Franks Trailer Works Is Awesome

J-Channel, or as some like to call it, C-Channel, is one of those things that you will need to replace if you're restoring an Airstream. There is no way around it. Sure, some of your sections will be salvagable. Most will simply need to be replaced. I'm at the point in my restoration where I need to do just that. My curved piece was (thankfully) in good shape, but all of my straight sections had deteriorated to the point that there was just no saving them.

I was talking to Frank at Frank's Trailer Works ( http://www.frankstrailerworks.com/ ) about the situation, and he said to send him the dimensions of what I needed. I sent the dimensions on a Thursday, and Monday morning I had a package delivered with a Frank's Trailer Works return address.

Tonight I pulled out some of my old pieces of J-Channel. I wanted to get a few images of what the originals looked like for posterity. Not good.

Now I'm all set to get these things fitted to the trailer and start riveting the exterior skin back into place. Frank, you saved me the headache of buying the tools and materials to make these myself. Thanks a million, my friend.

Laying Down Wood

This looks so much better than the ground and frame that I've been looking at ever since last summer when I got home from the Baker's Acres Family Camping event at Rob Baker's place and starting tearing into the front half of the trailer. I still have some crawling around in the dirt to do in order to install the rest of the elevator bolts, but psychologically this is a huge step for me.

Nice new waterproof plywood, rustproofed and re-enforced frame members, and a nice solid step hanging down there in the background. It was a good weekend for working on the Airstream.

Steppin' Up

Well, after taking the kids fishing this morning, then Laurie and I going to watch our daughter's dance recital this afternoon, I was finally able to get out and do some work on the trailer after dinner. I applied the final coats of wood preservative to the sub-floor plywood. It'll be dry tomorrow, and ready to lay down inside the trailer the next time I have a chance to work on it.

The winds finally died down enough for me to be able to get my steps welded in. They are solid as a rock, and work exactly as they should. It's a pleasure to be able to step on them and not feel like they are on the verge of collapse.

I chased all the elevator bolt holes with a 1/4 inch bit, and it's a good thing I did. All of the paint and rust converter I applied made them just a hair too small. It would have been a pain to have to do that from below. There will be enough crawling around on my back in the dirt in the next few days.

Styeooin

Getting Floored

The steps are all painted and ready to we welded in. I use a little 110v mig welder, and it's tough to use outside if the wind is blowing since the shielding gas gets blown away and the weld left is very weak. I was going to get them welded in today, but of course it was too windy. Maybe tomorrow...


I've spent the last few days cleaning up the frame and getting it ready to paint. Flapper wheel on the angle grinder, wire brush on the drill, and a good old fashioned hand weld wire brush took care of any loose rust. What a dirty, nasty job. Then I coated the frame with a Rustoleum brand rust converter. What's nice about this stuff is that you can get it in spray can, which makes getting into all the corners much easier than with a brush. I have used POR-15 in the past, with good results. I decided to use the Rustoleum product, as I used it on an old Land Rover frame years ago and it's still holding up great. Plus, it's about 1/3 the cost of POR-15. Finally, I top coated with flat chassis paint.


Since I couldn't do any welding today, I took my daughter to Lowes and bought some 19/32 plywood for the subfloor. I cut it to size while my girl slept, and she woke up disappointed that she wasn't able to "help" me use the power saws. Maybe next time. By the way, 19/32 is the exact thickness of the plywood that was in the Airstream originally. When I did the back half of the trailer, I was at first concerned that it was too thin. Once the shell, frame, and floor were all riveted back together everything was as solid as a rock. I understand that Airstream used different thicknesses through the years, but 1961 Ambassadors used 19/32. Tonight I'm going to treat the plywood with Thompsons Water Seal to help ward off any future rot.

One Step at a Time

I stopped by Daryl's place, Pharsalia Metal Fabrication, today to pick up my steps. Daryl is the same guy that I had build my stainless steel black tank last year. I had intended to just have him make me up some new outriggers with the slots that the step slides in, but when I talked to him he told me to bring over all of the parts to the step. He called today to tell me it was done, and when stopped by to pick up my job I was very excited to see that he had assembled everything into one unit that can be welded right to the trailer. Very nice! The studs that ride in the slots were replaced with new, new bolts, new outriggers, and all welded together for $100. A good deal in my book, especially when you take into account that these parts are no longer available anywhere, for any price.

Somewhere on my computer I have the "before" pictures of what I brought over to Daryl's place, but I'll be darned if I can find them. That he could make such nice parts from such poor original patterns astounds me. I have great respect for craftsmen like Daryl.

I still need to clean up the step parts and get it painted before I mount it. The steel tread is also rusted through in a few spots, so I'll be welding a new piece of diamond plate over the old. When it is ready to mount it will look as good as new.

A week at the spa.

The furniture in the front half of our trailer was in a real bad way. It was functional, but there were some changes that needed to be made to work better for us, plus they had 49 years of wear, tear, dirt, and grime on them. There was never a question in our mind how we would undo all of that shabbiness. We would send them to Frank's Trailer Works in Baltimore for him to work his magic.

If you live under a rock, you may not know that the Mid-Atlantic Region has been slammed with snow this year. While I feel bad for all those "Southerners" (Baltimore is below the Mason-Dixon line), it worked well for us. Frank currently has a big project going on that he is rushing to finish for a client. It's a big project that requires Frank to work outside of his shop, but when the snows came, he was forced inside where he could get cracking on our job.

In the picture above, you are looking at a drawer that we are having installed in place of the furnace that was originally there. We're not big cold weather campers, so the furnace was not needed. Being a family of 6, additional storage was needed. For heat, we'll be installing 2 catalytic heaters in the trailer, one just inside the entrance and one in the bathroom.

Nice deep drawer. Just right for pots and pans, strainers, maybe even a spare Mexican lime squeezer for those time we camp with folks who enjoy a good Mojito.

Ooooh, nice! The wood is a cherry veneer, similar to what we used in the back half. Frank's flourescent lights wash the color out, but he assures me that it is nice and rich. Once he gets done finishing the wood it'll be very classy. We can't wait to get those cabinets home and installed. You can see the work in person at The Airstream Founders Birthday Bash in June. The event is sold out, but you can be placed on a waiting list or bid on the one remaining spot (with procedes going to Roots and Wings food pantry in Chenango County, NY). www.bakersacresofchenango.org/auction

Do your cabinets look this bad? Well, call Frank. He is absolutely amazing when it comes to all things Airstream. Thanks Frank. Now get them finished.

http://www.frankstrailerworks.com/