw. We are doing a new floor plan that will work for our family and planning on all the modern conveniences and appliances. So an electrical upgrade is definitely a must.

[wagvan]

Originally Posted by TouringDan

Sounds like a great project Airstream. Welcome.

I agree that you should go ahead and replace the axles and brakes, then go ahead and use it as a hard tent and go camping. Some of your camping time will then be used figuring out solutions to some of the many challenges you will run into.

Lots of decisions to make. One is drum or disc brakes. Drum brakes is the easier and cheaper solution. I installed disc brakes and so glad I did. There is a thread on it and some information in my project thread- Dan’s 66 Tradewind Solutions.

Dan

I will check it out! Hubby said he wants disk brakes. It currently has drum brakes. We will probably do it when we replace the axles.

[wagvan]

Thanks for all the helpful comments. I think I have figured out the photo thing here, so be prepared for a picturepalooza of where we are starting. I have lots of questions and the photos should help. (I hope!)

[wagvan]

Originally Posted by pryner

Wow, you have a major project ahead! I'm getting close to finishing our '62 Bambi. Had to remove the shell to repair the frame and modify for a new axle. Been working on it for several years. Feel free to contact me if you want access to my dropbox pictures of the project. I started at the bottom and had the frame blasted and powder coated after having several new pieces of frame replaced. I had to have new mounts for the axles installed as the old axle was over springs and had shocks. Went with a torsion axle which easily bolted on the frame after new flanges were installed. If you want to tow right away you'll have to do the exterior lighting first which needs to go in before the walls anyway. After you figure our your layout you can do the AC and DC wiring and plumbing. Did you get the interior walls or just the end caps? If just the caps you have a lot of metal work to complete if you're going to finish in aluminum. Before installing the walls water check the entire outside to check for leaks. I found more than a dozen on ours, one was from a missing rivet from the factory. It was half covered by another piece of skin and could barely be seen from the outside. You can't water check with the interior walls installed. Don't use a pressure washer, you can blow out the sealant between the skins. We're in Florida so it was a priority to get the AC installed even temporarily while working the interior. Made a huge difference. Good luck!!

I would love to see your dropbox photos. How did you water check the Airstream? Just run water over each rivet? Tell me more about the sealant. As we put Buck rivets on the outside, do we need to put some sort of sealant in there when we install them? We are going to be putting a bunch of buck rivets in empty holes on the exterior shell. We are in northern Michigan, AC is less of a priority to get in there. It is on the agenda, but not a first priority. We have the interior walls, they are laying there nicely laid out on a long wood pallet that it looks like they built for that purpose. trim aluminum appears to have been labeled too, which is nice.

[G-Ranch]

Originally Posted by steinVT

When it comes to vintage Airstreams, Polk Associates is the best choice. This is their web site. https://polkassociates-llc.com/ . No questions from the insurance companies when the appraisal comes from him. - Mark

Mark,

Thank you sir.

G-Ranch

[wagvan]

Post with questions about my fridge vent: https://www.airforums.com/forums/f45...nt-221591.html

[OTRA15]

Thanks Scott and Katie for that recent "continuity" link about the fridge vent.

Originally Posted by wagvan

. . .
. . . so be prepared for a picturepalooza of where we are starting.
. . .

Great term . . . all prepared out here in the appreciative peanut gallery!



Peter

[wagvan]

Wheel and axle and frame photos. We know that new axles are on the agenda. We just need to figure out what we need. Someone said that there is a label on the axle somewhere?

Also, the person who did the frame, added crossmembers, so we have to figure out what to do to add tanks in. I'm assuming that we will have to cut some out. Some appear to be only half height. I'd welcome any wisdom on that.

[dbj216]

Whoever built your frame did a heck of a job. But maybe they didn't know all about waste water tanks. I may be your trailer had an above floor fresh water tank and an above floor black water tank, and a simple pipe allowing grey water to run on the ground.

Airstream standard design is a cross member about every two feet. Airstream did make shorter cross members to support plywood floor "splices" under the plywood joints. But they were only about three quarters of an inch shorter.

With the VIN of your trailer, folks like Colin Hyde and others can spec new axles for your trailer. I just call for help when ordering new axles.

I got my new axle mounted under the 69 Globe Trotter I'm working on. That was a major milestone for my project.

David

[Bubba L]

Scott, I don’t know if your old torsion has a stamped code on it or not. Some had the original label on the high part of the bar camber. Concerning the tanks and crossmembers, I would decide on what capacity I wanted/needed. There shouldn’t be any issue with removing and relocating crossmembers to accommodate the tanks. There are a lot of threads describing how some have placed tanks and modified the crossmembers. Good luck and keep us posted.

[InsideOut]

Originally Posted by wagvan

I’m curious to the floor plan that we are going to come up with too! <snip> Lot’s to consider...

Check out some older posts by "PizzaChop" for bunk ideas. I recall they had a large family and retrofit in lots of sleeping options - six bunks!

Shari