Work in Progress

Roz exposed

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 19:48:39 -0800

We spent a little more time with Rozwell, the 1949 Curtis Wright that has been with us for a few weeks now. The plan for her new self is to begin with a new light weight, but well designed frame. It should resemble the original frame from the outside, but provide more support for a modern axle and brakes, as well as modern convenience systems such as septic tanks and a 2010 electrical system.
She looks a bit weird stripped off her skirt and panties...fortunately, it’s a temporary situation.
The lower section of this Curtis Wright somewhat resembles the skin wrapping into the belly of a 1965 to 1968 Airstream. I wonder why....Hi Wally!
So, with the lower skin sections removed, she stands on her ribs on aluminum outriggers. The entire shell is now ready to come off, and be transferred to a new frame and floor. With these lower skin sections out of the way, it should be very easy to adapt this 60 year old shell to her new underpinnings.
The plan call for a 3000lb torsion axle, with hydraulic disc brakes. The frame will be a conventional 4in c-channel frame with cross members and outriggers. Provisions will be made for holding tanks fo 40gal+ fresh, 26gal grey, and 20gal black capacity. With all holding tanks tucked into the belly, much needed interior space is freed up for a nice and cozy interior. Initially, the plan includes a wrap around desk/command center in the rear end of Roz, a street side wet bath, and a front build that has a good vibe for visiting and a comfortable bed for two. The appliances for Roz were selected for light weight, simplicity and low impact on environment and fuel use. A Hydro Flame direct vent forced air furnace will heat the interior and also the holding tanks when necessary. The galley will include a Norcold N412 Refrigerator, as well as Spinflo 2-burner cook top. The sink will also be a Spinflo unit, called their kitchen centre. A Dometic microwave will add convenience when 120V hookups are present. Due to space constraints, this galley will not have a propane fueled oven. But, we’re putting the cart before the horse....first we need to get her ready to carry all that stuff...

The door off, lower skins removed.

The inner front skins were left in place, to stabilize the shell. This happens to be the rear of Roz. Hard to tell at times. I have to look for the hitch coupler to be sure...

There she is, at Area 63’s prime work spot. Foreground shows the removed lower segments.

Unfortunately, some of this metal is beyond restoration and will have to be replaced. Roz must have seen some adventurous mods in her 60 years of life. The metal tells the tales.

This concludes this week’s work on Roz, the 1949 Curtis Wright. The next post will hopefully show her new frame and floor. As always....stay tuned if you’re aluminum junkies, like we are.

Today’s temps: mid 50’s, light rain all day.
Today’s tunes: Rage Against The Machine, Coldplay, then AM weather radio.

1965 Safari

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 21:38:41 -0800

This 1965 Safari was brought to us initially for floor and frame repairs. Our client then decided to add new water and holding tanks, fantastic vents, A/C removal, a new furnace, new water heater, some electrical repairs and a spare tire holder to the work order.
Here is what we discovered:

Floor rot in quite many places, which led to the decision to do a full floor replacement.

Broken/missing flange for the factory black tank.

Rusted black tank structure, as well as rusted frame sections, all concentrated in the rear of the frame.

We started by cutting the rotten flooring, and by removing all rusted and decayed sections of this Airstream. The old wood sections were saved for templates. we took careful measurements before removing the old floor.

The old floor ( here the rearmost section) was used for a template. In this case, most of the curve was gone, so we cut it a bit large, and then trimmed it to fit the shell after it was installed. It required repeated removal of the floor sheet.

Meanwhile, the frame was cleaned, painted, and a new front anchor plate was welded in place. Additionally, the space between the A-frame was modified to eventually carry a spare tire on an Airstream factory spare tire rack.

A holding tank bracket was fabricated for a new 18gal black tank, as well as a new 26gal grey tank, and a 32 gal fresh water tank under the floor.

Moving the fresh water tank sub-floor allows our client to design her interior freely, without consideration of a front mounted above-floor water tank. We feel that this also stabilizes tongue weight somewhat, since the weight is close to the axle, and very low to the ground.

The new black tank with brackets. The design allows for quick removal in case of service needs.

...and a new grey tank. We will add insulation to the bottom of the floor, and then install the plumbing and belly pan.

During floor replacement.

The finished, sealed floor.

New rear floor section, with toilet flange and water heater in place.

New forced air furnace, roughed in and adjusted for future floor height.

Alclad patch to cover the existing opening from the old water heater. The new appliance is smaller, and also much lighter. It has electronic ignition, eliminating the pesky pilot light.

There’s still plenty to do on this project, like wiring the frame, and providing solid DC power to the new appliances. Look for new posts on this very soon.

Today’s temps: high 60’s
Today’s tunes: Tower of Power’s Warner Years, and Blues by Walter Trout, Craig Erickson and Jeff Beck.

1962 Globetrotter

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 07:27:05 -0800

We recently had a very special visitor all the way from Chicago. Brad Cornelius brought us his 1962 Airstream Globetrotter for some repairs and updates, while visiting with his parents near by. It was more of a visit to restore functionality to the trailer’s basic systems. We were able to restore functionality to the original refrigerator, install a new water heater, replace the water tank and pump, relocate the water filler neck, and do some minor other procedures. Since time was of the essence, picture taking was totally neglected, save for a few of Brad’s images...

