Dear ol' Dad helps in a major way

As noted by my prior posts, we've had some crazy weather here in NC over the last few days.  I was in a time crunch to try to clean, prep and paint the frame before some really cold weather settled in.  Last Thursday was 68 degrees, and Friday was forecast to be above 70.  My time frame looked something like this:  Mark was going to paint the frame around noon on Thursday, and I was going to put on the second coat when I got off work that afternoon.  Well, Thursday was not only rainy, it was extremely humid and the frame was sweating profusely.  There was no way we could paint it.  I was pretty sad because I figured Friday would be the same way.  But Friday was pretty blustery, therefore keeping the frame dry.  My dad was able to put on both coats Friday afternoon and I am soooo thankful for his help!  This means that the next step is putting the floor & insulation in those sections of the trailer.  Onward and upward!

Front end

Rear of trailer--looks pretty good!

Then the sparks flew!

Okay, so over the past couple of days, Derek has graciously worked on our welding/frame issues.  The weather this week is supposed to be above average temps, so I washed the frame tonight with the Marine Clean recommended by the POR folks.  Tomorrow, I will use the Metal Prep, and then Thursday I plan to get the painting underway.  I want to take advantage of these slightly warmer temperatures as much as possible...you just never know what the next week will bring.  I needed to do everything possible to hopefully get the front and rear floor in soon.

Derek is grinding away some small burrs, getting ready to do the heavy-duty welding.  How do ya like that face mask??!

Baby, it's cold outside

Temps in the teens/twenties at night, highs only in the 30s during the day.  That is the forecast for this week.  I still need to wash & prep the frame before applying the POR 15, but that can only be applied in temps above 52 degrees.  Not only am I waiting on warmer temps, but I'm waiting on my brother-in-law to have a chance to do the welding that needs to be done before I can paint the frame.  Until further notice ladies & gents, we are on hold with any progress.

The good news is that I *did* get new glass put in the two windows that we broke so THAT'S a bit of progress, right??  The one window where we bent the frame? Well the guy at the glass place worked for two hours to get it straightened out to be able to hold the glass, so I'm thankful for his hard work & efforts.  I won't get a chance to put it in the trailer until later this week, so that will be the true test.  Until then, I ordered some buck rivets to replace those outside pop rivets (a BIG no no) and a new window crank to see if they'll work better than the old ones that are defunct.  I just ordered one in case they don't work properly.  If they get the job done, then I'll be ordering more.

I'll be heading back over to the wig wam on Thursday--until then, I hope you all have a blessed Thanksgiving!!!!!

Recent decor purchases

Wonder how long away it will be before I can actually decorate the Airstream??  Who knows the real answer, but I continue to collect things from time to time, nonetheless.  Here are a couple of my recent Etsy purchases.  (For those of you following along that want to add to your vintage camper collection, there is a *ton* of available adorable items on Etsy--don't say I didn't warn you!!)

A lil' Airstream pot holder--custom colors!

1957 Tea Towel, to match our beloved '57 Overlander

Another rainy workday

Of course, the past two weekends that we didn't work on the trailer were sunny & mostly warm.  This Saturday?  Rainy & chilly of course!  Not too cold, but not warm enough to continue working on stripping the front end cap.  So, at least we had the Airstream to keep us dry.  We were able to finish sanding the exposed frame, grind down any burrs on the frame to get ready for welding, disinfected the walls inside the trailer, and removed the old step.  Today I ordered a new step, and some new window cranks, so hopefully they'll be here before next weekend--and of course, they're calling for rain!

My mom helping remove the old sealant

Our brother-in-law, Derek, cutting some new iron pieces for the frame

Mark sanding the bottom of the frame

More fun with windows....

The windows that are able to be removed from their tracks (in other words, the ones with broken cranks), have now been resealed.  The ones that still have the crank attached are proving to be a bit of a pain.  We can't figure out how to get the crank off the track that runs down the middle of the window.  Because that crank is still attached, the glass can't slide out.  I'm about to just fix the seal with the window attached, which will probably be tricky, but not impossible.  It's frustrating because I'm sure the answer is simple...but I'm getting impatient & irritated....surely it's not rocket science!

Window seal accomplished!

