Prepping For Paint

It's been cold last few days. Running an oil heater in the Airstream but not doing much good without a floor to contain the heat. On wire brushing detail - removing rust and old paint. Found out about a product called POR-15 which is some space age paint that creates an amazingly hard coating around metal. It's so gnarly that I have to put duct tape on the rim of the paint can because if any of the product gets on the lip, you'll never get the lid off next time. Oh and, if you get it on you and it dries just a little . . . you'll be wearing it for days! Hoping to get the new floor in this weekend and then it will really feel like we've turned the corner on getting Casita back together. Hope I don't have any bolts left over! LOL.

Brand New [Old] Frame!

Welder came a second day and we finished up with reinforcing the frame. We added all new Outriggers [the pieces of steel that look somewhat wing-like on the outermost part of the frame] as well as angle in places that were weakened with rust - primarily in the rear section as seen in this photo. We also added the carrier for the propane tanks that will rest on the tongue.

Old Axles Out and Welder Came Today

Here's the old axles in the back of my truck. They weren't too bad to get out. It's amazing that each one is only held together with four bolts. Guess that means the Airstream is riding on eight bolts! Yikes! The main tubes are bent by a machine so the wheels are cambered properly.

Welder came and did repair work on frame. Some areas were badly rusted and needed some help. More welding on frame after Christmas and to attach the rack where the propane tanks will rest on the tongue.

Floor Removal

Getting down to the nitty gritty now! Just finished getting the old flooring torn out as well as removing the aluminum underside known as the 'Belly Pan'. All that's left is the shell, frame, axles and wheels. You can see the old, funky pink insulation hanging down. Doubt it had much R-value left! Lots of rust, dust and mouse droppings. Argh! I'm using yellow cargo straps to help keep the shell from popping off the frame. Here, Jennifer is waterproofing plywood for the new floor.

Today, I'm dropping the old axles so we can take them in, get measured and order new ones. Tomorrow I have a welder named David Bliss of Bliss Fabrications coming over to help me re-fortify the frame. Then new flooring. Phew! Lotta work!

Exterior Mirror By Jennifer

Jennifer has been goin' to town on polishing the Airstream. You can see the difference by comparing the bottom where she is working to the top that is still oxidized and dirty. Go Jennifer!!

No, she's not polishing the entire thing by hand! She is using an orbital polisher but doing some detail work here-and-there by hand. Click on the pix to see them enlarged - then click your back button to return to blog.

Homemade Tandem Wheel Ramps

I purchased some 2" x 12" lumber and custom built a pair of wheel ramps so I can get the Airstream up high enough to work under it comfortably. Jen and I pulled 'er up yesterday and I also located six jack stands around the frame and tongue for added safety. Using a crawler, I rolled up under and began removing rivets and screws so I could pull off the belly pan [aluminum sheeting used to cover the underside of the trailer]. It has holes and open areas, so needs replacing. I pulled more pink insulation out and will replace with a rigid board type insulation.

Torsion Axles - Out With The Old, In With The New

I recently discovered that after 31 years of faithful service, our axles are shot and need replacing. In addition, I've pulled up some sub flooring to inspect the frame and found it's pretty rusty in most places. I'll use a grinder with wire brush and probably rent a sand blaster to clean it up, then prep and paint it After, new plywood sub flooring. Yikes, so this is ending up being a complete 'from the ground up' restoration which we didn't anticipate when we first bought her. On the bright side, when finished, we'll virtually have a brand new Airstream! And as Jennifer puts it, I'll be very intimate with Casita which I like because now I will know her inside and out and when any future repairs come up, I'll know exactly where to look, what to do and will have the tools to do it.

Old Wiring Tear Out

Getting down to the end of the last bit of tear out. There are three separate wiring systems in Airstreams: 1] The wiring harness for running and tail lights, 2] A 12 volt DC system and 3] a 110 volt AC system. I tore out the AC and DC wiring which is this heaping mess as seen here.

I've already started drafting wiring diagrams for new systems which I'm actually looking forward to installing.

New Door Lock and Insulation

Our neighbor Jerry Reese was kind enough to donate a Lowes gift card toward our Airstream renovation, so used it to purchase materials to fix our front door. Thank you Jerry!! When we bought Casita, the door was being held closed by one small screw. Where the door opener/lock used to be was this ugly, gaping hole. I bought a new lock and installed it, along with adding insulation and brown Masonite for the interior. I also scraped off and replaced the old weather stripping. Lookin' good now! I also bought a dead bolt that still needs installing.

The Shining

No, not the movie . . . the Airstream! As I'm working through the mechanical stuff, Jennifer and Sawyer are working on cosmetics and have begun the lengthy process of buffing and shining the exterior. The aluminum on this trailer is 31 years old and although it doesn't rust, it has oxidized considerably over the years. We are absolutely amazed at how shiny the aluminum becomes with some elbow grease - nearly a mirror finish. You can see in these photos the before and after phases and just look at Casita shine!

Below, Casita is on the left and on the right another Airstream fully polished. She's gonna be beautiful! You can click on the images of this blog to view them at larger scale.

They Were Flying Mother Nature's Silver Seed To A New Home In The Sun

The title of this entry is taken from a line in a Neil Young song called, "After The Goldrush", from the album of the same name. It's really apropos for us in describing our new journey in the Airstream because it truly is taking us to our new home in the sun. We're making our way back to the warmth of the California sun with the ultimate goal of buying a small plot of land and building a hybrid home. The Airstream is our means to that end.

