pfriesen
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1959 Shasta Airflyte
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Post by pfriesen on Oct 6, 2021 14:47:59 GMT -8
Greetings from Canada. I bought a 1959 Shasta, 16-footer, one year ago. Sent it down to Colorado for a complete restoration, and we're within weeks of getting it back. Seeing the week-by-week updates via email from mid-June, when the project started, to now has been fascinating. I've learned the anticipation is a significant part of the fun.
My question: We might need to store the Shasta outdoors for the winter. We'll find a shaded, sheltered spot. But obviously we'll need a cover. Any suggestions? I've already looked into CalMark Covers, and while their custom-made covers look fantastic, they're pricey. Like, $1,000. Any tips or suggestions are much appreciated.
Bye for now. Looking forward to sharing some photos.
Paul
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nccamper
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1962 Forester- 1956 Shasta
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Post by nccamper on Oct 6, 2021 15:04:02 GMT -8
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pfriesen
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1959 Shasta Airflyte
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Post by pfriesen on Oct 6, 2021 17:09:31 GMT -8
I have recently been thinking of an open structure like that. Too busy to tackle that this fall, so looking for a temporary solution. Nice Shasta! But... where are the wings?
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Post by vikx on Oct 6, 2021 18:30:45 GMT -8
I think that's the Forester... Try RV cover in your searches. A lot show up. A cover will be "weather resistant" but not "waterproof". They are great for debris and dust.
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pfriesen
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1959 Shasta Airflyte
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Post by pfriesen on Oct 6, 2021 19:59:47 GMT -8
Whoops -- it probably is. Sorry! Relatively new to this.
Waterproof is probably not a good thing. Imagine you want them to breathe. Was hoping there was something specifically designed for the winged Shasta, or at least tried and true by others, but I will continue my search. Thank you for the welcome.
Is this where I post my first photos? Just add them to this thread?
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Post by vikx on Oct 6, 2021 20:07:59 GMT -8
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newin62
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1962 Shasta Airflyte
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Post by newin62 on Mar 10, 2023 8:36:17 GMT -8
Hi Paul. I assume you got your restored Airflyte back. I would love to see some pics of what you did with it. I'm in the middle of restoring my 62 and I can't get enough of seeing what others have done.
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mobiltec
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1954 Jewel In Progress...
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Post by mobiltec on Mar 16, 2023 6:53:20 GMT -8
I would love to see the BUILD photos and the finished product. Pricey??? What you want is a HARD cover for your trailer. It's a cheap insurance policy to keep your trailer looking nice and leak free for years to come. I would love to know what you were charged for the restore. Materials AND labor....
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pfriesen
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1959 Shasta Airflyte
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Post by pfriesen on Apr 4, 2023 17:33:18 GMT -8
OK, I'm back. Sorry for the delay. Life. I've got some pre-restoration photos of our Canadian Shasta uploaded to Flickr. We'll see if this works. The story, in a nutshell: My wife and I started getting the vintage trailer bug a couple years ago. Searched online for months. Decided the late 1950s, early 1960s Shasta would be perfect. But traveling to the U.S. just to check one out seemed inefficient. Buying one sight unseen, too risky. One day my sister says she remembered seeing a local newspaper article about one, maybe a year earlier, by a local columnist who was considering renting it out as an Airbnb. She had no idea what it was. We googled the article, and this is the newspaper photo that came up. A '59 Shasta!
Here's the crazy thing: I just happened to know the columnist as a colleague from a previous job. So I emailed him to see if he still had the Shasta or knew of another one like it in our neck of the woods. Yup, he still had it. And yup, he was ready to sell it. And we only had to drive half an hour to check it out. Oh, and the camper had been in his wife's family since the early 1960s! I love the history stories of vintage cars and such. This was too good to be true.
A few weeks later, we had it home: The interior still had the original flooring, dinette benches, stove, gaucho bed, cabinetry and walls. The sink and countertops had been replaced by a brother in the family, years earlier. He'd also swapped out the icebox for a propane fridge, adding that large fridge vent to the exterior. He'd swapped out the propane light over the dinette, too. I'd find out later he was concerned about how hot it got. The family added a privacy curtain (they camped with four kids!) and two fold-down shelves, one at each end of the bed, for additional places to eat. Here are some pics. Overall, it was very well cared for. Of course, it had leaks. We knew it needed a complete rebuild. But the windows were all intact. The trailer frame had surface rust, but it would clean up pretty good. The previous owner went to the trouble of wire-brushing a few spots and sent this photo before we closed the deal:
That's it for now. I'm Paul. Hopefully I'll get on here again soon and show you the restoration. Or do you want the instant gratification of some "after" photos first?
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pfriesen
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1959 Shasta Airflyte
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Post by pfriesen on Apr 4, 2023 17:36:36 GMT -8
Oh, gotta add this photo. I contacted the brother in the previous owner family, the one who'd done much of the work, and he got a couple old photos from his mom, who's still alive. Including this one. That's him in the back seat.
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newin62
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1962 Shasta Airflyte
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Post by newin62 on Apr 5, 2023 5:12:15 GMT -8
WOW! Your trailer was in fantastic original condition to start with. It must have spent a lot of time under a roof.
I can't wait to see the restoration pics!
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pfriesen
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1959 Shasta Airflyte
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Post by pfriesen on Apr 5, 2023 6:05:03 GMT -8
I believe it spent the last 15-20 years or so under a roof. I'll get to those pics hopefully later today.
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pfriesen
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1959 Shasta Airflyte
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Post by pfriesen on Apr 5, 2023 11:27:45 GMT -8
OK, restoration time. Here's how the walls looked. Some rot along the bottom. Patching/rebuilding the wall framing, laying one side on top of the other for the perfect match. New birch plywood, cut to fit the framing. The new walls. The new walls, with amber shellac.
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Post by Teachndad on Apr 6, 2023 5:29:42 GMT -8
Welcome!
Good Golly Miss Molly!
The planets of the Vintage Trailer Restoration Universe lined up for this one. Such a great story and to luck out with finding a trailer that had been covered. AND you have skills to move it along. WOW!
Cheers,
Rod
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mobiltec
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Post by mobiltec on Apr 6, 2023 7:41:48 GMT -8
Great build you have going there.
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