Some small things

Got off to a late start thanks to my ill-fated decisions, but Peter was a good sport and he bought me a chicken biscuit. 

We are getting the hang of the electrical set-up. First I noticed that with the shop-vac and the air compressor both running via the outlets, the inverter was blinking overload, so we switched to running the air compressor directly from the house instead. Then the surge protector inside of the Airstream started blinking a red light that said "CAUTION WHEN BLINKING" and wouldn't send any power to the inverter. Strangely, the fans (which are 12v and theoretically hooked up to the battery, which had plenty of charge) would not power on either. 

And then after maybe 2 minutes of us staring at it and thinking, it fixed itself. This happened a few more times. Throughout the day, I would hear the inverter running while we were only using AC power, which troubled me a little because I thought shore power should be able to bypass the inverter, but once or twice the "AC Mode" indicator was glowing, which comforted me. 

What did not comfort me is that when the surge protector detected an error and blocked incoming power, the power tools we had plugged in would continue running off the battery like nothing was happening--a cool feature for uninterrupted power use, but now how I'm wanting to use our battery. I am regretting having it wired to bypass the fridge, because it seems like we actually would have enough power to run it off our battery. 

Also, the 12v lighting worked even when the battery switch was off. How is that possible? This is the disadvantage of not doing your system yourself--you don't know how to troubleshoot it! 

First, Peter installed the shocks. He used blocks and the hydraulic lift to force pressure on the tires until the wheel mount was aligned, and the shocks fit right into place like Colin said they would. The washers that came with the new one weren't quite right, so he reused the old ones. And we were one short! So Peter made his own by using a fat drill bit to widen another washer he had. Such a problem solver. 

After that, he came inside the rig with me and riveted in the rest of the upper walls, which took some finessing to preserve the tension in the curve, especially around the vista windows, where you can't rivet due to the sliding window shade. He also wrapped up with the rivets in the front end cap. We are still waiting on the aluminum for the back end cap. He ordered a thicker gauge for more support. 

I think he's glad he started with the front end cap, because if he had started with the back, he might have lost his enthusiasm for it, but the front one looks so good! And I think the back one will look nice also, even if it's not perfect. 

My contribution was to try to strip some of the lingering paint lumps off the skins and also the rods that hold the ceiling in place. I also used some 60 & 120 grit sandpaper on the multitool to prep the walls for painting. It was so nice to have our fans going while we were working in there! And the light! We got some Bondo to patch areas where the vinyl has pulled away and also too-large rivet holes. We also got some self-etching primer and TSP. So close to painting, so close! 

Starting the back end cap

We couldn't wait to get to the trailer to admire Will's handiwork--lights! Omg! All the outlets and switches are wired in, too! He cut three holes in the interior skin for the addition of a switch, DC outlet, and AC outlet next to the bed, and it looks professional AF. Propane also looks stealth. Feel really lucky to have found someone to help us who does such great work! My sister stopped by so we gave her the demonstration--but she hadn't seen how far it had come since demolition so I think she was confused about why we were so excited. :P 

When we installed the axles, the shocks wouldn't reach the mounting bolt sticking out of the frame, so Peter called up our axle vendor for more information. He said because we had the frame up on blocks, there was no weight on the wheels to push the torsion arm forward. Peter took the frame off of the supports and sure enough, the first shock installed perfectly. 

Since Will tested the AC power, we were free to use the outlets inside the trailer for our power tools! I was nervous at first because the inverter was definitely running, but the battery level was unaffected, so I think it is indeed working the way it's supposed to. With the wires more or less squared away (I say more or less because we have lighting still to add in both of the endcaps, the bathroom, and above the sink), we were free to turn to the back end cap, the last piece of exposed wall! 

The challenge presented by the back end cap as opposed to the front is that there is less window and more wall; the back is so much bigger than the front. Peter was worried the aluminum might be too thin to provide its own tension and rigidity. He went to Home Depot and came back with an 8' aluminum bracket, which he cut in two and rivets between the closest rib and the window frame. Then he cut two 24" panels to rivet into that bracket and the original skin on the panel below. 

While he was doing this, I was adding insulation behind all the upper wall panels and trying to adjust the AC wires so they would press flat against the curve of the wall between the ceiling track and the inlet to the electrical platform. One of those fussy little jobs that took me a stupid long time. I also unearthed the tracks for the middle ceiling panel and attempted to scrape paint off of there--went a little rogue. 

