my former Airstream

 

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my former Airsteam...

 

Work has begun on the old girl at Miller Garage in east Texas.

all gone...

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Hoist away

Got a deal from good ol' Harbor Freight for two 1 ton chain hoists with some additional Labor Day savings.  Just what I need to lift the Airstream body off and loft the trailer up and about for repair.  My total including shipping was $104.97.  91,100,71,0,B

fast carb

Super fast turn around.  Ordered the new carburetor for the quad Friday afternoon...just got it in the mail today.  Extracted the AC unit off the Airstream to make room for the chain hoist to lift the body off the rotten trailer.  93,106,73,0,B

learning about rivets

pop
olympic
buck
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shell off?

Been spending quite a bit of time on www.airforums.com.  (today's photos from the airforums website)  One of the things I did not know before I jumped into this project is that in order to correctly repair the frame and replace the floor, the shell needs to be removed.  That being said...I am contemplating building a gantry which seems to be the preferred method of doing a shell off.  Once the shell is removed and placed on a secure surface, the gantry can be used to lift the frame to gain access to both sides for repairs and painting.  Still not totally committed to this project but I'm thinking even with the extent of repairs needed - this will be much faster to refurbish than the greenhouse was to build.  86,99,74,0,B

Deconstructing Dreams

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from the bottom up...

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rotten bottom

Never fails...bathrooms are notorious for leaks.  This 36 year old Airstream has had its' share of water working wrong.  Looks like I will have to replace most of the steel under this section.  I think the only thing that has been holding the end up is the exterior skin.  90,102,71,0,B

Extracting bad parts

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Land Yacht

Next project on the list...the Airstream.  Did some research on repairing windows.  Figured out what I have to do to clear the bubbled tinting that is sandwiched inside each one.  While tallying up what will have to be repaired, I discovered something that I seem to have missed in the couple of years I have owned this albatross.  One of the windows had been sealed from the inside when one of probably many interior rapes had occurred.  Decided that the only logical option is to completely gut the the inside.  This is gonna take awhile.  84,101,75,0,B

extraction

Flipped a coin this morning and decided on extracting the old AC unit off the Airstream.  Other that the horrid interior fixtures that were cobbed into the trailer - the only other thing that really bothered me about it was the fact that when the old AC died...someone dropped a new one in through a skylight at the front of the trailer instead of just sticking it where the bad unit was.  It really wasn't that difficult to remove.  The only problem was that it was rather heavy so I just rolled it off the top once everything was disconnected.  Spent the afternoon experimenting with this years Christmas light show.  47,63,26,0,C

bad cows...

Found a group of longhorns here when I woke up....chewed through 2 extension cords (no injuries) and my camera cable - and one of them found some alfalfa in the courtyard.  Chased them all away but they hung near the perimeter almost all day.  Benita and crew stood guard by my entrance for half the day.

Chopped out another 4 inches in hole #1 this morning.  Went south for supplies and while I was gone, Capt. Kirk dropped off a nice big drill bit for me....foot long - 3/4" diameter masonry bit.  That should speed things up.  Spent the afternoon extracting the front wall partition and more extraneous bits out of the Airstream.  96,106,69,0,B

the eagle has landed...

Did the deed today...the Airstream followed me home.  White knuckled it for the first 20 miles then I felt confident nothing bad would happen.  The trailer pulled like a dream.  The last 2.5 miles was the worst - my washboard dirt road was magnified quite a bit pulling all that weight.  Got it parked and leveled in a spot for me to ponder the future interior...perhaps like this?  http://www.betterlivingthroughdesign.com/renovate/hofarc-airstream-renovation.html
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Raspaland

Made a new friend in Alpine today....Victor from Raspaland.  http://www.raspaland.com/  He and his wife Cristina have a fantastic little store just on the south side of the railroad tracks.  If you are coming through Alpine, make sure to check out this little gem at Murphy and 5th St.

The reason I happened to meet Victor is because I saw a flier for an Airstream trailer for sale about 2 weeks ago at the post office in Terlingua.  I emailed him a couple of days ago and it turned out the beast was still available.  Went up to check in out in person and we worked out a deal.  1978 31' Land Yacht Sovereign.  Hope to haul it out to TFL next week.  98,111,72,0,C