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Airstream345

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Walkthrough of my 345 Makeover


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My Modification List

My Repair List

Carb Rebuild
New Distributor
New Mechanical Fuel Pump
New Electric Fuel Pump
Replaced Master Cylinder (twice)
Replace Front and Rear Brakes
Rebuilt Tag Axel Brakes
Replaced Shocks All Around
New Steering Stabilizer
New Water Pump (twice)
New Alternator
New Hydroboost Pump

My Engine Modifications

Installed Hedmann Headers
Installed 2.5" Freeflow Exhaust
Removed AIR System
High Temp Accel 9000 Wireset


		My Friends

Airstream345 has 4 friends.

92 Monaco

Suzanne Webster

Balrgn

87MH


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Fred's Airstream Motorhome Site

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My Profile

Name

Steven Webster

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Personal

Gender		Male
About Me		Hey there! I'm Steven Webster and I'm the host of this website. I'm also a Classic Motorhome owner. This is my personal page. Here I can upload photos, videos, blog about whatever is on my mine, connect to my friends, send messages and a bung of other stuff. You can get your personal pages on this site too. It's free. Just register on the site.

Last Updated

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

The URL for this profile

http://www.classicmotorhomesonline.com/tabid/826/pid/2/Default.aspx


		My Blog

06-Aug-07 - More Progress
Well I've been pretty much heads down working on the 345 so we could take it on our summer vacation. I have more to post, but wanted to get a couple of shots up of the new sofas. More to follow:
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23-May-07 - Bedroom (Opposing Sofa) Mockup
I've been spending a lot of time out in the Airstream "thinking" about the rear bedroom changes. Don't know about you but it's something I do. Call it "Noodle Time" but I try to envision how everything is going to fit together within a space. I've been spending a lot of time working out how the futon frames will attach to bulkheads, how much of the futon backs to cut down and how to get the sofas to unfold so that they meet right in the middle of the coach (making a bed). I had some time earlier this week to cut out the new bulkhead that replaces the curbside closet that was already there. In the 345 the curbside closet is shallow and wide. It was too shallow to support the sofa. This was one of the reasons why I was spending so much noodle time out there. So to get a feel for things, I cut out the bulkhead extending it about 5 inches into the coach (deeper than before and exactly the same depth the the roadside closet). Then I could place the bulkhead in the coach, moving it forward until the frame rails for the sofa fit. A few clamps and some spacers and I was able to mock up the layout. After some measuring and mockups with the hinges, I think a 12" - 13" back support will work fine and everything should meet in the middle when pulled out. One of th benefits to these hingest and frames is that they allow you to lift up the sofa seat, giving you access to storage on the roadside and the mechanicals of the water pump and air compressor on the curbside. I think this might actually work!
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23-May-07 - Kitchen Almost Done
I'm finally wrapping up the kitchen in the Airstream. After bribing my brother in law to drive to his local IKEA in Connecticut to buy the sink I wanted (and some other small items) it arrived last week. (Note: you would think IKEA could figure out how to ship this stuff directly to me but for some reason one of the items on my web order was out of stock so they cancelled the order and directed me to my local store - IN CHICAGO). Anyhoo. I found a local wholesaler for cabinetmakers, setup an account an purchase a 48" x 96" x 3/4" sheet of melamine (at only $28 this is a very economical way to buy this stuff over smaller cut pieces from Home Depot). I was also able to get a sheet of 1/2" red oak ply I needed to the new rear closet bulkhead (another post) So I got the new counter made, sink installed and a few little odds and ends are left like staining the frame faces and installing a kick plate, connecting the drain lines. All in all about a half day of effort left and I can call the kitchen complete (YEAH!!!)
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13-Jun-07 - Anonymous Nice job!!! I really like the look of your kitchen