Brought the rear window home with me and ordered new window seals from Vintage Trailer Supply this week.  The new seals arrived yesterday, so as I sat by the fire recuperating from our Halloween party, I was able to remove the old dried up seal, cleaned up the window really good, and installed the new seal.  Fits perfectly!!  The folks at Vintage Trailer Supply were kind enough to help me figure out which one I needed. 
Here's the before and after:

 

I did it!

Paint? Tar? Sealer? Who knows....

Yesterday's work was not-so-fun, not-so-productive.  The aircraft stripper that did so great in the aerosol can, did not fare so well being painted on.  Of course, buying it by the jug is much more cost effective than the cans, but I will be going back to the cans to try to tackle this end cap.  I do believe that I will step it up to a more hard core (read: dangerous) form of stripper for the top.  Thankfully (and I am thankful for the small things), the rear end cap is not painted with this goop so there's that.  Not to mention the fact that it was kind of rainy on Saturday, so maybe the dampness played a part in the ineffectiveness of the aircraft stripper this weekend.  Going back tomorrow with aerosol can in hand....we'll see!

Dropping the belly pan & showing some grass....

My brother-in-law cut out the rusted pieces of the back frame this week.  We're working on getting new pieces cut and then welded back in.  Yesterday we dropped the front belly pan.  All the Airstream restoration experts always say it's not a project until you're standing on the ground inside the frame.  Well, I guess it's officially a project now :)
Currently pricing plywood for the floor, prodex for the insulation, and brake wiring.  I'm absolutely thrilled with this weekend's progress!

Rusty pieces of frame removed

Showing some grass

Standing on solid ground, yet inside the 'Stream.  We've come a long way, baby.

Can you say "rusted & busted?"

Derek helping out with the floor removal & inspection of the rusted frame.

Maybe we should change the name from Wig Wam to Rust Bucket?? :)

We are known for doing everything bass-ackwards, and this project is not exempt from that mentality.  While we had initially planned to start from the front of the trailer & move to the back, upon further contemplation, we've now decided to start in the back & move forward.  So....with that being said, we took out the back floor this weekend.  It came out in bits and pieces, and to be honest, most of it was removed by hand because it was so rotten.  Because of all the rotten wood, the frame has obviously been exposed to much water and dampness over the past 50 years and has succumbed to the rust.  The main frame is not too bad, although there are spots that need to be strengthened, the cross beams were shot.  The one in the very back (under the window) wasn't even connected to the frame anymore, as you will see from the pictures below.  Looks like we have some welding work ahead!!!

Oh deer....

No work on the 'stream this past weekend, as we had several local events that were going on that we wanted to attend.  However, I wanted to share with you the cutest little necklace that I bought on Etsy.  I plan to remove the chain and affix it to a wall or one of the wood partitions.  I have big plans for it!

All interior skins are out!

We started this process of removing everything in the Airstream back in May.  As of Sat, Sept 7, we can officially say it is all removed.  Every item that was nailed down, riveted in, screwed in, glued in, and painted on is now gone.  Only working on Saturdays has been one of the reasons for taking so long, but then again, I'm pleased with what we've done and the time frame in which we accomplished it.  Could be worse, ya know?!  Now we begin the process of removing the floor and the belly pan.  We haven't exactly figured out which one we're going to tackle first....there are two schools of thought with this phase, and a lot of it will depend on how much my brother-in-law can assist us over the next few days.  We're going to be hitting some busy weekends over the next month, so there will be limited times of work days.  Either way, I hope to have the floor out and the frame painted before cold weather sets in.

Long ceiling panel making its way out the back window

Front end cap out--all interior skins removed!

It's like an oversized, upside down taco

Well, this past Saturday yielded only one thing.  The removal of the ceiling panel that runs almost the entire length of the Airstream.  We *finally* got that thing down.  It was nasty, it was not fun, but we got it done.  To get it out of the trailer, it needs to go out the back window.  While we did get the screen removed and the middle pieces of the frame down, we haven't quite tackled that job.  We decided to put it off until next weekend.  It was so hot & humid this past weekend that we couldn't handle it, and that big ol' upside down taco is gonna have to be rolled much tighter than what you see in the photos below: