On Guard

 A bit more work took place on the little 1970 Caravel. Those new wing windows needed a little protection against flying rocks since replacing them involves major surgery and buck riveting.

 We installed a factory rock guard from Airstream. Made in America it was, however the instructions must have been out sourced to China. Not to worry, we are smarter than a rock guard and we got it installed.

 A funny thing we learned while installing the rock guard; the letters spelling out A I R S T R E A M are not level to the front window. The rock guard is level to the letters so it all looks correct, but the letters are on an angle to the horizontal plane of the window. These are hand made vehicles so this is part of the hand made charm.

 All looks good while it is open or closed.

Something that did not look so good was the fitting going into the original gas regulator. The regulator was being replaced, so why not escalate the project just a little more and replace this part too. Five fittings and an hour later it was all fixed.

New Old Stock or Close New Stock

I really hate to be critical of factory produced items, but NOS or new, old stock should be an exact production, not a close reproduction. When doing a restoration we strive for exactness. We do not want it close, we want it exact. For this reason we usually source salvaged parts. This time around we went with factory original parts. Well, sort of.

The factory original shrunk down a little since 1970.

Close, but not exact. This required some buck rivets to be set in the missed holes, then shaved down with a Dremel to allow the frame to sit flush with the skin. A great deal of effort was also required to peen the edge over so it matches the skin contour. Let me tell you pounding on a window with a dead blow hammer requires a great deal of confidence. Just 1/4" to the wrong side and bye bye glass window or hello dented segment.

This one had been out twice before. Silicon was the method of attachment the second time around. Have I ever mentioned the loathing I have for silicon? Buck rivets secure it now.

One in, one to go...

Lots of VULKEM (Trempro 626 to be exact. Vulkem no longer exist even though everyone claims to use it. The original formula is now renamed Trempro 626 even though many call Trempro 636, 635, and even Silkaflex 535, Vulkem) These wing windows are good to go. Maybe the next post will be of the new rock guard. That is being installed so this does not happen again.

A Toaster update will be coming out soon too. A ton of forward progress has happened there. The new dinette should interest many of you.

Knowing Who Knows You.

BOY oh, Boy, someone in Mountain View California sure does love to read this blog. My number one visitor for sure. Thank you, I am honored by your curiosity!

I got the message...

I have been thinking of the following song in conjunction with this post for a number of days. I have been getting a number of calls asking the very same things asked in the lyrics. Perhaps you will click on it and listen as you read. It is being brought to you as music should be heard; a needle put to vinyl, turning at 45 rpm.

I have heard the phone ringing and so here comes your update of a very little bit of what has been going on at FTW.

Two jobs have been the main thrust on the shop floor. We have been going back and forth between the two trying to keep everything flowing while parts arrive, things dry so on.

Michele and Larry's trailer has had all the pre wiring completed and we moved right on to the second layer of reflective insulation. Here you see the front end cap. This is post repairs, sorry no photos of that step. I know some of you are curious about every aspect. I meant to document it, but sometimes I just get rolling and forget to snap any pictures.

Here is said end cap after it was installed and primed. Very crisp and clean. You might note the Vista Views have also been primed in this photo too. What primer? PPG K36. It is two part, high build urethane primer. I have grown very fond of this primer. It preforms very well even though it is over $125/ gallon. The savings of material and labor more than makes up for the cost.

Looking to the rear you can see the areas that we painted with a high gloss paint. Once again a two part PPG paint was used.

All the plastic parts were painted with the same color urethane paint.

Next we installed all new aluminum in the forward areas.

We used every single cleco I had and still could have used more.

We also installed this bamboo floor. Just you folks wait till we start building the interior next week. This interior is going to blow some minds.

Also under way we have Toaster...

In 1961 Gary Wilkins built all the interior cabinets. Men took pride in their work back in the day. They signed their work and that is why we are able to still use it to this day. Gary even left his finger prints behind.

In 1971, someone else took a little pride in their refinishing job. Unfortunately time has not been gentle to all the wood work.

A wee bit of new veneer was required. Here you see a whole roll. I always use an all wood type veneer. Once again, it cost a little more, but works better than the commonly available paper backed veneer which has given me trouble in the past.

We used yellow glue rolled onto both surfaces. It was then clamped down to a melamine cull. The glue will not stick to the melamine if any was to squeeze out.

Next is a mater of trimming the excess and sanding it all up. There are a few items that we will still rebuild from scratch. I will try and get you folks some shots of that real soon.

We have also been painting the interior of Toaster. Mary and Rick went with Zolatone. I got an excuse to purchase some new tooling and was given the opportunity to learn something new. The pressure pot system you see is by CA Technologies. All those of you who know, are drooling, those that don't, are saying "huh?" CA Technologies is the Airstream of paint equipment, a true tool for life. (Sorry, the tool whore will go away now)

So, Zolatone... We first shot two coats of primer. I am a firm believer in using the total system by a manufacturer. I was however far from impressed by the Zolatone brand primer. At $144/ gallon I expected perfection. It was just some white primer. I called up tech support and was told any good quality primer was fine. He wasn't happy when I asked why their brand was included in that group. I now wish I had just used the white PPG K36 that has proven to be stellar.

Next we moved on to the top coat. I want to say I have been spraying material for many years now. I am more than proficient at it. I have never encountered anything like Zolatone. The second I popped the lid, I was sent chocking for the respirator. The fumes from this product are beyond anything I could have imagined. My friend Scott warned me, but I still am astounded. Lesson number 1; if you do not have a make up air unit to breath through, don't spray this product. You will be so high by the time you are done that you just might fall out of the trailer flat onto your face. You might just find it easier to lay there for a while until your brain also falls out of trailer and back into your head. Do not ask me why I know, but I do. Even if you have a top of the line 3M face mask, it is far from adequate.

