Small Backyard Projects

Playing around in Oregon and California is easy. Bessie is out of sight and out of mind then. But what about the lazy weekends when we would float down the river and just chill in the backyard? I have to walk through Bessie's staging area, the carport, to get to the BBQ grill. Sometimes it's easier to ignore than others.

To satisfy my obsessive side, and make me feel like I was making progress, I chose small, simple projects that I could do on a blanket in the grass while Brie and I enjoyed the sun.

You know how, when you move, you've always got that last mentally-impossible trip that doesn't even fill the truck but takes a thousand trips because it's that standing floor-lamp, or that fragile wall-hanging, or those things you didn't have a box for, or that didn't get categorized with anything else? Those little things are also the mentally-impossible tasks when performing any kind of home projects. Bessie is no different.

I decided to make these types of projects my small backyard projects, hoping in the end, I'd be saving myself some future burnout. Plus, it's cool to clean metal things in the sunshine. You know you're finished when the reflection blinds you! Here's a photo of the propane gas lamp just above the kitchen counter in the forward section. Don't have a before snapshot, so trust me it looks much better. Most importantly, it's now where it's supposed to go! One small project down. Countless to follow. Like this one...

This photo shows two small completed projects, newly painted metal and spankin' new electrical outlets. Many of Bessie's metal "accessories" were rusted, chipped, bronzed, or brass. It's fun to keep her period-correct, and we wanted to keep many of the fixtures, but that brass had to go.

So we spray-painted them aluminum. Rustoleum is inferior to Krylon. Always get Krylon. Home Depot you suck for carrying Rustoleum. I would trade 3 cans of Rustoleum for one can of Krylon.

One morning I awoke, walked down to the Dutch Brothers for a diesel cup of coffee. Freshly caffeinated, I grew project-eyes larger than my project-appetite could handle, and decided to install Bessie's electrical outlets. No small task - as it included snipping larger holes in the aluminum for the modern safety standards of today's electrical fixtures. There isn't much more to say about his task. It was simple and tedious and required another cup of diesel coffee. I like the shiny!

The Return

It's been 90 days since the last post. The one when the floors went in and we skeedaddled off to New Mexico (without Bessie) for the summer solstice. No posts since then? Pourquoi? Am I just lazy? Well, yes, but that's not entirely the reason.

Summertime arrived in Oregon, and not only does that mean a reprieve from the oppressive clouds of fall, winter, and spring, it means the state turns into one giant REI playground. In addition, when Brie and I returned from New Mexico after 10 days, we realized how much time Bessie's restoration gobbled up. It had been two months that we'd been going at Bessie every weekend, and some weeknights. The telltales of burnout appeared for both of us. They showed up first for Brie, because I was more stubborn (at least this time I was, poke-poke, wink-wink).

I can't remember when the light bulb pinged in my head, but I realized how out of balance my life had become - I was sacrificing everything to work on Bessie. And I finally admitted how badly I underestimated the time required to restore Bessie.

So I took a break. And we enjoyed summertime in beautiful Oregon. And now, like football season and the autumn rainclouds drifting over the coastal mountains, I'm back.

A Disturbance in the Floors

Our order from Home Depot (for Allure Light Bamboo flooring) was delayed six weeks, then delivered within four weeks, ultimately three weeks late. Home Depot was cool and gave me 15% off for the delay, which was already discounted 10% by the HD credit card I opened to purchase the floors. Must. Close. Credit Card. Soon! Anyhow, the floors arrived, and they're beautiful. We put them in this weekend. Simple as pie, right?

Late start on Saturday - don't believe the smile - that's fifteen measurements into a completely overwhelmed decision that needs about fifteen more measurements and probably a decision. Notice no floors laid yet.

Progress at the end of Saturday...
Sunday arrived with renewed effort...

Powered by guacamole salsa...

Each piece took more than expected, as you can tell from these "very Brie" moments. First one's a little embarrassing for the camera man aka expert floor cutter.

Simple fixes are life's joys...

The final product...

That's all for now folks. Heading to New Mexico for some 100 degree heat. Adios muchachos!

Road Worthy

The running lights and brakes on Bessie were not hooked up, and the original tongue jack is broken. We drove Bessie to a local horse trailer shop and big Ron hooked us up. Literally and figuratively! Ron installed an electric brake controller in Battlecat (the tow vehicle) and connected the brakes and the exterior running lights. Everything works! Airstream, you build a fine trailer. I guess it's just metal wire running to the connections, but after 50 years, you wouldn't be surprised if something went wrong, right?

Battlecat got hitched!

