My trailer work has slowed down this week. Two of my kids are playing Pop Warner football this fall, and they have practice every night for nearly 3 weeks. Two hours a night. I love watching them, even if it is cutting into my Airstream work. The quarterback is my middle son, and the runningback, #52, is my youngest son. I've told them they better not get hurt, because I need their help out in the trailer.
Here I am getting at the frame to make the rear horns level to the rest of the main frame rail.
Yeah, I have some work to do here. I took a Sawzall and cut up about 2/3rds of the way, just forward of the weld. Then I raised the rear with a jack, one side at a time, until it was level with the rest of the frame.
Once it was level, I put the heat to it. Crappy picture, but it came out better than I thought it would. The welds ain't pretty, but they're solid.
I have made a mistake. Not only did I make a mistake, but I was going to try to cover my mistake up. Try to hide it from everyone. I think I could have pulled it off, but I would not have been able to live with it. You see, when I welded my newly built rear frame horns onto my existing frame, I did not take enough care to ensure that it was all lined up, straight and level. The worst part about it is that when I tack welded everything in place, I actually saw that the rear of the frame did not quite match up. I figured it was only off a hair, so it was good enough. Well, it was not until I got the wood floor in and was bolting it up that I realized that my mistake was a pretty big one. Look at the gap I have between the rear crossmember and the floor. It's nearly 3/4 of an inch. I got disgusted with myself and walked away from the trailer for a week. I thought about building a spacer out of aluminum to take up the space. Then I thought about making a spacer out of steel. Then I started thinking that I could just use wood to take up the space. However, like Frank told me; if it ain't right, it's wrong. Today I'm going to take the rear piece of plywood out, cut the frame, and reweld it level. Fix it right. It's my trailer, it's my hobby, and it's my therapy. I need to do it right.
Thank you to Frank for giving me the balls to post my mistake on my blog. It's a little bit humbling to show everybody my mistake, but if it keeps others from doing the same thing, then I feel good about it. Thanks again to Frank for lending me his rivet gun, bucking bar, and rivets. Hopefully soon I'll be putting them to use. And a huge thanks to Rob Baker for delivering the rivet gun to my trailer. He brought it up from Baltimore for me and dropped it off before he went away on a trip with his family. If you understand how little time Rob gets to spend with his family, you realize what a huge thing it is for him to take a the time to help me out. With friends like these guys, I am truely blessed.
After some sweating, swearing, and swinging a mallet I have the floor laying inside my trailer. The barbell weights are holding down some warping until I my elevator bolts come in from Vintage Trailer Supply. Once I get it fastened to the frame, I can install the C-channel that Frank bent up for me. Then I'll be making and installing new banana wraps. Once I have those I can get riveting and have this thing road worthy again. I may be sleeping on a cot, heating with a kerosene heater, and peeing in a port-a-pottie, but I will be at Rob's installation rally with my trailer.
Rob Baker came to visit me at work yesterday. It was really nice to see him, and I appreciate that he took the time to stop in. Rob has been one of my best friends since kindergarten, and it's always nice to catch up with him face to face rather that through a computer screen. We talked Airstreams a little bit, and I got all excited to work on my project when I got out at 6:00pm. What a beautiful evening it was! 
I had installed the rear most piece of flooring last week, but then I learned that I have to install the front pieces first and work back. So out came the rear piece, and in I slid the piece between the wheel wells. I stalled here, as somehow I ended up with the wrong thickness of plywood for the middle piece. Yeah, I cut it and waterproofed it before I discovered that it was wrong. Since I didn't have the right thickness plywood laying around the shop, and it was too nice a night to drive 25 minutes to Lowes, I was done for the night. Frustrating.
Rob told me that he has a water decal for Long Lake. Well, my father-in-law Roger (Ramjet) has plenty of space for you to courtesy park! Lake Eaton Campground is also in Long Lake, right across the lake from our cottage. Let's make plans. You can even bring that long haired hippy friend of ours with you.
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