I wasn't present for most of the construction of the front end cap, so Peter talked me through how the magic happens. He cut our remaining aluminum into 12" strips. We sorted them so that we knew which long side was the straightest: this would be the visible side. We pulled two pieces with the ugliest long sides to be the bottom pieces, because these guys were going to be cut again. We took one, cleco'd it into place, and traced the curve of the wall to the window frame. Peter cut along the line and then used it as a template to cut the other side. And these are the only end cap pieces that need cutting to fit the curve! 

Peter had made a rivet spacer out of an old campaign sign, so we clamped the 12" strips together and drilled holes along the straight, attractive long side. Then, piece by piece, we slid each panel behind the existing wall, anchored it with clecos at the rib, at the start of the curve, and at the window frame. Used the rivet holes we had drilled on the bottom edge to drill out rivet holes for the top edge of the piece underneath. Peter riveted while I laid insulation for the next level. 

There is almost too much tension in the pieces up so far, on the curbside because of the vent pipe nested in the wall and on the streetside because of the thick tangle of AC wires I couldn't fully tame. Some of the pieces we cut are longer than others (because we were at the end of the roll), and the longer pieces aren't sliding behind the existing walls quite right, they're hitting a rib or a rivet or something. When Peter would rivet the next piece on top, the tension would pull out of the piece below a bit, so hopefully this trend will continue up the wall, but so far this one is much more finicky than the front end cap. 

I was unraveling like a little baby, so we only got 4 pieces in before it was time to call it quits. When she was over checking out the Airstream, my sister had asked me if we fight at all during this project. Of course we get frustrated with each other, but on days like this when I am just a noodge, I am so thankful for Peter's kindness towards me! To finish the end cap we need to order about 8' more aluminum, which is a bummer because shipping is so expensive, but we have several interior patches to do also, so it will be put to use. 

We spent our ride home learning how to break the bead and change a tire, so that might be something we end up doing ourselves! It feels so empowering to be developing these new skills. 

Once the back end cap is finished, we have to cut out the Fan-tastic vent holes from the ceiling panel and figure out how to hold all the wires in the ceiling into their little slots so they aren't resting completely on the ceiling panel. Then we have to locate the paint sprayer at the farm. I was supposed to start sanding the walls this past weekend, but, you know how it be. Painting feels like the next frontier, and also a priority before it gets too cold out. The trailer doesn't look like much inside at the moment cos the walls are so ugly, but with a coat of paint on there I feel like the progress will be more palpable to outsiders. ;)

WOW! Axles!

 Reeeeeally exciting weekend! Despite getting on the road a little later than hoped for, we were able to get over to the shipping depot before it closed to pick up our axles! (For posterity, axles are #3500 axle with 12" brakes, powder coated tubes, 32 degrees torsion arms down angle, EZ lube spindles, with shock brackets welded in place.) I felt like I was in the movie Cars, watching the forklifts zip around the warehouse--it was so COOL! 

The next morning Peter got to disassembling while I was on rust-bust duty. Thankfully the wheel covers popped off pretty easily and once Peter was able to break through the first revolution, the lug nuts spun off easily. (For posterity, #21.) Then he detached the mysterious water tank and, ew, it still had water in it. He had been spraying the bolts on the old axles with WD-40 for weeks in preparation for this, and it paid off because he was able to drop the old axles with minimal finagling. We took a wire brush bit and a sander to the frame, but I was again so pleased to see what good condition it was in. 

Ostensibly, getting the new axles in place could be a two-person job, but only if the second person is a lot stronger than me. We put one end on a sheet of plywood, and Peter lifted the other end while I pulled the plywood under it was in place under the Airstream. I am not sure at all all how we lifted the first axle into place: it was some combo of Peter benching the axle while wiggling blocks underneath until it was up off the ground enough to lift it the rest of the way with a bottle jack. Peter had watched enough install videos on Youtube to learn that the axle slots in the frame would need to be widened half an inch to the back, so he used a jigsaw to make those cuts. He also made the slot a bit deeper so there would be more contact between the frame and the axle. 

We called in the calvary for the second axle. Amanda and Prudence lifted one end end while Peter lifted the other, and I stacked blocks, but it slipped and nearly crushed the four of us, so instead Peter and Amanda did the lifting while Prudence and I slipped temporary bolts into place to hold it against the frame, which worked a lot better.

Instead of balancing the jack in the middle, Peter put it under the bracket where the bolt was so that we could then use a sledgehammer to adjust the alignment. What was amazing was the brackets were tight against the frame, so you really had to get it lined up just right for both sides to go up into their slots, but strangely this wasn't too challenging, and the extra tension from that tightness also helped hold the axles up while we adjusted for the bolts. What was also amazing was that once the axle was fitted into its slot, Peter could finish the installation all by himself.

