Re: [VAC] Ready to pull the body ??? LONG

[wescott50@xxxxxxxxx (Bill Scott)]

To Jeff Grill,
Hey Jeff, Congrats on this shell off restoration you are doing on your
61 Bambi.  You are the first I have heard, that is doing a "shell off",
on a Bambi.  You are correct about the year.  It is a 1961, made in
Santa Fe Springs, CA (SS).  Many Airstreams have mistakes in the title
because salesmen and clerks during the registration process, make
mistakes.

Back to the exciting stuff, with your "shell off".  The two inside domes
are made of fiberglass, and I don't know if you could walk it out the
door.  I remember a guy did "the walk" with a Globe Trotter, about a
year ago, and he felt like a "turtle" struggling with that dome, but he
did get it out.  I think you can probably walk the dome out the Bambi
door, but you better measure it first.  The Bambi is narrower than other
coaches, and the door is shorter.   In terms of lifting the shell off
the floor, it should not be difficult since it is so light.  I doubt it
weighs, with windows, more than 200 lbs.  You could lift the body, then
remove the inside domes, replace the fiberglass insulation, then sit it
down on the new floor.  Please take lots of pictures, of the body and
frame and channel, because, I think this might be, "A Bambi First".
Keep all the pictures for your "Shell Off" restoration scrap book. We
would love to see you at an International Concours d'Elegance.

Those fiberglass inside domes, are original.  I think they will flex
when lifting the shell off the floor.  Did you design a harness, or are
you going to slip some 2x4's under the floor and have 4 men lift it
gently?  I've often thought of doing a shell off on my Bambi, but it
just doesn't need it.  Good Luck Jeff, and keep us informed.

Bill Scott
61 Bambi, VAC & WBCCI #3221
1VP & Membership Chairman , WDCU
http://www.servintfree.net/wbcci-dc/