pfriesen
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1959 Shasta Airflyte
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Post by pfriesen on Apr 6, 2023 12:30:40 GMT -8
Just to clarify: I did not, and DO NOT, have the skills, or the time, or the facilities and tools, for this. We shipped it straight south to Colorado, where Larry Hill of Retro Restoration did the rebuild over a five-month period. It is complete. I am just finally getting to sharing it with you fellow enthusiasts.
I created a photo book with every photo and email update from Larry. It's quite a souvenir and record of his work. But I don't want to bore you all with too many details. Give me a sense of how much you want.
Thanks.
Paul
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Post by vikx on Apr 6, 2023 14:29:50 GMT -8
We always enjoy photos. Does your trailer have a blog site?
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pfriesen
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1959 Shasta Airflyte
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Post by pfriesen on Apr 6, 2023 15:14:52 GMT -8
Afraid not. I'm just not that savvy. Look how long it took me to get to this More photos! The frame being stripped and prepped for painting.
The frame with some wood replaced, some added (there was a spot near the door where two sheets of plywood butted against each other, but no reinforcement underneath. That led to a cracked floor tile. So Larry added cross-framing in that spot). Frame painted with POR-15, I think it's called.
New flooring. That's marmoleum tiles in the front two-thirds, less expensive VCT tiles under the bed, which will be a permanent bed.
Walls re-attached.
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pfriesen
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1959 Shasta Airflyte
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Post by pfriesen on Apr 6, 2023 21:01:40 GMT -8
Here are the cabinets being re-installed. Our restorer only had to replace a few cabinet panels. Most were in good condition.
All closed in.
Insulated.
One of the small changes we made to the interior: cedar-lined shelves in the clothes closet.
Sent the brown Princess stove out for re-porcelaining (is that a word?) to match a new, white retro refrigerator (electric only). Turned out minty.
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mobiltec
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1954 Jewel In Progress...
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Post by mobiltec on Apr 7, 2023 8:48:59 GMT -8
Very nice work indeed.
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pfriesen
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1959 Shasta Airflyte
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Post by pfriesen on Apr 7, 2023 15:07:26 GMT -8
I'll show a few more photos of some interior details. Here's the utility area under the dinette. Power converter, battery, water tank and pump.
Another little custom touch here. You know that narrow storage "hamper" at one end of the bed? We removed it, repurposing the lid to make a small shelf overhanging the bed, on the side of the closet. A place for my wife's glasses and a glass of water.
New stove backsplash:
Larry repurposed some old lamp parts and built a "gas" lamp: he milled out the ceramic gas nozzle to fit a small LED bulb, then put a mantle over it. It's electric, but looks just like a gas lamp. Even has a dimmer knob! Rebuilt countertop with a proper sink. That's a 1959 laminate pattern, reproduced, called Turquoise Venus 2, by Panolam.
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pfriesen
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1959 Shasta Airflyte
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Post by pfriesen on Apr 7, 2023 15:30:50 GMT -8
Since this forum is all about helping others with their restorations, here's an interesting one our builder pointed out. Like the improved floor support in the trailer frame, this is also an improvement from the original Shasta build.
This first photo shows the original door framing. Note how the framing stops where the lock is. Causes the aluminum to break at that spot. Larry says every Shasta he's ever done -- and this was his 28th -- the door is broken at the lock. Ours was, too. An example of the company cutting corners for fast production.
Here's his rebuilt door, with a bigger frame piece, mortised out for the lock. Now for a little fun teaser. We have this '66 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight. Perfect for towing this, I'd say. At least it would be with a matching paint job, right?
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nccamper
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1962 Forester- 1956 Shasta
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Post by nccamper on Apr 7, 2023 16:59:30 GMT -8
A rolling beauty.
Thanks for sharing photos.
"An example of the company cutting corners for fast production" I always enjoy seeing how they cut corners ;-)
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Post by Teachndad on Apr 8, 2023 4:11:00 GMT -8
Paul, Thank you so much for posting more of the restoration photos! The restoration was done very well. I love the counter top material. Thanks for posting the name of it. Looks similar to the counter top on the table of my 57 Westerner which needs recovering. Always a help. Who did the drapes for the trailer? Just curious what you did there. The pairing with the Oldsmobile is like playing with Matchbox cars isn't it? oooohhh what can we do to make this even more fun? You have a fine trailer. They got it done in good time, too. Cheers , Rod
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Post by Teachndad on Apr 8, 2023 4:56:39 GMT -8
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pfriesen
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1959 Shasta Airflyte
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Post by pfriesen on Apr 8, 2023 8:27:27 GMT -8
Hi Rod, We haven't done the curtains, yet. My wife ordered about a dozen retro-style fabric samples, and we've used clothespins to attach them, for now, so at least we have privacy when camping. But we've been dragging our feet on it a bit. Glad you appreciate the photos. Interesting to know about our restorer's use of staples.
I wasn't sure how much of the detailed restoration to include on this thread. I'll include another here that you might appreciate. This one is about what our restorer calls "bender board: laminated strips of plywood that make up the curved edges between the joists." Here's what else he said (with the photo following): "The bender is similar to the Shasta construction with a slight improvement. They don't glue the layers together. I do. Gluing them makes it one solid piece."
More from our restorer: "On mild bends I can use three layers of 1/4 ply, as in the closeup. On tighter bends I have to use six layers of 1/8. The 1/4 will break if I try to bend it too far."
