I bought this 6" polisher at Harbor Freight for $49.99. We actually bought two so we both could work on it at the same time.

Truck box Polish

six bottles at $12.98 each. I also bought  Clean stripper in a spray can, I think I got 8 of them at $6.50 each.

I also got 100% cotton rags, 100% cotton bonnets for the polisher. Now the problem is I have a water ban in my town so I can't rinse off the stripper! UGH. I really wanted to get started on this. Next cloudy day I am going to haul it over to our fence company in a neighboring town that does not have a water ban in effect! So stay tuned, as soon as I can get started I will document the process.

Yesterday, August 21st, I finally got the dump valve handle to release today. It doesn't work so it will need to be replaced. We are going to redo the copper piping anyway this winter, and replace the black water tank with a gray water tank so we will be replacing the valve also it looks like.


   The other thing I looked at today was the water intake for the fresh water tank.

I cannot open it because the handle to pull it out is broken. I had to research this to even figure out if it screwed in, hinged, but it pulls out. A suggestion from the AS forum said drill out the rivets and replace it. So I am now going to see if this is something out there. Wish me luck!

Rick and I worked on the AS this past weekend. I had the glorious job of figuring out the plumbing. Airstream did not add gray water tanks until after 1973 so our AS only has a black water tank. Our plan is to add a composting toilet, get rid of the stinky black water tank and add a gray water tank. I don't know the first thing about the plumbing other than what I have learned on line and in the forums I regularly go too for information.


    Rick used our handy dandy new pheumatic dent puller to see if he would have any luck on the humongous dent of the front curb side.

This is a picture of the dent puller. We bought it at Harbor Freight for about $65. The tool worked very well but our dent needs more then this tool can provide. Like I said, the tool worked well. The suction was pretty strong. We only used a small air compressor with it though. I'm not sure if we had a larger, stronger one that the suction might have been a little better. The way these work is you turning the air on, get the suction and then quickly pull the weighted slide handle back while pulling on the tool. Rick already had a wrist issue and this did not help it! All and all, it really didn't get the job done. I'm not blaming the tool, we will try it on other things too.  So here are the before and after pictures of the dent. As you can see, it is still there in all its grandeur. I am now waiting for a quote for replacing #12 and #14 panels. I know the panels themselves go for around $450 each give or take a little. If you look closely you will see white butterfly stickers all over the dent. Previous owner (PO). It was her way of dealing with the dent.

 

 

So Rick and I did some work on the AS this past weekend. I worked on figuring out our plumbing situation, lucky me! Rick worked on using our new pneumatic dent puller.

The Beginning of my Airstream Dream

After ten years of yearning I finally have my Airstream. It is a 1971 21' Globetrotter. We happened upon it in Rockland ME. where much of my family lives.
    We knew by the age and the fact that the woman who owned it didn't use the gas, water or sewer that we were going to have work to do. The exterior has a huge dent needs to be polished plus a few smaller things like light covers, reflectors, license plate holder etc.

      We immediately brought it to our local RV repair guy that admittedly doesn't have a lot of experience with Airstreams. Electric is good, gas is good. Water and sewer, not so much! The PO (previous owner), did have some plumbing work done but in copper. Our guy found and repaired some leaks and disconnections. The problem, and we do not totally understand the plumbing in our AS yet, is that before 1973 AS did not put a gray water tank in their RV's so we only have a black water tank. Also the sink and shower run directly into the black water tank which is 21 gallons. This plus what I think is a rotted floor under the bathroom are going to be our first hurdle.

          Wants:
1.Pex plumbing red and blue through out the AS
2. Replace the subfloor in the bathroom
3. Replace black water tank with gray water tank (old sewer smell) yuck!
4. Redo the bathroom with composting toilet, and complete rebuild.
5. New paint through out
5. New cabinets, light fixtures, replace goucho with chairs and table.
7. replace bad linoleum with wood or wood look flooring
8. Replace air condioner with low profile
9. Replace Rock Guard
10. remove dent on exterior and paint the blue detail and polish.

  I am worried about the amount of work and our capacity to do it ourselves, but there is so much help on the internet. Airstream Forums is wonderful!. I have already learned so much about AS's. Now I have to learn about mine.