29-Apr-07 - Shower Removal
The shower in our 345 is nasty. It's been usable, but ugly with a faded tub, older fixtures and peeling vinyl on the walls. My wife refuses to use it at all. I've used it in a pinch, but the shower head to so low you need to kind of "stoop" down to wash your hair. In any case, the rennovations will include a makeover of the shower. I've remove the plumbing, the tub, the back panel and the remaining vinyl from the walls. The plan is to to re-vinyl the walls in the white dot decking material, refinish the tub in gloss white, new fixtures and drain, and a new glass shower door. Getting the tub and back panel out required a lot of dissasembly and effort. I plan to post a DIY article about it soon as there are a number of tricks to getting it right. Here are some pics of the aftermath. Surprisingly little water marking after 20 years. The floor is completely solid Another view of the "stripped" shower stall. This is a view of the closet side of the shower plumbing. Here is the old pan, out and in the shop ready for a facelift. This back panel took hours to remove. There is a secret to getting it out. Here is a mock up of the new shower system. It will allow us to raise of lower the removable shower head...perfect for grown ups, kids and dogs.
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29-Apr-07 - Finished up the Kitchen Cabinets
Spent Friday night and Saturday morning finishing up the cabinet faces in the kitchen. Got everything done and installed. I'm pretty happy with the results. Just ordered a new round skink and a large bar stock handle for the large drawer from IKEA. I was also planning to use there aluminum laminte countertop but it doesn't have the depth to work. On the hunt for some laminate. Here are some pics. This is the pantry/mocrowave cabinet. I still have to apply the espresso stain to the woodwork Kitchen cabinets refaced and mounted with new hardware and pulls. Cabinet under fridge. Dinette storage...closeup of new hinges.
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29-Apr-07 - Kitchen Remodel
The kitchen in the 345 is very functional from a cabinet and drawer layout perspective, but the raised oak panels didn't really fit with our modern design goals for the Airstream. We also had a number of cabinet center panels falling out and cracked and checked drawer faces, loose hinges, squeaky slides....just 20 years of use taking it's toll. My wife and I really liked the look of the kitchens in the newer CCD trailers. Clean lines, white lamintate that will hold up to kids and dogs, easy to keep clean and fits our modern tastes. So, with the CCD inspired look in mind, this this week I set about creating new cabinet and door faces for the kitchen. I used 3/4" melamine particle board edged with iron on melimine banding. I replaced all of the hinges with recessed full face overlap "euro" hinges and found these cool knobs at Target for $1.99 each.
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20-Apr-07 - Futon Hinges Continued
Found a complete futon frame with the same hinges I need for $59 at Big Lots this weekend. I was there purchasing some plastic bins and a collapsable hand truck which will become part of our "quickload" closet in the Airstream.
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24-Mar-07 - Figuring out the "lounge" area
I finally figured out how to handle the read lounge. I had constructed a great U shaped loung back there, complete with storage and access hatches, but just could not figure out how to get the opposing sofas to turn into a bed. Then while walking behind the office the other day came across an old metal futon frame. Unlike the cheapo futons you're thinking of, this one had these multi point hinges which turned the "sofa" into a "bed". It also allowed you to raise the seat to gain access to storage below. Turns out these are called Futon Transmissions and they are designed to move the search forward while lowering the back and simultaneously raising the entire bed up two inches to everyhing comes to rest perfectly level. A quick trip back with a socket set and I had one pair. Not to find the opposing pair. Sure enough a few minutes of "googling" and I found these for $69. So I've removed a lot of the framing and plan to install this much simpler solution to my problem.
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09-Mar-07 - Installed two new Flexsteel Captains Chairs in the Airstream
My 21 year old Flexsteels have had it. The driver's side has worn through to the foam and the passenger side armrest doesn't stay up any more and on a long drive one of the buttons digs into your back. Beyond that, they just show 21 years and 190,000 miles of use and have been in need of new hides for a long time. On the list of things to do, the cockpit is last. There are so many things to do on the interior and exterior first. Occasionally, I'll price replacements and I'm blown away at how expensive they are. Upholstery isn't much better and even the best jobs still look like mid eights seat design. So I waited and hoped that sooner or later I would fall into a pair from one of my customers or another RVer. Well that day came this week. I good friend and customer of mine had two brand new ultra leather takeouts from a Class A Coachmen they recently sold. Apparently, the client needed to upgrade the seats to the "wide screen" versions leaving two brand new seats with the tags still one them. A couple of horse trades later and they were in the back of my Jeep headed for their new home in the Airstream. The seats also gave me a nice cold weather project. I've had the Airstream home for a little over a month with all kinds of pre-season projects in mind, but with the weather it's been hard to get out there for more than an hour or so. I found some free time this afternoon and was able to install them quickly. Four 1/2" bolts on each seat and out they came. To my surprise, the bolt holes on my pedestal lined up perfectly with the frame on the new seats. I had to remove the manual sliding tracks (my old seats sat on power 8 way pedestals) but I could not believe that 20 years later Flexsteels are still using the same bolt pattern. I'm sure those cheapo seats I saw on eBay would have required some drilling and even plates to mount to the power pedestals. Feeling lucky, I installed the passenger seat in about ten minutes. The drivers seat took longer as it backs up the sofa armrest with the seat all the way back (necessary to reach the bolts on the back). In a little over an hour the seats are in. Sitting in them they felt high. I think the foam is just new and not compacted from years of use. Now I can't waint until the first Sping camping trip. Maybe it'll be a little further away than the usual camp ground
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