A Wisconsin Airstream

Adding frame support and new outriggers. Under the water heater, we had some rusted out outriggers. We welded new pieces on to add support in that area. Also, we removed the black tank in the back and added a new cross member for more floor support.

How to achieve the front curve without a reference. So, this was a lot of research and I want to share how to achieve the front curve by the tic stick or memory stick method. Our old piece was not usable. Tooooo much water damage and rot to even resemble the front curve. So for this, we took a yard stick and in the back we carved a "V" and I'm the front we made it into a point. (See pictured above) For this to work, we need to place your reference boards edge exactly where your piece of subfloor will sit. This way you are getting the exact distance as well as matching the curve. We clamped down the wood we would be using in the spot where the subfloor ended. You simply place the yard stick into the C channel and trace where your V is on the reference wood or paper. You then make enough marks to get a solid amount of points for your curve. Think of this as a giant connect the dots. Once you have enough points, you remove your board you have been tracing on and place it the same distance that you were using to make your marks onto your piece of wood. Both side to side, and front to back distances need to match. You then do the opposite of what you were doing. You line up the "V" and then place a point at the tip. You end up with a bunch of dots. Your curve!! Trace, cut, and viola

Winter airstream Waiting out the snow to keep working.

Always planning and calculating

Being able to work standing amongst the frame is a big upgrade vs walking around on boards or balancing on the metal. Once everything was cleaned, we wire brushed the frame and coated it with a rust oleum rust reforming spray. After a few coats of this, we then covered it with a black rustoleum enamel spray. This also was one of the longer steps for us. This was due to it being November and the temps were not cooperating with the min. Usage temp on the cans. We would have to wait for the weather to reach above 40* then we would get to work. After about 2 months of back and forth and waiting and waiting, we finally got it done

At this point in the subfloor demo, we did not remove the belly pan. We ended up dropping the front half of the pan which allowed us more access to the frame and to clean it up. We were always to hesitant to drop it, like it was some giant Un-doable process. In hindsight, it’s actually one of the easier more straight forward things to do. Just remember that it’s being held up by rivets and going against gravity. We had a few rivets just pull through the pan which expanded their holes. In the 1969, there is a giant flap that extend down past the body and folds under the airstream. This is then riveted to the bottom on the belly pan. We first removed the banana wrap and tackled this part next. With the banana wrap and flap undone, you are free to drill out the rivets on the belly pan to drop it.

Sanitize and subfloor removal. With all the insulation out, we washed out the inside and got any remaining insulation bits and dirt from the walls. We then scrubbed with a heavy duty cleaner and sprayed again. Next it was onto the subfloor for removal. We started at the front. There was such bad water damage, a hammer and crowbar was able to start removing a few nice chunks. Once we found a dry spot, a circular saw set to the depth of the floor would help us cut sections out. For the pesky areas, we used a sawzall. This 1969 used spray foam as insulation under the subfloor. It made it much more difficult to remove the pieces. It was almost like an extra glue under the floor.

October 3rd vs March 13th

Knowledge is power Since the day we brought our airstream home, I started keeping a notebook of different items I see or learn along the way. This could be simple things from the size of interior rivets, to more difficult, like the type of wire used to run the 120v system. This has been such a big help throughout our renovation project!! We are a handy family, but never have we done something to this degree before. We have continually added terms, pricing, supplies, and how to in this book over the past 6 months. I hope to come up with a little e-book when we are done to share this info.

Walls off. So, just like the interior of the safari, the interior panels are strategically layered on top of one another. Another giant puzzle. We chose to label each panel and diagram where it went as well as note if it was under or over its touching panels. This way, when we put them back up, we will be able to layer them correctly. This was one of the more frightening tasks. Without knowing what was behind the walls, we proceeded with caution removing each panel. We didn't find any rodents, but we did find years and years of their bathroom and nests... Yuck. The end caps were by far the hardest part. I recommend having two sets of hands getting those down. What makes them tough is their size, as well as being wired up with different outlets and controls. If getting them down was tough, getting them out the door was even more of a challenge, but it can be done!!

Down to the walls. With everything removed, we started the task of removing all the interior skin rivets. This is a big undertaking due to more than 1000 rivets holding the walls up. When we were demoing, the bathroom was the worth part. There were so many different overlapping layers and sealants used to be waterproof. That was a good day of demo by itself. Of course we had to include a picture of floor plan ideas. A little dreaming of the end product is what helps you get past the rough work like removing a 50 year rv toilet.

The tear out: No matter what, we wanted to clean and paint our walls. After removing the first bit of the dinette, we discovered a good amount of rotted floors underneath. Plus a mouse body… We started in the front and soon realized that everything literally is connected. After a lot of drilling, crowbar and puzzle work. We were able to start removing bits and pieces at a time. Under our front dinette is the fresh water tank. This is a big spot for bad floors. After 50 years of this airstream, our scenario was no different. The further we went and the more stuff removed, we realized our initial plan was changing very very rapidly. Most of the original interior items were either disgusting or no longer usable. We made the choice, it all had to go!!

So look and examine before you buy and have fun!!!

Assessment Once we got our safari home, it was time for us to start digging and finding out how much work we would need to put in. We already envisioned wanting to update the interior, but we didn't know what else would need work. After pulling a few pieces out and looking at the floors, insulation, bathroom, Windows, piping, ect. We knew we would have to remove everything.

“The One” So, we went and visited this yard museum of silver rivet machines. The second we stepped foot in one, we knew it was game over. We fell in love immediately. As stated in our previous post, he had a buyer unable to follow through with his purchase. This gave us the opportunity to be the next up at a beautiful 23’ single axle safari. We checked it out along with a few others and left with a firm handshake and a “you will be hearing from us.” Within an hour we were on the phone saying, yes! We want it!!! And 4 days after that, we were driving to pick it up :)

For some reason, large double or triple axel airstreams are a very plentiful used item. They also seem to be less expensive than a vintage shorter trailer. We knew we wanted something 27' or below for our needs. We are a small family of 4 that can fit into a queen size bed, snuggle if I may add, but doable, when we visit family. So this gives us a very towable single axle trailer that won't be hard on our vehicle, and it's smaller and more maneuverable. We could get away with two smaller sleeping spaces. Why on earth would we want to tow a giant camper that extends into the next county?!? So that established out need for trailer size and how we based our search.

Really the theme of our summer was talking about how we want a camper. We debated kinds, sizes, ages, ect. An airstream always was the first choice, but it also seemed the most unobtainable. We would see them occasionally on the road, but never for sale. So the months rolled by and we put our plans on the back burner. While exploring small towns on Lake Michigan with a friend, we spotted the gold mine of all gold mines. This tiny cottage with a yard full of vintage airstreams!!!! I couldn't believe what I was seeing! After all this time there was this treasure right under our noses and within an hour from our home. With a quick google search, I started conversations with the owner. What sometimes would be weeks between replies, July was now almost over. So once again, our camper dreams were pushed off until next year. What came as a surprise, I got a message from the less than punctual replier out of the blue one day. He said he had a seller unable to pick up a model we were asking about previously. Bam! Like that, we had a visit set up for that weekend to come see the airstream.