Perhaps that'll also be helpful to someone. It's certainly not my area of expertise.
I'll try to get to the big reveal later today.
Paul
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newin62
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1962 Shasta Airflyte
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Post by newin62 on Apr 8, 2023 9:28:44 GMT -8
On my Shasta the butt joints were too big for staples!
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pfriesen
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Post by pfriesen on Apr 8, 2023 14:22:00 GMT -8
OK, time for the real fun. We wanted to go the extra mile with everything and really do this right. That's why we took on the expense of shipping the Shasta to Retro Restoration in Colorado, 1,100 miles south. As you can see, veteran restorer Larry Hill did it right. One thing we didn't get that we'd hoped for: we wanted to use .030-inch aluminum, a bit of an upgrade from .024. As most of you probably know, there were supply issues during the pandemic. Larry's supplier could only get .024 at the time he needed it (this was October of 2021). Yes, we could have paid a lot more to get it from Hemet Valley in California much earlier in the process, but storage would have been an issue. So we settled for .024. Larry added what he called a 1/8-inch luan on the upper front and rear curves to help the roof skin lay flat. Matching the original six-inch scores wasn't critical for us. I think what have now is four-inch. Or is it five? I'm not sure. We still have a lot of snow here and it's parked and covered for a while, yet. But here it is with the new skins. Before shipping the Shasta down to Colorado, we had a local paint shop scan our 1966 Oldsmobile and mix up the same colour in a single-stage urethane. We shipped it down with the camper, along with the required mixes and hardeners. Here it is painted. Of course none of these project go off without a hitch or two, right? One of ours: Before shipping the camper down south, I had taken the left-side door pull, which was pitted, to a local chrome shop for refinishing. Damn if they didn't break it. They welded it together, but Larry, our restorer, said it broke again when he attached it. Apparently welding that material just wouldn't be effective. Yikes! What to do? That's a hard-to-find part. There was one for sale on E-bay, but the owner was extremely proud of it. I can't remember what he was asking, but it was silly. Solution: I called an RV dealer in Saskatchewan, one province to the west, that sells the Shasta re-issue. Sure enough, he had a brand new door pull in his parts supply. Cost me maybe $180 Cdn, which wasn't too bad. The only drawback: it wasn't lighted. Enter Larry, our restorer. Now the pictures you've been waiting for. In our research, the Shasta that had really stirred our hearts was a '62, I believe, with the slogan, "Have Wings Will Travel" on the back. That got us thinking about a slogan for ours, when we found it. We are both music nuts: Bob Dylan for me, Van Morrison for my wife. So it was either No Direction Home, or this: We went through a local supplier to get this Ennis Ultra-Leather fabric (colour: Lagoon) for the dinette benches. Shipped that down with the trailer, too. Larry farmed out the upholstery work.
Here's the dinette. Because of the patterned laminate and color of upholstery, we decided to go with a more neutral floor. It's Forbo Marmoleum Modular Tiles, 10-inch. Colour: barley. Reminds me of sand, and our favourite beach an hour north of us.
Here's the back, still with the old mattress. We had a new, very comfortable one made here at home last spring. Because of the slightly taller fridge, Larry had the mirror cut down a bit. But he made sure not to cut off the markings on the back that identify the camper's year of manufacture.
Forgot to include this shot of the Dometic FAN-TASTIC roof fan:
I'll add one more post with some final photos. With the Oldsmobile, of course.
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pfriesen
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Post by pfriesen on Apr 8, 2023 15:01:32 GMT -8
I had been hoping to drive down to Colorado to meet Larry and pick up the Shasta, sleeping in it on the way home. Unfortunately, the border was still closed to non-essential travel at the time. Larry agreed to tow it 1,100-miles to a holding facility at the border, just an hour south of our home in Winnipeg. Talk about going the extra mile.
I hired a broker to clear customs, and we drove down to their facility, about 45 minutes, to pick it up. What a fun time. Here it is at home. And with the Olds.
In these photos, there's no hitch on the Olds. Getting that done was no snap of the fingers, either. Finally found someone who'd take it on, only to be unimpressed with his work. Took it to a place that didn't want the hassle in the first place, and late last summer they fixed the issues and sold me a trailer brake controller that plugs into the car lighter. The Shasta's brakes had rarely been used and work like a charm.
Still one issue with the car/camper pair: the rear end of the Olds sags when I hitch it up. So it needs more heavy-duty springs. That'll happen this summer. We did get a few camping trips in with the Shasta, using my truck, last summer. So some final photos from campsites, one at Grand Beach, our favourite place to camp. The canvas awning in this photo was made by the mother of the previous owner family. Thanks for the interest, and for the terrific forum, the perfect place to share experiences like this, and learn from others. Paul
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Post by Teachndad on Apr 8, 2023 15:49:26 GMT -8
Paul, Thanks for sharing the rest of the story. We so appreciate the time and effort to share. These stories for me anyway are half the fun of the hobby. Your trailer has been beautifully completed. I love the white wall tires and the paint scheme. Glad you are getting use out of it and sounds like you are enjoying every minute of it. If you want to top it off, you could also get the propane tank painted to match the trailer. Some folks will paint the lower half the same color as the lower half of the trailer and then the top half of the tank will match the top color of the trailer. It's a nice look. Touche' Rod Here is an example of painting the propane tanks as I described.
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