September 30, 2018

The Aluminum Sourcing Saga

September 30, 2018/ Kyle Acker

Hey all! Sorry we’ve been so slow on the updates lately! There’s been a lot going on both good and bad! Kyle has been traveling a ton for his job the last few weeks so progress has slowed a bit. But, we’ve also had a couple of other small issues.

First, the sheet of aluminum that we ordered from Discount Steel for the street-side lower rear panel looked funny when it arrived. It’s the piece that we shared the video of Kyle cutting a couple weeks ago. It was dull, wouldn’t shine, and it seemed to look the same on both sides. It also didn’t match the piece that we had laser cut for the rear.

August 25, 2018

Doing some exterior body work

August 25, 2018/ Kyle Acker

Wally had some dents and dings in his previous life! A few of them, we just weren't okay with leaving them where they were at. One of the challenges of working with a 59 year old Airstream is the 59 year old aluminum skin. While we have some AWESOME friends that have some amazing metal working skills (Rob is a master fabricator at Donnie Smith's in Blaine, MN), the metal is so old and oxidized that it has become brittle and a little more difficult than new to work with. So, we're moving forward with removing the two rear panels that were the worst offenders and replacing them. Drilling out rivets is fun! /sarcasm.