ivancab
New Member
Posts: 8
Currently Offline
|
Post by ivancab on Sept 7, 2023 12:23:57 GMT -8
Hello everyone,
Just joined the forum. Been reading through it for hours today and fell in love with all the information in here. On Saturday, August 9th, my wife and I will be driving 9 hours from Charlotte Nc to New Jersey to check out a 63 Airflyte we are interested in purchasing.
Some of you might get angry at us but we hope to restore it into a mobile cuban cafe. So we intend to get rid of the couches and beds and replace with coffee/smoothie/sandwich making stations and we plan to cut a service window out of the side opposite the door. We’ve seen some gorgeous conversions online of the early 60’s airflytes and nomads and we hope to successfully finish this project while honoring the history of vintage shastas.
I will be doing my best to sniff out the rot to see if it’s a decent buy or not. Would love tips on how to spot hidden rot. And any other tips, or suggestions and need to know information before we embark on this journey.
I have the skills to figure out how to fix all the possible rot but am worried about electric and plumbing for our intended use. Any advice in this department is greatly appreciated.
After watching some of Larry’s videos we now understand the importance of the cabinets in maintaining the integrity of the structure so we will try to keep that in mind as we restore the interior, maybe retrofitting the cabinets to serve our use without eliminating them completely.
I’m excited to learn more and hear what you veterans have to say.
|
|
aslmx
1K Member
Posts: 1,051 
Likes: 364
Currently Offline
|
Post by aslmx on Sept 7, 2023 15:42:27 GMT -8
Unless it’s been stored in a building it will probably need to be completely rebuilt. Do you have a link or pics of it? Didn’t know how much you were wanting to spend but you can have a new one built also. atomiccamperpart.com/ |
|
ivancab
New Member
Posts: 8
Currently Offline
|
Post by ivancab on Sept 8, 2023 4:44:52 GMT -8
Unless it’s been stored in a building it will probably need to be completely rebuilt. Do you have a link or pics of it? Didn’t know how much you were wanting to spend but you can have a new one built also. atomiccamperpart.com/Find below some pictures; I hope I posted the links correctly. Asking price is $2000 and we gave a $200 deposit for them to hold it for us. They have Title in hand and we were sent picture proof. There is a leak on the roof vent. Sale comes with a vent replacement but obviously the visible damage is probably not the end of that water damage. Thank you so much for the Atomic Campers recommendation my wife is calling them today. My main concern with the trailer is its ability to travel 400+ miles back home. We have purchased new tires and will be inspecting all the cabinets and corners to make sure it’s not rotted to a point of no return. Either way we do plan to do a full restoration my main concern is being able to travel with it. flic.kr/p/2p1FExgflic.kr/p/2p1GG5qflic.kr/p/2p1HTd1flic.kr/p/2p1HTcKflic.kr/p/2p1J9shflic.kr/p/2p1J9sc |
|
aslmx
1K Member
Posts: 1,051
Likes: 364
Currently Offline
|
Post by aslmx on Sept 8, 2023 6:28:28 GMT -8
It looks complete and not in too bad of shape. Your main rot will be at those front side windows at the dinette. I’ve towed a lot worse. Check the tires get some of the harbor freight magnet trailer lights just in case the originals don’t work.
|
|
ivancab
New Member
Posts: 8
Currently Offline
|
Post by ivancab on Sept 8, 2023 7:42:25 GMT -8
It looks complete and not in too bad of shape. Your main rot will be at those front side windows at the dinette. I’ve towed a lot worse. Check the tires get some of the harbor freight magnet trailer lights just in case the originals don’t work. Great! I have some hope for this one then. The current owner says this has been in the family a while and that it has been taken care of. She also confirmed that prior to the last 12 months, it was indeed parked under a roof but when her brother died a year ago they had to relocate it so for a year it’s been stored outside. I added a stop at harbor freight to the pre-trip preparations though I think the lights do work. Do modern hitch electrical harnesses work with 60’s shasta trailer harnesses? |
|
|
|
Post by Teachndad on Sept 8, 2023 8:47:37 GMT -8
