More excuses

Still no progress on the 64...the 77 needed lots of work this summer. Just as we finished up the waterproofing work, it took a hit from pick up truck to the front roadside. Woodland Travel did a great job putting it all back together again. Since then, we've taken camping trips to our river land and to the annual Ludington October wine and turkey fest.

We've also located a great polebarn near the river land, and plan to work on the 64 there. It's heated, insulated, has electric, with high ceilings, and cement floors. Awesome.

The other trailer

We haven't been totally lazy...we've been working on the Airstream! I will post photos soon.  We had framework done to it over the winter, then brought it directly to a seamstress in Ohio for new drapes.  We picked it back up the beginning of June, only to find that the framework had shifted a lot of things around in the trailer skin...meaning it now leaks like a sieve.  At this point, we are extremely clear about how much work rotten floors are, so we've needed to go over the Airstream removing old loose caulk and applying new sealer.  The PO (previous owner) had used many, many tubes of gross silicone caulk everywhere, and the Airstream looks great now that we have scraped it all off.  Now we are working on resealing where necessary, without adding back the excessive caulk.  Jack replaced the bunkbed modification with the original gaucho and linen cabinet, now that our little kids are grown and out of the house.  We are also re-riveting inside where things broke loose during the frame lift, and fixing odds and ends here and there- window latch, a couple of reflectors, taillight lenses, awning racheting pin, new vinyl insert inside and out, drape valance ends, screen door and main door gasket, and rebuilding the entry door latch/lock.  I say "we"...that means I find the parts on the internet and read the Air Forums, and he does 95% of the work.  Just giving credit where credit is due!

Excuses, excuses

We figure this renovation is about a 500 hour job, which means every time we skip a Saturday it will take an extra week to finish it.  But....we have no deadline, so we spent our time this Saturday afternoon washing all the windows in the house.  The Streamline windows still look like trash, but the house windows are sparkly clean.  And we look out through those everyday.  So there.

Killing the rust

Small victories.  The sun came out and blessed us this afternoon- perfect weather for painting on the Chassis Saver. 
Before- rusty frame and nasty, muddy belly pan.  I must not have taken a close-up photo of the rusty frame with the floor removed- too gross, I guess.  But you get the general idea.....

After-NICE!  Rust, you are neutralized.  I do understand that y'all think I'm nuts to be excited about this...but it's progress.  It's that "clean slate" thing.  Plus, it was less work than I'd anticipated- a very welcome change.  

Andy and Tom:  you are right, it is REALLY difficult to get Chassis Saver off one's bod.  But I don't have the kind of job where I can show up with black paint on my arm.  I got it off....pretty much had to take the skin off to remove it, though.

Rain again!

Our next step, after consulting with our auto-restoration expert son, is to coat the exposed frame with Chassis Saver- a gooey black undercoating paint which stops rust.  Andy used it with good results on his own restoration project, a 1983 Grand Prix. We need a dry Saturday to apply the stuff, though.  It has rained three of the last four Saturdays, the exception being the day we took off to deliver the Airstream to Ohio.  Michigan, please cooperate.

Road trip

No progress on the Streamline this week.  We spent Saturday taking the Airstream south to Caroline Dahnke of TinCanInteriors.com, in Vickery, Ohio.  After 33 years, the old silver twinkie needs some new drapes.   I briefly contemplated making the window coverings myself, but I found 1) the windows are curved 2) the window coverings must be attached both top and bottom due to the shape of the trailer 3) the Airstream drape tracks require special clips, made only by the patent holder and not easily available, 4) our trailer has 18 pinch pleated panels.  I know enough about sewing to know when I'm over my head.  After I met Caroline, who's extremely experienced and talented, I knew we made the right decision.  We clearly won't be able to use the Streamline anytime soon, so we need to keep the Airstream in good shape for camping.  I'm looking forward to seeing Caroline's work!

More baby steps

We'll blame it on the fickle Michigan weather.  It was 75 to 82 degrees and sunny all week, but today...65 and raining.  The plan for this afternoon was to work on more floor removal and structure lifting (Jack and friend Fred) and clean and sand windows and frames (Carolyn and friend MaryEllen).  In spite of the weather, Jack and Fred removed the rest of the flooring in the center of the living/dining area.  Jack cut a curved header, padded it with foam, and set up a floor jack and column to attempt to raise the center of the trailer just another 1/4".  This will allow the new plywood to fit under the walls.  15 years of rotting floors has allowed a lot of sagging, which exacerbates leaks.  It's a vicious cycle.

I didn't feel like washing windows in the rain, so MaryEllen and I pulled all the shelves and things out of the refrigerator and scrubbed everything down with bleach and soap.  It was in really good condition inside- just grubby and mildewy.  Doesn't this look better?

Baby steps.  Baby steps.  Baby steps.