Interior Skins – Inventory and Cleaning

The nastiest thing I have to deal with regarding our already gutted Zeppelin is the interior skins.  I’m sure they were pretty nasty to begin with (nicotine build up since 1972 and the adhesive on the back side), but they’ve also been stored on the floor of a barn for quite a while, so they’re covered in goat and chicken sh*t, and the resultant mold and other weird goos, fuzz, and oozy things that have grown on top of that.

Still, I will consider myself lucky to have the panels, as these metal skins are part of the the monocoque design and strengthen the trailer by riveting to the interior of the ribs.

I still haven’t decided if I’ll end up painting the interior side or trying to remove the vinyl covering to reveal the bare aluminum, but first things first, I need to see what’s there and get them cleaned off for the drive home.

 

The Airstream Drea(h)m Begins

We purchased an Airstream!

It’s a 1972 25′ Tradewind Land Yacht (twin axle).  Gutted to the skin.  Shell off frame restoration.  New LED lights have been wired.  New 3/4″ ply sub floor has been installed.  New disc brakes in 2011.

It’s completely empty (I mean, like, no insulation or anything), so the rest is up to us, and I can’t wait to design and build!

It has the optional Vista View windows (super cool!) and the original style (tall) propane tanks.  The previous owner had already also purchased new black and gray water tanks as well as a large fresh water tank, a new vintage-style porcelain toilet, new water heater, water pump, inverter, power conditioner, new waste hoses, pex lines for water, propane regulator, a pneumatic riveting gun, rivets, clecos and cleco tool, gaskets, grommets, wires, Vulkem 116, SikaFlex 221,  TremPro 635, Parabond, etc., etc.  Major bonus.

He also kept all the original interior skin panels, so I have TEMPLATES for creating a new interior skin (or I can just use the skins, though they have holes for things we won’t use)!

The only thing I’m not looking forward to is fabricating the non-existent belly pan (right now the undercarriage is exposed).

I will be using this blog to help me remember what I did and where to find things (both web links and also where I have physically placed my stuff!).  Perhaps it will lead to the Airstream restoration and renovation business I’ve always dreamed of creating (I love these things, and I love making small spaces make sense!).