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Posts Tagged ‘1974’

Airstreamy Has Been In The Shop for 9 days…

Posted in Airstream, Airstream Business, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 6, 2011| 1 Comment »

I am having some terrible separation anxiety. 9 days ago we took our airstream to have all the gas appliances pressure-checked and have it looked at generally to see if everything appears to be safe and functional. I am not sure why it has taken 9 days to have someone look at the system, but I guess that’s how these RV shops work. We were supposed to get a call today to let us know if anything needs repair and get estimates for any needed work, but now they say they won’t be looking at until Monday :(. We are crossing our fingers that everything is a-ok, but we are prepared to spend some moola to ensure our safety away from home.

Some better news is that we just got a super awesome print for the airstream in the mail. I framed it in a lightweight frame with plexiglass front. I can’t wait to hang it up in the airstream. Check out The Mango Tree Project on Etsy. They create their art in a 31′ 1969 Airstream in Mexico.

This print we bought is so cheerful and fun!

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Our 1974 Air Conditioning Unit And ‘House’ Refrigerator Work!

Posted in Air conditioning, Airstream, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 23, 2011| 1 Comment »

Today our good friend/electrician, Kyle Zimmerman of RedTail Electric, came over to assess our electrical situation. We are far from done with electrical, but we needed to ensure whether we were pulling the right amount of power to run everything in the airstream. We were trying to power everything off a 20 amp breaker. Now, we have a 30 amp breaker, dedicated to powering the trailer. We also made modifications to Matt’s existing 220 circuit in the garage. After those fixes were done, Matt turned on the AC and it started blowing out cold air. I almost couldn’t believe it! So, I brought my new temperature gauge out to the airstream and got 59 degree air blowing out.

We had tried to turn on the refrigerator previously, but couldn’t get it to work. With today’s quick electrical fixes, it turned right on and got chilly fast. It is a household refrigerator that we will soon replace with an RV model. They are just so stinking expensive!

We were so excited about the AC and refrigerator that we decided to bring our dogs out, snuggle up on the couch, eat dinner and watch movies in the airstream. So lovely!!

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Making Progress…

Posted in Airstream, Flooring, kitchen, living area, Renovation, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 21, 2011| 4 Comments »

We have owned Airstreamy for about 1.5 months and keep working on getting her ready for the road. Our custom-order black and grey water tanks arrived a couple days ago. We now have the task of installing them, which should be a lot of fun (not!). Since this airstream was lived in, a lot of the traveling components were discarded, by a prior owner. We haven’t been able to test the plumbing yet. We have heard the water pump turn on when we use the control center on button, but we haven’t filled the water tank. The waste tank install is a major hurdle to getting us on the road. We also have to take the airstream in for service to have all our gas appliances pressure-tested, to ensure they are safe for use. We hope to do that in the next couple weeks.

There aren’t many things that Christie and I can do in the trailer, as we have no mechanical knowledge whatsoever. We’re good on the cosmetic/design side. We’ve been hunting for some good drapery fabric, but still coming up slim on options. Most of the patterns we find are too busy, so we think we’ll go with a simple off white. I put together a $10 table I got at Ikea for a coffee table; It’ll work just perfect. We got all the ceiling lights working and bought brand new plastic covers for them. The covers don’t fit properly, so we have to make a few adjustments to the power knobs to get them to fit snug. I got the old speakers all painted and ready to be installed, but Matt thinks we should get new ones. Speakers are low on my priority list, as we can just bring a stereo with us. I have been spray painting the screen door silver and working on some kitchen solutions. I wish there was a way to repair our existing kitchen cabinet tambour doors, but they are in rough shape. We might build new cabinet doors or buy new tambour…we haven’t decided yet. Here’s some updated progress photos:

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Every Airstream Needs Flamingos, Right?

Posted in Airstream, tagged , , , , on September 20, 2011| 1 Comment »

In anticipation of hitting the road this fall, we have adopted 2 flamingos. We have yet to name them.

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Destination: Back Yard

Posted in Parking, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on September 8, 2011| 2 Comments »

I haven’t been able to park my car in the garage, since we got Airstreamy. And, the Airstream blocks in the 59 Caddy and 61 Oldsmobile. With fall approaching and nicer weather coming our way, I want to get out and drive the caddy (and reclaim my garage parking spot). It’s been about 5 months since I’ve driven the Caddy…since it is simply too hot without AC. I was trying to think of where we could put the airstream besides in our driveway. Then, I pictured our master bedroom side yard.

We easily have about 40′ of space in this little grass patch on the side of our house. Our only dilemma is that access to this side of the yard is through the alley. We have block fencing that runs the entire length of our backyard, with 1 custom metal gate by Stel Objekt Studio , which is so beautiful that I don’t want to take it down. We would have to lay a 31+’ concrete parking slab where the grass is (or pea gravel for an immediate solution), but that is totally doable. Our neighbor, who also has a large RV came over yesterday to talk with Matt in the backyard. They think it is possible to knock down about 12′ of the block wall and install a rolling gate in it’s place.

Before we start working on actually making this a reality, we are going to set up cones out front with the dimensions we have to work with in the alley and backyard to see if this is a good place to store the airstream.

The other option is to store the airstream at an offsite self-storage facility, when we are not working on it or getting ready to use it. I found that rates are going to be $200-300/mo. Ouch!

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Project #13: Replace Front Overhead Reading Lights

Posted in Lighting, living area, tagged , , , , , on August 30, 2011| Leave a Comment »

We knew we wanted ‘bullet’ style lights in the airstream, so I was tasked to find the light covers. I looked at vintage ones, but realized I could get a similar look with some Ikea hacking. We bought 2 $9.99 lights (similar to these) and took them apart. Matt reinstalled the lights and they are perfect! They are adjustable and cast a cool pattern on the walls.