The new location for the water filler. The old location was enlarged, and an original vintage courtesy light was installed.

we found a period correct water filler in our parts box, perfect for Brad’s 62 Globetrotter. This one doesn’t have the pressure valve, since a pump was installed that works by water demand, instead of air pressure.

Here the finished installation. Looks like it belongs...

Brad’s 62 at Bonneville Salt Flats. Check out the water fill and courtesy light....actually never mind...check out that fantastic photo!

One more from Brad’s camera. This one shows the new water heater also. Eventually we will install a vintage drip cap over the silver painted door, or try and convert an original door to the new water heater.

See and read more here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bredlo/sets/72157622719133387/

1949 Curtis Wright

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 05:06:46 -0800

Here’s a very interesting project for Area 63. A 49 Curtis Wright was brought in for major restoration. The trailer needs everything but the inner and outer skin. It even needs several new ribs fabricated, since the original construction was partially made from wood, and has rotted away beyond repair. The sub floor has also pretty much disappeared due to rot and is probably scattered somewhere between Arizona and Area 63’s back door. The owners Steve and Reg are looking to have this trailer updated with a new frame, axle, all septic and fresh water systems, new electrical, interior and convenience systems. Look at this little jewel of a trailer - it’s appropriately named Roswell, after the UFO town in New Mexico.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roswell_UFO_Incident

So, here it is, the oldest trailer we have had so far at Area 63, and possibly the most challenging project yet....

It has these very intriguing lines all pointing to the center rib between the oval fixed windows. The shape is almost identical front and back.

The back windows ( or is it the front?) from the inside. The rivet pattern of the outer and inner skins is almost identical.

Rotten sub floor, and severely challenged wooden ribs. We theorized that the hardwood sections were used to reinforce the shell where the door hinges mount. Or perhaps to anchor the former refrigerator cabinet to. Or, maybe they ran out of material, and used wood to finish the project.

A better picture of the mystery wooden frame. Everywhere else i this trailer there’s regular aluminum channel used for he ribs.

We went ahead and removed all the old flooring, plus the 4 side windows. The windows are Hehr Standard windows with lever type openers.

Removing the floor sheets revealed this pipe frame. A large diameter steel pipe with aluminum outriggers bracketed to it. The axle’s spring shackles rest on a smaller diameter steel section which is in turn riveted to the aluminum outriggers.

This would be the front end of the shell assembly. This was pretty much the first design of a self supporting shell.

Front to back, looks like fish bones, in a way. How about alien fish bones...

a detail of the axle support, and how it was riveted to the aluminum outriggers. The outriggers appear to have been fabricated from .060 or .050 thickness standard aluminum.

Our plan is to remove all of the lower skin panels, inside and out. Then we can lift off the remainder of the shell, basically an upside down tub. A new frame with floor will be waiting to receive the old shell, and the bottom panels will be re-attached. The new frame will already have holding tanks and plumbing/wiring installed, which should make for a quick, clean and efficient work flow.

Stay tuned for more on this project. It will be with us for a good while.

Today’s temps: mid 50’s
Today’s tunes: hard to tell..machines running all day long...

Happy Caravel

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:08:07 -0800

The work on this 1965 Caravel was recently finished. We updated the water supply, holding tanks, water heater, furnace, and electrical systems. Oh, and it received a new radio and some new interior wood panels. You can see some of the work in previous blog entries.
The owner Stan has since tested all the systems, including the new dual battery setup, and seems quite pleased with the results. This is now a 1965 Caravel with modern conveniences under it’s shiny skin, installed as unobtrusively as was possible and sensible.

As always, here a few photos of the finished product:

Grey tank, all but invisible under the trailer.

switch for a new water heater with electronic ignition

a new but “old” looking thermostat for the new forced air furnace

A new Radio, one with ipod hookup. It also plays CD’s. The ipod can be stored above in the overhead storage, the cables can route through the cable grommet visible right above the radio.

..another picture of the radio, and it’s oak framing. There was previously a 8-track player, huge and heavy, which required a large hole in the wall. The new Oak frame for the new radio not only supports the radio, but also covers some of the unsightly holes and cuts that were under the old 8-track.

the compartment above the radio was equipped with a new DC power panel, so phones and or ipod type devices can be stored and charged up there. A local fuse holder protects the 2 outlets separately from the main fuse panel.

We also added co and propane detectors, a master shutoff switch, antenna outlet, and an additional 12V outlet between the 2 gauchos.
Hidden below the side gaucho are 2 Odyssey 2150 size batteries, a 55A charger from Randy at www.bestconverter.com , a new fuse panel, and associated safety switches etc.

We also added a small pure sine wave inverter so the client can charge or run 120V equipment such as computers or chargers on the 2 batteries.

Today’s temps: 70’s
Today’s tunes: Classic Rock Radio