Peter tried to install the shocks, too, but they didn't quite fit, so he is going to do a bit more research. For a second I thought maybe we installed the axles upside down. His theory is that since we changed the torsion angle from the standard, it is making the shocks just a little too short. While Peter finished bolting the axles on, I used the wire brush & drill on the wheels to get the rust off. Once the axles were bolted on, we put the wheels back on and voila! Kind of crazy to think that we are just 4 tires away from being able to safely tow this thing! Like the subfloor, axles were a huge project I was super intimidated by, but my baby just got in there and got it done! 

In preparation for reinstalling the fresh water tank, we added plywood reinforcement to the subfloor seams in that compartment before we called it quits for the day. Lots of crawling around under the Airstream today, but thankfully no snake encounters.

Before we got out of Dodge on Sunday, we insulated the last back corner and put the last piece of original skin into place. Now all the walls are up except for the back end cap. The back end cap will take some finessing because it is "deeper" and covers more area without rib support than the front end cap. But Peter is also working with the benefit of experience now. 

Will is coming to run the propane lines and wrap up loose ends with the electric. I expect the back end cap will take a chunk of time, but since the tank venting is already mostly dry-fitted, we could be working on plumbing really soon! 

End caps!

 I am sorry to report that I was an extreme grumpy gills during Airstream work this weekend. Peter had all of Friday to devote to his goals, so I worked remote from the comfort of the air conditioning while he slaved away finessing the end cap with the assistance of Amanda. The spray glue the guy at Home Depot recommended was inferior to the 3M glue in that it did not want to stick to the Reflectix, so it was relatively useless for its intended purpose, but what are you going to do? Amanda was a huge help in the insulation department, and by 5pm on Friday the front end cap was, TA-DA, finished! 

Before we called it quits for the day, we cleco'd in the street-side upper wall. I stand by my assessment that that is a three-person job. We also checked our newly arrived replacement external lights to see if they would nest in the existing housing--unsurprisingly, I guess, they did not. On the way home we stopped at Tractor Supply and got two more kinds of lights to test. We think we can drill a new hole in the housing so we can sit a single LED in there, and screw the covers back in. 

Saturday morning I got to work on insulating the curb-side upper wall while Peter riveted in the street-side. I took it upon myself to do some wire sorting because it was giving me anxiety that Peter didn't seem to be paying the wires much mind (I had no evidence for this really, but I just couldn't let it go!) I know he is frustrated by the slowness of our progress and I worry that he is so focused on gaining ground that he forgets other details. But, if you know Peter you know there is always a method to his madness. 

We slid our electrical components platform to the side and insulated the back street-side wall and around the back hatch. Oddly, the remaining skins didn't match up the way we expected, probably there was some design intention in that, but since that area will now be visible instead of covered by the bathroom housing, we wanted fewer lines. We took a scrap of aluminum to cover that spot instead. 

With the help of Amanda and Prudence we got the curb-side upper wall cleco'd into place, and then put some rivets in there to help it align more. We are only securing it halfway up the wall so that the wall can peel back a bit for Will to run wires for the puck lighting. We threaded the rest of the existing wires to their spots as best we could. Then I gave it a good vacuuming, which never feels like a particularly essential task but is always so satisfying. 

We have been disagreeing about the number of lights we'll need inside. One of Peter's pet peeves is dim lighting and low visibility, but I think he is underestimating how bright LEDs can be and also how small the space is. He was pushing for additional, larger puck lighting across the endcaps, in addition to more decorative sconce lighting mid-way up the wall, but after getting the walls up he seems to agree with me that that the extra puck lighting isn't necessary. 

Before we left, Peter showed me the shower pan side-by-side with the toilet I had chosen. It is a bit wider than I had imagined, and he thinks the bathroom will end up being longer than we really wanted. We had talked about a waist-high "closet" between the shower wall and the bed, but it looks like we mix need to redirect that space to the bathroom so there is enough room to put your feet down in between the toilet and the shower pan. The other option is moving the toilet from the curb-side to the street-side and doing kind of like a walk-through bathroom, but I am loathe to lose the storage and to interrupt the openness of that side that we had envisioned. 

Next time I think we will put the last lower wall on for the back curb-side and tackle the back end cap? After next weekend, Will is coming back to help us wrap up the wiring and install the propane lines. I would like to leak-test the old freshwater tank and get it re-installed so Will can install tank monitors for us and we can turn toward the plumbing next. But, we still haven't decided where we want our control panel to go, since we only just decided to fabricate both the front and back endcaps. No original control panel anymore! 

But, Peter is project manager, so I will leave those things for him to figure out. Trying to lean into that freedom of responsibility to keep the grumpiness away. ;)