1959 Airstream Tradewind restoration part 1

Honey, I found an Airstream on Craigslist! I suppose that's how it always starts. Shelly just rolls her eyes and says how much , and where is it, which is understandable, knowing we've gone as far as Pennsylvania to fetch an Airstream. This one's only $2500 and it's in Joshua! Three hours later a brand new 1959 Airstream rolls into our driveway.  I had to; it was a month older than me, so I naturally felt sorry for it. Besides, I talked the guy down to $2000. Now what? A total restoration, that's what. Over the next few weeks, I started polishing the outside, only to find out someone before me had used sandpaper, or maybe rocks to remove the years of oxidation. It still shines up nicely, but now we have to figure out what to do inside. We decided to remove the inside skins, to rewire the whole trailer, and to push out the small dents. 

 We need everything that goes in any travel trailer, since this one is completely gutted. So when the salvage 2003 Airstream Classic 30' came up for sale on Ebay, it seemed natural to bid on it. We won! Hey, it was relatively cheap, $3600, and it's only a 13 hour drive to St. Louis. A 2003 Classic 30' that was rolled onto it's right side. We met the seller about 7 at night in a parking lot, where we paid him, and took possession of our 8th Airstream. It's a beauty, if you are looking at it from the left side. We drove to a state park on the outskirts or St. Louis, and took one of the last campsites, which had no utilities, but we were tired, and wanted to see what we bought. The lights work! The trailer is dirty, so we cleaned it, and swept up the glass. The water pump worked after resetting the breaker, which allowed the toilet to work! We had brought sheets, hoping we could use the camper, but we didn't expect the 30 degree cold. But we survived, and now Shelly has another "Richard is crazy" story. We got a few looks of pity, as we rolled down the highway, and more than one person asked what happened, when we stopped. We drove almost to Oklahoma City the next day, with few complications, and camped with electricity that night. The heat pump works! Ahh, warmth. The water heater works on electric too. I guess I've digressed, but to make a long story short, we spent the next two months unbuilding an Airstream. Now we have all the major appliances, wiring, plumbing, and extra pieces that we need to fix the 1959. We sold the pieces we didn't need, and made some of our money back, and seemed to make several people happy with the parts.

  Now, back to the story.  I took off a patch of aluminum on the right side of the 1959, which was pop riveted to the outside, and I wanted to fix it right. In the meantime, my parents have been looking for a small Camper to pull behind their Buick Rendezvous. Somewhere, I came up with the idea that making the Tradewind shorter would not be too hard since part of the skin was off anyway. That was when I proposed the idea of fixing this one up for my parents. Mom was ecstatic about the idea, but lets just say dad was skeptical. I had been reading about a restoration rally in Albuquerque, and decided it was perfect timing to learn how to do a " body off " restoration. That is a different blog, but the event gave me confidence that it was a possibility. Several professionals convinced me not to shorten the Tradewind, but to convince my parents to buy a bigger tow vehicle. That actually went easier than I thought it would, and they both seem to like the idea of a 24' Airstream.

 I got to spend several days buying tools (yea!) and parts to use fixing the Airstream. The day before the " body off " , I rigged up a winch to a pulley in the center of the barn, and braced the body with 2 x 4's. I used a 4 x 6 cedar beam to lift from the top of the trailer. I had already cut or drilled out all the fasteners holding the shell to the frame.

 Dad came over to help with removing the shell. With the winch doing the work, the shell lifted off perfectly, and the frame was moved outside. The shell was set down on sawhorses in the barn. I had been dreading crawling under the trailer to cut the rusted bolts holding the plywood down. After looking at it, I realized if I cut the plywood with a skilsaw, I could pull the plywood loose, and cut the bolts off from the top. It worked! That saved a lot of time and aggravation. Dad started painting the bath tub with plastic spray paint, while I wirebrushed the frame. Dad then drilled out the bottom row of rivets holding the bottom rail to the shell. That cleaned up the looks considerably. We are going to put double axles on the Tradewind, so I measured, and remeasured, and finally ordered the Dexter torsion axles from Redneck trailer supply. They'll take two weeks to get here, so that gives me time to figure out the holding tanks. I wirebrushed the frame, and my son-in-law Damon helped me paint the primer on the frame.

 In the meantime, Shelly and I went to a rally in Bend, Texas. Soon after we got back, our axles came in, and I fabricated the brackets to hold the axles to the trailer. I had ordered the brackets to hold the aluminum step, and I welded them in place. I cut off the shackles holding the axle, and spent several hours grinding down the high spots, and the bad welds on the bumper. Amazing how much fun a guy can have, isn't it?

This is what it looked like when I got it home. Not bad for a 54 year old!

The inside looked a little rough, but I wanted to start fresh, so it will be gutted.

 

Another look inside.

The good side of the 2003 Classic 30'

The wrecked side

The demolition continues.

"Body off" the easy way! Skilsaw!

Inside the Tradewind showing the inside skins removed and the bracing for the "body off". 

 The 4x6 about to lift from the ceiling.

 And it is off.

 The ugly plywood and insulation comes off too.

Wire brushing the rust off. Dirty work.

The body is sitting on sawhorses.

 The cleaned frame.

It took about 8 hours of cutting, grinding, and welding to get the frame ready to paint. Dad, Erica, and Damon came over to help. I'm sure by the end of the day, they were wondering about their sanity, and will think twice before saying" any time you need help". We used the tractor to flip the frame over, which went surprisingly well. We primered the weld spots, and then painted the frame black. Next was the belly pan, which was much easier than when it will be right side up. We also screwed the holding tank pan in place. We decided to mount the axles before we flipped it back over, which turned out to be a great idea since the fit was so tight it needed a small sledge hammer to gently fit in place. I'm not sure how we would have done that if it was right side up. We used the tractor to turn it right side up again, and put the wheels on.

 Ready for new axles.

The axle brackets are welded in place

Flipping the frame

 Painting the frame

Riveting the belly pan

 Axles on, and pan for holding tanks in place

Now, we finished painting the top of the frame. We insulated between the frame members, and cut the plywood for the subfloor. I think we put in about 12 hours today. Whew, I need a vacation. Luckily, we're leaving for San Marcos on Thursday. 

 Insulation, and aluminum shield for step

New decking