Project Airstream

Month: June 2011

  • 1988 Airstream Excella 29′

    Several months ago we looked at a 29′ 1988 Excella in excellent condition. We were not able to come to an agreement on the selling price with the seller so we left our number and drove home. Last week I got a call from the seller saying they were ready to sell for my price so we now own a new Airstream.

    This trailer is in incredible condition! The only things wrong are that it needs new axles, A/C, the running lights blow a fuse on my tow vehicle (short on this trailer somewhere), some of the pin striping is peeling, and of course some clear coat is also peeling. Considering the age of this trailer that list is minor! The axles that I ordered for the ’77 finally arrive tomorrow and they are actually the exact axles that the ’88 needs. We are going to install those axles and the new Carrier A/C heat pump that we have sitting on my workbench in this new trailer this week.

    We spent several hours on Saturday cleaning up the trailer and went ahead and replaced the carpet in the hallway and rear bedroom. The kitchen and living room have wood floors that are in excellent condition. The first picture is of the carpet as of the time we bought the trailer.

    Here are the finished pictures of the new carpet, minus the trim that I still need to install around the floor. You will also see that I have removed the couch and bed mattresses as we are in the process of airing everything out and my wife has ordered new upholstery fabric  to recover the couch. The curtains will be coming out as well as the upholstered panels, but we haven’t decided if any of the upholstered panels will be going back (except for the one behind the couch).

    Later this summer, we plan on selling this trailer. Please let me know if you are interested!

     

  • 1977 Interior Update

    The inside of the ’77 has really been getting some much needed updating over the past few months. We are building all new beds, cabinets, shelves, couch, and bulkheads. We are using a shaker style for the cabinets. The walls will all be painted a slightly off white color while the cabinets will be a gray. All of the paint was bought at Sherwin Williams and we are using their adhesion primer that will bond to everything in the trailer. I have already tried it on the window screen frames and it worked incredibly well.

    We removed almost everything from the interior with the intention of rebuilding with the same basic layout. The kitchen cabinet will be slightly different than originally, but for the most part the same basic layout.

    We painted the sub-floor with an oil based KILZ low odor product that has worked pretty well. The new cabinet frames and doors are built out of select pine and will have a really nice cabinet grade paint that should help give them some durability. Trim will be added to the front of the shelves and we have some really nice nickle hinges and handles that should finish things off nicely. I will be spraying everything myself with my DeVilbiss FinishLine 3 gun once I finish building the couch and kitchen cabinets.

    My wife finished these great herb boxes that we will mount on the living room side of the fridge wall (transfer and then stained). They will not be for herbs, but will be a nice touch!

    We decided to go with a walnut colored laminate flooring that is going to look incredible. You can see a plank of it in the picture above of the couch area. We wanted something that would be very durable, look great, and be very easy to maintain. This stuff has a really thick padding and should be really nice installed as a floating floor.

  • 1967 Maiden Voyage

    I am still trying to get caught up, but here is a picture of the first time the ’67 was pulled after the shell-off restoration. This trailer still needs all new insides, but everything else is in incredible shape. The trailer pulled like a dream. We currently have this trailer in storage until I can finish off a few other projects and find the time needed to dedicate to rebuilding the interior.

    20110619-080337.jpg

  • Rear Frame Repair & LED Running Lights

    Well, it has been a long time since the last update, but not for lack of progress. I actually misplaced the camera I use for this project and needed it to complete this update!

    Here are the long overdue pictures of the finished work of the rear-end separation repairs. It turned out really nice and after many rain storms I can tell you that the rear area is the most water tight area in the trailer currently!

    The other project that has been done for some time, but no camera to prove it are the new LED running lights. We replaced all of the tail light covers as many were broken, but currently those are still using the normal bulbs. I purchased the LED lights from superbrightleds.com and could not be happier with the results.

    Here are a few before and after pictures of the front running lights. The old and new wire were soldered together and then heat shrink was applied over the exposed wires. There were times where the wire from the LED was on the opposite side from the original lights, so a little channel was made using a Dremel tool.

    And finally here are the play-by-play pictures of the rear running lights.

    The new running lights look great during the daytime, but they really stand out at night!

    Well, that is it for tonight and I will post more updates on the ’77 and ’67 this weekend. The ’77 now has all new cabinets, axles finally shipped today, and the ’67 made the maiden voyage to her new home until I can finish up the ’77.