Hi, I agree with aslmx that you should in good shape to tow it. It's not going to fall apart. Just from the interior pix it looks like it will make the trip. I too have towed trailers in worse condition. You should get one of those strap on trailer jacks that Harbor Freight sells with the wheel. It's called a Swing away jack.  It will offer some mobility when you get it back home and need to place it. The jack is missing on the trailer. Find out if they have it and if it's working bolt it back on. My guess would be that the jack was a gonner as they can break internally. You can also just shop around for a proper permanent jack, but ultimately, your goal is to get it home. As a final option, it will still be able to get the trailer hitched without the jack, but you will need a way to lift the hitch onto the hitch ball. Peoples backs work, but I don't recommend it. I floor jack can work or even a scissor jack on a tall wood block. Things to work out. You may have some trouble getting new tires on the trailer. You might have to install them with no air in them to squeeze them in the wheel well. If anyone can answer that one, aslmx can. You might also consider opening up the wheel hub and regreasing the hubs. At the very least open them up and look to see how the grease is in the hub. I had a trailer retreival where I cleaned and regreased only the outside bearings and that got me home 225 miles. As to the wire harness to the tow vehicle, aslmx might know on that one. At the very least, if it's an uncommon configuration other than 4 or 7 pin connector, then you can use the HF mag base lights with an a 7 pin adapter to a four pin. Harbor Freight sells the adapter too. It looks like this and is listed as Seven-Way Blade to 4-Way Flat Trailer Adapter.  I assume you have a modern tow vehicle that will have a 7 pin receptical at the rear under the bumper. Reinforce the mag lights on the bumper. I had one come loose on another retreival and fell to the ground. I learned to double up and strap them down with two bungi cords each. You should also have a basic bag of tools with you. I hope that helps. Rod |
|
ivancab
New Member
Posts: 8
Currently Offline
|
Post by ivancab on Sept 8, 2023 9:24:25 GMT -8
Thank you so much! All the above was incredibly useful and we appreciate it. We have a nice shopping list for harbor freight. We have an appointment with a tire shop in Jersey to have the tire installed on the old rims. Will ask if they can grease the hub and if not I will handle it myself. I’ll make sure to let them know what you said about installing the tire without the air.
I can’t wait to get it home and begin working on it.
|
|
|
|
Post by Teachndad on Sept 8, 2023 11:10:38 GMT -8
😎.
See if the seller can send you a picture of the connecting harness coming from the trailer. Then you can have a bit more info.
What's your tow vehicle?
Rod
|
|
ivancab
New Member
Posts: 8
Currently Offline
|
Post by ivancab on Sept 8, 2023 12:02:23 GMT -8
😎. See if the seller can send you a picture of the connecting harness coming from the trailer. Then you can have a bit more info. What's your tow vehicle? Rod We drive a Honda Pilot. |
|
|
|
Post by Teachndad on Sept 8, 2023 12:04:03 GMT -8
Your Pilot will be fine. I have a Ridgeline and it's the same engine and tranny.
|
|
ivancab
New Member
Posts: 8
Currently Offline
|
Post by ivancab on Sept 8, 2023 14:35:57 GMT -8
Your Pilot will be fine. I have a Ridgeline and it's the same engine and tranny. Man, you guys really are priceless. No stone unturned. I look forward to updating you guys on our project. May I ask you guys’s opinion on vintage Shasta conversions for serving food? I’m falling so in love with the vintageness of these shastas that I’m trying to alter the interior as little as possible. I hope to only pull out the bed area and install a sandwich station and expand the counter space to fit a service window, panini press and espresso machine. I’m going to have to replace the ice box with an actual fridge/freezer. And I will have to replace the sink with a 2-compartment sink. If the vintage oven works maybe we will keep it if space allows. We hope to keep the Dinette area for hanging out when not serving patrons. What are you veterans thoughts on these ideas? Hit me with the truth… If we can pull it off we hope to serve you guys at the next rally with some addicting cuban coffee and sandwiches 🙂. |
|
aslmx
1K Member
Posts: 1,051
Likes: 364
Currently Offline
|
Post by aslmx on Sept 8, 2023 18:54:43 GMT -8
Your Pilot will be fine. I have a Ridgeline and it's the same engine and tranny. Man, you guys really are priceless. No stone unturned. I look forward to updating you guys on our project. May I ask you guys’s opinion on vintage Shasta conversions for serving food? I’m falling so in love with the vintageness of these shastas that I’m trying to alter the interior as little as possible. I hope to only pull out the bed area and install a sandwich station and expand the counter space to fit a service window, panini press and espresso machine. I’m going to have to replace the ice box with an actual fridge/freezer. And I will have to replace the sink with a 2-compartment sink. If the vintage oven works maybe we will keep it if space allows. We hope to keep the Dinette area for hanging out when not serving patrons. What are you veterans thoughts on these ideas? Hit me with the truth… If we can pull it off we hope to serve you guys at the next rally with some addicting cuban coffee and sandwiches 🙂. I’ll let someone else answer. I have 3 Shasta’s so to me what you’re doing is blasphemy. 😝 |
|
aslmx
1K Member
Posts: 1,051
Likes: 364
Currently Offline
|
Post by aslmx on Sept 11, 2023 18:22:53 GMT -8
Did y’all get the Shasta?
|
|
