Erin Fredrichs

projects: jones: the airstream

1963 26ft. Airstream Overlander restoration

I found the airstream on Craigslist. The former owner, Todd, was selling it because it was his second airstream, he didn't need two. I went down to Hoquiam, on the Washington coast, to check it on on a Monday. Went back that Friday and bought it. This is the trailer as we are pulling it out of Todd's driveway and onto Humptulips Valley Road. We had 128 miles on backroads to travel.
  
The view of the trailer on Highway 108, between McCleary and Shelton, Wash. Less than 15 miles from the beginning of our haul, a driver flagged us down to let us know we had a wobbly wheel. Todd drove out and met us, jacked up the trailer, and diagnosed a bent wheel. Unbeknownst to me, a bent wheel isn't that big of a deal ... we kept going. Never having towed anything, my dad was white knuckled the entire drive. We made it home without furthur incident.
  
The interior before we removed anything. Full of trash, mold, stink and rubbish, it was decided to junk everything. Excitement got the best of us. Maybe we should have tried to save things like drawer pulls and light fixtures, but everything just looked dirty and old. I couldn't imagine who would want any of it, so it went into the back of the truck and off to the dump. It didn't occur to me until the load was dumped that someone would want that stuff, to restore their trailer to it's original condition. There was nothing inside I wanted to save. So I didn't.
     
  
Could not justify saving this closet door ... or the hangers ... or the closet itself. Destruction wasn't as simple as taking a sledge hammer to the walls. Everything is attached to the aluminum interior with rivets. To avoid tearing the aluminum, each rivet was drilled until it released. It was interesting to see how the walls of the closets were constructed with the lightest and seemingly cheapest materials.
   
It's winter in Washington, it gets dark early. We continued to remove the interior with extension cords strung through the trailer. With three people tearing things apart in the small place, we inadevertentlybroke at least 5 light bulbs.
  
The streaks on the back window are green moss.
     
  
After only five hours, the interior was essentially gutted. We pulled out two twin beds, a bathroom, including a toilet, shower, and vanity, two closets, and the kitchen, which had an oven, sink, and 3-burner stovetop. All that remains are a hot water heater, a electrical box and the heater . This is my dad sweeping up our mess.
   
The obsession with trailer restoration infiltrates everything I do. Driving through Glacier, Wash., after snowboarding at Mt. Baker, stopped for beverages across from the Hairstream , a renovated airstream parked next to a fence of used skis. For just a minute, wished I needed a haircut.
  
I went on a Disney cruise to Alaska. It was a seven nights long and it took four days for me to find the airstream on the ship. Yes, it's only the ass end of a trailer, but it was beautiful. Of course it was, it gets polished daily. However, the polisher didn't speak good English and had no idea what happened to the rest of the trailer's bits. I really, really wanted a photo of me and Goofy sitting on the bumper, but all the kids monopolized his time.
     
  
Dad atop the makeshift scaffolding removing the air-conditioner. We took it apart piece by piece because we couldn't think of a better way, really. Most of the screws and bolts were ruasted. We took turns breakdancing above the trailer on the 2x6's we suspended between two extension ladders. Because of the flexibility and weakness of the aluminum, neither one of use can put much weight on the trailer to maintain balance. It's uncomfortable.
  
The interior walls are finally removed. As is the majority of the 44-year-old insulation. What remains inside are wires, a tangle of various, clipped wires and the old windows. The windows haven't been washed and the paint needs to be stripped off (previous owners painted the frames and hardware dark green - it's ugly). The window directly across from the door still has faint writing on it - NOT FOR SALE. I don't want to clean that off. It's still true.
  
Fun with iphone! Pretty picture of busted out exterior entrance and teardrop running light. Both have since been replaced.
     
  
Wiley, my mexican muchacha, stands guard in the driveway, to make sure no one tresspasses onto the compound and steals any of the shit removed from the trailer and tossed into the back of the truck. Dad's hauled four loads of non-resuable garbage we've pulled out of Jones to the dump.
  
It rained while we replaced the old tires with the new ones. The lugnuts on the ancient and four distinctly different wheels and tires were tight, but not impossible thanks to the previous owner, Todd, who had to take them all off to repack the bearings before Dad and I drove Jones home. Taking off the rusted off hunks of junk and replacing them with the sleek new wheels took awhile. For a few minutes, there was a lot of cussing and mild panic when it seemed as though the new tires were too big for the wheel well. They're not. They're on, and the trailer seems to stand a little taller. I love them.
  
Paint stripping is disgusting. The interior window frames were painted forest green by a previous ownder and it had to go. This dust mask did little to protect me from the fumes, but I wore it anyway.
     
  
insulated. the orignal insulation was replaced by home depot's finest R19. Almost too bulk to fit within the confines of the trailer, it should keep me a bit warmer than what was there before.
  
The flame. So Dad created beautiful fiberglass skylights with garden fencing and shabby chic as his design guideline. His original idea was to create fiberglass flames to sit on top of the trailer, so as Jones is pulled down the road, it kind of looks like she's on fire. I hated the idea, but he made the flames any way. And he was real please with himself when it was completed. He even had sound effects.
  
Stripping the weird white shit from the roof. Lots of paint stripper. Lots of grossness.
     
  
the back end of the trailer, painted green. the birch walls are also in.
  
Mom does not share in the trailer enthusiasm, as demonstrated by her behavior during our ikea recon mission. we were looking for a few design solutions for storage and cabnits.
  
Bought scaffolding from the far down the road for $50. It's amazing. And all mine.
     
  
Tandem bleeding at Home Depot.
  
The desk is installed. The window has been repaired. Dad's framing out the window. It's coming together!
   
Half buffed, half still oxydized. Using a 25-lb rotary sander with a buffer head and Nuvite polished, I spent three weeks deoxidizing Jones.
     
  
The finshed counter has an aluminum edge. The "drawers" are birch storage boxes cut to fit. Thanks IKEA. The model airstream was from a garage sale.
  
My reflection in the shiny, buffed and polished side of Jones.
  
the custom fiberglass shabby chic skylight made by daddio
     
  
triumphantly gleeful about the about finishing our project.
  
polished. repainted airstream sign. perfection.