My 1963 Airstream Overlander

[UTEE]

On another thread, I mentioned that I'm in the midst of a long renovation project on my vintage Airstream. Loopy asked for some before and afters, so rather than hijack that thread, I thought I'd post some here for anyone who is interested.

Here are a couple of before, I have a ton but only a few are uploaded on the Intertubes:

Curbside bed (this model has twin beds amidships):

Bathroom and rear vanity:

Here are some after:

The same curbside bed from above:

Tall wardrobes veneered in African ribbon-striped mahogany:

The streetside twin bed with the new vanity in the background:

An ant's view of the curbside twin bed with all new drawer fronts and hardware:

And for NCAAFTBLROX, here's a pic of the 5-pole flagpole holder:

 

[l00p]

Good heavens you did a good job! You did that yourself or you contracted somebody? I think you did it yourself, right? I sure hope you are proud of what you did. It looks so much better than a stock factory one with bland colors and fixtures. No **** you camp more often now, I would too! Good job, Longhorn.

 

[UTEE]

Thanks, I'm glad you like it.

Yes, I've done everything myself except for the welding on the steel frame. The guys down at Spillar custom hitch did that for me, and did a great job at a very reasonable price.

I still have yet to do all of the same for the front half, but I decided I wanted to enjoy it for a while first. It shouldn't take me quite as long to do the front, since the majority of systems are in the back, and I've already scaled most of the learning curve. I'll probably take her off-line after our New Year's camping trip, and then plan to have her back up and running by April 1. It'll be a tight deadline, but the furniture will be modular, so if I don't finish all of it I can still take it out in-between work weekends.

 

[TigerPride]

Please post some pics of the outside. The inside is bomb.

 

[UTEE]

Thanks for the kind words TP. Here are a few pictures of the outside.

 

[TigerPride]

That thing is top notch. Please let us know how you came to acquire it. I love Airstream.

 

[TigerPride]

Seriously jealous. I couldn't buy anything for ten times the price to equal that..............

 

[accuratehorn]

I love it. What is required to tow one of those units? How do you protect the outside finish, it looks perfect. Somehow I like the idea of one of these over a motor home for extended travel trips, don't know why, style I guess.

 

[UTEE]

TP:

Thanks again for the compliments. I'm a some-time amateur woodworker, I've built some furniture and cabinetry around the house and for friends and family over the years, so I've really enjoyed the work.

The metal work on the other hand has been difficult for me, but it's still enjoyable, just takes me a lot longer. And I have a lot more of that to do, since by the time I'm done, the entire interior will be stripped of paint and returned to bare aluminum on the interior, or overlaid with new aluminum in some areas, as you see in some of the photos of the rear half, above. The look is a bit cold, which is why I've gone to great lengths to warm it up with lots of dark, rich mahogany and stained birch.

AccurateHorn:

Vintage rigs are quite light, my total weight (unloaded) is under 4,000 lbs, and fully loaded with gear and water is still only around 4,500 lbs. You can tow something like this with just about any 1/2 ton vehicle, provided you have decent sized V8 in it. My Chevy Tahoe Z71 with tow package does a great job, but any 1/2 ton pickup or SUV with a good engine will work.

In the 60s, they seldom used trucks, and the most common tow vehicles for a trailer this size were the larger sedans like the biggest Cadillacs and Lincolns. Someday I'd love to have a 63 Cadillac Eldorado convertible to use as a tow vehicle, but that is a LONG way off.

 

[ChiroHorn]

Very nice, but what's up w/the A&M flag?

 

[UTEE]

*sigh*

I knew someone would notice.

I have a dirty little secret, one that I've tried to hide for years, but there it is, right there, out in the open, fluttering in the breeze...

I am married to an Aggie.

BUT, she's a nice one, you can ask anybody! Rob and Katie both know her and think she's okay. MaxHorn, too.

And don't worry, the A&M flag does not fly at Texas tailgate parties.

 

[UTEE]

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[ChiroHorn]

That explains it. I thought it was either the wife or something to keep ags from vandalizing it.

 

[TigerPride]

Airstreams are works of art. It looks like you are doing a hell of a job.
The next time you camp out, hang the aTm flag upside down and see how long it takes the wife to notice.
My wife happens to be an OSU aggie.. She used to rag the crap out of me for any type of Poke victory over OU. Two things happened to help change that:
Some redneck assaulted me at G-Iba at a basketball game and she got to meet Tom Hollliday. (no offense if he's still coaching down there) Now we agree to disagree failrly quietly

 

[johnny chimpo]

Fantastic job! I must spend about an hour a week perusing Craigslist looking at old Airstreams that I dream of fixing up. Got a newborn son, so now the project has taken on more urgency, as I picture camping trips and tailgates (except mine will be heading to College Station

) with the boy.

Couple of questions. I'm pretty handy, but no way I could put together anything like what you did. What do you think the ballpark $$ would have been to pay a professional to overhaul an interior like that? Also, how functional is the crapper and shower in that thing? Is cleaning out the blackwater/graywater after an outing easy, or should it be featured on Dirty Jobs?

Awesome work on that baby, be very proud. I'm terribly jealous.

 

[UTEE]

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[l00p]

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[UTEE]

Ha!

Curse my crappy typing skills.

x for c

 

[UTEE]

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