Wednesday, August 19, 2009

The Beginning of the Front

After spending all that time and energy getting the back half of the trailer looking good, I decided it was time to do something about the front. The back half still needs lots of stuff to be finished, but it's mainly detail work, trim, and some veneering that Frank's Trailer Works will be handling. However, the back looks good enough that that front now looks worse than horrible. Last night, after the rain storms blew through and brought the temperature down from about 90 to a more survivable 78, I decided to get to work.Originally, my plan was to get rid of the goucho and build a dinette. After spending a weekend camping with it, we have decided that we are going to stay with the goucho. We'll be eating outside, and the goucho is actually in really good shape. In fact, most of the front end is in really good shape.
I was expecting to see floor rot in the front end corners like I've seen in so many other trailers. I also have a very rusted cross piece on the frame right underneath the front window which led me to believe I would find "issues" up here. This was a pleasant surprise.
Walter of Wabash. Cool.

This picture is being included to increase my degree of Airstream Into-It-Ness. I didn't want anyone to think I just sent my trailer away to Colin's to get this stuff done. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Look at those beautiful old tiles. I would love to have seen this trailer back when it was new. To have seen it before it was filthy, and the Zolatone had been painted over with white latex, and the floor covered with carpet. I wish Airstream would make a model like this new today. Simple, no frills, utilitarian, function ahead of form. I would buy one in a heartbeat. My trailer will be better than new in every way when I'm finished, and built to my tastes with the wood, fabrics, and flooring that we choose. I still think it would be awesome if Airstream offered a "camper" you could buy off the showroom floor rather than rolling luxury apartments.









1 comment:

nmbosa said...

Good to see you are pushing forward with the front end restoration. You are going to have one nice looking trailer. Frank's cabinet work is just beautiful.