Renovation Journal

Here I'll be keeping a journal of my restoration, repair, and maintenance efforts on my 1969 Airstream Tradewind arranged by topic and sub-topic.

Exterior Work

11/04/05 It's taken me a while to get a good start on the repairs this old timer needs. First thing has been to try to temporarily seal up it's many leaks for the winter. I'm pretty well finished with that now.

Antenna

11/4/05 Removed remains of broken antenna rotator from roof, insulated the ceiling cavity with a scrap of fiberglass, covered the mounting holes with an aluminum plate sealed with Vulcum and riveted in place with Olympic rivets.

Skin

11/05/05 To date I've scraped off old silicone from front edge of roof skin and sealed it with Alcoa Gutterseal and replaced some loose and missing rivets with Olympic rivets sealed with Vulcum. Also sealed top edge of Awning attachment strip with Alcoa Gutterseal.

Roof vents

Bath vent/fan

11/05/05 Sealed perimeter with Vulcum.

Ceiling vent/fan (forward)

11/04/05I completed rebuilding the plastic cover. I replaced one cover support and re-attached both to the cover. I re-attached the cover supports to the lift-screw-nuts with stainless steel sheet metal screws. Then I installed a new 1/4 x 1 gasket (generic self-stick stuff by Snow King I think). I scraped off the old Vulkum and silicone sealants around the perimeter of the vent and re-sealed it with Alcoa Gutter Seal.

Ceiling vent (rearward)

11/04/05 I completed rebuilding the aluminum cover. I re-attached the cover supports to the lift-screw-nuts with SS sheet metal screws, installed a new 1/4 x 1 gasket (generic self-stick stuff by Snow King I think), scraped off the old Vulkum and silicone sealants around perimeter of vent and re-sealed it with Alcoa Gutterseal.

Plumbing vents

11/06/05 I temporarily sealed these (2) with aluminum tape. The plastic housings are brittle, cracking, and need to be replaced.

Refrigerator vent

11/05/05 I replaced the missing Insect screen with fiberglass screening, held on with wire ties, and sealed the perimeter with Vulcum.

Stove exhaust fan/vent

11/06/05 removed the cover for re-sealing and discovered the plastic to be brittle and cracking. This will need to be replaced in its entirety. I temporarily sealed the opening with aluminum tape.

11/18/05 I finished fabricating and installing a replacement cover. I made a plaster-of-paris mold from the old vent cover and used that to lay up a fiberglass cloth and epoxy replacement. This I painted with aluminum paint and installed with Vulkum and Olympic rivets. The fan was removed and tested before the cover was riveted on. The old insect screen was stuffed in place temporarily - this should be upgraded in the spring.

Windows

Front wing windows

11/04/05 Perimeters sealed with Alcoa Gutterseal

Small windows

11/04/05 Perimeters sealed with Alcoa Gutterseal to seal leaks which showed up as water dripping down the center of the glass on the inside.

Interior

Windows

11/06/05 The front center window screen was destroyed today by a woodpecker that got into the trailer through the bathroom floor that is out for RES work. Darn, that was a good screen.

Planning

1/28/06 I started sketching a floor plan with the goal of using the Tradewind as a mobile studio

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Todo and Repair List

• Find GVW (I saw it somewhere listed as 5,800lb but can't remember where)
• Exterior
  • Replace door strike plate
    • available at InlandRV.com
    • Latch freezes in freezing rain so knob won't turn. Leak into internals maybe?
  • Replace compartment lock
    • lock #13105A76 at McMaster might work.
  • Replace 110v receptacle with GFCI and new plate.
  • Seal leaks
    • Replace forward vent seal - DONE
    • Both little side windows leak at center of top - at frame butt joint - DONE - sealed perimeter with Alcoa Gutterseal
    • Bath window - puddle atop screen frame - drips down screen directly above right latch
  • "What you need is a piece of .040" 2024-t3 aluminum."
  • Front streetside wing window. Replaced by a previous owner with Lexan by removing the bottom aluminum frame strip and sliding Lexan up from the bottom. Then reinstalling the frame and sealing the whole perimeter with silicone. It didn't work for long! The silicone lost its seal, partly because the Lexan without the grey glass seal doesn't fill the cavity. Pushing on the Lexan breaks the seal. And also, the original grey glass seal strip is missing. I understand these are not available from Airstream (must check for sure).
• Interior
  • Replace window brushes?
• Mechanicals
  • Move battery box to trunk?
  • Black water tank
    • Marked "INCA T1244 / H4"
    • Put in a new Thetford dump valve
    • Put in a new gage sensor?
    • Add a tank flush accessable from outside
      • Is that a hose connector?
  • Gray water tank
    • Add one below tub?
      • With a frostproof hose bib as a drain ?
  • Fresh water tank
    • Seal inlet through skin
    • Where does it vent? I think it's at a little slit in the rim of the fill tube
  • Air cinditioning
    • Is a/s prewired for A/C (look for 20A breaker)
    • drain installed?
  • Exterior receptacle - replace with GFCI and new cover
  • Tow umbilical - Signal Stat 7 wire - replace male on trailer - the weather cover and latch to cord is broken

Shopping list

• Available at http://www.airstreamdreams.com/ (now http://www.vintagetrailersupply.com):
  • Parbond
  • Vulcum 636 long cure - smooth
  • Syringes for sealants
• Rivets - 1/8 sealed aluminum
• SS pan head sheet metal screws
• Atwood water heater parts - Marksrv.com