Proposed Floor Plan

PINCH! That's what I did to get the bulk of this layout... This is a layout of Floyd, the 57 FC on vintageairstream.com. The plan was similar to my standard floorplan that I have with the 56 caravanner and I modified it to suite my needs.

The big difference between the interior I have now and the one I am going to use after I get done pulling the frame out consists of a mostly original interior with the exception of the following

- Narrowing the twin bed in the rear to a single (38x78 inches).
- Expanding the width of the bathroom (towards the single bed) to 43 inches.
- Installing a standard 26 gal blackwater tank which the toilet will sit ontop of, with a floor of course.
- Installing a 26 gal grey water tank under the single bed.
- Installing dump valves
- creating a shower pan out of King starboard with the drain as either a bilge style or shower pump to the grey tank. either way it will be a mechanical pump.
- lining the shower with stainless steel sheets except on the overhead cap since I lik the 13 panels so much.
- Installing an ondemand electric hot water system. I don't want to cut the skin to install a propane hw heater.
- installing a 30 gal fresh water tank with ondemand water pump. I'm not going to reuse the pressurized system
- replace water lines throughout with pex.
- Installing 12v system
- replacing the refridgerator
- new flooring and upholstery around.

C-Channel, We don't Need No Stinking C-Channel

So far, as I take out the interio, I have found areas where the POs floor replacement where he removed the c-channel along with the old floor. I can see why there is separation going on. That's okay, the shell is going to come off anyhow.

Here's a picture of the progress last night.

Removing the Interior

I went out last night and started removing the interior. I am being very careful to label each piece as I want to use the interior over again when I put it all back together. I want to make subtle changes to the floor plan that will accomodate the way we want to use the trailer.

At this point the plan is to:

Build a wet bath in the Rear.
- Remove the blackwater tanke that sits above the floor and mount it in the frame. This might require a custom tank if I cannot find one from tank depot or other sources that fit. The idea here is to give more vertical space to the new wet-bath. Currently the toilet sits ontop of the black water tank, which make it hard to sit on the pot.

- Push out the wall and decrease the width of the rear bunk. Basically center the divder wall to the trailer and make the rear bumk 41" wide. Good for a single.

- Under the rear bunk, install ontop of the floor a surface mounted grey water tank. Discharge pipe would line up with the discharge of the black water tank. I'm also considering using a macerator pump in two spots; one in the toilet itself and one to pump the black water out.

- Create a common black water and grey water stainless tube vent pipe and use existing vent hole

- Build a shower pan to fit the contours of the rear with King Starboard, non-slip for the floor and smooth for the side-walls. The area, I am considering scabing on sheets of stainless and lining the bottom with ice and water sheild. The floor of the wet bath would be raised to accommodate the below waste and water pipes; one cold for the toilet; one cold for the sink/shower and one hot. The hot water will be a trick since the rig never had hot water, so I am thinking of installing an ondemand electric hot water system. I would be using pex tubing for this. The shower drain will have a collector and a separate macerator pump, basically flick the switch when you start to take a shower. Follow this link to a drain example. http://www.scandvik.com/index.cfm/method/Shopping_Products/CatId/34/ID/277.htm.

Here are a couple pictures from my recent removal work.

Floor and Springs

One of the previous owners had spent some time replacing sections of the floor and partially restoring the trailer, but upon closer inspection the floor was not installed correctly. From what understand from listening to the VAP and watching Steve's 56 be renovated at GSM, the shell and floor are conncted to each other via the C-channel, which runs around the perimeter of the trailer.

The floor is then secured to the frame with elevator bolts and this whole continuous connection gives the trailer it's strength. The PO cut the floor along the perimeter but did not slide it under the C channel or connect it other than to the frame.



Besides the floor the other questionable area is the axle and spring assemblies. The trailer sat for many years and the axle and springs show a considerable amount of surface rust. No rot, but pretty rusty. I am beginning the process of caling around to see if I can find someone to make up a set of springs and axle. I had thought about a torsion axle, but if this type of set-up can go for 50 years why change the design?

The Bonus

When I picked up the trailer from the previous owner, he had in his garage an original aluminum tire cover. I'm not sure where it went on the caravanner since it did not have a tire carrier up front. But, my 65 has a tire carrier witout a tire cover. So off to my 65' the tire cover went. Very nice to have that trailer complete.

More Pictures

The Find

A couple weeks back, my wife and I were out in Holliston Massachusetts and I tend to be an aluminum voyuer when driving backrounds. I spotted the thirteen panels and my heart started pumping when I saw the for sale sign. The trailer is a 1956 Airstream Caravanner, number 9090. Over the course of two weeks the owner and I played phone tag, but he left me the keys in the mailbox which I held onto fearing someone else would swoop in on my find.

Last Sunday when I went to pick it up from the yard, I made sure to stop at Lowes to pick up some additional items in case I ran into any issues.... and you can bet I did. The wiring harness had not been used in ages and the seven pin connector was rusty. After about 40 minutes of tinkering with it I broke open my newly purchased towing lights and attached them to the rear.

The next issue was raising the trailer to connect it to the ball. I had brought a number of cinder blocks and a 2 ton jack for just such an issue. I raised the tongue and connected it but the jack stand was electric and not working either. I had to remove the jack.

The ride home was uneventful and the rig sits in my backyard waiting for future work to be done.

Over the next year or more, I'll post pictures and updates to to the trailer. I plan on doing a full frame off restoration and adding new storage tanks all around. Time to learn some new skills!!!