Through straw bale construction, active and passive solar design, wind energy, digging our own well and growing our own food - we'll create a small, energy efficient home that will allow us to live very comfortably off grid, without the pressure of rent/mortgage or monthly utility bills. This is our dream. Others are already doing it so I know it is within our grasp!

The image above is a photo of a hybrid home built by an amazing man named, Ted Owens who shares his knowledge of sustainable living and energy efficiency through a web site called,
"Building With Awareness". If you have any interest in these things, then you really must do yourself a favor and check it out. There are multiple videos and photos on the site that describe the process of building such a home and Mr. Owens has written a book and produced a video documentary of the construction which is on DVD, both of which are available for purchase on the site.

The Impetus

A few months back, a story and video appeared on Yahoo! that Jennifer and I saw which immediately, and literally changed the course of our lives. The article was about a man named Jay Shafer who had written a book called, "The Small House Book" that chronicles his journey toward a simpler life  - which started by purchasing and living in a small Airstream travel trailer. He later built a tiny home on a trailer which led to building tiny homes for others and his company, "Tumbleweed Tiny House Company" was born.

We bought the book [highly recommended reading] and learned that Jay's philosophies made a lot of sense and it really woke us up to how we have become a country steeped in over-consumption. 

" For most Americans, big houses have come to symbolize the good life; but, all symbolism aside, the life these places actually foster is more typically one of drudgery. Mortgage payments can appropriate thirty to forty percent of a household’s income not counting taxes, insurance, or maintenance expenses. When every spare penny is going towards house payments, there is nothing left over for investments, travel, continued education, more time with the kids, or even so much as a minute to relax and enjoy life. At this rate, an oversized house can start to look more like a debtor’s prison than a home." - Jay Shafer

When I read that, my life was changed. I realized that we were prisoners to our mortgage and at this rate, we'd never get ahead or be able to save for retirement.

Looking around our house we realized that we had all this stuff which we never really used. Jennifer and I started having discussions and found we had a mutual desire to strip things way back and begin a new, simpler way of living

I started thinking about the concept of "The American Dream" and how it doesn't really exist anymore. In the 50's, families could own homes comfortably on one income. Now for most couples, it takes two incomes and that often is hardly enough.

While researching online about "simpler living", we found there are many other people out there like us [a movement if you will] who are longing to get out from under heavy mortgages, grow their own food, employing solar for electrical needs and just generally get off the grid and become more free and self-sustaining. It made me think about my grandfathers and how they raised their families on farms, plowing the fields with mule teams and how I myself want to leave the craziness of corporate gigs, work the earth, commune with others and have critters around me. I dream of having my own draft horse team some day.

This is a photo of my mother's father, John Whittenburg. Farmer, carpenter, artist and craftsman.

Our Airstream is going to take us to that place! I already feel my blood pressure lowering . . . :-)

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Trailer Tongue

Hmmm. Trailer tongue. Sounds erotic and trashy at the same time. I spent time last night grinding the tongue in preparation for paint, then added safety chains and sway control bar that will keep the Airstream from fishtailing when 18-wheelers go whipping past us. Also installed a 'Breakaway Switch' that will activate the trailers electric brakes should the trailer become disconnected from our truck.

Tail Lights

Worked on replacing tail lights today. The old ones were brittle from years of service under a brutal Texas sun. Jennifer designed and cut out new gaskets to help make them water tight. The bottom image is the light for license plates. Can't wait 'til there are California license plates under that light!

New Lights and Pigtail [Hitch Harness]

Most of the exterior lights were decrepit so I replaced those, then added a 7-pin harness to my truck to match the pigtail on the trailer. Of course . . . when I hitched it up, the lights didn't work properly but with some diligence and cussing, I managed to get all the lights working properly.

Interior Skins [Walls]

Here are all the aluminum skins laid out on our back deck which make up the interior walls. The basic construction of an Airstream is like that of an airplane. There is a skeleton of 'ribs' - a support system that has aluminum sheets riveted both inside and out making the interior and exterior walls. I made up a numbering system and used Sharpie markers to make notations so I'd know how to put all this back together [read: breadcrumbs]. LOL.

Electrical Nightmare!

I realized two things immediately once I started working on Casita . . . that I was going to have to completely gut her inside in order to see where certain leaks were coming from and to re-run the electrical. The interior wiring needed a lot of work, so just decided to start from the ground up [pun intended]. Here are some shots of the wiring and progress on the tear out. SO MUCH WORK! It ended up taking three truckloads to the dump. What a mess.

First Step - Waterproofing

I figured the first thing we'd need to do is get this thing 'sea worthy' so began pulling off the windows and dove into the arduous and tedious task of cleaning the windows and scraping off and replacing old weatherstripping. There are a number of leaks that need caulking so it's taking some time getting this done. I rented scaffolding in order to get above the Airstream without actually being on it - with concern of crushing the soft aluminum and making more leaks. As it turned out, the fence next to the driveway is exactly the same height as the scaffolding so I was able to bridge over the trailer with an extension ladder. Worked perfect!

Our Aistream Dream

We did it! We finally realized a dream we've had for some time and purchased our first Airstream travel trailer. Ours is a vintage 1979 Sovereign model and is 31 feet long. I drove six hours from Plano to Odessa, Texas to pick her up and she pulled beautifully behind my F150. We managed to squeeze it down the alley and into our driveway behind our home where we've been restoring it for the past several months. This blog will serve as an e-journal to chart our progress with the restoration and our maiden voyage back home to California.