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Project #12: Remove Living Room Cabinet And Fix Floor Rot

Posted in Before photos, Flooring, living area, paint, priming walls, Renovation, tagged , , , , , , on August 30, 2011| 2 Comments »

I guess it is a good thing that I suck at measuring things. In an effort to get the sofa bed to fit where it is supposed to fit, we decided to take out the side living room cabinet with the 8 track player (*tear*). We had noticed a small area of rot in an inaccessible area behind the cabinet. So, we picked up from 23/32″ plywood (really Lowes, no 5/8″ plywood?!….geez) to repair the damage. We were able to replace the damaged plywood in 2 of the areas and used bondo by the door. Matt sanded the bondo and got dust evvveeerrrryyywwwhhhheeerrrreeee! I was so sad because I had been cleaning this airstream for weeks now (assuming demo was done!). He redeemed himself by thoroughly cleaning the sofa and floors. I primed and painted the wall that was behind the cabinet. Next, we have to caulk the edges of the floor where the patches are and install the new flooring over it.

We’re making progress with other projects. We ordered new blackwater and graywater tanks today. They are being custom made and should be here in 4-6 weeks. I feel like making a paper chain counting down the days because that is a long time to wait!!

We got the 1974 AC working for about 1 minute. We’re pretty sure it’s gonna be trash because A) It is impossible to find someone locally to work on it, B) It uses R-11 refrigerant, which is basically for sale at the price of gold, and, C) We could spend $450 and get a brand new one a lot easier than trying to fix this one.

Christie and I priced out fabrics for curtains. I am not in love with any of the patterns available locally, so I am researching some good modern fabrics online, but we might just go with $.99/yard muslin and possibly use it as a liner, once we find some rad fabric for curtains.

I cleaned the inside of all the kitchen cabinets….all I can say is EW. Gross. Yucky.

I’m thinking we could be ready for camping in about 30-45 days, depending on when our waste water tanks come in. Or, we can find a KOA with bathroom facilities and take airstreamy out sooner. Can’t wait!

Here are some photos of what we’ve been up to over the last few days:

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Project #11: Install Sofa Bed In Living Area

Posted in Before photos, Flooring, kitchen, living area, Renovation, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 24, 2011| Leave a Comment »

This project sounds easier than it was. We bought a sofa bed ‘site-to-store’ from Walmart called the Atherton Home Manhattan Convertible Futon Sofa Bed and Lounger (Pearl color) for $269. It had great reviews and was the cheapest, nicest looking one we could find online. We picked up the sofa in a big box last night that barely fit in the back of Matt’s Expedition. We decided to wait for daylight to move the sofa into the airstream. We kept it wrapped and carefully wiggled it inside. Once inside we had to install the short little legs and figure out the ‘click-clack’ function. The sofa bed can be a sofa, double chaise lounge or a bed, with a couple clicks. We got it all put together and tried to squeeze it into the area it was supposed to go….it didn’t fit! Boo! I took measurements before buying the sofa to ensure it would fit, but what I didn’t account for was the slight curve at the front of the airstream, which strips us of 1-2″ of square space.  The sofa base is square and can’t be changed. So, in the meantime, we have it set up as a double chaise. Matt is going to do some measurements to see if it will fit snugly, if we cut the countertop to the side back a little bit. It sure does make the space look cleaner and newer. Every project gets us a step closer to a modernized airstream. Don’t mind the filthy floors in the photos….we just finished laying them last night. We still have some trim pieces to install before they’re finished.

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Project #10: Install New Flooring In Living Area And Bedroom

Posted in Flooring, kitchen, living area, Renovation, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 22, 2011| 5 Comments »

The airstream definitely needed new flooring; the existing vinyl flooring was worn and didn’t match the retro trailer. Once we started taking up the vinyl flooring, we realized it was not only glued down (and super sticky), but it was also nailed down. We spent a while sanding the sticky floor with 3 sanders and removed all the nails. I had originally thought of sanding the plywood smooth and painting a glossy white finish over it, but the time and cost associated with that project made me think more towards traditional floors. I really wanted white flooring, but Christie and Matt talked me into a dark wood laminate instead, which they said will be easier to keep clean. We got 7 boxes of the Tundra dark brown laminate from Ikea, which should be enough to cover the living area and bedrooms. The cost per/sq ft is $1.15, so it ended up being a very cost-effective improvement.

We are about 1/3 of the way done with the flooring. Matt hurt his back yesterday, so we are on a short hiatus until he recovers. I’ve been cleaning the inside of cabinets and working on little projects on the inside. I have to locate a light-weight modern/contemporary flooring for the bathroom and find a good fabric for the drapery this week. We have a new sleeper-sofa coming on Friday, which will get us another step closer to getting this trailer out of town. We also just got the owner’s/service manual in the mail. We are looking at dimensions for the blackwater and graywater tanks, so we can get those installed asap.  This week is expected to be HOT…some forecasts say up to 116 degrees. Until we have our 30 amp circuit installed in the garage, we won’t be able to test and/or fix the AC unit. I am counting down the days to AC!!!

UPDATE 8/24/11: We have finished laying the flooring in the living space and bedroom area. We just have to install some trim pieces and transitions.

Here are some before and progress photos of the flooring:

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Vintage 1970s Airstream Photos

Posted in Vintage 1970s Airstream Photos, tagged , , , , , , on August 21, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Through my research online, it looks like Airstream put out brochures every year in the 1970s (and maybe beyond)  called The Airstream Story. I found several 1970s copies of The Airstream Story and the photos are priceless. We plan to re-create at least a few of these photos.

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