Home from Out of Doors Mart

Dropped the Airstream off at Out of Doors Mart in mid-March and went to pick it up this week.  I am so thankful to be this close to Airstream experts.  I took the trailer in to have a door knob installed, shocks installed, brakes wired, 7-way plug installed, gaskets on the access doors, rivets replaced in the front panel and the beginning steps of the belly pan in the front and rear.  Sometimes these pieces are referred to as "banana wraps" but not for the '57.  These are the pieces that I will use to attach the belly pan when the time comes.  However, when I drove the trailer down to Colfax in March, I lost a vent cover on Hwy 421, so now I'm looking at replacing that.  I ordered a fantastic vent from Vintage Trailer Supply so I guess I'll be looking at addressing that when it arrives.

New doorknob!  Don't ya just love my Junk Gypsy keychain? :)

Banana wrap in rear section

Banana wrap in front

Detail of banana wrap--view from below the trailer

Daylight savings time saves the day!

Extra daylight=a super productive work day.  Cliff & Sara came over this afternoon and we worked on putting in two more pieces of flooring (the one at the door, and between the door and wheel well).  We cleaned off the old gasket on the roof vents, washed the screens for those vents, and addressed the rear end separation.
Admittedly, I didn't really know that the trailer had the dreaded rear end separation until I emailed Colin Hyde (with Colin Hyde Trailer Restorations in NY) to ask him why is my floor and C-channel not easily attached to my frame?  It seems like even though I put bolts in the floor and frame, I'm still seeing the frame relax away from the shell.  It was then that he gave me the diagnosis.  So, I invested in a cobalt bit and we were able to drill through the super duty steel that my brother-in-law had used to beef up the back of the frame last year.  We had success!!!!  Still a little bit more work to do back there, but better than before for sure.
I will be taking the trailer next week to Out of Doors Mart in Colfax to do a little bit of work that I just can't seem to get accomplished.

Cliff gettin' after a stray bolt on the frame

Sara snapping pics--can't remember if this was before or after I busted my knee on the frame

Hey there!

Elbow grease

Moved a few items from the farm over to my house this weekend.  Bed rail, kitchen cabinet, kitchen counter, the "walls" that create the doorway to the bathroom....I figured we might as well have them here for when we start planning the plumbing & electrical.

Of course, they have been stored in a barn for over a year, but they were pretty dirty to begin with.  I wiped them all down, but I knew the sink and counter top needed some extra attention.  I'm not completely sold that kitchen cabinet won't need to be replaced (it's a little worse that I remembered).  Even after hitting the counter tops with some cleaner and scrubbing pads, there were a few stains that lingered.  It may have to be replaced too.  But that sink....it's BEAUTIFUL!

Before

Okay....let's do this!

A vast improvement

Ooo la la!

A "step" in the right direction

Thanks to a couple of 60-degree days in the middle of January, there has been a bit of work done on the trailer this week.  My friend Al & I worked for 4.5 hours on Monday and today the welder installed the steps.  Finally no more high-steppin' to get in the trailer!  So thankful for the people in my life that help me on my beast of a project.  I feel like this year is gonna be very productive!

Thanks, Daniel!

Thanks, Al!  Living riveted...