Lesson number 2; When you mix the product, mix it slowly and methodically. Then do it all over. Next mix it twice as long as the first two times. Oh, yeah, stirred not shaken unlike like James Bond's martini.

Here you see the new directly next to the original Zolatone. My pattern break up is much finer than the original. I wish I could show you the entire interior, but it just does not capture on film.

Here are some of the colors and patterns you will be seeing in the coming weeks. Disregard the Marmolium you see to left. The one to the right of it is going to be the floor.

Much more of this project to come...

I was asked about the paintings on the wall as seen in a reflection photo. Well here is my collection of very bad art. I am hoping to find some more black velvet landscapes soon. So bad, they are master works.

Tales of the Toaster

The Toaster has come to FTW for a relaunch of her new lease on life. Toaster is known to a number of you reading. The tale of this trailer was told once on The Vintage Airstream Podcast. I will try and summarize it quickly... Mary and Rick buy Toaster. Toaster looks absolutely perfect and everything works. Rick and Mary go to a rally and show their beautiful trailer off. They invite a restoration specialist in to look at Toaster. Restoration specialist pulls out ice pick and begins probing. Seconds pass, dreams are dashed when rot is found.

Mary and Rick are in love with their trailer so what should they do? Fix it... If you go on Airforums, you will find a community more than willing to guide you into how to fix it yourself. Unfortunately, not everyone has the time or energy to see a major project like this through to the end. Mary and Rick made a good stab at the work, but time and life got into the way. Toaster has sat idol while Rick and Mary's desire to go Streaming has only grown. They decided this was going to be the last winter Toaster was going to just sit there waiting.

The very first thing we needed to do was give the old girl a bath. Reviewing these photos, I do not see her as dirty as she was. For the past four years Toaster has been sitting in the shade, collecting tree fungus and mold.

Here you can see a little indication of the green velvet that covered her. These 61 Safaris are some awesome little trailers. There was another 61 Safari here last year for work. We are real fond of this era. I am often asked what trailer to buy. My pick is always 1958- 62. If your looking for small with big trailer function, then this is the unit for you.

Here she is washed and ready for some work. Our first task was to fix all the structural issues. We started right up front with correcting some issues where the skin and shell meets the frame.

The structural work continued to the rear where a cross member was fixed and the bumper repaired where it meets the frame. It is very common on this era of trailer for the area where the frame meets the body to rust away. We cut out the rot and put in some new steal.

Here is an example of the skin shortly after arrival.

Here is the same spot post cleaning. Note the brighter aluminum where the old seam sealant was removed. All the seams were picked clean of old sealant and caulk. We then replaced all the sealant with new material. Two rain storms now and no signs of leaks. Leaks are a killer. They start some where out of sight, say, the plumbing stack. You do not see it running down the vent stack inside the closet. Once it hits the ground you do not see it because the capillary action pulls it under black tank and out of sight.

Then by the time you notice it, or even never notice it, it has gotten a very firm hold into your floor. Funny "firm hold"... it could not be further from "firm."

The only real way to stop the rot is to remove it totally. It will just keep spreading every time a little moisture is introduced back to the surface.

Here is the area we repaired. Now normally we replace the entire sheet. That form of repair is a bit extreme for this small area, however we are always concerned about keeping it all unified. So if you can visualize as I describe please. The three black dots are elevator bolts. The one closest to you is bolted to the cross member, and the other two are bolted to the outrigger. This repair bridges across the main frame rail. The repair is also bolted at the end of the outrigger inside the wall. There are also two other bolts through the channel and floor. Around the three sides is a splice screwed and glued to both pieces. Just to bond one more time, we also used biscuits along that seam. Between all the splines, splices, and biscuits, this is one solid patch.

The frame has been slightly adjusted to accept a grey water tank.

Here are two custom tanks that arrived this past week. The big one is for a 1971 Overlander. The smaller one is for this project. Both tanks are designed to fit into the frame without any major modifications. What a difference 10 years can make in sizing.

Windows have been a big concern. We have been rebuilding each one. They were done a few years back, but the gaskets have shrunk back from the miters. Some were worse than others.

It was my reasoning that since shrinking was an issue, perhaps If I used pre-shrunk material, I would be golden. By reusing the longest ones on the next longest ones, I just might have to only replace a little gasket. As it worked out, the biggest window was the only one requiring new gaskets.

Flip.

... and flop.

Just like new, only using the pre- shrunk gasket.

This style of window has an inner bulb style seal. When closed, the sash presses firmly against the seal creating a good leak proof closure.

There are a couple of commonly used replacements for this bulb seal. The one on the left is an exact copy of the original and is offered by Vintage Trailer Supply. The center one is also offered by VTS and other suppliers, but it is the bulb seal for jalousie windows. Often I see this offered by other supplies as the proper seal. It does fit, but it also falls out after a few months. The third is a foam "d" seal offered as a replacement and even "improvement" for the original bulb seal. I will just stop here.

A few months back a thread was going on the Airforums about Wally Byam and his Gold Trailer. It was thrown out there, that left over, gold aluminum was used on some production units. Gold aluminum trim was noted as being a clear indication. Well, look here, Wally's gold aluminum! Sorry, but I find that story to be tall tale.

Here is a very hard call; To restore the original name badges, replace them with reproductions, or to reuse the originals. Most people do not see the subtle differences between the original and reproduction version. I however cannot take eye off them. The "r" bothers me the most, but all the letters are just not as bold looking. We went with the "originals cleaned" up route.

We also have converted the black tank over from the original Thetford valve to the more modern Valterra one. An adapter plate was fabricated to make the conversion.

Next post about this trailer will be to cover the application of Zolatone. Hope you will return to read about it.