Working again

It seems I got a job. Janie asked if I could rebuild her 1969 Airstream Caravel, after the front axle broke on her Suburban, causing her to hit a guardrail. Since I only had three or four projects to do, I agreed to the job. 

You can see the dents on the lower panel, and the shallow dent on the upper panel

The left side had several patches

The inside was functional, but needed updating

The screen door needed help

The door had a scrape and patches

The entire inside had to come out, and several of the cabinets fell apart during the deconstruction. It was a good thing we decided to rebuild the cabinets.

We put down a checkered plastic drop cloth to protect the marmoleum floor. When we sent Janie the picture, we told her we replaced the floor as a joke. She got a little panicked when we didn't answer our phone to tell her it was only a drop cloth, and the floor was still there. 

There was some rotted plywood in the back, which we replaced, and the black tank had cracks in it, so it was replaced also. The axle was near the end of life, so we bought a new one. With the inside removed, we started with the upper right segment.

New sunroof

 Lots of clecos

Left and back panels removed

 New panels

Tail light holder polished

Tail light cans repainted

 Shower stall repainted

New spare tire holder installed

Before and after painting the wing window trim pieces

New aluminum wheel covers. The old plastic ones were very brittle and falling apart. 

Battery and wiring cleaned up

The wing Windows on the 1969 Airstreams had a square bottom corner, and are hard to find. The replacement windows available are lexan, and twice the price of the glass windows with the rounded bottom corners. We replaced both wing Windows with the rounded bottoms, and added a small piece of aluminum to fill the gap. 

New cabinets

The finished project. I need a vacation. It's getting hot, and I'm thinking of a nice cool spot in the mountains above Santa Fe.