We also asked him to replace the coupler that attaches Bessie's tongue to Battlecat's ball-hitch. There were a few issues to consider here. First, the original jack is missing, so we need to replace that with a new one, and the new ones don't fit the old holes. Second, the original coupler didn't fully cover the hitch ball. Ron fork-lifted Bessie's tongue to see if he could decouple the truck and trailer, but he couldn't, even as he lifted the trucks rear wheels off the ground. So at least we were safe, but there is still concern that one day it will get connected poorly and then we'll have a road disaster. Third, as mentioned in the Tires post, I'm not sure if Les Schwab caused unnecessary strain on Bessie's cross-beams, bending them upwards a little. If they did, then her coupler, which doesn't fully cover the hitch ball anyway, is now at a slightly compromised angle. Add all this to the fact that Ron is going to charge me the same labor to either (A) open up the existing jack hole to install a new jack, or (B) weld off the old coupler and weld on a new coupler that is pre-cut to fit a new jack, and it's not a hard decision for me. I like the idea of keeping everything vintage, but Bessie's not a museum or a toy, or a whimsical hobby for me. She's a functional trailer that requires full safety on the roads that she'll travel.

Old broken tear-drop jack...
Black jack. With more ball coverage!
It's as simple as spinning the winch now...
They had good ideas back in 1959, and strong construction, but they didn't have as many giant 18-wheelers barreling down the highways and interstates. I'm not going to spend my life traveling back roads and highways because I'm scared of what would happen if my trailer decoupled. I'm going to spend my life traveling back roads and highways because that's where all the cool stuff is and I like to take my time!

Painting

Did I say the fun begins? I forgot how much painting sucks. Priming metal is difficult. The first coat took forever as we kept removing half-dried paint from the interior walls by accident, and the primer didn't go on heavy in the first place. We painted directly on top of the original Zolotone paint, so we weren't painting directly onto aluminum, but still, it's trickier than wood or house walls. The second coat of primer went on much nicer. And the trim work took two to three coats by hand. Can't use a roller on the end caps either as they are compound curves. Joy.

As found...

Primed...

Painted...

The paint went on with two coats. We decided to keep the structural colors light to emphasize the space and the beautiful mahogany. I say "we" and it's a joint effort, but Brie is truly the lead with the interior decoration. She certainly has the assassin's eye for detail. We chose a color we knew we liked for the main interior color. It's called "Custard" and is a surprisingly rich color for one so light.

We had some leftover paint from some previous housework that blended well with the Custard color, and to conserve paint we chose to paint the inside of the cabinets and closets this complementary color, called Lemon Drops. Sounds like we're going to have a yellow on yellow beast, but you know those paint names don't mean anything. As we slowly ran out of paint, I suggested using both colors in the bathroom, and to alternate them so it look like it was done on purpose. Brie agreed it was a cool idea and the results are far beyond what either of us expected. Now the bathroom is a happy looking place compared to what it was before (see Plumbing post). Me likey.

As found...

Primed...

Painted...

As found...

Primed...

Painted...

We did a pretty good job with the painter's tape on the mahogany. What little paint crept onto the wood was a breeze to remove with a scraper or finger. To all that follow - sand and seal the wood FIRST because without the polyurethane coating on the wood, the paint spots would have been time-consuming to remove.

Step 1 Complete

If you recall, our mad genius plan of restoration goes like this:

(1) remove all traces of previous owners
(2) restore everything restorable
(3) purchase everything purchasable
(4) put everything back into Bessie
One might say that once the plumbing was ripped out that step (1) was complete, but I think both Brie and I decided separately that step (1) wasn't complete until the sanding, degreasing, and bleaching was done. After the deep clean, we could see satisfaction in each other's eyes, because we knew step (1) was complete, never to be revisited again. All other fingerprints on her were gone. She is entirely ours now. Perhaps a bit possessive, but she's better for it.

Step (2) and Step (3) happen simultaneously, and the fun begins! Always remember to smell the flowers.

Tires

Bessie rolled home with her original wheels and tires. Yep, circa 1959. They don't make wheels like they used to, but in this case that's a good thing. Now wheels are one piece that you slide on an axle and the tire goes around it. Back then, wheels had two pieces that locked together, sandwiching the tire between them. Apparently that's not considered safe anymore.

Bessie's ORIGINAL tires. Still intact and rolling...

Beauties, aren't they?

Les Schwab Tires is only 3 blocks from our house so we took her there to replace the wheels, tires, and have the bearings packed. Also asked them to check the brakes, which they said look brand-new (replaced and then never used).

Three days and four hundred dollars later, Bessie rolled back home with tough little trailer tires ready for some road action.

I'm unclear whether or not Les Schwab bent her frame. Trying not to damage the aluminum underbelly, they jacked her up by the bumper and the tongue. They thought they had the correct replacement parts in stock but they were wrong so they had them delivered the next day. The guy delivered the wrong part, so they had the correct ones delivered the day after. All this time, Bessie was hammocked between the jack-stands and a railroad tie, as pictured below.

Now she appears to have a slight rocker. Not sure what to do about this if I can do anything at all. Not sure it's even a problem, and not sure if anyone else can even see what I think I see. Perhaps Bessie just knows she belongs to a surfer and wants to emulate the flattened rocker of the surfboards I love. (I love you back Bessie!)